Next up for the successful team is overcoming adversity, an essential step. There is no such thing as a "perfect season," despite what the team's final record may say.

Inevitably, there will be team fissures, individual failures, team failures, and who knows what else. It happens every season to every team, and must be overcome to eventually win.

If a team wants to win, wrinkles must be ironed out. Unfortunately, a team cannot get to step two, overcoming adversity, without first conquering step one, unity. A feeling of solidarity provides the heat and a drive for perfection the steam (pardon the bad metaphors).

And this brings us to the third factor. None of this matters without an intense work ethic and a dedication to success. Nobody enjoys pain, nobody enjoys exhaustion, but everyone on that team must endure those trials if they really want to enjoy winning.

This hard work flowers from that unity and ability to overcome, for no athlete wants to carry his or her whole team if it is in turmoil and has given up.

And what do these three things--unity, overcoming adversity, work ethic--combine to do? They instill a fighting mentality in the team and individual athlete. It makes someone want to win so fervently that he or she is willing to do anything (anything legal, of course) to do it.

Adrenaline does not magically arise before competition. It comes from these factors commingling and urging on incredible performance.