In the book I wrote for athletic coaches called œThe Art of Losing, the tag line refers to our Made-for-TV World, (Book is available at lulu.com). Other than golf, perhaps baseball has benefited more from television than any other sport.

I am not talking about actual game coverage. I am talking about Sports Center on ESPN.
You can see the highlights of a days play in the major leagues in 10-15 minutes on Sports Center. Lets face it. How many of us have the time to watch a whole baseball game, much less a whole weeks play? There are too many games and that takes too much time.

Dont get me wrong. I loved playing the game and I love watching a game at the ballpark with my friends. But 81 home games? You must be kidding. So, back to Sports Center. They dont call baseball Americas œPastime for no reason.

So why am I telling you this? Is there a point to my mutterings? The point is how television influences our children and everyone else who loves competitive athletics. Not all that influence is positive. This isnt because television is bad. It is just that it has a singular point of view called œselling air time.

That is the context for everything they present whether it is pro, college or youth sports. Kids think that whatever they see on TV is what is important and therefore should be emulated. Lets check it out.

Take our favorite fall sport, college football (no disrespect to pro football). Every time a player makes a tackle in the backfield, sacks a quarterback or deflects a pass he is 10 yards down the field beating his chest and demonstrating to the grandstands. This is especially distasteful to me when his team is losing the game by 14 points.

We speak about football as a team game which it is. Yet, we have players posturing about their individual efforts. There is nothing that individual did that was possible without ten other guys doing their job. We talk team in every team sport and at the same time the television coverage extols the virtues of individual performance.

We dont accomplish anything in our lives without other people. Building those relationships is critical to any success we might have.

Shouldnt any celebration be a team celebration? Wouldnt it be more appropriate to do so after the game is over? What about celebrating those who did their job with little to no fanfare? Shouldnt their team and the coaches celebrate with them?

Coaches have everything to say about what is important and what is not. When is it going to be unacceptable to celebrate the slam dunk in the first quarter of the game or tug on his or her jersey as if to say œlook at me. Without the efforts of teammates the opportunity to shine would never have been available.

Everybody talks team out in the business world. When are we going to start living it? When are we going to actually care about the people on every team we are a part of? Work, family, community and yes, the world could use that. It is not that hard to do and it starts with the œHead Coach. Mom, Dad, CEO, Manager, Coach and anyone else in a leadership position sets the stage not television. If leadership doesnt step up to the plate then TV takes over.

We will always have issues to deal with. The greater our technological advances, the more individual we become. I observe children walking home from school, six or seven in a group. No one is talking to anyone. They are too busy fiddling with their I-phone, blackberry, etc.

Call me old-fashioned. There is nothing that will be as effective in being a team player as talking to each other. Check it out.