So I'm officially done with SMU. WooHoo!!! I'm so glad to be out of this place. I swear it is where lacoste polos and Keystone Light cans come to die. This year has gone by so fast I can't believe it. Here are some milestones:
1) My first college party: Kappa Sig Heaven 'N Hell Halloween extravaganza. Sooooo much fun. Actually the last time I've danced in the past year. Ya, I actually still have a scar from this party.
2) SMU Homecoming: Ya, lets move on.
3) Nic moving back to Oregon: ya, this was really sad. I had to start out my year all alone. I was really depressed and not making any friends. I think this was the beginning of the end for me and SMU. I was not having a good time all by myself. I also blame this for making me buy Laguna Beach season 1. That's right, BUY.
4) Sam moving in: Sam = best roommate in the entire world. She really brought me out of my shell. Plus she's freaking awesome. Ya, we're kind of twins. We look ridiculously similar. I'm really going to miss not having her around all the time. Love ya Sam!!
5) My first community bathroom experience: Ya, not going to miss the community bathrooms. Having to wait for the sink/ bathroom stall/ shower = not fun at all. Plus, I hate showering with shoes on, as most people do. And the big shower was always clogged, so water would just fill up the tub, negating the benefit of the shower shoes. My point: community showers are a horrible idea.
6) Meeting my first Alaskan: Daniel, one of my best friends here, is from freaking Alaska, making him automatically interesting. Everytime I complained about being cold, he would say, "Shut up, it's like negitive 50 in Alaska," and I would say, "Well-played Daniel...well-played." Plus, he's a huge Mavs fan and his uncle has amazing seats right behind the players bench.
7) Meeting Stacy: Ya, I didn't realize that she was going to be such an influencial person in my life when I met her. She was just the random girl driving me and 2 other friends to Garvie's townhouse. Then, she came over a few days later and watched CSI: Miami with me, and the rest is history...
8) Moving out: Ugggggg. After this year, I'm never moving again...without movers...and proper packing supplies. No more just throwing stuff in my big-ass suitcase and praying for the best.
Ya, there is more, but if I tell you, I would have to kill you...
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Monday, May 7, 2007
I'm Bringing Bandwagons Back...
OK, now I'm really into lists because their such an easy format for blogs. Don't have anything to blog about? Make a list. So my list for today: All of the bandwagons I hopped on over the years:
1) the Dirk Nowitzki Bandwagon (aka the Wunderkind Bandwagon): I'm not just a passenger on this bandwagon, I'm pretty much the driver of this bandwagon (please see last post for more thourough example of what it takes to be the driver of the Wunderkind Bandwagon). If this comes as a suprize to you, you do not know me at all and we are no longer friends...my condolences for your loss.
2) On that note, any bandwagon having to do with the Dallas Mavericks, except the Mark Cuban Bandwagon, because he needs to sit down and shut up. But he isn't jumping off the Mavericks bandwagon (a bandwagon which he kind of owns), so you got to give him props for that; he ain't no bandwagon jumper.
3) the Dallas Cowboys Bandwagon: sure, they aren't as good as they used to be (Emmit-Aikman era), but they're still and will always be America's team. Also, being a native of Dallas, I got to support the Cows!!
4) the Randy Galloway Bandwagon: I love Randy Galloway. He knows what he's talking about and he knows how to apropriatly talk about it (unlike some people I know *cough*Boyce*cough*). He knows that the Mavs (and every other Dallas team this year) kind of, well, fell flat, but yet he's still supportive in his own vindictive, self-servinig, harsh sort of way. And I agree with everything he says except for a few rare occasions.
5) the Bill Simmons Bandwagon: I don't always agree with what Bill says, but he's a great writer. Just look at my facebook profile. Pretty much all my quotes are from him. After the NBA finals in 2006, I found his blog on the state of the NBA and read the entire thing out loud to my parents; it was 11 pages long and I made them sit through it. And he's witty, oh so witty. And his page on ESPN.com has a picture of the infamous cowbell- Blue Oyster Clut skit from SNL. You gotta listen to what someone like that has to say.
6) the wide-leg pant Bandwagon: this has nothing to do with sports, I'm actually talking about wide-leg pants. I just love them. They're really comfy and cute and I don't feel like a fat-ass in them.
7) the Jogging Bandwagon: Ya, this bandwagon started way back when, but it's still going strong. It doesn't matter how many gyms open, you will always see people jogging around their neighborhoods, taking in the scenery. I love it because it feels like I'm actually going somewhere, unlike the tredmill. Plus getting to jog around Highland Park is incentive enough: it's really pretty and there are sidewalks everywhere.
