There's an "I" in "WIN" by Apollo

A big reason why the general public is so enthralled by sports is the dramatic aspect. Sports presents us with a view of human nature and human drama all pre-packaged and beamed right to our television sets. Sports are not subject to a planned script like movies or television programs, they're real - and certainly more real than an episode of Fear Factor. We love watching our heroes rise and fall and win and lose. In a way, we feel a part of that experience, even though we actually have very little to do with the actual performance.

There were a number of dramas happening in the sports world this past weekend. The NHL Lockout continued, with most American fans having already forgotten what hockey is days ago, and Canadian fans growing more and more bored and annoyed with local media devoting hours of coverage to the fact that nothing newsworthy had happened since the lockout began. The European team destroyed the U.S.A. in the Ryder Cup, embarrassing Tiger Woods and company on American soil, which apparently makes the accomplishment more important, even though half the European team lives in the United States. On a more international note, Spanish superclub Real Madrid was blanked 3-0 by Bayer Leverkusen in their first group match of the UEFA Champions' League, which in turn caused their coach, Jose Antonio Camacho, to quit following an equally embarrassing 1-0 defeat to lightly regarded Spanish club Espanyol. Meanwhile, the NFL and Major League Baseball seasons continued.

Part of the drama of sports is watching individuals, even individuals in team sports, rise and fall. We are thrilled by the last-second game winning shot, the seemingly impossible touchdown catch, the towering home run. These are the actions that make legends of individual players. While we certainly know which teams they play for (especially if its our own favourite teams), we're more likely to say "Curtis Martin had a huge day for the New York Jets" as opposed to "The Jets won. Oh, and by the way, Curtis Martin had a good game." And yet, for all this focus on individual achievement, there's still the old adages that teams win championships, teams are only as strong as their weakest player, teams are greater than the individuals. Usually this sort of rhetoric and cliche is reserved for media types and people who want to keep sports simple and ignore the personalities and the drama of the individual competitors. But the fact remains that true sports achievement, the kind that makes us stand up and take notice, remains with the individual. No one bothers to remember the intricate details of the Jacksonville Jaguars beating the Denver Broncos 7-6 in a snoozer of a game where no particular individual shines. But Barry Bonds' 700th home run dominates the highlight shows.

Which leads me to the Ryder Cup and the reason I think that the USA has consistently been beaten over the last few times it has been contested, despite having a team of superior individual golfers. While everyone talks about the Europeans having greater camaraderie and playing more relaxed, I think it instead comes down to the fact that the American players woefully underachieve trying to create some false sense of team spirit. The format of the Ryder Cup of course encourages team play, which is unheard of in golf, which is about going out on the course and shooting a better score than every other individual out there. However, the Ryder Cup is comprised of 8 alternate shot matches, 8 four ball matches and 12 singles matches. That means that 20 of a possible 28 points are decided by which individual happens to be playing the best in that particular match. If anything, the Americans should focus not on playing as a team, but trying to just beat every other golfer on the course, teammate or not. I've always found it sad and depressing to watch players like Woods and Phil Mickelson smile for the camera and talk about how much the love playing with a group of teammates. That may in fact be true, and hey, hanging out with a bunch of guys is what sports is all about. However, I think if Tiger ever forgot about trying to fit in with his teammates and instead focused on dominating his matches to the point where he could bring home 5 points for the USA, his teammates would quickly follow suit and Europe would not win another one of these competitions for decades.

It's incredible how human nature can work in a team sports environment. When one player establishes himself as the top athlete, the top performer, the rest of the team, even if they absolutely despise this guy, usually fall into their roles rather comfortably. Now, if the purported best player is in fact not the best player but tries to act like he is, or if the best player doesn't stand up and impose his will on the team, then you've got problems. If the best player just plain isn't too good, you've got the Golden State Warriors. But, when the best player truly leads, then you have the whole "he makes his teammates better" nonsense that gets spewed about from time to time. As Michael Jordan once said "There's no 'I' in team, but there is in 'Win'". Of course, Jordan said this when the Chicago Bulls were quite mediocre, but you get the point.

Athletes are creatures of habit. They spend their lives trying to learn how to do a particular action one way and trying to repeat that process as closely as possible every time. Athletes tend not to like innovation or change, or the unknown. That's why there's coaches around to teach them how to get used to it. While the fans love Michael Vick, I bet it's extremely frustrating to block for him cause nobody knows where he is or where he plans on running. Thankfully, he's so clearly the most exciting athlete in football that his teammates probably love him anyway, and you bet they love him now that they're 2-0 to start the season. As long as Vick is scrambling for 100 yards, throwing the ball for touchdowns and leading Atlanta to wins, it doesn't matter that Warrick Dunn only gets a handful of carries a game, or that Peerless Price had only 2 receptions, or that the Falcons offensive linemen need their heads on swivels all game long. Vick is the number one guy, and the rest of the team has chosen to follow his lead.

One of the reasons that overpriced, talent-laden teams like the New York Rangers, Real Madrid, and the Washington Redskins always seem to underachieve is because they have very little leadership, very little direction and very little clue how to use all their incredible talent. You don't win soccer games trying to figure out whether Michael Owen is better than Raul when your defence depends on whether Iker Casillas is playing out of this world goaltending or not. It amazes me that players like Ronaldo or David Beckham or Zinedine Zidane, who are so clearly the leaders of their national teams, suddenly become passive and quiet on the club side. When players refuse or cannot establish the proper roles for everyone, you need a coach who can do so for them. Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, Mike Keenan, Larry Brown, Arsene Wegner. Until Real finds the player who will assert himself or the coach who will tell the players how to do so, they're destined for another underachieving season.

Perhaps we look for drama in sports to replace something in our own lives. Perhaps we find sports interesting and riveting because of the potential to see something great with each play. It is always so strange to me when an athlete who is so obviously talented and superior to those around him cannot for whatever reason dominate. I have forgotten what I enjoy watching more - the domination itself or the effort to get there. Being a sports fan, I have the luxury of being able to watch the entire thing play out from my couch.