Feature Story
Wolf packs and state champions
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist
For the
strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack
— Rudyard
Kipling
In the harsh
months of winter, wolf cubs learn a life-or-death lesson very early — the
lesson of interdependence, illustrated in the final phrase of Rudyard Kipling’s
poem.
Every
football player learns this lesson from the first day he puts on equipment.
Football is the ultimate team sport, because no one survives by individual
effort alone. In other team sports like hockey, basketball and soccer, young
superstars might try, but eventually they learn the lesson of team
interdependence — or they will ultimately fail.
The 2007 state championship (5A) football
game featured Cretin-Derham Hall, a well-coached,
highly-explosive offensive powerhouse, lined up against the most synergistic
team in
This team was the best example of synergy
ever to compete in any sport in
OK. I didn’t see Bernie Bierman’s 1934 Football Gophers, so maybe I’m out of my
league as a witness for eternal greatness. But I did see every home game in
1949, a National Championship team that included Bud Grant — the father of
Coach Mike Grant, the architect of this
It seemed to a youthful football fan that the ’49 Gophers had a line
that included nothing but NFL Hall-of-Famers competing
against college kids. So awesome was this team that sportswriters named them
National Champs despite two losses. They were that scary.
The 1960 Champions were similarly loaded
with mega-talent — and despite a Rose Bowl loss, this
team wowed the media into overlooking that one slip-up.
Gopher baseball championships, World Series wins
by our Twins, the incredible feat of the Gopher wrestlers to replace perennial
powers, National Championships by Gopher hockey’s men and women, several more
at the
Of course, each year there are state high
school champions in every sport, and each of these teams earns their permanent
place in this tradition — an undisputed badge of honor. So, I’m not asserting that the 2007 (5A)
football champion was better than all others — every sport — forever and ever.
They were simply the best example of
synergy I’ve ever seen — the ultimate model of how to be a champion.
Synergy — where the whole becomes greater
than the sum of the individual parts — is required for success in every team
sport, but football is the most vivid example. Track, wrestling and swimming
are at the opposite end of the synergy spectrum, because one competitor cannot
physically alter the performance of a teammate by his/her own play.
Certainly there is a great deal of spirit
passed from one to another on these teams, and when one wrestler wins a decisive
match, it might improve the performance of teammates — just as it would in
track and swimming — for emotional reasons. But a wrestler can’t lay a block
for his partner, paving the way for an easy pin.
The Eagle offensive linemen laid blocks so effectively, there was hardly a play where
the hole wasn’t obvious from 30 rows up. So the first three yards were a piece
of cake for someone as gifted as these running backs. On the other hand, the
runners helped the linemen by setting up those blocks — faking a sweep and
cutting back inside the blocker. Deception by the quarterback also helped set
up blocks, and when roles were reversed, the linemen duped defensive backs into
expecting “run” on play-action passes.
There was extra effort by each running
back on every play — so when the Cretin pursuit closed down the hole made by
blockers, the extra three or four or 15 yards came from the entire pack moving
their legs toward the goal line.
Perfection? No; they didn’t score on every drive — just about,
however. Imagine, against a team as good
as Cretin, the Eagles converted on 11 out of 13, third down attempts — never
needing a punt the entire bleeping game. Superhuman? No, but darn close.
Defense was equally a team effort. When a
lineman was double-teamed, he made the extra effort to get loose just in time
to strip the Cretin ball carrier of his lead blockers. Defensive backs and
linebackers finished the job that was made easier by the linemen’s effort. Team defense that was truly greater than the sum of the individual
parts.
Football is about interdependence — every
player depending on teammates to do their jobs. Collective execution makes each
individual better than he’d be if he made a supreme effort on his own. Every
football team, from the best to the worst, heeds this lesson of
interdependence.
Rudyard Kipling, by his poems, and Mike
Grant, by his leadership, are making a statement to hockey players who care to
learn. Hockey is a game that thrives on creativity, more than football. But
when a talented hockey player learns the value of interdependence — only then
can he/she be as creative and effective as possible, because creativity could
be defined as using
Then, when his/her teammates commit to
the same philosophy of interdependence, the team will become synergistic — like
an orchestra — like a wolfpack. Only then is there a
chance to join the champions from every sport — wearing that team badge of
shared accomplishment.
The most synergistic hockey teams in
history were the Soviets from the early 1960s to the 90s. Every player
contributed to the effectiveness of the team, and each player was dependent on
teammates to make himself better. This is the advice
of Kipling and Grant: the strength of the pack is the wolf — and the strength
of the wolf is the pack.
Jack Blatherwick, Ph.D., is
a physiologist for the