1) the Dirk Nowitzki Bandwagon (aka the Wunderkind Bandwagon): I'm not just a passenger on this bandwagon, I'm pretty much the driver of this bandwagon (please see last post for more thourough example of what it takes to be the driver of the Wunderkind Bandwagon). If this comes as a suprize to you, you do not know me at all and we are no longer friends...my condolences for your loss.
2) On that note, any bandwagon having to do with the Dallas Mavericks, except the Mark Cuban Bandwagon, because he needs to sit down and shut up. But he isn't jumping off the Mavericks bandwagon (a bandwagon which he kind of owns), so you got to give him props for that; he ain't no bandwagon jumper.
3) the Dallas Cowboys Bandwagon: sure, they aren't as good as they used to be (Emmit-Aikman era), but they're still and will always be America's team. Also, being a native of Dallas, I got to support the Cows!!
4) the Randy Galloway Bandwagon: I love Randy Galloway. He knows what he's talking about and he knows how to apropriatly talk about it (unlike some people I know *cough*Boyce*cough*). He knows that the Mavs (and every other Dallas team this year) kind of, well, fell flat, but yet he's still supportive in his own vindictive, self-servinig, harsh sort of way. And I agree with everything he says except for a few rare occasions.
5) the Bill Simmons Bandwagon: I don't always agree with what Bill says, but he's a great writer. Just look at my facebook profile. Pretty much all my quotes are from him. After the NBA finals in 2006, I found his blog on the state of the NBA and read the entire thing out loud to my parents; it was 11 pages long and I made them sit through it. And he's witty, oh so witty. And his page on ESPN.com has a picture of the infamous cowbell- Blue Oyster Clut skit from SNL. You gotta listen to what someone like that has to say.
6) the wide-leg pant Bandwagon: this has nothing to do with sports, I'm actually talking about wide-leg pants. I just love them. They're really comfy and cute and I don't feel like a fat-ass in them.
7) the Jogging Bandwagon: Ya, this bandwagon started way back when, but it's still going strong. It doesn't matter how many gyms open, you will always see people jogging around their neighborhoods, taking in the scenery. I love it because it feels like I'm actually going somewhere, unlike the tredmill. Plus getting to jog around Highland Park is incentive enough: it's really pretty and there are sidewalks everywhere.
I'm Bringing Cruelty Back...
Well, I'm not bringing it back, but this writer from the Kansas City Star sure did, a piece entitled "Dirk Chokes, and he's Holding Dallas Back". David Boyce was just mean...really mean.
OK, as one of Dirk's greatest supporters, I am a little biased and always eager to run to the aid of my favorite player. But I think this article would make a lot of the Dirk Bandwagon Jumpers who denied knowing his name and owning his jersey in all 3 Mavs colors after the Game 6 humiliation to jump back on the Wunderkind-mobile. Probably the most cruel thing in the entire article was this:
"But as long as Nowitzki is the go-to player, the only place the Mavericks will finish is the land of postseason chokers, where Nowitzki is president."
OK Boyce, you just crossed a line. Sure, maybe Dallas' precious Dirk did choke, but there is no reason to get all nasty about it. I know you feel bad because you predicted Dallas to win it all like everyone did. Everyone was so eager to jump on the Dallas Bandwagon during our 4 double-didget winning streaks. I know you are pissed at yourself for being just another face in the masses who followed the Dallas light and who were disappointed in the end. But there is no reason to take your anger out on one person when basketball is a team sport. Need I remind you that there is no "I" in "TEAM", but there is an "I" in "DIRK"...but that doesn't make much sense...
Back to my point, if we're going to play the blame game, we cannot blame one player for the performance of an entire team, complete with coaching staff. I hate to use words like "blame" and "fault", but it wasn't all Dirk's fault. His performance was not the only one lacking luster during this playoff series. Sure, if he would have gotten his act together, Dallas probably would have done a lot better (i.e. won the series like they were supposed to). But I think Nowitzki obviously knows that he sucked (for lack of a better word). The series is over, Game 6 is in the past, and constantly saying things like, "Nowitzki choked" is not going to reverse time and make Dallas advance to the 2nd round. The only thing that we can do with this situation is learn from it, go back and analyze the stats, look at the game footage, and prepare for the future. And giving Dirk titles like "President of the Land of Postseason Chokers" is not going to magically turn him into a magnificent cluch player.
