Why This Championship Matters

Game two. Dwayne Wade hits a 3-pointer to put Miami up 15 points, putting them within inches of a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals. And sitting at Trinity Hall in Mockingbird Station, I grabbed my wallet and tried to come up with how much money my tab was. I didn't want to wait for the check. I wanted to leave.

Ashley, someone who regularly calls me out on my over-reacting, asked me if I'd put an entire paycheck on the series. Otherwise, why was I so upset?

I'm passionate about sports. I grew up loving pro sports, and I grew up spoiled.

1993 - Dallas Cowboys win the Super Bowl

1994 - Dallas Cowboys win the Super Bowl

1996 - Dallas Cowboys win the Super Bowl

1999 - Dallas Stars win the Stanley Cup

Four championships before I turned 14. It was almost easy.

Twelve years passed. Eddie Belfour gave up seven goals in game one of the 2000 Stanley Cup Finals. J.S. Giguere stood on his head. Tony Romo dropped the snap. Patrick Crayton dropped that pass. The Stars ran out of mojo against Detroit. Every Minnesota Viking sacked Romo. Tim Lincecum was too much.

And then there was 2006. The Dallas Mavericks slayed San Antonio and got to the NBA Finals. All that stood in front of them was the champion from the Eastern Conference. Two games into the series...it didn't even look close. Then, we all know what happened.

It hurt. Really bad. For years. I told people at work (in complete truth) that the last time I called in sick to work was after game 5 of the NBA Finals in 2006. I couldn't get out of bed. I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything but think about how the Mavericks were about to blow their chance at an NBA title.

And, for years, it stuck with me. Just hearing the words "Miami Heat" bothered me. And with every playoff failure that followed, the pain grew. 2007's 1st round collapse killed me. Then we traded youth for age and were killed by New Orleans. We got crushed by Denver and brushed aside by the Spurs.

I was told the window was closed every year. And every year, the Mavs won 50 games and found a way to lose in the playoffs. Cheering for the Mavericks became a cruel joke.

But that was the norm. Cheering for the Cowboys had become a cruel joke with their own playoff failures. The Stars were moving in the wrong direction. And the 2010 World Series, despite my positive feelings about that season, felt like a missed opportunity. Dallas was snakebit, and I didn't know how they were going to come out of it. Every year, my friends and I would think about what team was going to win the next championship, and there never seemed to be an answer I was comfortable with.

Then LeBron James signed with the Heat. I've always hated LeBron because I really hate when people are handed credit before they've done anything. And for seven years, LeBron seemed like he was working hard to win a championship for his home team. I watched LeBron dominate a game in 2007, and he almost won me over.

But going to the Heat was the last straw for me. Here's a guy who lied about doing whatever it takes to win a championship. Then he dragged the city through the mud, and he did everything he could to glorify himself. And ESPN ate it up. LeBron was everywhere.

Flash forward to game two. Here are the Mavs, fighting their way to the championship series again, and there are the Heat again. There was LeBron.

And that's why this series was so important. My chips were pushed all in to the center of the table. My Mavericks had the opportunity to either crush LeBron James and slay the demons from 2006....or it would get even worse.

And down 15, staring a 2-0 deficit in the face, I felt all the pain come back up. And I did my best to swallow the anger and the sadness, but it was too much. I had to get out of there.

And while they came back and won game two, I didn't feel any better after watching the team lose game three. The Heat had, for the most part, dominated the first three games. How on Earth were they going to win?

But, tonight, the Dallas Mavericks are the 2010-2011 NBA champions. They found a way to win, and they found a way to win convincingly.

And for the first time in a long time, I can think about 2006 and it doesn't hurt. Because I would trade a thousand 2006s for one 2011 championship. To beat that team with those players on that court means everything to me.

Is it too much? Maybe. But I've lived vicariously through athletes my entire life. When they win, I feel like I win. And for twelve years and 48 seasons, I lived and died with my teams. And for twelve years and 48 seasons, it ended in heartbreak. Some got close. A lot didn't. But there was never any gold at the end of the rainbow.

