"People are going to have to check their egos at the door."

I really liked what I saw Jimmy Rollins say recently considering his playing time in this years World Baseball Classic.

Manager Davey Johnson faced a tough challenge this past week. He had to decide who would be his starting shortstop for today's game agianst Canada. Would it be nine-time All-Star, and captain of the New York Yankees, Derek Jeter, or would it be the 2007 NL MVP Jimmy Rollins. Ultimately Johnson decided on Jeter for the first game. When Rollins was asked about what he thought about this decision he said, "It's fine with me. People are going to have to check their egos at the door." You have to love that in a player that has done so much already in his career. It is about playing for the name on the front of your jersey rather than the one on the back.

I also read something similar post on Eric Musselman's blog today. He was talking about San Antonio Spurs center/forward Fabricio Oberto. Oberto started 64 games for the Spurs last season, averaging more than 20 minutes per game. This season, his minutes have been trimmed (13.1 mpg). When asked about it he said, "If I'm not playing and the team wins, that's perfect. Look, everyone wants to play, [but] everyone wants to win more."

Both of these great examples of truly being team players.