As was customary after a long day at work, I logged into Azeroth. At least in the World of Warcraft I knew that if I put in enough time, I would get the results I wanted. You can’t say that about the real world. Besides, it was really the only way I could find my friend, Jake Sunwell, who ceased to exist outside his female gnome warriors ever since he was laid off a few weeks ago.

” What’s up, Jake? How was your raid?” ” Crappy as usual. I’m getting real sick of these losers. I think I’m going to quit this guild soon. There are two in many people can’t play their toons, but don’t get booted because they are real life friends of the officers. That’s fine for a casual guild, but this billed as a ‘hardcore raiding guild.’”

” Sorry, bud. Your whining is exactly why I’m pretty sure I’ll never raid. It is too difficult to find capable people were able to consistently devote the time needed to raid successfully. At least Alliance side. Too many immature teenagers who like to play the pretty characters. You should have rolled Horde…or transfer servers.”

” Nah, no good female toons.”

“LOL. Well then, this is YODF [your own damn fault].”

“Har. How was your day?”

” I’ve had better. I had a bizarre conversation with my boss, which was basically identical to your gripe about not have the right team members. I’m not saying he’s wrong, but he could better use the people he has, especially since it’s so hard to get new blood here.”

“Oh, you mean he’s like JVG?” JVG – as in Jeff Van Gundy, who had a penchant of reducing teams to playing a grind-it-out, low scoring style of basketball, including my adopted team, the Rockets. No worries, it was easy to get Jake back when his hometown team was the Knicks. “Hey he’s a good guy and a great commentator. JVG’s only problem is not adapting to a changed game. Grind-it-out is not only less fun to watch, but it is only effective if you execute well. If you can’t score yourself, then the only way to win is to stop your opponent – something that is increasingly difficult to do in today’s game. But at least no one could accuse him of not knowing his stuff. Now Isaiah Thomas on the other hand…”

“Argh! Okay, you win. OMG, just don’t mention his name again. He’s the worst GM in NBA history; I can’t believe he lasted that long. But at least that piece of trash is gone now.”

“Well, he’s a decent talent scout. The quickest way for the Knicks to improve is through the draft since no GM is dumb enough to trade foe the bad contracts he collected. Well, except maybe Chris Wallace of the Memphis Grizzlies since he basically donated Pau Gasol to the Lakers championship drive. At least they didn’t win it.”

“So true,” Jake lamented. “But back to JVG. What’s wrong with having your own style of play? That’s the coach’s prerogative. Besides everyone knew that was his style before he was hired. In fact, that style is arguably better for T-Mac and Yao than Run-N-Gun. They won 50+ games with that style, and the old Rockets played, and won championships, with a similar style.”

“You’re right. But the rules were different back then, and Olajuwon in the post was thing of beauty. I guess that I should clarify. It’s not so much that style – it’s the total and uncompromising commitment to the style that’s the problem. He didn’t develop any rookies or much of a bench, and he never played anyone who didn’t buy into the system, no matter how talented. Come playoff time, he had a bunch of tired/injured veterans to battle against younger, deeper, more athletic teams. That’s just not a smart use of resources. Talent needs to be developed to be useful. Besides, you are paying them anyway; might as well put them to work. A good leader adapts to the situation as needed.”

“I guess so. Alright, I’m bored. You need anything?”

“Run my alt through ZF?”

“Sure.”