What’s a Dream Team Without Passion?
July 4, 2007 | by brett | Permalink
Last night the PTP team gathered for pizza and contributed to an interesting discussion about passion. The subject of the discussion stemmed from an interview we did with Rick Welts, who led the marketing efforts behind the original USA “Dream Team.” We took the stance that the USA no longer has a “Dream Team.” The reason why there is no “Dream Team” is because the basketball team we put out on the floor does not play with passion.
Let me tell you why Jerry Colangelo, Director of USA Basketball, can learn something from the Pursue the Passion. On the first tour we booked interviews with people based on their title, or by the company they work for. While we found that the majority of people we talked with fit our profile of “passionate,” we still had a handful of people who clearly did not fit the description. This put a small dark cloud over our heads because we were not living up to the name we had set out for the tour.
The Pursue the Passion tour that we are on right now has “Dream Team” like people included on the interview list. We are booking interviews based on a person’s passion, not their title. It is the most exhilarating, uplifting experience talking with these types of people.
The USA team is making the mistake we made on the 2006 tour. They are offering roster spots to players based on their name. Their endorsements. Their marketability.
Why?
This clearly did not work for the USA based on their bronze performance in 2004. Plus, I do not want to see Carlos Arroyo, a Puerto Rican point guard and NBA bench player, rip apart an American squad again by playing with pride and passion for his country.
I’d like to see the 2008 “Dream Team” compiled on passion. They should have an application for players to make their case of why they should be on the team (aka submit your story). They should have every player on the team referred by a coach who can vouch that a certain player plays with passion (90% of our interviews are booked on a referral basis). This will weed out the players that are joining the team for all the wrong reasons, and get other players on the team for all the right reasons.
Take a note from the PTP. Compile a Dream Team based on passion…or else.
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Kelly G Says:
July 5th, 2007
You are so right on! I wonder what coaches would be up to that challenge. There are so many players that are good, but have some funky attitudes. I say, get a bunch of professional athletes together that have true passion for the game and they will walk all over their opponents!
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