Mavs 4 Spurs 1

Mavericks 105 Spurs 97
Mavericks 84 Spurs 105
Mavericks 88 Spurs 67
Mavericks 99 Spurs 90
Mavericks 106 Spurs 93

Mavericks win series 4-1

This team isn't going to win a championship*, but this is pretty sweet. I hate the Spurs, and I hate the great majority of Spurs' fans. They are cocky and brash...completely unwilling to credit pure luck for their success. One bad season and they get, arguably, the greatest first round pick in the last twenty years.

Yes, the Spurs have four championships. But Spurs fans live in the past. Here in the present, the Mavs have won the last two series against San Antonio. Spurs' fans love to bring up Miami and Golden State, but sandwiched between those two series are two Mavericks' series victories.

Yes, Ginobili was out. If Spurs' fans want to use that as an excuse, they forfeit their 2003 NBA title because they beat the Mavericks without Dirk Nowitzki. And they only avoided a game 7 in that series because of an unfathomable performance by Steve Kerr.

Tonight, we win. Tonight, Dallas is greater than San Antonio. Tonight, Tim Duncan is crying his little eyes out. He played to his potential, and they still lost. Suck it.

GO! MAVS! GO! MAVS! GO! MAVS!

(* Probably)

Stupid Lottery

So last week I went to Pei Wei, and I got a fortune cookie. It said, "Luck will visit you on the next new moon." Online, I found out that the next new moon was tonight. On the bottom, I saw the fortune cookie's lottery numbers. On the back, it was an Asian (Pei Wei is pan-Asian, so I have no idea which one) word for "wait."

In my head, I thought this was providence. Lottery drawings are held on Saturdays, the "word of the day" was wait (implying that I don't get a lottery ticket between then and now), and it had lottery numbers right there. In my superstitious head, I thought it was saying..."wait...and use the lottery numbers on Saturday, the next new moon...and you'll win the lottery."

So I kept the fortune and waited. I bought the lottery ticket. I even did the stupid "secret" thing where you see your goal and believe it and it will come true. Every time I talked about it, I acted like it was a certainty..."when I win the lottery on Saturday" and so forth.

16 35 37 39 42 48

I didn't like it because there were a lot of numbers right next to each other, but it wasn't like I could see all the signs and ignore one.

I checked tonight, and there wasn't one number that matched. Not one.

And so it turns out that it was just a fortune cookie from Pei Wei. It wasn't a secret message from the universe, giving me a free pass for some of my problems. Oh well...

The Lonely Island

Watch the below. You will not be sorry (you might be offended, though, there are dirty words):

I'm On A Boat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7yfISlGLNU&feature=channel

Like A Boss:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NisCkxU544c

We Like Sportz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEVdca9U9LM&feature=channel_page

After Hours (by the way, I am in love with Katrina Bowden)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zac0QEbQbE8&feature=channel_page

Sax Man (featuring Jack Black)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX_eHKqDwZ0

Dreamgirl (featuring Norah Jones)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqXCF9Hs_ZU

Rain Is Stupid

I don't know who wrote "I'm Only Happy When It Rains" - I don't care to know because that person is stupid. Because rain is stupid. I hate rain.

Now I know that rain serves a purpose. It waters the plants and stuff, but this is 2009. We can water our own plants, thank you very much.

Because I'm a guy who makes a big plan for the day in the morning, and even though I almost never get to everything on my plan, rain pretty much eliminates my entire plan before it starts. It is like I walk out of the door, ready to take on the world, and the weather slaps me on the face and tells me, "You will do absolutely nothing today."

Because I don't like to drive in the rain. I don't like to walk from my car to the store in the rain. I don't like carrying things from a store to my car in the rain. Overall, I don't like being in the rain.

I can't play tennis in the rain. I can't go for a run in the rain. I can't be outside at all in the rain. And, worst of all, sporting events get cancelled in the rain. Except for football, basketball, and hockey. I even think soccer is played in the rain.

So, I guess, baseball gets cancelled in the rain.