On that note, I think it's important to point out that basketball players are human (even though most are freakishly tall and have crazy-mad skills): they have emotions and they make mistakes. There is no such thing as perfection, not even in the game of basketball. Sorry to break it to you.
And need I remind you Boyce that Kansas City doesn't even have an NBA team? Ya, that's right. And the Chiefs had a worse record than the Cowboys this year...and that's saying something with as many balls as T.O. dropped this season, but don't even get me started on T.O., because T.O. is on my list...
So now I have to explain my list, my list of people I don't personally care for. Some are becuase they suck as athletes, others because they suck as human beings:
1) Terrell Owens: for obvious reasons. He is actually the only person on my list that sucks at being both an athlete AND a human being. Congratulations for being the most worthless person on the planet. And the children's book "T.O. Learns to Share" only gives him more reason to be on my List.
2) A couple of kids who I went to school with who will go unnamed: ya they are just horrible human beings (Don't worry, if you're reading this, chances are you are not one of them).
3) Pat Riley: he looks like the evil emporer from Star Wars, after he gets electricuted. Does nobody else see that? I seriously get really scared every time they show a close up of him on tv...nope, actually I have a constant fear of Pat Riley, just afraid he's going to come and kill me in my sleep for comparing him to the evil electrocuted emporer from Star Wars.
4) Dwayne Wade: not only is he on my List, but he is also the president of the Sit Down and Shut Up club (with Marc Cuban being the treasurer and the newly-elected David Boyce as the vice-president, for reasons stated above). Ya, after winning the 2006 NBA title, he goes and critiques Nowitzki, saying that he's not a good leader and crap like that. Hey Wade, you got the trophy...you can shut up now. And then he seriously hurt his shoulder and pulled a James Brown with that towel and the wheelchair, and then got made fun of by crying like a little girl, and then his team got swept by the Chicago Bulls in the first round, so I think that shut him up...for a minute.
*Note* anyone who says anything negative and not constructive about any of the Dallas Mavericks is automatically inducted into the Sit Down and Shut Up Club.
5) Shaquile O'Neal (there seems to be a pattern with Miami Heat people): he just has an attitude, and for a guy with his free throw shooting percentage, he need not have one. He is also a paying member of the Sit Down and Shut Up Club.
6) Antoine Walker: another Miami Heat player. Honestly, I just don't like his face. He looks (and acts) like a big baby.
7) Marion Barbosa: picture it: 2006, Conference Finals, he called Dirk a not-so-nice word and gave him a not-so-nice hand gesture to go along with that word. One of the few times I've ever seen Nowitzki almost get in a fight. Barbosa was called for the T (at least I think it was Barbosa, it might have been Stoudemire...oh well, throw them both on the list, and into the Sit Down and Shut Up Club...even though I think that T did the trick, and that 50-point game that Dirk had).
8) George Bush: yes he started the Iraq War (big mistake), but when the Miami Heat presented him with the game ball from the Finals last year, he tried to dribble it...and failed. Ya, real smooth there Bush.
On a happier note, Round 2 is officially up and running. Spurs vs. Suns today...what a game! As my friend Daniel pointed out, they are literally trying to kill each other. Here's what happened: Steve Nash's nose has a pretty unfortunate collision with Tony Parker's face, resulting in Tony Parker almost being knocked unconcious and Nash getting a really bad cut on his nose. Because the cut wouldn't stop bleeding, he had to sit out with about 2 minutes left in the fourth, allowing the Spurs to win the game.
With any luck, Boyce will run into Tony Parker's forehead and end up with a bloody nose.
OK, as one of Dirk's greatest supporters, I am a little biased and always eager to run to the aid of my favorite player. But I think this article would make a lot of the Dirk Bandwagon Jumpers who denied knowing his name and owning his jersey in all 3 Mavs colors after the Game 6 humiliation to jump back on the Wunderkind-mobile. Probably the most cruel thing in the entire article was this:
"But as long as Nowitzki is the go-to player, the only place the Mavericks will finish is the land of postseason chokers, where Nowitzki is president."
OK Boyce, you just crossed a line. Sure, maybe Dallas' precious Dirk did choke, but there is no reason to get all nasty about it. I know you feel bad because you predicted Dallas to win it all like everyone did. Everyone was so eager to jump on the Dallas Bandwagon during our 4 double-didget winning streaks. I know you are pissed at yourself for being just another face in the masses who followed the Dallas light and who were disappointed in the end. But there is no reason to take your anger out on one person when basketball is a team sport. Need I remind you that there is no "I" in "TEAM", but there is an "I" in "DIRK"...but that doesn't make much sense...
