Black guy with glasses. I need to say his name, Mike Garland, we all knew it, but damn, this guy has a story to tell.

God bless Mike Garland, what he's going through, what he went through. I know we'll still call him "black guy with glasses" but I never realized the tremendous stress he was under.


Garland fumbled around his house in East Lansing, tossing a few clothes into a suitcase, ran to his car, and took off for Cleveland. It was dark. Snow and sleet pelted the windshield. He didn’t care. He plunged his foot on the pedal and pushed toward 80 mph. Sobbing. Fearing his son might not make it through surgery. Fearing he wouldn’t get there in time. Berating himself for not driving down when the team plane landed.

“That was the lowest feeling I’ve had as father in my life,” Garland said. “My son needed my support. But because I didn’t listen to myself, to what my spirit was telling me to do, I let him down.”

The untold story of our "Black guy with glasses"

Hell of a story - never know what others are going through

Are other teams as much of a family as MSU? I don’t read other team deep dives.

Rocinante wrote:Are other teams as much of a family as MSU? I don’t read other team deep dives.

I imagine. When you recruit a kid for years you become pretty involved.