Teamwork

In one of the greatest Super Bowl shockers of all time, in 2002, the New England Patriots topped the St. Louis Rams 20-17. As defending champions, the Rams entered the game as the heavy favorite to win. Dubbed "The Greatest Show on Turf," their electrifying offense had been unstoppable in the regular season and throughout the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Patriots had limped into the Super Bowl with two narrow playoff wins. Oddsmakers in Las Vegas listed New England as 14-point underdogs heading into the game. In fact, in the Super Bowl's 41-year history, only two other contests were predicted to be as lopsided as the Rams-Patriots match up.

One memorable moment of the Patriots' upset win occurred before kickoff when the teams took the field. As the pre-game excitement built into a fever pitch, the starters of the St. Louis Rams were introduced individually. One by one the Rams' players strutted onto the field for a moment of personal glory-each player's face prominently displayed on the stadium's jumbo screens. Minutes later, in an unprecedented statement of togetherness, the Patriots broke with years of NFL tradition by choosing to enter the field as a team. The PA announcer simply introduced them as "The New England Patriots," and the entire team, both starters and backups, raced onto the field as one.

As the architect of the Patriots 2002 Super Bowl team, head coach Bill Belichick had ingrained the value of teamwork into his squad. The Patriots may not have had an equal level of talent as the all-star performers on the Rams, but their effectiveness as a team carried them to the title. In a recent column for Inc.com, Chris Musselwhite comments on the qualities of winning teams, each of which was on display in the 2002 New England Patriots.

An effective team understands the big picture.

As Musselwhite writes, "In an effective team, each team member understands the context of the team's work to the greatest degree possible. That includes understanding the relevance of his or her job and how it impacts the effectiveness of others and the overall team effort." As demonstrated by their Super Bowl entrance, the Patriots dignified each player for his contributions to the team's overall performance. Substitutes and role players were equally given credit for the team's victories. The kicker was given just as much respect as the quarterback. Perhaps it's fitting that the kicker (Adam Vinatieri) would make a last second field goal to earn the Patriots their Super Bowl victory over the Rams.

An effective team has common goals.

The Patriots were bonded by a shared pursuit of football's ultimate prize-the Lombardi Trophy, given to the NFL champions. Players did not get caught up trying to accumulate personal statistics or achieve individual honors. They were of one mind in their goal of being the top team in the league.

An effective team works collaboratively, as a unit.

As Musselwhite observes, "In an effective team you'll notice a penchant for collaboration and a keen awareness of interdependency." His words are truly spoken for a football team. For the quarterback to complete a pass, the wide receiver has to run the correct route, and the linemen have to block the defenders. Each play is a microcosm of teamwork, and the Patriots understood the importance of carrying out their assignments in a spirit of unity.

The Carpenter

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer, a building contractor, of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by.

His employer was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but it was easy to see that his heart was no longer in his work. He had lost his enthusiasm and had resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

When the carpenter finished his work and his boss came to inspect the new house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. “This is your house,” he said, “my gift to you.”

What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.
So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built for ourselves. If we had realized, we would have done it differently.

Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity.

The plaque on the wall says, “Life is a do-it-yourself project.” Who could say it more clearly? Your life today is the result of your attitudes and choices in the past. Your life tomorrow will be the result

SEATTLE — In a scene straight out of college, Pete Carroll stood in the middle of a pile on the midfield logo, jumping up and down with his players celebrating in unison.

The labels stuck on the seven-win Seattle Seahawks – jokes, lightweights, laughingstocks – no longer fit Saturday.

That's when Carroll's rowdy crew sent the defending Super Bowl champions packing, pulling one of the most unlikely upsets in playoff history, a 41-36 win over the New Orleans Saints.

Who Dat moving on in the NFC playoffs? It's the Seahawks.

"It didn't matter what I said to them, or what was said outside, and all of the story lines and all that, they just did not buy it," Carroll said. "Where that came from? If I knew that, we'd have something special here. It came out of an attitude and it came out of a faith in one another."

Matt Hasselbeck threw four touchdown passes and Marshawn Lynch scored on an electrifying 67-yard run with 3:22 left to clinch the first playoff victory by a losing team.

The Seahawks (8-9) held a 34-20 early in the fourth quarter before Drew Brees looked ready to lead the Saints (11-6) on one of their patented comebacks. But Lynch broke a half-dozen tackles for his TD and a few anxious minutes later, the party was on at Qwest Field, the NFL's loudest stadium.

Seattle, the first division winner with a losing record, will play next weekend, either at top-seeded Atlanta or No. 2 Chicago.

It's a trip no one outside Seattle's locker room expected to happen.

"I assume people are going to say it was more about what the Saints didn't do and not what we did, or that the Saints lost the game, not us winning it," Seattle wide receiver Mike Williams said. "Whatever is said, it doesn't matter. What matters is the direction our team is in and the focus the guys have in the locker room."

"It wasn't just one thing, it felt like everyone did a little something to help us get the win," Hasselbeck said. "It was just an awesome feeling."

But for all Hasselbeck did, the lasting image of this stunner will be Lynch's run that clinched the victory.

