THE ICEBERG

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THE ICEBERG

It takes more than nine players to make a winning team. The starting nine may win the game, but it takes the whole team to win the championship - to go all the way. The team is like an iceberg. You see the starting nine, but underneath it is that big, wide, strong base, - the rest of the team. This is the part of the team that builds the character of a lasting winner. The more dedicated the man on the bench, the harder he works, the more he pushes and strengthens the starting players - the higher he pushes the iceberg out of the water - the bigger it gets - the better the team. If he quits, doesn't give his all, or becomes complacent in his position, he erodes that strong base and erodes the character of the team. He contributes to the error in a tense, one run game, he is partly to blame for the mental lapse in the last inning in the big game, he undermined the total effort necessary for the team to come back from a three run deficit in the championship game. And yet this player on the bench must be there - watching, waiting, and hoping - sometimes agonizingly - for the chance to use his special skill to better the team effort - to make the base of the iceberg stronger - to help build the character of the team. Yes, agonizingly because he knows there is a chance he may not play. He may even be the man that is hurt, but working twice as hard to be ready to play for the big games. He may be the man on the bench that demonstrates to the fan that this team really has character from the bench to the field. But even more importantly, he may be the guy that the player in the game looks to late in the game. That player may be hurting, out of breath, and burning inside for that spirit, that push, that enthusiasm, and that love necessary to make the big play and win the game for the whole team. When the game is over, when the season ends and all of the parents and fans are talking about the top of the iceberg - the stars and heroes, the players will know that the real winner is the team, the whole iceberg, especially the base - the men on the bench who build the character to make the team a lasting winner.