Back to my point, if we're going to play the blame game, we cannot blame one player for the performance of an entire team, complete with coaching staff. I hate to use words like "blame" and "fault", but it wasn't all Dirk's fault. His performance was not the only one lacking luster during this playoff series. Sure, if he would have gotten his act together, Dallas probably would have done a lot better (i.e. won the series like they were supposed to). But I think Nowitzki obviously knows that he sucked (for lack of a better word). The series is over, Game 6 is in the past, and constantly saying things like, "Nowitzki choked" is not going to reverse time and make Dallas advance to the 2nd round. The only thing that we can do with this situation is learn from it, go back and analyze the stats, look at the game footage, and prepare for the future. And giving Dirk titles like "President of the Land of Postseason Chokers" is not going to magically turn him into a magnificent cluch player.
On that note, I think it's important to point out that basketball players are human (even though most are freakishly tall and have crazy-mad skills): they have emotions and they make mistakes. There is no such thing as perfection, not even in the game of basketball. Sorry to break it to you.
And need I remind you Boyce that Kansas City doesn't even have an NBA team? Ya, that's right. And the Chiefs had a worse record than the Cowboys this year...and that's saying something with as many balls as T.O. dropped this season, but don't even get me started on T.O., because T.O. is on my list...
So now I have to explain my list, my list of people I don't personally care for. Some are becuase they suck as athletes, others because they suck as human beings:
1) Terrell Owens: for obvious reasons. He is actually the only person on my list that sucks at being both an athlete AND a human being. Congratulations for being the most worthless person on the planet. And the children's book "T.O. Learns to Share" only gives him more reason to be on my List.
2) A couple of kids who I went to school with who will go unnamed: ya they are just horrible human beings (Don't worry, if you're reading this, chances are you are not one of them).
3) Pat Riley: he looks like the evil emporer from Star Wars, after he gets electricuted. Does nobody else see that? I seriously get really scared every time they show a close up of him on tv...nope, actually I have a constant fear of Pat Riley, just afraid he's going to come and kill me in my sleep for comparing him to the evil electrocuted emporer from Star Wars.
4) Dwayne Wade: not only is he on my List, but he is also the president of the Sit Down and Shut Up club (with Marc Cuban being the treasurer and the newly-elected David Boyce as the vice-president, for reasons stated above). Ya, after winning the 2006 NBA title, he goes and critiques Nowitzki, saying that he's not a good leader and crap like that. Hey Wade, you got the trophy...you can shut up now. And then he seriously hurt his shoulder and pulled a James Brown with that towel and the wheelchair, and then got made fun of by crying like a little girl, and then his team got swept by the Chicago Bulls in the first round, so I think that shut him up...for a minute.
*Note* anyone who says anything negative and not constructive about any of the Dallas Mavericks is automatically inducted into the Sit Down and Shut Up Club.
5) Shaquile O'Neal (there seems to be a pattern with Miami Heat people): he just has an attitude, and for a guy with his free throw shooting percentage, he need not have one. He is also a paying member of the Sit Down and Shut Up Club.
6) Antoine Walker: another Miami Heat player. Honestly, I just don't like his face. He looks (and acts) like a big baby.
7) Marion Barbosa: picture it: 2006, Conference Finals, he called Dirk a not-so-nice word and gave him a not-so-nice hand gesture to go along with that word. One of the few times I've ever seen Nowitzki almost get in a fight. Barbosa was called for the T (at least I think it was Barbosa, it might have been Stoudemire...oh well, throw them both on the list, and into the Sit Down and Shut Up Club...even though I think that T did the trick, and that 50-point game that Dirk had).
8) George Bush: yes he started the Iraq War (big mistake), but when the Miami Heat presented him with the game ball from the Finals last year, he tried to dribble it...and failed. Ya, real smooth there Bush.
On a happier note, Round 2 is officially up and running. Spurs vs. Suns today...what a game! As my friend Daniel pointed out, they are literally trying to kill each other. Here's what happened: Steve Nash's nose has a pretty unfortunate collision with Tony Parker's face, resulting in Tony Parker almost being knocked unconcious and Nash getting a really bad cut on his nose. Because the cut wouldn't stop bleeding, he had to sit out with about 2 minutes left in the fourth, allowing the Spurs to win the game.