Lynch took a second-down carry with less than four minutes to go and then the highlights began. Eight different Saints' got their hands on Lynch as he shed six tackles. Lynch added a massive stiff arm that sent cornerback Tracy Porter to the turf and dived backward into the end zone on the longest scoring run of his career.

"That was the most unbelievable, unrealistic play I've ever seen in the history of football," Seattle linebacker Aaron Curry said. "It was just unreal. It seems just like a routine football play, then he takes it to another level."

Hasselbeck, Lynch and a strong performance by Seattle's offense extended the Saints franchise misery to 0-4 in road playoff games.

The Saints were considered the second-best team in the conference behind the NFC South-winning Falcons. Even though they lost to Tampa Bay in the season finale a week ago and were without running backs Pierre Thomas and Chris Ivory, safety Malcolm Jenkins and linebacker Danny Clark, the Saints were favored by 10 points to advance.

Now they go home.

"The underdog role, I think we cherished it and kind of took it to heart," Seattle's Marcus Trufant said. "Nobody gave us a chance and we just kind of shrugged our shoulder. We knew we were going to come out and play our ball."

by Tim Booth

Show Your Colors

This Seahawks Fan has taken "Show Your Colors" to a whole new level.

What will be your 2011 Lifetime Memories?

How to Guarantee a GREAT Day Every Day!
by Chris Widener

A few years ago, I had a standing interview every Monday morning on a radio station in the southeast that I enjoyed very much. You can imagine though that it became routine. So to make it a little more fun, the host got to where he didn't even tell me the topic before we would go live on the air - that put some excitement into it!

One week he asked me the following question cold, at the beginning of the show: How can a person guarantee that they will have a great day, every day? Now some may find that a hard question but for me it was actually a very easy question to answer (a little harder to actually live, but not that hard). You see, I believe in principles that govern our lives so that we can control our destinies and create for ourselves the kind of lives that we desire. People who live based on principles achieve what they desire while people who live reacting to circumstances do not.

So, what were the principles that I gave to guarantee that a person could have a GREAT day every day? Here they are:

Focus on Today Only.

Yes, we need to have long-range goals. But our focus must be on today. My old equation is that your short-term tasks multiplied by time equal your long-term accomplishments. With that in mind, it is imperative that we focus in on our short-term, to control it and make it what will eventually, when multiplied by time, equal our long-term goals. Don't think about tomorrow.

Today is enough trouble in and of itself. You can work on tomorrow when it gets here. Instead, make today the best day you have ever had. Realize that when you lay down to sleep tonight you will have just given up the only shot you will ever have at today. Today is now gone and it is only a memory. You only get one shot at your today so focus intently on making it all that it possibly can be. Focus, focus, focus! When you focus on making today great, you are on the road to guaranteeing that you will make your day GREAT, every day!

Embrace Your Power to Choose.

Dwight D. Eisenhower said that "The history of free men is never written by chance but by choice, their choice." When your today becomes your yesterday, you will look back and realize that that day was a result of your choices and your choices only. "But wait Chris, what if my boss controlled my day? That isn't my choice!" But it is your choice to work for someone else! You choice to let someone else tell you what to do. You chose the feelings of helplessness that overwhelm you when you feel bad that you do not control your own destiny. The moment we realize that we have a gift from God that the animals do not have, mainly the gift of free will and choice, and when we realize the inherent power within that gift, and ultimately when we finally begin to exercise that gift, then and only then, will we begin to create for ourselves a GREAT day each and every day! Take ownership of the direction in your life. Make your choices then carry them out!

Your Attitude is Up to You.

Yes, bad things may happen in your day. The pitcher for Team Circumstances may have a tremendous curveball waiting for you and you cannot control that. You cannot control what others may do or say. But you do control your attitude. Your attitude about whatever happens to you is up to you.

When something happens to you, you have the choice: Will you let it get you down and depressed, keeping you from forging ahead and making the day the best one ever? Or will you say to yourself that no matter what happens you are on the path to success and no obstacle will keep you from it? Will you say, "Sometime you win and sometimes you lose - I guess this time I lost"? Will you say, "Sometime you win and sometimes you learn - I can really learn something from this!"?

It is all in what attitude we choose. Your attitude is up to you and when you choose to have a great attitude, you are choosing to guarantee to have a GREAT day, every day!

Live Out and Act on Your Priorities.

So far we have dealt with internal perspectives, and that is indeed the place to start. But the practical place is in our priorities. If we want to make our days great, then we have to live out those things that will by definition make our days great. And those things are what are important to us. They are our priorities. So each morning you start out by saying, "What things are important to me today? What are the things I need to accomplish in order for me to lay down tonight and know that I lived a GREAT day?" Then you put those in order of most important to least important.

Don't so what is fun. Don't do what is easy. Do what is IMPORTANT! Live out your priorities! When you do, you will guarantee that you will make your day GREAT, every day!

Tomorrow, when you wake up, go through the four following points and see if you don't make tomorrow a GREAT day:

Focus on today only.

Understand that I get to choose how today will go.

Remain in a positive attitude no matter what happens.

Live out and act on my priorities.

Do this and you will guarantee a GREAT day, every day!