Maybe you work in an office.
And maybe in that office you work at, there’s a person that is there all the time. They get there before you do. No matter how late you stay, they’re not going to leave before you do. You could be 2 times the worker, but they… are… always… there.
It’s a vestige of a bygone era.
With today’s communication devices, actually being in an office all day everyday isn’t as productive (or necessary) as it used to be. But still. There they are. GRINDING out the day. And even though your boss says he or she doesn’t care… some little part of you knows that workplace norms that have been in existence for a hundred years aren’t expunged completely from their subconsciousness.
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After Tuesday night’s extra inning loss, the Cardinals manager Mike Matheny was upset. It was the second straight night his team had been beaten in extra innings and they were in danger of falling to below .500 for the month of April.
Not the start a World Series contending team expected or wanted.
So skip stewed in his office. Then he stewed some more. And then at some point late into the night decided ‘screw it, I’m just going to sleep here on the couch’. He probably didn’t even want anyone (besides his wife) to know this happened. Probably just mentioned it in passing to a reporter or co-worker when they noticed him in the same outfit from the day before.
Regardless, it made headlines.
The general perception? Probably pretty positive. “GRRR – He should be sleeping there every night until Jhonny Peralta gets over .300 – GRR”, your instinct said. Or maybe it was just a general appeasement knowing that Mr. Matheny knew his team wasn’t performing to expectations and shared your disappointment.
In truth, it’s just kind of stupid.
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Sleeping in offices has been the norm for NFL head coaches for some time.
It’s almost as if you aren’t sleeping in your office, then you’ve got the Steve Spurrier disease.
The Ol’ Ball Coach led a pretty much normal life while coaching the Washington professional football team. Didn’t do great, but didn’t do the worst either; he’s still trying to shake the ‘lazy’ label for trying to have a life.
If you asked NFL head coaches if they like sleeping in their offices, to a man they’d say ‘no’. Who does? But they know that if they aren’t and John Harbaugh is, then they’re F’d. They’ll be branded with the scarlet L and start heading down that path to termination.
Rarely does the tide of public opinion recede when it starts slipping in the NFL. It’s now a culture where you can expect no more than 2 years to prove your worth. To make it more than 7 is a miracle.
Sleep in that office, sir, or you’ll be out ASAP!
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Baseball loves to be forward thinking.
So here’s an article from The Economist telling people that the best way to be more productive in you job is to actually get a life. Seriously. That’s the title of the article. “Get A Life”.
Just because Mike Matheny has a job we’d all like. Just because Mike Matheny is paid millions of dollars to do said job. Doesn’t mean that Mike Matheny needs to sleep in his office. In fact, it’s probably more detrimental to the cause than beneficial, if we’re to believe The Economist.
So before you celebrate Mr. Matheny’s dedication and passion to his job because he curled up on a pleather coach deep in the bowels of Busch Stadium, just think about that person at your office.
Would you respect them more if they slept overnight at work?
Right. You’d probably be pissed at them. They’d be perpetuating outmoded myths and doing nothing more than make you look lazy to those more old school bosses around the office.
And that’s exactly how 29 other managers felt when they heard the news that Coach Mike had chose not to go home.
Photo: BrianThacker.TV
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