With any luck, Boyce will run into Tony Parker's forehead and end up with a bloody nose.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
I'm Bringing Coach-Man Back...
(aka Avery Johnson)
Poor Aves. You gotta feel bad for the guy. I mean his team was expected to win it all, and their out in the first round...even though it was kind of their fault...which makes it even worse. To make matters worse, he had to go on Galloway and Company the day after that heart-breaking game 6 loss. But he did very well: he didn't deny anything that was so obviously true (i.e. the Mavericks didn't play well...at all). To go even further, he took the blame for the whole thing, saying that it was ultimatly his fault that the mavs didn't play up to thier standards.
Of course, the question of whether he would return next season came up, like it always does after a game like Game 6. To this, Aves said that Mark Cuban and him sat down and had a long talk about it and both agreed that Avery Johnson would be the head coach for the 2007-2008 season (HALLELUJA!!!), a season I think every Mavs fan who is not a Bandwagon Jumper is counting down the days to.
So round 1 is officially over. Conference Semi-Finals are up next. Here are the matchups and my picks:
Western Conference:
Goldenstate Warriors vs. Utah Jazz: this is going to be an interesting one, since nobody in their right mind predicted that these two teams would be playing each other in this series since everyone in their right mind predicted Dallas to survive the first round. Both teams have a lot of momentum coming out of the first round: Goldenstate (because "they believe" or some shit like that) and Utah Jazz (because they haven't made the playoffs in a million gazillion years...and c'mon, they're UTAH). I think this all depends on how each team plays on the away games. If the Jazz can withstand the psycological torment of the hyped-up GSW fans, then I say they have a chance. If GSW can win one of the first two games (both played in Utah because of home court advantage), they're going to gain momentum and run away with the series when they play back in Oakland. But I can't really comment on the Utah fans becaue I have never really seen them during a game. But GS did get off pretty easy in Dallas, because the NDBP think it's "uncool" to yell and cheer on their team or some shit like that. But I don't know how you can get any better than the GS fans; they were really there for their team. You got to respect that. So I think this season depends on how either team plays under pressure in away games, but I think that ultimatly the momentum that GS gained from round 1 will carry over to Conference semi-finals and carry them to a spot in the Conference finals.
San Antonio Spurs vs. Phoenix Suns: God, I cannot wait to see this matchup! This is going to be one of the most intense displays of sportsmanship that we will see in the last few years. I think both teams are breathing a sigh of relief that they don't have to save some energy for Dallas in the Conference Finals round, so they are going to play with even more intensity this round. They are really going to beat each other up in this round, so it's hard to say who's going to come out on top. Neither team is really an "underdog" playing with something to prove like GSW and Utah. Both teams have been through these motions before, they know the intensity that comes along with the playoffs. It's going to come down to 1) how the refs are calling the games and 2) who really wants it more and 3) who gets tired faster. In the end, I think it will be Phoenix in 7...a rough 7. The Spurs are old, a big 7 game series is really going to wear them out. The Suns are a lot younger...'nuff said.
Eastern Conference:
Ya, I really don't care about the Eastern Conference because it sucks this year. The one team that I was kind of watching got swept in the first round (suck on that Miami Heat!! What do you have to say now Wade?? HMMMM??). Now, I only have 2 words for you: Detroit Pistons.
Poor Aves. You gotta feel bad for the guy. I mean his team was expected to win it all, and their out in the first round...even though it was kind of their fault...which makes it even worse. To make matters worse, he had to go on Galloway and Company the day after that heart-breaking game 6 loss. But he did very well: he didn't deny anything that was so obviously true (i.e. the Mavericks didn't play well...at all). To go even further, he took the blame for the whole thing, saying that it was ultimatly his fault that the mavs didn't play up to thier standards.
Of course, the question of whether he would return next season came up, like it always does after a game like Game 6. To this, Aves said that Mark Cuban and him sat down and had a long talk about it and both agreed that Avery Johnson would be the head coach for the 2007-2008 season (HALLELUJA!!!), a season I think every Mavs fan who is not a Bandwagon Jumper is counting down the days to.
