Winning is not everything. We like slam dunks, home runs, the long bomb, holes in one. They're fun to watch, easy to digest and the essence of efficiency. The purists drone on about the Sweet Science, and all we want to see is a first-round knockout. That's how American the home run is.
Teamwork is for the aristocrats, the dilettantes.
We're a nation of rogue, can-do folks who create spectacular events out of sheer will. It's that old gunslinger mystique, you know. The West wasn't won by committee. In case you haven't noticed, a loner mentality underpins our democracy. It's what gives everybody, no matter his pedigree, hope.