"Pros & Cons of Team Sports"
Note: Emails are organized in the order received, with first received at the top.
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Jim,
I have played and coached a lot of competitive sports and feel you may have missed some of the things I got from them. The most important thing is that if a player cannot handle his position, he must be moved to one he can handle or put on the bench. Everyone on the team must accept this concept for the good of the team.
It goes back to what a professor at Ga. Tech told me in a class. His grades were always on a curve, because life is on a curve. It is not how much you know or do that counts, but how much more you know and do better than your competitor. This applies to the individual and the team.
Of course, it is for some of the same reasons you had that I started my own business. I saw where team playing by some had become more of a keep the favorites in the game instead of benching them. Since I could no longer play that way, I took my game elsewhere. I now expect those I deal with to live up to my expectations and not down to theirs.
Mike Higgins
St. Petersburg, Florida
USA
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Merry Christmas
I guess your recent statement:
"However, if you find yourself in a position where you alone are with a person needing CPR and you have not been trained, what will you do? I hope you will at least try, even at the risk of being sued. You just might save a life."
is a comment on the US legal situation! In Quebec, it is a criminal offence to NOT do one's best to assist anyone in a life threatening "situation." The helper is not expected to take serious risks to himself, and is well protected against litigation.
The situation in British Columbia is similar, but in the rest of Canada you are under no legal obligation to help anyone.
Neil McCubbin
Quebec, Canada
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Hi Jim;
Compliments of the season.
As usual your team pro and con insights are spot on. I've always been curious what management practices make some sports teams, especially in the NFL and CFL perennially more successful when players are generally interchangeable and most of them only play 3 or 4 years. I always thought it has something to do with the expectations the coach and management have of the players in terms of effort and pride, but I may be wrong.
Anyhow, the main point I'm offering is that US sports like football, baseball and basketball are characterized by a manager/coach "calling" and the players "executing" most plays like automatons, most of whom are "specialists" with limited skill sets. In contrast, players in team sports in other countries/cultures, including soccer (true football), ice & field hockey, lacrosse, rugby and cricket must perform as a team constantly revising and adjusting tactics, plays, etc. for a continuously unpredictable game situations. In addition to supportive and reliable team behavior, these "non-US" sports require individual players to be smart and creative and to constantly strive to achieve something special for the team. I'm convinced the micro-managed mentality of US sports negatively permeates our society - think of all the sports metaphors company "leaders" use - and is even more prominent and harmful in traditional industries like pulp and paper, where management expectations are low and leadership is notoriously uncreative.
Because everyone knows that successful companies adapt continuously and aggressively - maybe Jack Welch said employees should behave as if they're standing on a burning dock - the lone remaining achievement for a N American pulp & paper company is to be the last company standing! What a shame.
A sane, safe and healthy New Year to you and your family.
Best regards,
Dave Bennett
Mahwah, New Jersey
USA
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