And as cool as I think lightning is, I've always kinda thought in the back of my head that I am going to get struck by lightning at some point. I realize the odds are really against me getting struck by lightning, but I also believe that I'll win the lottery at some point. So I say "odds schodds" to all that.

Then there's all the side effects of rain. Satellite TV doesn't work as well. Sometimes the HD channels don't work very well. And, of course, there's the stupid radar that the networks put up in the corner, and the bar at the bottom telling you which counties are about to get destroyed by a tornado. They even break into your programming to give you the same information.

I'm trying to watch LOST, Pete Delkus. I don't care about Palo Pinto County.

And that's if your power is even working. Whenever there's rain, I'm always worried that the power is going to go out. And I've become completely dependent on electricity. There's basically nothing that I can do to entertain myself without it. And don't say "read with a flashlight" because that's actually kinda hard to do.

Then there's my fan. I'm probably gonna write a huge blog about sleep at some point, but I'm one of those people who has to sleep with a fan on for the noise. No power means no fan. No fan means no sleep. Literally.

And I know that I could buy a battery-powered fan for emergencies, and I've actually done that before. But they're not very loud and they eat through D batteries like that comedian eats fig newtons. By the sleeve. It probably wouldn't even work in an emergency setting.

So when there's a thunderstorm at night, I basically curl up in a fetal position and hope that the power doesn't go out. Because even if it goes out while I'm asleep, I wake up 100% of the time before the fan even stops. That's how dependent I am on the fan...I'm awake as soon as it goes off.

So screw you, rain. Don't come again another day.

Goodbye to the Stars (aka Mike Ribeiro Rocks)

Well...hockey is over in Dallas. It was a very rough year, and it makes me sad that it ended that way. Unlike the Cowboys missing the playoffs, I feel like the Stars have excuses. They both had high expectations, but the Hockey Gods were simply not shining on them this year. We still have a very young team, and I think we'll be extremely dangerous next year.

I'd like to end the year with two of the coolest goals I've seen in a while, and they both come from Mike Ribeiro. Ribeiro is one of the best players in the league, and I want to thank former GM Doug Armstrong for acquiring him for practically nothing a couple seasons ago. He's really blossomed in Dallas, and he's become a star in Dallas.

Goal One
Goal against Florida - I was there for this game...and we were on the opposite side. We knew there was a goal, but we had no idea how great it was. It was awesome as everyone on our side, little groups at a time, realized what had happened.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8MJJkONNdI

Goal Two
The game-winning shootout goal from the last win of the year. Absolutely sick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRCIJKXTrVY

Go Stars. We'll see you next season.

Two Quick Things

1. Tucker, Ashley, and I finished season two of The Wire tonight. Tuesday Wire Night is becoming one of my favorite nights of the week, and I very-much look forward to season three. I've already seen the series once, but it's been a lot of fun to watch the whole thing from the beginning again. It's just a wonderfully-done show...which is funny because it's a difficult show to get into, I think. But once you're in...

2. Tucker still owns me on the tennis court. I felt like he played decent tonight, and I played really well. And I think he beat me 9-5 tonight. I realize that's not how tennis is played, and I guess that means the actual score was 6-2, 3-3 and we just quit there.

The problem is that I just can't finish him off. We played a game today where I had the advantage like ten different times...and he ended up winning the game. I think I just get nervous and screw up...and since he has better court presence (and composure, for that matter), he can take advantage pretty easily.

The funny thing is that he brings out the best tennis in me...I don't play against other people nearly as well as I play against him. And I'd like to think that I'm bringing out the best in him too...

Maybe if I can add spin to my game. Because I do feel pretty good that I can keep up with him, and I basically have no spin in my game.

Opening Day

Today was Opening Day...and like a good baseball fan, I took work off and went to the game. It was far more difficult to get the day off than it should've been (and a few guys were upset with me for getting it off...they had to go in to work...but none are Rangers fans so I win), but that's another story.

So I went with Woody, Tim, and Ashley. Four TCU guys off to the ballpark. We started off really early...leaving the house at 8:30am to meet up with the other guys in Arlington. After breakfast, we parked at WalMart (more on that in a bit) and walked over to the stadium.

