the importance of "team" in team sports

The New York Yankees are languishing, either in the cellar or near it, this year. George Steinbrenner, the owner, is beside himself. All I can do is smile. Steinbrenner is a very rich man, and owning the Yankees hasn't hurt that status any. He makes a habit of buying the best players in the game for his team, because he has the money to pay them. If one year his pitching is lacking, well that's not hard to fix. Who's the best pitcher out there. Whoever he is, pay him more than anyone else will and he's a Yankee. It's why the Yankees are consistently playing for championships. This year, however, the formula isn't working. Maybe it has a little to do with everyone getting their steroids taken away, which may very well have a bigger effect on the Yankees than other teams. They bought all the best players, who may be the best players because their performance has been enhanced. Once the enhancement goes away, they may be mediocre. That said, I think the problem lies more in the fact that Mr. Steinbrenner has hired a bunch of superstars. Superstars need a supporting cast, but if your whole team is superstars, nobody wants to support anyone but himself. A team needs to play together, and do the little things that make the team great, sometimes at the expense of the individual. There's the rub, in my humble opinion.

Nobody on that team wants to take one for the team. Nobody is willing to make sacrifices that put the team above themselves. They are all about the individual effort, like a band full of lead guitarists. That's why they're hurting and to be honest, I don't mind seeing it. No, I'm not naive enough to think this anomoly will last the whole season. In the end, money will win out. These guys will find a way to play together and come the playoffs, the Yankees will be there...again (insert yawn here). For now though, their frustration brings a smile.

You may have guessed, I'm not a Yankees fan. Actually, I don't have a favorite team. I just like to watch the game and to be honest, I like watching the minor league version of it more than the game on the grand stage. One of the bigger reasons is Mr. Steinbrenner and his ability/willingness to buy up the 'best' players, making the playing field far from level. While I have no favorite, the fact that the game allows him to do this and he takes advantage of it like no other owner, makes him and his Yankees a least favorite. There's nobody I'd rather root against. Let's face it. At the beginning of the season you knew the Kanses City Royals had no shot at the World Series. They can't buy talent the way the Yankees can, and it puts them at a severe disadvantage. If someone really good comes up through their minor league system and becomes a star, the Yankees buy him away. I want something more fair, where you can watch a game and any team has an opportunity to win. I suppose part of that comes from being a fan of the game ahead of any particular team. I'm not pulling for my team to win, I'm pulling for a good game. Therefore watching the Yankees not win brings a certain enjoyment.

By the way, another New York team did the same thing and suffered the same way. The New York Rangers of the NHL (Anybody remember hockey? It was a game much like soccer, but played on ice and wearing skates, and instead of a ball you had a little hard flat cylinder...stop me I'm rambling) who bought up a bunch of superstars and were confounded by the fact that they all had ability, but couldn't play together as a team and win. I didn't like them either.