Sporting memories: Hugging an enemy teammate on the field

This isn't so crazy because it happens a lot in sports after a crucial point or goal. What was so unusual about my situation is that me and other person involved in this incident did not like one another off the field. Honestly, we didn't like one another very much on it to the point where sometimes it would be a bad idea to put us in complementing positions.

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_{This is obviously not me. Digital cameras didn't even exist during my event}

I don't even remember why me and Patrick didn't get along in school or in social settings. We had some of the same friends and even sat at the same lunch table but for some reason we just rubbed one another the wrong way. Maybe our senses of humor were just at ends with one another but for the most part, if we did speak at all, it was in an intentionally insulting manner.

On the soccer field, you are supposed to put your personal differences aside and work as a unit. Our coach was able to tell that Patrick and myself didn't much care for one another and would put us on opposite ends of the field even though we were both two of the better players on the team. I would normally play left midfield or striker if we were running 3 forwards, and Patrick would be over on the right. I probably would have said something to Patrick about how "the reason why I'm on the left is because I can cross with both feet and you can't" or something intentionally hurtful like that. While mean, that statement was true and I am sure I said to him on a regular basis, adding fuel to the fire.

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There was no real justification for our rivalry on the field, we actually complemented one another pretty well since we could both cross well, were fast, and could take crosses in the air better than most of the people in our high-school division. We also had a relatively consistent bigger guy that normally would play center-forward who although slow, was a beast when he got a hold of the ball.

Patrick and I hated working with one another though and at times we probably screwed up a few chances on goal because we didn't want to pass the ball to "that other jerk." That was until that fateful day where it truly mattered.

While my team had had an amazing season and was heavily favored to win our regional title and move on to the state tournament we were having a very bad day in the regional tournament final. Teams can have a bad day and we were about to be eliminated from the regional tournament by a team that we had already beaten badly twice that season. We were down 1-3 at the half and there as no justification for this. I remember that our coach actually got in the faces of Patrick and myself at half time to give us a shouting at and blamed the fact that we were losing on our inability to work with one another.

He said something along the lines of "put your fucking differences aside, get out there and play as a team.... if you cant, I'm going to bench you both!" I thought that was pretty admirable that "Coach G" was willing to throw the game rather than have two of his players on the field acting like assholes.

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_{I don't even follow EPL but even I heard about the Newcastle players that had to be broken up by the other team's players. This is how Patrick and I felt during every game}

Something must have happened because we pulled it together and by the time the 90 minutes was nearly up we had drawn 3-3. One of these goals happened because I, reluctantly crossed to Patrick for a goal at about 80 minutes or so. We did not congratulate one another on the goal. Our hatred for the other was too strong.

We were in extra time when something magical happened. Another teammate forced a turnover around the halfway line and Patrick and I were both in position for a breakaway goal attempt. We had only 1 defender and the keeper to get past. As Patrick and i convened on the goal he did something that I still can't believe to this day: He passed the ball to me instead of going for the glory himself. This caught the defense off-guard and put me in a beautiful position for a tiny little tap of a touch that crossed right in front of the keeper and into the back of the net.

After that goal, which we knew had just secured us the regional victory and would propel us into the state tournament, I rushed up and hugged my rival and teammate Patrick. We rushed back for the kickoff as friends and teammates that were willing to put our differences aside at least on the field.

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_{Again, this is obviously not me and Patrick}

Our team went on to place 4th in the state that year and our defeat was a bit of a heartbreaker but considering the size of our high school and the city it was in, getting that far in the state tournament was a pretty impressive feat. Patrick and I worked together for the rest of the season but unfortunately our attitude towards one another off the field didn't change a great deal. Some people just don't mesh well with others.

The last time I tried to speak to Patrick was almost 20 years after high school and there is still a deeply rooted sense of non-friendship there. We just can't let bygones be bygones. I don't even remember what it was about but he ended up blocking me on social media. We'll never be friends and I've come to terms with that.

Be that as it may, we'll always have that one day that we put our deeply rooted hatred for one another aside and came out hugging on the other end. Sports can bring enemies together. I've lived it.