The New England Patriots have devised a plan, they’ve devised a system that seems to be working. In this day of sports, it’s obvious that many men look to promote themselves to become stars. Others go to work and let their actions do the talking. Sports are an entity of competition. One man trying to be better than the rest. The New England Patriots have used an idea. An idea of teamwork, and no division among the classes of players. This team is a model for every man and woman. This team is a model for humanity, and how working together can achieve much successes.
Week to week, the Patriots prepare. They study the task at hand, and come up with a plan to succeed. To a man on this team, not one of them believes that they are the sole reason this team is winning. When you talk to Bill Belichick, he will always give the credit to the players. He won’t treat them as subordinates. He looks up to them. On the other hand, none of the players feel they are the only reason for victory. They thank their fellow players, and the coaching staff. They don’t talk trash, they just go to work. They realize the importance of working together, and how many teams have been destroyed by the hype. The Indianapolis Colts have an explosive offense, but not much defense. The team is centered around, first Peyton Manning, second his receivers and running back, and third a brotherhood of camaraderie. The Pittsburgh Steelers have a team that relies on a dominant run game, and a dominant defense. In fact, Plaxico Burress complained after losing the AFC Championship game. He complained that he wasn’t getting enough of the ball. Why would he want to get the ball more, when the system led them to a 15-1 season? It is because he wants a little more notoriety, a little more credit for the success..
In opposition, Corey Dillon of the Patriots doesn’t care about notoriety. He had notoriety with the Cincinnati Bengals. He was the story in that town. He broke records, and all the credit would go to him for his rushing yards. That bred discontent in the offensive line. They knew that he would be nothing if they couldn’t create holes in the defense for him. This was the first step in dividing the offense, and turning them against each other. When Dillon came to New England, he came with hope…he came with the opportunity to play within a team. He has been exceptionally well-behaved. The family that he entered has instilled in him the natural spirit of mankind. Ithas showed him that being the star wasn’t as important as accomplishing a goal. Not only has he not faltered in behavior, but he has seen, heard and spoken no evil.
So what is it about this team, and how are they a model of teamwork? Not a single member of this team wants to stand out as the reason the team is successful…To a man, they all say the same things. “I couldn’t have done it without those other guys.” The coach says, “The credit goes to the players.” He doesn’t think that he could do what he is done without them. So he effectively brought himself to be an equal to the players. He knows that he can devise a game plan, and the players can do what they can do to execute this plan. He is not better than them. He knows, and they know this to be true. They work together, and if there is a problem, they discuss the plan’s effectiveness. If one member of this team tries to be above the team, the rest of the team will tell him this. Whether it be with a joke, or a stern talking to. They realize that they are nothing without their teammates. The only way that another team is going to be better than the Patriots, is to practice these same values.
Now turn your attention to everyday life. Look around you right now. Maybe you are in your living room or dining room. You see furniture, electricity, phone lines, and the latest technology. All of these luxuries that you can afford were built by society as a whole…as a team. Whether it was the building of these luxuries, providing the materials to build these luxuries, or building the tools (which required their own materials), to the intellectual man who discovered how to make these luxuries, everything you see would not be possible without the working blue-collar masses. All the men and women it took to produce these luxuries tend to be the least financially secure. Unless they have slaved and saved to gain capital. Then they can find a way to make free money with the money they have. While they worked hard (I tend to enjoy hard work, but not everybody does) some other people have exploited the hard work by others for their own benefit.
We do not get to choose our parents, so we succumb to our position. This in itself breeds discontent. This discontent is what has waged war on opposing ideas, turned men into criminals, and held the poor as captives to their position. Meanwhile, those who were fortunate to be born by the proper parents get spoiled, and continue the system because it worked for them, all the while believing that stepping on your fellow man is the way to get ahead..
These people are unwilling to give up their power, but it is the power that corrupts. They are more willing to exploit the people that made all of their luxuries, and then they look down on them. They fail to realize that if this system allowed equality, then all of the workers would be in their position. When that happens, who is going to do the real work of the world?
It is only fitting that the Patriots and the Eagles are in the Super Bowl this year. Both are teams that have strived on teamwork, versatility, problem solving, and preparation. Both teams are named after the spirit of America. If it wasn’t for New England, and Philadelphia where would this country be? Native Americans would probably not even enjoy the wealth from their reservations and casinos. Finally! In the face of the extravagance of sports and pop culture, the benefactors of the economy of entertainment have thrown material possession to the wind, and have learned how to play as a team. It has worked extremely well for them, hasn’t it?
We need to learn a lesson from these teams. Yes, they make a lot of money, whether it be one million or fifteen million dollars, but they continue to work together and stay together out of solidarity. Players have taken less money to be involved with a brethren that seeds itself in the heart much stronger than money ever will. As long as we fight each other for a good life, the whole of humanity will suffer. If one part of society suffers, the whole of society suffers. The same way that a personal ailment in your body can lead to other problems. Every system of government that we have tried so far has led to exploitation. It’s time to try a system which has never been tried. A system that doesn’t hurt us when we stop our everyday lives to help our brother out. A system that doesn’t discriminate, and doesn’t turn one class of people against the other. Slowly we evolve into this kind of system stemming from brutal slavery of the ancient past to constant coercion of society today. Freedom is freedom, and nothing else. All men should enjoy freedom, and it is this freedom that will free a man’s instincts to shine through. We are a social creature, and we have learned that helping each other makes life much easier. We just don’t always help another, because we have to be worried about our own interests.
The Patriots are a model of society. They work together, they work hard, and they don’t attempt to benefit personal gain by believing that they could be who they are without the help of somebody else. When a member of the Patriots thinks only of himself, he is short lived to be a part of that winning team. We have seen how even the simplest organization grows strong through solidarity and team work. So we must learn to put this into practice in our every day life.
Help your fellow human. When it could possibly cost you the money that you seek out, speak to the giver of this money. Tell them that you couldn’t let another human being suffer. Tell them that we need to stick together to make this beautiful life better. United we stand, divided we fall.
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