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The “I” of the (championship) storm

Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts has the talent but not yet the complete team to win a championship. Photograph by Jeffrey Beall.

Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts has the talent but not yet the complete team to win a championship. Photograph by Jeffrey Beall.

So it’s to be the Seahawks and the Patriots, two self-satisfied teams that I loathe.

Really, the only thing worse for me would be watching the Boston Red Sox play the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. Or perhaps Roger Federer playing Roger Federer for the Wimbledon title.

It’s hard to say which was more painful – the Green Bay Packers’ collapse against Seattle, or the Patriots’ mauling of the Indianapolis Colts.

Both Aaron Rodgers and Andrew Luck, the Packers’ and Colts’ respective, put-upon QBs, talked about the importance of teamwork before their games. And the role of teamwork, or lack thereof, was especially key to yesterday’s losses. They reminded us that while stars can win games, teams win championships. While their paths to defeat were different, in the end neither Rodgers nor Luck had the guns.

That’s why there’s no “I” in team. Although that’s usually meant as an admonition – the “I” as ego.

But the “I” also stands for the individual. In my upcoming novel “The Penalty for Holding,” New York Templars’ head coach Pat Smalley – a gridiron Capt. Bligh if there ever was one – likes to remind his headstrong, long-suffering quarterback, Quinn Novak, that there’s no “I” in “team.”

Yes, Quinn thinks, but there is in “egomaniac.”

Ah, well. I must look on the bright side. Without a dog in this hunt, I can sit back and watch the game from a purely objective perspective.

All while sweating out what Rafa and Nole are doing at the Australian Open.