Let's start off with the weather. Even though it was 80 degrees on Saturday, it was pretty cold this morning. The wind was brutal, and armed with only a long-sleeved t-shirt, I was cold. We watched some batting practice, but it seemed like each guy only got 4-5 cuts. If we saw Josh Hamilton hit, I wasn't aware of it.

Side Note - I saw Mark McGwire hit batting practice during his 70 HR year. That was a spectacle. The Rangers need to make more of Hamilton Batting Practice - announce it on the JumboTron and the PA so that everyone can watch in awe. Maybe have Hamilton do BP as late as possible, encouraging people to show up to the game a bit early.

Anyways, we were three hours early for the game, and we watched the rest of batting practice from our seats on the third deck in the foul side of left field. I watched as everyone around me ate cheese fries, and I went and got a $4.50 hot dog and a $3 bottle of water.

Then, a few minutes before the festivities started, they let go a few hundred balloons. This was pretty awesome because the Ballpark is known for its odd wind currents - and most of the balloons simply swirled around and around. It wasn't until an hour later that the last balloon finally made it out of the confines of the park. I'm not entirely sure how to explain what it was like, but it was actually pretty cool.

Then President Bush (W.) threw out the first pitch. He did pretty well, and he got a relatively warm reception. I think people are ready to move on from hating the man, and I've always felt sorry for him. They played a bit of an interview with him from the game on the news tonight, and he seems like a good guy. I think it'd be amazing to spend a few hours talking with the man - I'm sure he'd be very entertaining.

(It did scare me that there weren't any metal detectors at the Ballpark)

And then there was the giant American flag. It covered the entire outfield, and it seemed to keep coming and coming as they were marching it onto the field. It took a busload of people to hold it down...and they needed every one of them to contain it from an intense wind. That was a lot of fun to watch.

We also had a flyover from a couple of B-1 bombers. Flyovers are always super-cool, but they timed the flyover pretty horribly...as the sound drowned out most of the middle of the national anthem. I once saw a special on how those flyovers are supposed to work, but they went way too early this time. I wonder what went wrong because it's usually perfectly timed.

The weather warmed up a bit, and I have a nice borderline-sunburn on my arms. Ashley, on the other hand, has a real nice sunburn on his lower arms (only part of his forearm) - complete with a nice imprint of his watch.

Oh, and there was baseball too. The Rangers took control from reigning Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee and beat him up for seven runs. And Kevin Millwood finally pitched like the $15 million ace he was, giving up only one run in seven innings.

I'm not really one for optimism with the Rangers...just because I've been burned so many times. Baseball was my first true love, and the Rangers have just never been there for me. I've never strayed from them, knowing that I have to cheer for my hometown team. Instead, I simply have become jaded to baseball.

But at times like this, the little kid inside me is released. The Rangers' 2009 offense has the potential to be very scary, and if their pitchers can perform (and 4/5 of their rotation has had success in the major leagues before), this team can make a run. And I'm not just saying that because I have $10 on the Rangers winning it all.

It was just fun to be out there in a packed ballpark with almost 50,000 excited Rangers fans. This town desperately wants a winning baseball team, but for almost 40 years, this team has done nothing but disappoint. 40 years, three playoff appearances, and only one playoff win.

They're finally going in the right direction, though. They have a lot of youth on offense, and their famed young pitching is getting closer and closer. Elvis Andrus, the new SS, looked solid today. Add him to Young, Kinsler, and Hamilton...and you've got something. Throw in Nelson Cruz (who has hopefully finally figured it out), a hopefully-healthy Hank Blalock, and a maybe-ready-to-be-a-big-league-catcher-and-still-extremely-young Jarrod Saltalamacchia...and this team is talented at every position.

And, again, Millwood has performed in the past. Padilla pitches great in contract years (this is one), McCarthy did great before he got hurt, Kris Benson has had success in this league...this team has some pitching. And if you can score 5-9 runs a game, you're not going to need much more than that.

