“Individuals play the game but teams beat the odds.” - US Navy SEALS
It would take you less than a millisecond to identify an example of moral decay in the world around you. It’s sad, and it’s something about which we all complain, yet the problem persists. Things and topics 
Why is this so true? Why is it that we continue to allow decay where reinforcement is so readily available? The sad, simple answer is that we are a nation of cowards. Don’t bother sending me a bunch of stories about bravery and courage from generations past. I’m not saying there are not brave individuals within the borders of this country. I’m not saying that America is scared of other countries. What I am saying is that the wrong teams seem to be more and more attractive to us now than they were in other parts of our limited history. Each and every one of us are players on at least a dozen different teams. Our families can be our team, but they are often the hardest ones to lean on when leaning is needed. I would take an 8 second inhale inside Hillary Clinton’s sweaty gym socks if it spared my brother from that same terror. The same can be said, perhaps more eloquently, of any of the ‘teams’ to which you have pledged allegiance. The problem is that in order to reap the benefits offered by our teammates, admission of weakness is usually required. Pride keeps us from admitting weakness to those we look up to. We allow ourselves to believe we can “fix it” on our own before a member of the team must lend support. You can’t. History has proven time and time again that the greatest victories are those that you share. The same can be said of defeat if there is such a thing as a great one.
Comparably, that huge team we all play for……the one to which we have pledged allegiance with hand over heart……we’re losing that tournament badly. We’ve settled rather
The good news is that room can always be made for you on any team with which you choose to associate. Maybe you’ve been on a team that promotes an ideology with which you don’t necessarily agree. In it’s infancy, perhaps it appealed to you but through the years the team’s “progress” has taken it to destinations you didn’t intend to visit. Perhaps you voted for a man that charmed the world and dispatched his minions to enhance his appeal but now regret that decision. It’s not too late. Switch teams. Perhaps your contract was recently purchased by a demon you believed to have been defeated years ago. Luckily, we are not restricted by the same shackles of professional sports. Your contract is perpetually for sale and you are your only agent. The team with whom you choose to play says a lot about you as a person. Loyalty can be questioned when it’s bestowed upon categorically unworthy recipients. Collusion is the mistress of popularity and both have found a voice in mainstream media. As if the straightforward attacks weren’t bad enough, they are now bombarding our heads with subliminal weaponry. If you have built a core team around you, no one can truly defeat you. Your personal weaknesses may knock you down from time to time, but there is more than likely someone on your team to give strength where you have none. When I have taken the path with all the shiny appeal, someone on my team has been there to smack me in the forehead with a big hammer of lucidity. A loyal teammate will not dwell on your weaknesses but will instead defend you against the threats you don’t see for yourself. They do so with the belief that you will do the same for them if the situation ever calls for it. Those who now stand with heads hung low under the weight of their Obama-laden vote in the 2008 election must now be protected from the 
Here’s another analogy. All year long, we’ve been told of Aaron Rodgers’ and the Green Bay Packers eventual return to the Super Bowl. It was as if the rest of the league was competing for second best. Rodgers. threw for an average of eighteen touchdowns and 750 yards per game according to several of the more loyal announcers on NFL Network. He completed passes to coaches, opposing cheerleaders, commentators, and in one instance completed a game winning pass to the Chipwich guy. So legendary is Rodgers that these stats actually enhanced his numbers for the season. Yesterday, Mr. Rodgers had what we like to call an “off-game.” I am not, in any way, trying to insinuate that Aaron Rodgers is a subpar quarterback. He’s an excellent quarterback. The problem yesterday is that his team put all the responsibility of victory on his arm. When his arm failed him, and the frozen fingers of his receivers dropped almost as many balls as they caught, the rest of the team was incapable of compensating. They had ridden the strength of one man to the playoffs and when that strength failed them, they were exposed. While this example may be terribly painful to the Packer nation, it serves as a poignant reminder that a team, no matter how great it’s superstars, is nothing without an equal effort from each and every member. Had the running game been able to step up and bail Rodgers out, we might be discussing the hated Giants today.
We often do the same things to ourselves. For whatever reason, we allow ourselves to believe that we are bigger than our team. We allow ourselves to believe that all responsibility of victory should be on our shoulders and when we let our teammates down, it’s often devastating to our confidence. The reality is that a true teammate is not 
There are many people out there holding unsigned contracts in their hands. They are looking for a team. For some reason or another, none have made them an offer they could stick with and to this point in their lives, they have been wandering. These people need someone with whom they can identify and advance. While the love of a family is unconditional in it’s most accepted depiction, that love is not always the shield we hope it to be. Sometimes the shoulder we want to cry on is not the one being offered, and sometimes the advice we give sounds better passing the lips of another person. Right now, as a country, there are a lot of people who want to cry on the shoulder of the democratic party but that shoulder is not being offered to them. Instead, that shoulder is being used to carry the very source of so many tears. That shoulder is being used to support the very man with whom so many have become disillusioned. Do we shun them away from our mission because of past transgressions? Do we offer them safe haven while they fully absorb the mistake they made in 2008 or do we let them stay home with their vote in a good old fashioned pout-fest? In our families, there are those who have made mistakes. They have suffered what may seem like an insurmountable defeat, yet this is when they are truly loved the most. Scars make us human. If none of us ever made a mistake, this would be a very boring world and movies, sports, politics, and celebrity gossip shows would SUCK!
As always, thanks for playing.
J. Robert Giles
