I attended the game in my Husker jersey, Annmarie in her Buckeye gear. Fortunately it started raining and she was forced to wear a yellow poncho. I took that as a sign God wanted my team to win. The game got off to an awful start, at least from my perspective. My Huskers looked bad in the first half. Ohio State was moving the ball almost at will, and jumped to a 20-6 lead at the half. They quickly increased the lead to 27-6 early in the third quarter. By then I was just hoping Nebraska would make a game of it and I could at least escape with some dignity intact. The Huskers did not seem to be playing as a team, but rather a bunch of individuals. On the other hand, Annmarie sure seemed happy.

Then a funny and fortunate thing happened. Nebraska’s defensive leader forced a turnover, and “we” quickly scored. A small glimmer of hope flickered in my heart. On the next possession Ohio State’s quarterback was injured and knocked out of the game. All of a sudden the momentum and the game changed. Nebraska’s defense held the Buckeye’s scoreless the rest of the game, and Nebraska scored four unanswered touchdowns, the last with five minutes left, to win 34-27. I was happy….extremely happy, but restrained. Annmarie sat in stunned silence. I smiled inside. She looked like something else was going on inside. I thought it best to not ask exactly what might be bothering her.

This all leads me to my point. It takes teamwork for any group or organization to succeed. No matter how talented individuals may be, if they can’t blend those skills into the larger framework of a team, they won’t be successful. Here at TEAM A.T.E. we put a strong emphasis on how we work together as a team. Like a sports team, consistently successful companies are comprised of great teams, and exceptional leaders. I know the sports analogies get a little old sometimes, but having played and coached team sports gives one a real feel for what teamwork means to a group effort. Teamwork can never be overrated.

A customer mentioned to me the other day that he had the impression we only sold or rented systems, but not parts. Not the case at all! We’ve really put an emphasis on parts support, especially on the board test side. In fact, we created a portion of our website specifically for parts. If you’ve not yet visited, please bookmark our website http://www.partstore.team-ate.com/. We can often offer quick repair/exchange service so that you can get a down system back into production quickly.