Tonight, there's gold. Tonight, there's a championship. Tonight, there's hope. Tonight, we got a win. I got a win.

And while I didn't win or lose any money, this series meant more than money to me. It's why I spent a bunch of my money to go see game five. Because I needed this. Maybe not as much as Dirk, Kidd, and Carlisle. But I needed it nonetheless.

Tomorrow, the sun will shine a little brighter, and my smile will come out. The curse is over. And maybe more good things can happen in the future.

So proud of this team. So happy to be a citizen of this city. And I'm looking forward to bright days ahead.

Ultimate Opportunity

The Dallas Mavericks put together the below video, and it gives me chills. It's basically Dallas' greatest champions (mostly Cowboys but also Mike Modano, Nolan Ryan, and TCU's Gary Patterson, among others) telling the Mavericks' players and fans that they're at a moment of "ultimate opportunity." That, if they can win this series, they will be immortalized forever as champions. And that it's the responsibility of the players (and fans) to make sure that everyone does their part in order to succeed.

It's cheesy. But I think it's awesome. This town has thirsted for a championship since the Stars skated the Cup in 1999 (and for most fans, all the way back to the Cowboys' last title in 1996). We have passionate sports fans that have been denied year in and year out for twelve years. We lived through sick Eddie Belfour, selfish A-Rod, J.S. Giguere, Duncan and the Spurs, 13-3 and out in the first game, and years of Maverick collapses.

But if the Mavericks can win Sunday or Tuesday, we can finally breathe again. The monkey's been knocked off our bats. Now it just needs to be finished off or it will jump right back on.

We're here. The moment of ultimate opportunity. This is the Finals. And this is Dallas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKfFfmTLW7Q

Odds And Ends 6/1

1. I can't believe it's already June. This year is flying by.

2. I went and saw My Chemical Romance at House of Blues a couple weekends ago. I haven't mentioned it, but it was a great show. They get a bad reputation for being an emo band (one they hate, by the way), but I think they have a lot of great music. They put on a heck of a live show, and their most recent album is really great in my opinion.

3. I started doing a workout, and I'm keeping tabs of my progress to try and keep myself honest. I'm trying to do a lot of simple exercises that I found on the Internet, hitting as many areas as I can. This includes doing squats and lunges, which might be the first time that I've ever done either of those exercises.

4. I'm swimming as part of cardio requirement. I've only been a couple times, but I figure it will be good for my endurance and my tan. So far, it's kicking my butt in both areas (i.e. I'm burning too).

5. I haven't mentioned the Mavericks since their last big loss. I'm really proud of this team, and I really hope they can find a way to win a championship. Dirk and Kidd deserve a championship more than Bosh and LeBron. The latter will eventually get several. The former deserves to get one.

6. I respect the Hell out of Dirk Nowitzki.

7. Tucker and I are getting ready to get serious about editing and finishing our Pilot script. This is about to get really cool, and in a month or so, we can start work on getting it made. I'm really, really excited about it.

Follow Friday Blog Edition

Yes, it's not Friday. I know. Read these blogs:

http://bmwooddell.wordpress.com/

My friend Woody is really smart and passionate. He's also opinionated, and he knows how to write. I don't always agree with him, but I always respect his thoughts. He's doing a really cool series of blogs right now that I might end up stealing.

http://idiocracyrising.com/

My roommate Ashley is trying to get back into blogging. He's another excellent writer, and he's always got something interesting to write about.

http://ryanclaunch.com/

My friend Ryan's photo blog. He has a really great talent for photography, and he's got some really cool photos. Check them out.

VIP Treatment

For the second consecutive Sunday, I went to a golf tournament. But unlike last week, when we went around to see several different golfers, we were only going to follow one golfer.

