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Saturday, March 24, 2012
Competition within Teams
I've been thinking about the topic of competition within teams especially lately because of all the talk around the NFL. The most apparent example right now is Tebow and him being traded. He was obviously not going to start in front of Peyton Manning in Denver, so he was traded to the Jets. Now though, the back up in New York and former Michigan State quarterback, Drew Stanton, was traded to Indianapolis because he would most likely have been third string after originally being promised the back up spot. Tebow in New York also puts more pressure on the starter, Mark Sanchez, whose play in the past couple seasons has been questioned. A teammate of Sanchez and the Jets, Antonio Cromartie, tweeted when he heard the possibility of Tebow coming to New York. Cromartie defended Sanchez and indirectly told Tebow to stay away. Tebow is however with the Jets now, so it will be interesting to see how some players get along in New York. Jets fans have mixed reactions.
The Tebow trade
However, this topic does not apply just to the NFL, but rather all sports. Players must compete and beat out their teammates for starting positions. If I lost my starting spot to another teammate, I think it would be hard to not have some sort of resentment. What I'm wondering is whether this type of competition is healthy for teams. It indeed helps to find the best players for positions, but how much pressure is put on players? I'd like to hear your thoughts.
This topic is pretty interesting. I had noticed competition between players before, but I never really thought about it being unhealthy for teams. I think there is a huge difference in professional sports, because athletes want to get paid. However, when I think back on the sports I played in high school, the competition was healthy between teammates. It pushed us to work harder, and if someone got a starting spot over someone else, the teammate would be happy as long as it was best for the team, making a win more likely.
I enjoyed your perspective on competition between teammates, as we usually just focus on competition between teams. However, rather than saying it is unhealthy for the teams, I would argue that it actually makes for a better playing team. Competition between teammates, especially in professional sports, motivates each member to try their hardest and continually work on their skills to be better. Because it is professional sports, many players may just be motivated to play well because of endorsements or money, thus the competition between players makes these athletes focus on perfecting their skills and tactics of the sport, rather than just look better to the audiences. There is something to be said about competition. I know that I always look for competition with my classmates and when playing sports, with my other teammates; it gives me the needed push to keep striving to do better. Sometimes, we need to be able to compare ourselves with others to understand where we stand and to improve. Taylor Rothman
Great post! I think it's healthy for teams because it pushes players to play harder with their job security on the line, although I can see the other perspective clearly, and that may be the case for the Jets, especially since there have been reports about there being unrest, ego issues, and lots of discontent and disconnection in the Jets locker room, which ultimately negatively impacted the play on the field for the last three games and created a large rift between Sanchez and his number 1 receiver Santonio Holmes, which hit the public sphere. I also remember back to my days on the soccer team and how when I beat out a teammate of mine for a spot on the field they felt it was necessary to try and exploit me in every which way in front of the coach in order to gain their starting spot back. This all made me work harder, as to not let them win, but it didn't make me feel comfortable at all, and I'm sure that teammate wasn't the only person who had resentment for losing his starting job. I'm also sure that as mentioned above in Sarah's comment that for professionals it is definitely different because they are all trying to shine the brightest in the lights in order to get the fattest pay-check and create the most demand for their talents.
This really is an interesting move on behalf of the New York Jets. The Jets already had a great quarterback, and decided to sign Tim Tebow in addition to their current quarterback, Mark Sanchez. I cannot imagine what Sanchez was thinking when he heard Tebow was recruited to his team. Although some think this is controversial, I think it is a wise move; it will motivate Sanchez to push himself and truly work to his utmost potential. This trade fosters a great deal of competition among the Jets quarterbacks and I think it will lead to positive results. So, overall I think the coaches made the right choice, but only time will tell.
This topic is pretty interesting. I had noticed competition between players before, but I never really thought about it being unhealthy for teams. I think there is a huge difference in professional sports, because athletes want to get paid. However, when I think back on the sports I played in high school, the competition was healthy between teammates. It pushed us to work harder, and if someone got a starting spot over someone else, the teammate would be happy as long as it was best for the team, making a win more likely.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your perspective on competition between teammates, as we usually just focus on competition between teams. However, rather than saying it is unhealthy for the teams, I would argue that it actually makes for a better playing team. Competition between teammates, especially in professional sports, motivates each member to try their hardest and continually work on their skills to be better. Because it is professional sports, many players may just be motivated to play well because of endorsements or money, thus the competition between players makes these athletes focus on perfecting their skills and tactics of the sport, rather than just look better to the audiences. There is something to be said about competition. I know that I always look for competition with my classmates and when playing sports, with my other teammates; it gives me the needed push to keep striving to do better. Sometimes, we need to be able to compare ourselves with others to understand where we stand and to improve.
ReplyDeleteTaylor Rothman
Great post! I think it's healthy for teams because it pushes players to play harder with their job security on the line, although I can see the other perspective clearly, and that may be the case for the Jets, especially since there have been reports about there being unrest, ego issues, and lots of discontent and disconnection in the Jets locker room, which ultimately negatively impacted the play on the field for the last three games and created a large rift between Sanchez and his number 1 receiver Santonio Holmes, which hit the public sphere. I also remember back to my days on the soccer team and how when I beat out a teammate of mine for a spot on the field they felt it was necessary to try and exploit me in every which way in front of the coach in order to gain their starting spot back. This all made me work harder, as to not let them win, but it didn't make me feel comfortable at all, and I'm sure that teammate wasn't the only person who had resentment for losing his starting job. I'm also sure that as mentioned above in Sarah's comment that for professionals it is definitely different because they are all trying to shine the brightest in the lights in order to get the fattest pay-check and create the most demand for their talents.
ReplyDeleteKevin,
ReplyDeleteThis really is an interesting move on behalf of the New York Jets. The Jets already had a great quarterback, and decided to sign Tim Tebow in addition to their current quarterback, Mark Sanchez. I cannot imagine what Sanchez was thinking when he heard Tebow was recruited to his team. Although some think this is controversial, I think it is a wise move; it will motivate Sanchez to push himself and truly work to his utmost potential. This trade fosters a great deal of competition among the Jets quarterbacks and I think it will lead to positive results. So, overall I think the coaches made the right choice, but only time will tell.
Sydney