As I lay on the Snow King ball field grass with my wife and kids watching this year’s fantastic Fourth of July fireworks show, I pondered the qualities that make America worth celebrating. Two uniquely American concepts came to mind.
The first is football. Sure, baseball is our national pastime, but football now defines the American sports identity. Like many Americans, I love football. I love it because it’s the ultimate team sport. Football requires every individual player to commit to a common vision, while sacrificing personal gain for the good of the entire team.
In football, the coach’s primary responsibility is to get a group of diverse individuals to work together as a team toward a shared goal. The shared goal is clear – score more points than the other team and win the game. In order to achieve this goal, all eleven players need to be on the same page on every play. If one person misses an assignment, the play breaks down, and things fall apart.