As I said before, I'm not a golf fan. If you sat me down, on the spot, with a piece of paper and a pencil and told me to write down all the active golfers I know, I could probably get about 20. Maybe a few more or a few less. So when I was told I would be following a "Keegan Bradley", I didn't know who that was. The first time I saw his face was the first hole he teed off on, and I found out his age (24) a few minutes later.

But my friend Kara (who recently was converted from "Ashley's friend" to my friend") knows Keegan, and Keegan provided the tickets. So we owed it to Keegan to follow him around. This also gave me the opportunity to see all 18 holes at the Byron Nelson...something I wasn't able to experience at the Colonial.

What was interesting was that I'd actually heard of the other half of Keegan's twosome: 17-year-old high school amateur Jordan Speith. Kara was annoyed that Keegan was going to be part of this big mob of people following the local kid, and she braced herself for the crowds that would be overwhelmingly in favor of the other guy. And they were. As soon as Jordan shot, people started moving and talking. A couple of times, the crowd had to be stopped because Keegan was going to make a shot.

And while he was close all day, Keegan went into the clubhouse down a couple strokes...needing some help to win. But then one of the golfers in the lead bogeyed consecutive holes. And before we knew it, Keegan was in first place. It took a nice putt by Ryan Palmer to get to a one-hole playoff. Which Keegan ended up winning.

Kara was ecstatic. She had followed Keegan around for three of the four days of the tournament, and she'd mostly done it by herself (or just with us). Of the thousands of the people at the tournament, Kara might've been Keegan's only true fan. After all, he's not local, and it's his first year on the tour.

But someone else noticed...one of the volunteers working Keegan's twosome was aware that Kara was following Keegan around. He'd noticed her following Keegan (not just today...other days too) and wondered if Kara was, perhaps, Keegan's wife. And when Keegan won, he was quick to show up and offer high fives to the group.

But then something weird happened. Kara asked where Keegan would go after the win, and the volunteer said that he would be taken to the media tent for an interview. Then he asked if she'd like to go.

After that, weird things kept happening. As Keegan was ushered off, we followed him. The volunteer chaperoned us, getting us into the exclusive after-tournament party. We got to the front of the room as Keegan thanked all the volunteers and the military personnel on site. Keegan got to the exit, near us, and hugged Kara and the others in our group. We congratulated him, and it was pretty cool.

But Keegan still had to do his press conference. The volunteer, again, asked if we wanted to go. Not wanting to turn down more VIP options, we were driven by golf cart to the media building. Ushered by security again, we ended up seated at the Byron Nelson's champion's press conference.

It was a bit unreal. The day had gone from a vague notion of knowing one of the players to sitting in the media room as this guy got interviewed. After it was over, Keegan approached us again. I shook his hand, and I congratulated him on his big win. He said it was nice to meet all of us, and he seemed like a genuinely good guy.

Again, I don't really follow golf. But it was still a cool experience to be ushered around like VIPs. We were treated like Keegan's special guests (which, I suppose, we were in a way), and it was really cool.

So, if anyone asks me who my favorite golfer is, I have an answer. It probably won't be a name anyone recognizes (unless he keeps winning), but it will actually be an honest one. I'm not sure if I'll follow golf any more than I did before...but now I, at least, have someone to root for. And, at the end of the day, that's why I watch sports in the first place.

Sports Tour Around the Metroplex

In one week, I took in a lot of the sporting events that the DFW Metroplex has to offer. I love this town, and I love sports...but I rarely take full advantage of what the area can deliver. This week, I did not.

Sunday 5/15 - Texas Rangers

Tim invited us to the Rangers game, and since the Mavericks weren't playing, we decided to go. It was my fifth game of the year, and it was really nice to get out to a day baseball game before it gets too hot. Obviously not new to me, Rangers' games are still really fun. It was a pretty generic game and nothing really to note.

Monday 5/16 - Frisco Roughriders

More baseball, but this time, it was the younger guys. The Rangers recently signed a Cuban defector named Leonys Martin. We've heard that, sooner or later, Martin will be the starting centerfielder for the Rangers. He has speed, defense, and a solid bat (in other words, he's everything that Borbon was promised to be). And I wanted to check him out as quickly as possible. And since the Rangers' number one prospect (Martin Perez) is also at Frisco, it was a simple solution: find a game where Perez is pitching at home and go.