So round 1 is officially over. Conference Semi-Finals are up next. Here are the matchups and my picks:
Western Conference:
Goldenstate Warriors vs. Utah Jazz: this is going to be an interesting one, since nobody in their right mind predicted that these two teams would be playing each other in this series since everyone in their right mind predicted Dallas to survive the first round. Both teams have a lot of momentum coming out of the first round: Goldenstate (because "they believe" or some shit like that) and Utah Jazz (because they haven't made the playoffs in a million gazillion years...and c'mon, they're UTAH). I think this all depends on how each team plays on the away games. If the Jazz can withstand the psycological torment of the hyped-up GSW fans, then I say they have a chance. If GSW can win one of the first two games (both played in Utah because of home court advantage), they're going to gain momentum and run away with the series when they play back in Oakland. But I can't really comment on the Utah fans becaue I have never really seen them during a game. But GS did get off pretty easy in Dallas, because the NDBP think it's "uncool" to yell and cheer on their team or some shit like that. But I don't know how you can get any better than the GS fans; they were really there for their team. You got to respect that. So I think this season depends on how either team plays under pressure in away games, but I think that ultimatly the momentum that GS gained from round 1 will carry over to Conference semi-finals and carry them to a spot in the Conference finals.
San Antonio Spurs vs. Phoenix Suns: God, I cannot wait to see this matchup! This is going to be one of the most intense displays of sportsmanship that we will see in the last few years. I think both teams are breathing a sigh of relief that they don't have to save some energy for Dallas in the Conference Finals round, so they are going to play with even more intensity this round. They are really going to beat each other up in this round, so it's hard to say who's going to come out on top. Neither team is really an "underdog" playing with something to prove like GSW and Utah. Both teams have been through these motions before, they know the intensity that comes along with the playoffs. It's going to come down to 1) how the refs are calling the games and 2) who really wants it more and 3) who gets tired faster. In the end, I think it will be Phoenix in 7...a rough 7. The Spurs are old, a big 7 game series is really going to wear them out. The Suns are a lot younger...'nuff said.
Eastern Conference:
Ya, I really don't care about the Eastern Conference because it sucks this year. The one team that I was kind of watching got swept in the first round (suck on that Miami Heat!! What do you have to say now Wade?? HMMMM??). Now, I only have 2 words for you: Detroit Pistons.
Friday, May 4, 2007
I'm Bringing Dallas Back...
Just because you know I have to talk about it: Dallas Mavericks losing...to Golden State Warriors...in the first round of the playoffs...when we were expected to win it all. Ya, I don't know if this situation could sound any worse. Oh ya, and Golden State is probably not even going to make it out of the next round, so it was all for naught.
I've got one word for you: Nellie. This is Don Nelson's great revenge on Mark Cuban. It's like he's saying, "Hey Cuban, you still owe me $6 Million. Oh, you refuse to pay? Then I will just use my powers for evil and destroy your team's moral...and then go drink some scotch and puff a cigar with my fugly dog. HA!! Suck on that Cuban!"
Does anyone fail to notice that we could have avoided this problem all together? We could have knocked out the Warriors in the regular season. Ya, that game that Avery Johnson decided to rest all of the starters so that they would be healthy for the playoffs. That is just cruel irony right there.
So today starts the reprocussions of this heartbreaking loss. I hate days like today. Everyone gets way to emotionally caught up in the game and is all angry and frustrated. People are pissed off...devistated...a couple had to flee in the night from their bookies because the Mavericks winning the playoffs was a "safe bet". But if I had a quarter for every time that someone predicted the Mavericks as a "safe bet"...
I hate when people are mad about lost sports games. I mean ya. this sucks, and yes, I was angry, and yes, we did kind of let the Warriors kick our ass, but I'm not angry anymore. What I'm concentrating on now is getting better. There is no point in STILL being pissed at the Mavs; they need their fans more than ever now. These are actually the kinds of situations that define real fans because real fans stick by their teams whether they are winning or losing, AND I AM STICKING BY THE MAVS!!
While trying to figure out what exactly happened, I came across an amazing article by my idol, Bill Simmons (writer for ESPN.com...page 2, who I always agree with...him and Randy Galloway...today will be an interesting show on GAC...more to come on that). Anyway, it's titled "The 13 Levels of Losing," and it is genius. Here are the levels:
"Level XIII: The Princeton Principle
Definition: When a Cinderella team hangs tough against a heavy favorite, but the favorite somehow prevails in the end (like Princeton almost toppling Georgetown in the '89 NCAAs) ... this one stings because you had low expectations, but those gritty underdogs raised your hopes ... also works for boxing, especially in situations like Balboa-Creed I ("He doesn't know it's a damn show! He thinks it's a damn fight!") ... the moment that always sucks you in: in college hoops, when they show shots of the bench scrubs leaping up and down and hugging each other during the "These guys won't go away!" portion of the game, before the collapse at the end...