No matter what, there's room for optimism. If not this year, optimism for 2010 and 2011. At some point in the next few years, this team will seriously contend for a World Series, and that's very exciting.

After the game, we walked back to the Wal-Mart...passed the beautifully excessive new Cowboys stadium (which we're either naming JerryWorld, That's What She Said Stadium, or the Mothership)...and both Ashley and Tim's car were both there.

But Tim's car was pointed in a different direction from where we left it. As we walked over to the car, a guy in a red pickup told us that the car had been towed...and then brought back. Needless to say, we were all confused. The car looked okay, but it had definitely been moved.

Woody eventually talked to one of the tow-truck drivers who explained the situation. There were signs that said that ballgame parking was not to be allowed and that people would be towed if they parked there for the game. Cars began to get towed, but the manager of the Wal-Mart had the drivers bring the cars back. Apparently he didn't want people to get towed on Opening Day.

And I thought that was really cool. He had every right to have people towed...they were using his parking lot illegally, I suppose. But he went out of his way to make sure that, not only were more cars not towed, but that the company brought back the ones that were. It saved Tim hours of paperwork, time, and money...and after the break-in at Tim's house...he really didn't need that.

So a shout-out of thanks to the manager of the Wal-Mart by JerryWorld. I'm sure you read this religiously, and I want you to know I appreciate your coolness.

All in all, it was a great day off, and it was great to get out to the Ballpark. Since hockey is basically over, its nice to be able to have something to turn to. And, even if just for one day, the Rangers delivered.

Those F#&%ing Heat

Tonight, the Mavs played the Miami Heat...and all those emotions came back to me. To see Dwayne Wade and Udonis Haslem on the Mavs' home court brings up so many terrible memories, and it makes me so stinkin' mad.

To this day, I'm not sure how the Heat won a single game from the Mavericks that series. Not the whole series...a single game. This was a Miami Heat team that was dead - D-E-A-D dead - almost three full games into the series. They were down 0-2, down double digits, and getting booed off the court by their own fans.

They came back and won that game. And the next one. And the next one. And the final one in Dallas.

It's something that I can't wrap my mind around...because that series was over. It was finished. The parade route was planned, and Miami's excuses were already there.

And then it all fell apart so quickly. Dallas lost its momentum in a matter of seconds, and it was never able to get it back. The two teams probably could've played a 50-game series, and Dallas might never have won a game.

And it's one of those things in sports that is impossible to explain. How one person can dominate for so long and then one moment can change everything. It happened to me when I was playing tennis with Tucker...I was beating him and I was about to take command of the match when I slammed the ball into the net.

I never recovered. I lost the next couple of games en route to losing the set. I was doing so well and playing so hard and then it all went away. That shot gets in your head, and every mistake after that is magnified. I ended the game by hitting the ball as far as I could...out of the court, across the street, and into a house.

So I understand why the Mavericks lost that series...and why, to this day, they never really recovered. But I also cannot believe that it happened. This town is absolutely desperate for a professional sports championship, and we were this close to finally getting one.

And imagine how things would've been different if they'd been able to hold on to that late lead in game three. I don't have any doubt that they would've won that series.

If they win the series, they probably don't win 67 games that next year. But they would've had the swagger of a defending champion, and the Miami loss wouldn't have been in their heads in the Golden State series. They very-well could've repeated that next year.

And even if they didn't, that championship would've saved Avery Johnson's job, and it would've saved the Mavericks from making the desperate Jason Kidd deal. Devin Harris would've continued to blossom on the Mavericks, and maybe the Josh Howard situation wouldn't have imploded so much.

And, as Dallas fans, our zest for a championship would've been satisfied. Maybe we wouldn't have been so hard on the Cowboys the past couple seasons if we were coming off an NBA title. Maybe we all wouldn't be so cynical when it comes to playoff losses and first-round exits.

Either way, I think sports in this town would've been better. But the NBA and the sports gods didn't smile on us that year. In fact, they did something that was cruel and unusual.

And, to this day, I still haven't gotten over it.