Sunday night, I was talking with Ashley, and we decided to simply buy tickets at the gate. It's Frisco, its the middle of the season, and outside of hardcore Rangers' fans, there wasn't a great deal of Martin buzz.

But I arrived to work on Monday morning and my friend Matt (who also planned on going) walked up to me and said, "I think Nelson Cruz screwed us." Not having any idea what that meant, he went on to explain that All-Star Cruz was going to be doing a rehab assignment at Frisco starting Monday. Matt had checked online and saw that, presumably because of the assignment, the game appeared mostly sold out. The only tickets he could find were $20 ones.

Ashley was out if that was the case, and I was debating it. After all, we only spend $15 for the big league club...$20 for the minor leaguers seemed a bit much. But Matt decided to call, and I told him that we were in if we could get $10 seats. He called, and he was surprised when they told him that there were four $10 seats available on the first row of the 1st base line.

We assumed that some extra tickets had been released because the web site was pretty insistent that no tickets remained. But when we got to the park, something was off. No one was there. No one.

Maybe they were stuck in traffic on the Toll Road? Nope. No one was there, and no one else was coming. There were times when the stadium was so silent that you could hear the first baseman walk on the dirt of the infield.

But that also meant that the game was ripe for heckling. I've never really been a heckler (mostly because I'm generally quiet and I never sit close enough to do it.) But with Ashley, Matt, and Matt's friend also participating, I went for it. My prime target was a poor kid (who we later found out was from the Metroplex) named Petey Paramore.

Petey, huh? Not Peter or Pete? And this wasn't a 19-year-old guy...he was almost 25. It was time to go by a more adult name, and we let him know it. The highlight for me was when I noticed that Petey was hitting .169. So I yell, "Let's go, Petey! You're so close to .170" The joke being, of course, that .170 is still terrible.

Everyone around us laughed. And I knew I'd made a good heckle when I noticed that the Roughriders' 1st baseman was laughing too.

Some of it may have been a bit mean, but heckling might actually be part of baseball's DNA. The fans are allowed to try and get in the heads of the players, and I think they know that. We also picked on a couple other players, including a guy from New Jersey who had these terrible douche-like giant reflective sunglasses in his official picture.

But the game was pretty fun. Martin and Perez played well, and it was good to see Cruz hit again. If you want to see young players desperately trying to make the big leagues, it's really fun. Frisco is cheap, and they try to make the games fun for people of all ages. It's distracting sometimes, but it's a good time. I recommend it.

Tuesday 5/17

Tim texted me Monday and asked if I wanted to go to game one of the Western Conference Finals. I said yes and asked about the price. He said $125.

And while I'm definitely on board the Mavs' wagon, I was a bit hesitant at the price. I don't spend that much on tickets much, and I didn't want to spend $125 just to see the team lose. But I figured the Mavs would show up for the game, and I bit the bullet.

Now, prior to this season, I was a bit nervous about going to Maverick playoff games. I'd been to two before, both against the Spurs in separate seasons. In 2003, I went to the game in the Western Conference Finals where Dirk got hurt. In 2006, I went to the game where Jason Terry got suspended for punching Michael Finley in his special area. Two losses and two big negative marks.

But I went to the first playoff game of the season against the Blazers this season, and they won. So, as part of my effort to be less superstitious, I decided to go for it.

Now, I've been to playoff games before. I've been to Stanley Cup games. I've been to regular season sellouts. And, generally, traffic around the American Airlines Center flows pretty well.

Not this night. Tim and I got to the area around the arena around 7:20, and we got in our seats after the lineups were announced. It took a while to get to the parking lot, we had to park in an auxiliary lot a lot further than I've ever parked, and there was a giant line to get inside the arena. I've never seen anything like it before.

