It is January in the south. The weather has been freezing. The Bulldogs lost, the Tigers lost, the Falcons lost, the Saints lost, the flu bug is flying and the government is shutting down.

“Oh, somewhere in this favored land,

The sun is shining bright;

The band is playing somewhere, and

Somewhere hearts are light, and somewhere men are laughing,

And somewhere children shout;

But there is no joy in the Southland, (except for “Bama”)

Mighty Casey has struck out.”

Yep, I changed Mudville to the Southland. Seemed appropriate to me. Our shouts have been silenced and our spirits could be in a funk.

What happens when a football team loses an important game? They cry in despair, yet they walk over to the winning team and shake hands.  They return to locker rooms where the coach wraps them in encouragement.

Within a short time, they return to studying films, trying new routes, training new recruits and cheering each other onward. Their loss is morphing into a winning attitude. They will pick up the ball, run down the field again and again until they cross the goal line.

These athletes are from many backgrounds, ethnicities and have different beliefs. However, when they hit the gridiron, they are a team playing for loyal fans.

Perhaps we need coaches and players in Washington instead of Senators and Representatives. Does our government possibly need to think “team” instead of “sides”? Duh.

Teams are working together to cure those sickened by the flying flu bug. Teams of road crews clear streets and pull cars from ditches when ice covers our pavements. Their goal is to cure and help. Our government takes sides.

Every day, Americans are taking sides for or against their president. They are taking sides as liberals or conservatives. Each side thinks they are right, of course. They cure nothing.

Often conversations between sides turn vile and mean. Even best friends start to argue and run to corners. Debate has turned to “I am right and you’re wrong”, instead of, “let’s discuss and work to create a stronger, better team.”

Taking corners is hiding from the open field of compromise. This field is where talk is important and ideas become solutions. Listening becomes an art, compromise becomes a win and teamwork becomes the norm.

In Washington, those that don’t come out of their far left or far right corners, should be benched and penalized. Those that hit helmet to helmet, should be suspended and fined.  Those that aren’t willing to listen need to be replaced with the true freshman that respects the game.

Team play is crucial in government and seems to have gotten lost on the battlefield of politics. When the tone becomes vitriolic in Washington and even across our own tables, we must remember we are on the same team.

Our team is America, and we each need to play a role in keeping it the nation we love.  We must understand that we need to respect another’s view even if it is different from ours. We must turn our defiance into productivity and forward action.

We must never disparage another for how they voted. If we do, we disparage his right to do so. We must never be so arrogant to believe that everything we believe is right. We must always be able to listen to another’s opinion with open ears. We might just learn something.

It is appalling how so many spend hours watching news channels and then degrading them because they are reporting news either too liberally or too conservatively. Anger rises and upsets our days because we chose to turn on the television.

How many times have we all received political stories across the web only to find out they were a lie? Skewed and made up by some far right or far left hack. We should all check the truth before we spread a lie.

Why not turn off our televisions and use our computers to write our congressmen or president on what we would like to see America do or not do?

Today, we need to rise from our frozen tundra and demand that all those that govern do so as a team. Partisan politics is losing and the politicians that play it are losers. This government game is ours and we need to participate in calling the plays. We should all shut our foul mouths that spew political partisan rhetoric and, instead, run as a team over many goal lines.

Then the joy will return to the Southland and all of Mudville as mighty “Team America” scores!

Lynn Walker Gendusa is a former resident and writer who currently resides in Roswell. She can be reached at lwgendusa@bellsouth.net.