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And now choosing to be introduced as a team, The New England Patriots...

Remember that?

It wasn't too long ago (around five years) when the Patriots, as a team, came charging out of the tunnel at the 2001 Super Bowl.

Up until then, each player was introduced to their own fireworks display, music montage and of course a ridiculous dance that every 300-pound man should avoid.

But finally, and I don't know whose idea it was, a team got it right. They showed the millions watching what sports is really all about, especially team sports. Unfortunately, it didn't stick. The Florida Panthers tried it the following year and people called them impostors and copy-cats. Can a team not copy a good idea?

It's really too bad because since that shining day of team spirit, sports overall has taken a nose-dive into the toilet. This NFL season saw league officials make new rules banning end-zone celebrations - the same celebrations that take up at least 15 minutes of Sports Center time every week and the same immature celebrations that are the pinnacle of self-centered showboating.

I am not going to say they're not funny or entertaining, but in the grand scheme of things I would be embarrassed to see my teammate making a fool of himself after scoring six points. I'd tell him "Win a Super Bowl, win two, celebrate with me on the sideline and geez we're 3-14, stop making a fool of yourself and our team."

There is no "I" in team, right? For being "professionals," not too many sports players get it and the epidemic stretches way out of the NFL.

In the NBA, Kobe Bryant is averaging around 35 points a game. He scored 51 last night in a loss to the Suns and he scored 81 earlier in the season.

"WOW!" right? He's averaging more than Michael Jordan, the Lakers must be in first place. NOPE! They are barely squeaking into the playoffs this year and they will most surely lose in the first round. One player cannot win you a championship.

When the Lakers won their three championships, the team as a whole was crazy good. Shaq, Kobe, Glen Rice, Robert Horry, Derek Fisher etc..etc... They played as a team and made results. Then in a move of pure selfishness, the team combusted. They would be "seven-peating" this year if they had done things the right way.

It seems that if they had taken the advice they most likley heard from their junior-high basketball coaches, they'd be making history. History that means something, like winning seven titles in a row.

Instead, teams that play together are racking up the rings. The Spurs and Pistons got it right and they will continue to get it right. The Patriots got it right and won three Super Bowls in the last five years.

In baseball, all these idiots juicing on steroids haven't won any championships. Mark McGuire won some in the 80s, with juice maniac Jose Canseco, but the whole Oakland team was loaded with talent to begin with.


So what happened? Did we forget about the Patriots? I believe it was that team spirit that won them that Super Bowl. The same goes for the Spurs and Pistons who will probably be in the finals again this year.

These "stars" need to peel the Benjamins from over their eyes and do their jobs. They need to do what it takes to win.

Because if a player on your favorite football team is more worried about their end-zone celebration then winning games, you're in trouble and you deserve more.