The team metaphor is misplaced when used off the sports field. (well actually I guess it's not a metaphor yet when ON the sports field ).

As I type this, loud cheers and jeers from a Canada-US Woman's U20 soccer game are floating into my 3rd-floor window from the stadium 1 km away. It sounds like an exciting game, and as I imagine the play that might have produced the cheers (or jeers), it seems obvious that these team members and their fans DO share allegiance to a common goal.

But I would suggest that's only possible when the goal is so simple, and the methods for achieving it largely agreed upon. (Even then, each player will have many other personal goals that feed into (or perhaps sometimes oppose) the main goal.)

Is this why people love watching sports? (that's an actual question... I'm bored silly by it, and truly wonder what all the fans get from it). Is it like murder mysteries? Problem -- straightforward. Goal -- clear. Methods -- limited choice.

Not like work, or the rest of life.