THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 6, 1995 TAG: 9508040216
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: The Sports Editor
SOURCE: Bill Leffler
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
``ARE YOU IN BOUNDS or Out of Bounds?''
That's the title of a new book co-authored by Portsmouth's Rolando Lamb and Monty Knight, the president of Athletes for Jesus.
Lamb now is national director of Athletes for Jesus, a Richmond-based organization which was ``established to help athletes develop character and find true identity as members of God's Team.''
Lamb helped found Athletes for Jesus in 1988 after he graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a bachelor's degree and finished playing two years of professional basketball in the Continental League.
He travels to schools and boys clubs, speaks before pro and amateur teams and visits inner-city housing developments to present his ministry.
``I am committed to this,'' he said. ``I hope we can help create role models who can bring integrity back into the sports world.''
His 64-page book primarily is a question-and-answer production, filled with graphics. It is focused on sports and actually is a workbook to complement a talk by Lamb.
Questions are posed (``You Make the Call'') and answers are provided. A correct answer is In Bounds and two points are awarded for that team. An incorrect answer provides two points for Out of Bounds. Score is kept in the book.
With each answer is a Rule of Life and Scripture from the Bible.
Says Lamb: ``Have you ever seen a football player step out of bounds, continue running and then cross over the goal line? Is this a score? Of course not. Why? The player lost his rights and privileges to score at the point where he violated the rules by stepping out of bounds.
``Would you ever think of playing sports and winning a championship without knowing the rules? To win in life, you must obey God's rules.''
Lamb and Knight were college basketball stars at VCU. Knight also coached there.
At Cradock, Lamb was the third all-time leading scorer in school history in basketball. As a senior he was the top scorer in the entire state and the second leading rebounder. He was the Tidewater Player of the Year and selected on the Converse High School All-America team.
The message Lamb hopes to convey is directed at older athletes as well as those just starting to participate in sports.
Joe Taylor, Hampton University's football coach, heard Lamb and Knight share their presentation with a group at his university.
``The message was so strong, they were invited to the campus the very next Friday to share with our entire football squad,'' said Taylor.
Former Old Dominion University basketball coach Oliver Purnell had the two speak to his team when he coached at Radford. Recently he invited them to Dayton, where he now is the head coach.
Said Purnell: ``They present a common-sense, practical approach to the role of spirituality and God in the life of a student-athlete. Because of their backgrounds as athletes, our teams have always found their words credible and enlightening.''
The 32-year-old Lamb, a father of four, would like to take his book into the public schools of Portsmouth and bring his message to youngsters here. ILLUSTRATION: File photo
Rolando Lamb
Charts
These charts appear in Rolando Lamb's book, ``Are You In Bounds or
Out of Bounds?''
by CNB