On a topic (teamwork) that is loosely connected to the previous entry, I am one of those people that has enjoyed playing sports through my life. In my case, especially basketball. I have fond memories of league play, the streetball scene, and just shooting hoops in the driveway to clear my head after a rough day.

Even in my imagination, my fantasy life, basketball still plays a role. After all, have not all athletes at some point dreamed of hitting the buzzer-beating, last-second shot to win the championship? Even as we age, we likely still recognize that that would feel pretty awesome.

As I look back at it more, though, I find myself wishing I could have played alongside the true greats. I doubt I could have held my own, but after a great day of church-court play, you rethink these things. Even in other sports, I wonder, questions like: Could I catch a pass thrown by an NFL quarterback in a real game? Heck, even in other industries, in a general sense I wonder how I would fit into the corporate culture at the Pixar office, for example.

In the National Basketball Association, there have been some historic teams, from the Showtime Lakers (how great would it have been to get one of Magic’s zipper passes behind the lane and convert for a reverse lay-up?) to the Bad Boys Pistons and many others. My pick for team I wish I could have played for was the great Celtics squads of the mid-980′s, which boasted arguably the greatest frontcourt trio of all time.

If you could go back and play as a part of any great team, which would you choose to be a part of?

The organization I work for has a policy for family-member co-workers that basically says there is nothing wrong with family members working together as long as one is not a supervisor over the other. I imagine the intent is to reduce potential tension, perhaps a possible hostile working environment?

That may be a simplistic introduction to a complex idea; as with any thought regarding human interaction, the complexity is in the case-by-case nature of our differences. For instance, I imagine many out there would be just fine working alongside their spouse, yet for many others I can see that being a terrifying thought.

I tried to outline the disadvantages in this piece, and was reminded of the plight of two friends of mine, married, who worked together for a year. They said it was rough/weird spending literally nearly 24/7 together. They adjusted, of course, and are no longer in the same working situation, but it was interesting.

What do you think?

Could you work in the same office as your spouse (and if you’re not married, just consider it anyway)? Why or why not?

There is a very interesting conundrum going on in the world of literary semantics when cutting-edge (or, at least, ten years ago and running edginess) content technology meets the old-guard standards of beat writers and hagged journalism. Are bloggers journalists? Can you trust an independent contractor freelancer for your news as much as the media networks and wire agencies? What defines journalism nowadays? In a world of instant access, where do the new lines of ethics and journalistic integitry lie?

I tried to sort through some of the issues, but I think I am just as confused as ever. Nonetheless, read my attempt here: Why bloggers aren’t professional journalists.