Intro
Today started like nearly every other day. I got up, got ready for work, did a little quiet time, jumped in the car, and headed in to the office. Where my commute may be a little different than yours is my office is in Avery Arena, where the Milburn Honkers basketball team plays. And other days, my commute would bring me to Avery Arena so that I could continue my job as the Assistant General Manager of the team.
That is, that was my job until today. Today when I got in to my office I noticed a handwritten note from Jane, Mr. Moore’s (that would me Marcus Moore, the team owner) administrative assistant. The note stated that Mr. Moore would like to see me in his office. So I headed right down to his office, with a mix of excitement, trepidation, and not a little bit of sadness as well.
You see, I had heard, and read in the newspapers, the rumors talking about how Mike Leonard’s time was, or should be at least, coming to a close with the Honkers. Mike has been the General Manager for the last five years, and he hired me as his assistant. I like Mike. He is a really good guy. I do believe he knows basketball and how to run a team. But the team has struggled the last few years, and it was starting to affect attendance and fan interest. Mr. Moore is fairly patient, but that patience does have its tipping point.
So I walked down to Mr. Moore’s office with every possible scenario bouncing around in my noggin like one of the too many loose balls the team has had the last couple seasons. Was it possible that he was going to make me the fall guy? Was it possible that he did fire Mike, and wanted me to help with the search for his replacement? Was it actually possible that he would ask me to take over for Mike? Of course, that also meant that Mike had been fired. So many thoughts in that short walk down to his office . . . .
I saw Jane sitting at her desk, and while my heart did a little bit of the flutter it does whenever I see her, today was a lot less than usual because of everything running through my mind. Jane sure is beautiful, but Jane’s name happens to be Jane Moore, as in Mr. Moore, as in the daughter of Mr. Moore. I like coming down to talk to Jane. She makes me happy to be alive.
But not much of all that was running through my mind right now. Right now it is much more focused on why he had asked to see me.
As she was talking on the phone, her lovely hand motioned for me to head right in to his office. So I knocked on the door, cleared my throat a bit, wiped my palms on the sides of my trousers, and waited for him to either call for me to come in or open the door himself.
Open the door himself was the response. “Dex, thanks for coming right down to see me,” he said as he held out his hand to initiate the handshake greeting.
I shook his hand as I replied, “Sure thing, Mr. Moore,“ while at the same time muttering in my head, “you think I’m going to make you wait?”
He motioned to one of the chairs sitting in front of his desk as he urged me to have a seat. “Dex, would you care for any coffee or tea?” he asked.
“No, thank you sir, I have some in my office,” I answered in hopefully not too nervous a manner.
“Well, Dex, let me get right to the point here. I know you have heard all of the noise around our team from the fans and the media about Mike’s job security. And you know me, Dex. You know I don’t act based on what those yahoos in the papers or writing about or even what our fans are complaining about to a degree.”
As he was talking, I shifted anxiously in my seat.
“But Dex, you also know how our team has performed, or not performed, these last couple seasons. It’s not up to the standards we hold here in this organization. We haven’t been as successful as some other teams over the course of the team’s history, but we have been more successful than many teams. And we expect to be contending year in and year out. Dex, it’s been 10 years since we won a Championship. Heck, we haven’t been in the playoffs for the last four years, and even then, we have only been in the playoffs once in the last seven years.”
He continued, “I like Mike. I like Mike a great deal. But as I agonized over this, I knew I had to do something to change things up. I knew the team needed a different look. So Dex, this morning I told Mike that I was going to let him go.”
So there it was. He had fired Mike. While he was certainly my boss, I counted Mike as a friend as well. So I hurt a bit for him. Even though firings are a part of this gig, it is still real people, with real feelings, involved. And I knew Mike was feeling all sorts of hurt right now. But I also wondered if there was more to why he called me in here. There had to be.
“And Dex, a big part of why I felt like now was the time to make that move is because I knew who I wanted to give it a go next. If I wasn’t certain of that already, I may have given him one more year. But as it is, I fully believe that the person I have in mind to take over as General Manager of the Milburn Honkers is someone who is ready, someone who is talented, with a sharp mind and a strong basketball acumen, and a keen business sense. Even before I let Mike go, I knew who I wanted as the GM to right this ship. And Dex, that someone is you.”
I gulped a little (or maybe a lot) and hoped it was not too noticeable.
“Dex, I would like to offer you the position of General Manager of the Milburn Honkers of the PrimeTime Basketball League. What do you say to that?”
While I had thought about this as one of the possible outcomes of my meeting with Mr. Moore, the reality is I did not think it was very likely. For one, I’m only 36 years old. I have never been a GM, at any level. But I have been with this team for four years now as the assistant General Manager. And I have grown up loving this team. I grew up in Milburn. I attended Honkers games numerous times. I made my way to every event where I knew Honkers players were going to be. Honkers legends like Ethan Kwiatkowski, Jonathan Smith, Antonio Young, Harold Dennis. My dream was to play for the Honkers one day. And while a serious knee injury in college made that dream moot, my love for the Honkers never faded.
“Mr. Moore, I feel really bad for Mike. I think Mike had some unlucky circumstances with injuries and players not playing up to their potential. But Mr. Moore, if you feel like I am the right guy for this position, then absolutely, I will accept your offer.”
“Do you want to hear the terms before accepting, Dex?”
“I trust you Mr. Moore. I know you are fair. So I will accept without knowing the terms.”
“I appreciate that Dex. I promise I will do everything in my power to treat you fairly, to give you the resources you need to get this team back to winning fashion, and to cement your legacy as a Honkers icon. I fully believe you will lead this team back to glory.”
“Thank you, Mr. Moore. I promise as well that I will do everything in my power to get this team back to glory.”
“I know you will, son. Now, go see Jane and she has the paperwork for you to sign. Godspeed, Dex, and go Honkers!”
“Go Honkers,” I replied heartily.