Peruvian Fishermen -- Oil on Canvas: 9x12

Even in a nation obsessed by sports, we talk far too much about teamwork, generally doing so in a manner meant to bring us all into the fold.

The message is proclaimed in our schools, from the pulpit, at seminars -- "We need to work as a team!" we are admonished, images of happy, smiling people, hands and voices raised to the skies as they sing, "When we all pull together . . . how happy we'll be!"

But as any brave soul who has volunteered to coach Little League will attest, real sports teams that are out to win don't always work together smoothly for the good of all the team members. To paraphrase George Orwell, "Some people are more important team members than others," and the purpose of the Others is to make sure that the Some People have their chance to shine -- and woe to the lesser team member who fumbles the ball or tries something new that doesn't succeed as well as it should have.

We forget, when we drone on about teamwork, that the ultimate purpose of the team is to win, and sometimes the process of winning is a messy one -- for the other team, certainly, but also for the winners as well.

But a couple of years ago, a women's softball game between Western Washington University and Central Washington University resulted in teamwork as we theoretically propound it but rarely actually do it. A short movie was made of this game, the link to which can be found in my Links section under The Home Run That Almost Wasn't. Even if you, like me, are a decidedly non-team-sports fan, this seven-minute feature is well worth watching, and the surprise but true ending is a real day maker.