As you all probably know, I'm not a football fan...at all.

I don't watch college football ever and probably can't name 5 guys in the NFL (is Mark Rypien still the Redskins' quarterback?).

That said, I don't live under a rock and like everyone else, was entertained by the ending of the Alabama/Auburn game on Saturday when I saw the highlights on SportsCenter. (For those you who didn't see what happened, Alabama attempted at 57 yard field goal in overtime, only to have the kick come up short, an Auburn player catch it deep in his own end zone and then run it 110 yards for the game-winning touchdown).

To me, the best part of the entire scenario was what occurred after game. As happens in all big games (in all sports) that result in a close loss, fans, commentators, and reporters immediately look for a player to blame or a coach to second guess. This game was no different as almost everyone pointed to Alabama Kicker Cade Foster, who missed 3 field goals as the reason his team lost.

The response that the Alabama team had to this finger-pointing was incredible.

Almost instantly after the game, Cade's teammates and coaches rallied around him by pledging their continued support and confidence in him while simultaneously chastising any so-called "fans" who would want to place blame on a single player.

(You can google numerous articles to find these quotes or to see that a Facebook fan page set up to support Cade had over 40,000 likes in under 24 hours.)

I was really impressed by how quickly and wholeheartedly the entire Alabama organization rallied around this kicker and think it sets a great example for how teammates should treat each other, especially after tough games.

In any team sport, placing the blame for a loss or the credit for a win on any one player is absurd, and teammates and coaches who understand this are much better equipped to operate as a single unit, and therefore perform better as a whole.

This concepts applies outside of the sports world and that's why I believe it is so important to learn at a young age.

Teams, companies, and organizations, etc always have a better chance of success when everyone is working towards a common goal and the individual accomplishments (and failures) are only viewed as a very small part of a bigger mission.

I've been on teams where it seemed like too many players were on the field only for themselves: guys who could care less whether or not the team won...as long as they went 4-for-4, it was a good day. I've also been on teams where guys played for the team: as long as the team performed to the best of its ability, the individual accomplishments or failures didn't matter.

So as we are about to embark on another Little League season, before the drafts are held and before practices begin, let's help our players understand that while we always want to encourage individual effort and improvement, when the regular season rolls around, the teams that will be most successful are the ones where every player understands he is just one small piece of something bigger than himself.

As a coach or player, assigning credit or blame on individual players is incredibly counter-productive. Every single game this season, some players will play well and others will not. In other games, the rolls will be reversed. By recognizing success and failure in terms of the Team and not the Individual, players will learn to be unselfish on the field. And when a team plays unselfishly and supports each other, they have a much great chance at success.

When I look back on my baseball career, from Little League through pro ball, I don't remember my batting average in this season or my ERA in that season: what I remember is championships won (and lost), my teammates, and the experience of playing the game.

I promise that 20 years from now when your son looks back on the 2014 season, he will have no idea what his personal statistics were. But he will remember the experience that he had with his friends/teammates and how much success his teams had.

It's our job as parents and coaches help those memories be positive ones.