"Level XII: The Achilles' Heel
Definition: This defeat transcends the actual game, because it revealed something larger about your team, a fatal flaw exposed for everyone to see ... flare guns are fired, red flags are raised, doubt seeps into your team ... usually the beginning of the end (you don't fully comprehend this until you're reflecting back on it)...
"Level XI: The Alpha Dog
Definition: It might have been a devastating loss, but at least you could take solace that a superior player made the difference in the end ... unfortunately, he wasn't playing for your team ... you feel more helpless here than anything ... for further reference, see any of MJ's games in the Finals against Utah ('97 and '98)
"Level X: The Rabbit's Foot
Definition: Now we're starting to get into "Outright Painful" territory ... this applies to those frustrating games and/or series where every single break seemingly goes against your team ... unbelievably frustrating ... you know that sinking, "Oh, God, I've been here before" feeling when something unfortunate happens, when your guard immediately goes shooting up? ... yeah ... I'm wincing just writing about it
"Level IX: The Sudden Death
Definition: Is there another fan experience quite like overtime hockey, when every slap shot, breakaway and centering pass might spell doom, and losing feels 10 times worse than winning feels good (if that makes sense)? ... there's only one mitigating factor: when OT periods start piling up and you lose the capacity to care anymore; invariably you start rooting for the game to just end, just so you don't suffer a heart attack ... bonus points because one of these happened last night: Colorado's game-winning OT goal against Detroit.
"Level VIII: Dead Man Walking
Definition: Applies to any playoff series when your team remains "alive," but they just suffered a loss so catastrophic and so harrowing that there's no possible way they can bounce back ... especially disheartening because you wave the white flag mentally, but there's a tiny part of you still holding out hope for a miraculous momentum change ... so you've given up, but you're still getting hurt, if that makes sense ... just for the record, I thought this would apply to the Nets after their Game 3 collapse (I couldn't have been more wrong)
"Level VII: The Monkey Wrench
Definition: Any situation where either A) the manager/coach of your team made an idiotic game decision, or B) a referee/umpire robbed your team of impending victory ... the Monkey Wrench game gains steam as the days and months roll along ... the Patriots and Raiders deserve special mention here because they played two Monkey Wrench games 26 years apart -- the '76 Playoff Game (where Ben Dreith's dubious "roughing the passer" call on "Sugar Bear" Hamilton gave the Raiders second life), and this January's Snow Game (the Brady fumble/non-fumble) ... funny how life works out.
"Level VI: The Full-Fledged Butt-Kicking
Definition: Sometimes you can tell right away when it isn't your team's day ... and that's the worst part, not just the epiphany but everything that follows -- every botched play, every turnover, every instance where someone on your team quits, every "deer in the headlights" look, every time an announcer says, "They can't get anything going," every shot of the opponents celebrating, every time you look at the score and think to yourself, "Well, if we score here and force a turnover, maybe we'll get some momentum," but you know it's not going to happen, because you're already 30 points down ... you just want it to end, and it won't end ... but you can't look away ... it's the sports fan's equivalent to a three-hour torture session
"Level V: The "This Can't Be Happening" Game
The sibling of the Full-Fledged Butt-Kicking ... you're supposed to win, you expect to win, the game is a mere formality ... suddenly your team falls behind, your opponents are fired up, the clock is ticking and it dawns on you for the first time, "Oh my God, this can't be happening."
"Level IV: The Broken Axle
Definition: When the wheels come flying off in a big game, leading to a complete collapse down the stretch ... this one works best for basketball, like Game 3 of the Celtics-Nets series this year, or Game 7 of the Blazers-Lakers series in 2000 ... you know when it's happening because A) the home crowd pushes their team to another level, and B) the team that's collapsing becomes afflicted with Deer-In-The-Headlitis ... it's always fascinating to see how teams bounce back from the Broken Axle Game ... by the way, nobody has been involved in more Broken Axle games than Rick Adelman
"Level III: The Guillotine
Definition: This one combines the devastation of the Broken Axle game with sweeping bitterness and hostility ... your team's hanging tough (hell, they might even be winning), but you can feel the inevitable breakdown coming, and you keep waiting for the guillotine to drop, and you just know it's coming -- you know it -- and when it finally comes, you're angry that it happened and you're angry at yourself for contributing to the debilitating karma ... these are the games when people end up whipping their remote controls against a wall or breaking their hands while pounding a coffee table ... too many of these and you'll end up in prison
"Level II: The Stomach Punch
Definition: Now we've moved into rarefied territory, any roller-coaster game that ends with A) an opponent making a pivotal (sometimes improbable) play, or B) one of your guys failing in the clutch ... usually ends with fans filing out after the game in stunned disbelief, if they can even move at all ... always haunting, sometimes scarring ... there are degrees to the Stomach Punch Game, depending on the situation ... for instance, Sunday's Kings-Lakers game and Monday's Celts-Nets game featured agonizing endings, but they weren't nearly as agonizing as Cleveland's Earnest Byner fumbling against Denver when he was about two yards and 0.2 seconds away from sending the Browns to the Super Bowl).
