The Lost Art Of Teamwork

I realize that most of my readers really do not care about sports except for G and his Auburn Tigers obsession (who by the way, really should be in the Orange Bowl not Florida State, but that's another post).

No, this post isn't about sports as much as it is about the state of professional sports, in the era of the spoiled brats. You know the ones, the brats that get paid enormous amounts of money to play kids' games. It is about one example of one immature brat; and how his actions are consistent with a new generation of kids, coming into a lot of money at a very young age, and the overinflated sense of self-worth that comes with it.

It is about the lost art of teamwork and the rise of the "me first" individual.

The Indianapolis Star is reporting that Ron Artest of the Indiana Pacers is wanting to be traded.

In a 20-minute interview Saturday, Artest for the first time publicly said he wants to be traded. He calmly described the issues he has with his role on the team, his head coach and his past, and said the team would be better off without him.

Now, that in itself isn't an issue. Players ask for trades from time to time, when they are not happy. Management initiates trades at their pleasure, as well.

It's a business, it happens. That is not the significant thing here.

As you may or may not recall, Ron Artest is an extremely talented player that started a huge melee, in a basketball game in Detroit last season; an action that got him suspended for almost an entire season, 73 games to be exact. What was to be a promising season last year, was a season derailed. It was Reggie Miller's last season and the team desperately wanted to win one for him. But due to the immature actions of Artest, that goal was never met.

But they stuck with him. They didn't deal him anywhere in the off season, when they clearly could/should have. They welcomed him back this year with open arms and forgave his transgressions. They wrote last season off as a bad dream and honestly believed that he would grow up enough to become an integral part of, a team that wanted to win a championship.

But again, they were wrong. Again, Mr. Artest has failed them.

Three seasons ago, he led the league in flagrant fouls. Two seasons ago, he played like a pouting brat in the playoffs. That would have been the last straw, for me. He would have been on the next trading block, without fail, had I been asked about it. But, they opted to exercise more patience. Then came the debacle of last season. And they STILL gave him another chance, despite the embarassment of seeing themselves acting like a bunch of thugs on the national news, over and over again.

But I am not the only one that feels this way.

Bob Kravitz, a sports columnist for the Indianapolis Star, has certainly made his feeings well-known in his latest column entitled, Tick Tock: Time's Up For Artest.

Ron Artest can't come back now, not after this, not after saying he wants to get away from coach Rick Carlisle and go someplace where he can get bigger numbers and a fresh start.

He must be traded.

Now.

Artest, an incorrigible bum who should have been set free long ago, should not be allowed to spend another night soiling the uniform of the Indiana Pacers.

You see, Ron Artest has been stinking up the team chemistry already this year, after selling everyone this cock and bull story about how he has changed, about how he has matured. But he hasn't.

He has not fit into the mold of the team and apparently doesn't want to fit into the mold of any team. He wants someplace where he can be the king (while playing thug ball) and score a lot of points. This, he wants, only for the purpose of being able to secure a big money contract. By fitting into the mold of a team, he would have to sacrifice numbers; numbers that he feels he needs, to earn the respect of his peers and the league. He isn't taking into consideration that his behavior has been the one thing that has hurt him most. And yet, he now has the audacity to ask for a trade, because in essence he doesn't share the same team philosophy, as his coach.

What Ron fails to realize is, if he wins a championship, his stock goes up instantly. And teams win them, every year. Not players, teams. Last year it was the Spurs, the year before the Pistons. Both played team ball.

The league knows what this kid can do, they do not need to see (nor do they want to see) a lot of points from one guy. It doesn't win championships, and usually doesn't win many games. Ask Allen Iverson (and many others). The league is full of hotshots that play for teams that will never win a title.

Why is this so? Why do these kids act selfish, in spite of the fact that they are being paid massive amounts of money to play on a ball TEAM?

Immaturity. They've been given a lot of money, they get greedy, selfish, and they want more.

The lack of maturity displayed by kids that come into the league at 18 has been noticed by the league. They have a new rule that players cannot be eligible for the NBA draft until they have been out of high school, at least one year. I do not think it goes nearly far enough, but it is a step in the right direction.

Why? Because I feel that a kid that comes out of high school is not mature enough to deal with suddenly being an adult, right away. It's a learning process that all of us had to go through in other areas, and by experience we know that you don't get good at it right away. ( I matured and learned the art of teamwork in the Army) And if you add millions of dollars to the mix, it could be the recipe for disaster, down the road. Not for all, mind you. But for the majority, yes.

Even those that come out after a year or two of college aren't always the best at this, either. What little college Artest endured, didn't help him much at attaining a reasonable level of maturity nor did it help learn the concept of teamwork. And there are others it didn't help, as well. I am not so sure that four years would have done the job for him, or the others. But who knows?

But most of those that fared the best were the ones that went, all four years. Look at Larry Bird, he went all four years. He, with a supporting cast of mediocre players, led his team to within one game, of an NCAA championship. Then led the Boston Celtics to three titles. He took the Celtics from last to first in the first year. He did it by working hard and being a team player. He got his teammates involved and made them better by doing it. He was unselfish. He made good money, but he earned it because of his work ethic. He had very little ego, by NBA standards today. He learned leadership and gained valuable maturity as a player and a man, in college.

Jordan only had two years of college, but he was clearly an exception. He was, after all, Michael Jordan. He had a deep understanding of the game and what it took to win it. Like Bird, he made everyone on his team a better player. When he scored a lot of points, the Bulls usually lost. He was mature enough to make the transition, but let's not forget, he didn't win titles right away.

In all professions today, the most successful operations are as a result of good team work. The military absolutely has to have it, as does law enforcement and rescue. Others need it too. But just let one spoiled immature brat come into any successful organization and play this lone wolf game, and you will watch success turn into failure, often.

As I said, all professions, businesses, and organizations need team work to excel, to function, and sometimes just to survive. But it doesn't stop there. As a nation, we need teamwork. We need people that won't look at opportunities to further their political careers. We need people that will sacrifice their numbers a little bit and play some team ball, to better the United States of America. We do not not need a ball hog that cares nothing about winning, but only seeks fame and glory for him or herself.

We need statemen and stateswomen, and we need them in the worst kind of way. We need them now, and forever. Or, we will fail as a civilization, culture, and as a champion of freedom and liberty. Will Americans keep giving chance after chance to their elected officials that do nothing but disrupt and derail, like the Pacers have done with Artest? Or will we trade the non-hackers, for team players that will sacrifice, for the welfare of Team America?

If sports is a microcosm of that principle, I am worried.