Support this team

Few words today are as overused as “team” but fewer still are as vital to success as creating a fully functioning team with each member contributing their strengths while covering each other’s weaknesses. Too many times a “team” consists of one or two superstars and the other guys. But great leaders find the ways to fill the rest of the roster with a solid supporting cast who often become stars of their own.

The 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks are great examples of this phenomenon. Seattle had a great quarterback in Jim Zorn and the most productive wide receiver in NFL history but never became more than a fun group of losers. Whereas after drafting Mean Joe Greene in 1969, Pittsburgh drafted eight other future Hall of Famers and additional stellar players in the next five years creating what is considered the best team in NFL history.

The Spokane area has a decision to make: add quality team members like Bob McCaslin, Larry Haskell and Alene Lindstrand to the already exceptional squad of Mike Padden, Matt Shea, Rob Chase, Vicki Horton and Jeff Holy to continue our march toward world-class excellence, or keep plodding along as the likable losers.

Steven Neill

Spokane Valley