But it was good. The crowd was electric and loud, and Dirk Nowitzki carried the team on his shoulders. It just goes to show you that this town is desperately hungry for a championship, and if the teams show us something, we'll do our best to carry them.

5/22 - Colonial

I've never been into golf. To me, the sport is for rich old men, and it's just never been that entertaining to me. But a few years ago, I was invited into a fantasy golf league, and it kinda changed things. I've always maintained that fantasy sports are great for me because they get me interested in games/events that I don't care about. Because for me to watch sports, I have to have a reason to cheer for one of the teams. Fantasy sports give me a reason.

So if I was bored and golf was the only thing on, I could try to root for the guys I chose for that tournament.

One day, I was hanging out with Ashley's church group, and one of them was talking about fantasy sports. I mentioned that I had played fantasy golf (and that it was actually fun), and one of them (Kara) decided to start a league. And she did, and I've been one of the few people to keep up with it.

Kara is a Chicago Blackhawks fan, and I gave her my seats for the Blackhawks-Stars game at the end of the season. To pay me back, she offered me a ticket to the Colonial.

I've obviously never been to a golf tournament, not ever having been a big fan of the game. But because I'm trying to get out more and try new things, I decided to go for it (which, yes, is a theme). I don't know Kara very well, but she's always been really nice to me and I knew it'd be fun to hang out with her.

So I woke up early Sunday morning and drove out to Fort Worth. I parked at TCU, and I was a bit embarrassed to know how close the Colonial course was to the campus (I didn't really know where it was, and I didn't know I could've walked there from campus).

And it was a pretty good time. I don't have a favorite player, and the field didn't have big names like Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson. But I recognized a few names, and I was able to see some of the bigger names. One of the ones that had a huge crowd was young gun Rickie Fowler. He was dressed head-to-toe in bright orange, and his fans dressed the same way. It was pretty cool to see that, since it was as close to a "big gallery" as you could get.

And it was pretty cool to see how close you could get to these pro golfers. One time, we were walking up, and Kevin Na was just right in front of us. He'd hit his ball way off course, and he was looking for it. It ended up right in front of a big concession tent, and I watched all the drama unfold as Na argued with officials about where the ball should be dropped. I was literally three feet from them, and I heard everything. For some reason, the behind the scenes stuff of sports really fascinates me (they're normal people?!?!) and that was pretty cool. Particularly since they do such a good job of segregating the fans from the players usually.

Which is one thing that really bothered me. The way that tournament officials, caddies, and the players are so paranoid about noise and movement. If you're walking around when someone is taking a shot, they make you stand. If you're whispering anywhere, the caddies glare at you. There must be total silence or the golfers can't do their jobs.

Which I think is really stupid. As I mentioned earlier, part of baseball is heckling. Part of basketball is an electric crowd. Fans in every sport are allowed (and usually encouraged) to make as much noise as possible. They're part of the game, and it's always been that way.

But golfers can't play if someone is walking behind them? Or if someone is whispering at a level where the golfer can't possibly hear them? I know that's also tradition, but it seems pretty anal to me.

So I'm declaring, right now, that I will one day sponsor a golf tournament that I can believe in. Fans will be encouraged to cheer (and, yes, heckle within reason) at the golfers. There will be music playing. Movement will be allowed. Let's see if these guys can do it without silence and stillness.

But, outside of that, it was a good time. I got some sun, got a lot of walking in, and it was a new experience. I'm not sure I'd go all the time, but I'm sure I'd have fun every once and a while.

One week, four different sporting events in four different venues. Definitely good times.

First Draft - Complete

I finished the first draft of the first season of (codename) Bumblebees Are Impossible today. It was a huge process, but I was able to write nine full TV scripts in the last couple of months.

Now, the hard part begins. Editing, writing, and re-writing what we've already got down. But while it should be hard, it should also be fun. Looking forward to the process, and I'm hoping to look back on this post and smile. Because this could be the start of something cool.

Wish us luck.