There are many persons who are of the opinion that the word team sport is a misnomer. There is no such thing as a team sport. Each and every person tries to compete and seek victory for his or her own personal satisfaction. People do not have any problem working as a team provided the entire team shares the same approach.
Hence, what is often seen as a team is merely a collection of individuals who happen to share the same goal. In some cases, people are more interested in their own personal goals and do not view victory of the team as a parameter. A baseball player who is more interested in scoring home runs and is not interested in stealing bases is obviously not going to work well with the team.
In such a scenario, does it make sense to focus on working as a team or is it advisable to focus on individual excellence? There have been innumerable instances where the brilliance of a single individual was enough to propel a team to victory. Half baked attempts by all team members were found to be insufficient when compared to the brilliant performance of a single player of the opponent team.
Well, there is no compulsion that all the members of a team should be given equal importance. There can be a primadonna in the team given more importance as compared to others. In such a scenario, all other team members try to work as feeders who help the prodigy perform to his or her best.
Even then, it is impossible for the prodigy to function without any assistance whatsoever. Do you think the quarterback will be in a position to have an impact on the game if all other players simply refuse to match up to his standards?
Let us not confuse the issue of individual brilliance with team. Capitalism works on desire for individual profit. Yet, it has proved to be more socially conscious than communism itself. Merging individuals into a soulless team does not guarantee success. Individual brilliance and team success can coexist.