Team America by Zig Ziglar on Creators.com

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Team America

Most people believe that superstars are critical for the success of any team. Sometimes, not always, that's true. It depends on the chemistry these stars bring to the equation.

Example: In 1999, many experts thought the Washington Redskins had "bought" the Super Bowl. They had high draft picks with "can't miss" labels on them and had acquired several outstanding superstars from other teams through free agency.

Obviously, it didn't happen. They had an average team and came nowhere near winning the Super Bowl. Actually, they didn't even win a playoff game. What happened? Apparently there was something missing that prevented the team from producing the expected victories. It's still true: Individuals score points, but teams win games.

In baseball in 1998, the Seattle Mariners had three superstars, including Ken Griffey Jr., possibly the best all-around outfielder in the game. He hit with power, fielded exceptionally well and had a home run average that placed him in the Top 10 in the league. They also had Randy Johnson, recognized as perhaps the most overpowering pitcher in baseball today. The third player was Alex Rodriguez. His price tag was out of orbit. If memory serves me correctly, he signed a contract for something like $252 million years ago. Many consider him the best all-around player in the league. Most people figured that when the Seattle Mariners lost those three superstars, their won-loss record would take a nose-dive. As a matter of fact, in 2001 they were one of the winningest teams in baseball in the last 100 years.

Question: How could something like that happen? Possible answer: The rest of the players realized that their superstars were gone, so each of them had to "step up to the plate," become leaders and make greater contributions to the team.

I'm confident management encouraged them to do exactly that, and I suspect that every effort they expended was recognized and praised. Result: There was a team spirit of "let's do this thing together."

Americans have been called to "step up to the plate" and "do this thing together" in the same way an athletic team does when they lose their star players. America's star player is freedom, and when the terrorists attacked our freedom, Americans became a unified force, a team to be reckoned with. The words, "One nation, under God," stand for something once again.

Adlai Stevenson said, "When an American says that he loves his country, he means not only that he loves the New England hills, the prairies glistening in the sun, the wide and rising plains, the great mountains, and the sea. He means that he loves an inner air, an inner light in which freedom lives and in which a man can draw the breath of self-respect." What he so eloquently describes is the freedom Americans are willing and ready to fight for today, and, in fact, are already fighting for.

I'm proud to say that Americans are involved in teamwork in a way we haven't seen since World War II. More of us are flying our American flag once again, proclaiming, declaring and boasting that "I'm an American." We're more patriotic, more conscientious of the needs of others, more liberal with our financial contributions and, most importantly, we're spending more time in prayer.

We're praying for fellow Americans, for the men and women in our military service, for our president and all of our leaders. A country that is lifted up in prayer cannot and will not be put down in defeat.

To find out more about Zig Ziglar and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. Subscribe to Zig Ziglar's free e-mail newsletter through info@zigziglar.com.