The Final Four was and always will be one of the most exciting sporting events. Even if you are not a basketball person, it is awesome to watch March Madness as it narrows down 68 teams into four core teams. This makes me think about FCA's Four Core. Not four core teams but four core values. FCA's desire is that all our relationships will demonstrate a steadfast commitment to Jesus Christ and His Word through our values of integrity, serving, teamwork and excellence.

Last year, the youth football team I coach won the championship in double overtime, and this Saturday, as the new season starts, we will begin the quest of defending our title. We have essentially the same players we had last year, only this year, we have the confidence behind us to believe that anything is possible if we do three things: think we are talented, athletic, smart and victorious; give 100 percent of our effort in everything we do; and believe in our hearts that God will be with us.

As we gear up to defend the title, I’m reminded that my job as a coach is not to be satisfied with producing a winning record, but with producing winning athletes. To accomplish that goal this season, I will be asking my players six questions:

How many times do we see football players cross the goal line and do some sort of celebration? Either they try to bring attention to themselves through some crazy stunt, or they point to the sky in order to bring attention to someone else. In those situations, we Christians get all excited and say, “Look! They are giving God the glory.” Maybe they are, and maybe they’re not. The only person who knows for sure is the one with his finger in the air.

These days it seems like even humble acts are brought under the microscope. Even players who seem humble, or intend to be, wind up diving into pride. It’s hard to be humble when everybody around you is feeding your ego.

For years social psychologists have been studying “crowd” or “mob” psychology in which they study how a group’s mentality differs from that of the individuals within the group. One theory that has emerged is the idea that people react differently in a group than when they are on their own. For instance, during criminal incidents, research shows that if there is a large number of people around, men and women will be less likely to intervene because they think someone else will assist. People take their cues from others in the area and think, “If they are not getting involved, neither am I.” And that kind of group thinking takes place every day.