Mindset
There is No I in TEAM
“The way they played for Toronto, for this country, and or each other was extraordinary to watch.“
– SL
I am heartbroken for the Toronto Blue Jays organization today. I actually feel bad for the city of Toronto and for Blue Jays fans across Canada. I wouldn’t call myself a fan of the Blue Jays — that would mean I watched them all season, living and dying with each win and loss. I didn’t.
But I am a fan of sport.
I’ve worked in sport as a performance professional at nearly every level imaginable, and I’ve experienced both great highs and devastating lows. I’ve seen what it takes to win championships and gold medals, and I’ve seen what happens when it doesn’t come together.
If I’m being honest, my own career has probably had more of the latter than the former. It’s far easier to be poor or average in sport than it is to be great. And even harder than being great yourself is being part of a great team.
The Unsolvable Equation of Team Chemistry
Individual greatness is one thing — no one truly does it alone, but as an athlete, you make your own choices about how you work, how you play, and how you compete. You win and lose by your own accord.
Team sport is another beast altogether. Everyone must align around a shared course and direction. It’s not enough to simply say you want to win a championship or to win a few games. You can have all the right intentions. You can prepare meticulously. You can allocate resources and even outspend everyone else.
None of that matters if you don’t have chemistry.
And no one — absolutely no one — has the perfect formula for the chemistry experiment that is team sport. Many have tried. Most have failed. It’s not for the faint of heart.
The 2025 Blue Jays: A Story of Brotherhood
That’s what makes what we witnessed with the Blue Jays this season so compelling.
In 2024, the team finished last in the American League East with a 74–88 record and a .457 winning percentage. Most of the players from that roster returned in 2025. There were no blockbuster trades or game-changing acquisitions in the offseason that could have predicted what was to come.
Maybe some pointed to the eventual re-signing of their superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as a spark — but even that seemed like a stretch.
The 2025 season didn’t start particularly well either. The team struggled early. But slowly, things began to click. The Jays found themselves at the top of the standings for most of the year.
With each win and loss — through all the ups and downs — something special began to percolate in that clubhouse. Players started talking about a brotherhood. They weren’t just playing for standings or for the chance to compete for a World Series; they were playing for each other.
That’s when you know something rare is happening.
When Greatness Becomes Connection
Not every championship team feels this way. Some win despite their cracks. How? No one really knows — and maybe that’s part of what makes sport so endlessly fascinating.
But when a team truly loves playing the game together, it’s unmistakable. You can see it. You can feel it.
We’ve seen that magic in recent years with the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Finals, with dynasties like the Kansas City Chiefs and the New England Patriots, and in the legendary championship runs of the Chicago Bulls. Those teams had something that oozed out of every pore — a collective energy, trust, and belief that went beyond skill or systems.
The Dodgers just did something incredible — winning back-to-back World Series titles, something not done since the Yankees of the late ‘90s. Watching them, you could feel the greatness and the talent. But with the Blue Jays this year, you could feel the love.
Their players spoke with tears in their eyes after it ended:
“I didn’t want this to end.”
“I love being with these guys every day.”
“I’ll miss these guys this offseason.”
That’s what sport is all about.
The Fragile Magic
Will it be the same next year? No one knows. That’s the delicate beauty of team chemistry — just a little more or less of something, and the whole balance can shift.
Anyone who claims to know how to manufacture it is lying — or sitting on a secret worth more than gold. Every season begins with the same goal: to find that elusive connection. Few ever do.
But this year, the Blue Jays did.
It was something truly beautiful to watch.
Thanks, boys.
