winning and losing
It’s a tough year to be a White Sox fan, what with losing being the most consistent aspect of their game. Manager Ozzie Guillen impresses me (as does the young second baseman, Danny Richar — grand slam last night!) in his post-game remarks — he’s quick to point out his mistakes and adamant about accepting his share of the blame. He’s said, time and again, that it’s easy to manage a winning team.
Lately I’ve been thinking about that in the context of what it means to be a good teammate. Easy to be a good teammate when we’re getting things right and winning our matches. But if you’ve ever undertaken a competitive endeavor you have doubtless learned that we lose far more often than we win. What does it take to be a good teammate when things aren’t going as well as we’d hoped?
I think it varies from player to player. The characters in Keeping Score, Eleanor and Miguel for example, have wildly different ideas about what makes a good teammate. For Miguel, a good teammate is one who pulls his own weight and gets the job done. In Eleanor’s opinion, to be a good teammate one must be actively supportive and attentive. Anna, Eleanor’s expert partner, finds her favorite teammates are the ones who take responsibility for their own mistakes and refrain from dissecting the actions of others.  Miguel’s partner Johan appreciates silent teammates; tell me the result, he says, then shut the hell up.
My favorite teammates are the ones from whom I learn. How about yours?
August 18th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
While I have not played with very many of the people with international or even high level national experience, the one that stands out is Petra Hamman who I got to play with in a national mixed. She never harped on any errors and only spoke of maintaining concentration and playing one hand at a time.
But I think it is similar to managing a team. Some people need encouragement, some a bit of babying and some a good slap in the face to wake them up.
August 20th, 2007 at 8:42 am
One of my favorite stories that Geo tells is a time he played the mixed pairs with Petra and they were leading the event but didn’t know it. He’s always said the same thing — she’s one of the best.
August 20th, 2007 at 11:06 am
The best teammates are the supportive and positive ones. Anyone can have a bad hand: loss of concentration, terrible bid, poor luck.
Good teammates – whatever bad happened – will tell you to sluff it off, focus on what is ahead, and win anyway.
August 20th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
patient teammates. communication is the key to success in any relationship. people who are patient seem to be the best communicators. this allows them to also be the most supportive and the best from whom to learn.