"Level I: That Game
Definition: Game 6 of the 1986 World Series ... one of a kind ... given the circumstances and the history involved here, maybe the most catastrophic sports loss of our lifetime."
When classifying Game 6 (the name under which it will not be infamously known to all Mavericks fans...ever), the first instinct is to put it under Level 1: That Game. C'Mon, this wasn't THAT game, far from it. It just seems like it now because the wound is fresh. Don't be so melodramatic, for gosh sakes! This could be considered a Level VII: the Achilles Heal, our fatal flaw being that Old Nellie used to be our head coach and knows how to beat us...but I think everyone knew that because GS has beaten us 8 our of our last 9 regular season meetings. I would classify Game 6 most closely as Level VI: The Full-Fledged Butt-Kicking. The Mavericks seem to always get that "Deer-in-the-headlight" look in pressure situations **cough**Finals '06 against Miami**cought**. And now, we did it again. Yes, Coach Johnson does need to work on getting our weaknesses under control, but he also needs to find a way to get his players to unwind a little, a way for them to find the momentum they need even when they are playing a sink-or-swim away game with fans like the ones in GS **cough**crazy**cough**.
Actually, I must commend the GS fans. The entire game, everyone was on their feet yelling and cheering. When you go to a Mavs home game and look at the fans in the 100-200 section...they're just sitting there (unless the score is really close in a clutch situation). While watching Game 5 the other night, they showed all the NDBP: the North Dallas Beautiful People, the people who are just there because they can AFFORD to be there. They are their to be seen in their season seats at the AAC, all the bleach-blonde women in their David Yurman jewelry, talking on their Blackberry cell phones. How do you even talk on your cell phone at any basketball game??? And the men are all in buisness suits talking...buisness. Here's a hint: deals are made on the golf course, not at the AAC. Not only should you be cheering on your team, but the noise level could lead to some money miscommunication...so really, you would be saving yourself a lot of money. I'm not saying that all 100-200 people are like this, its just the NDBP that are.
The 300 section is the only way to go. The fans up their are not there to "be seen"; they are there to be HEARD!! They are into the entire game. Even the people who are in the last row and can't see very well are into it. The best thing about sitting up there is that you can yell as loud as you want and nobody will give you a "shut the hell up, I'm making a buisness merger/having a conversation about my life on my freaking cell phone" look. The 300 people won't shut you up because they are yelling as loud as you are. You're giving them hugs when your team is doing well. You're participating in the "BULL SHIT" chant with them when your team got called by the refs. You are really sharing in an experience with the 300. I LOVE THE 300 BECAUSE THEY ARE THE REAL FANS!!! They understand that the game is about the game, not about themselves being seen there. Their about the team and being there to support them and being there for them, win or lose. Maybe, if the NDBP had cheered more in Game 1...nope, I'm not going to stoop to that level. I will embrace my fellow fans...even though I am the biggest fan...and I rule all. FACE.
P.S. Dirk: shooting 2/13 in the entire game:: Tony Romo: fumbling the snap on the kick in the Cowboys run at the playoffs. CAN'T YOU SEE THE COMPARISON?? The sad thing is until next season starts, nobody is going to remember all of Dirk's double-doubles or his 24 point shooting percentage; everyone is only going to talk about how he fell flat (or, dare I say it, choked?) in the playoffs...kind of like Romo funbling that ball. Nobody remembers all the balls he did catch; they only remember that fumble.
HeHe...balls.
I've got one word for you: Nellie. This is Don Nelson's great revenge on Mark Cuban. It's like he's saying, "Hey Cuban, you still owe me $6 Million. Oh, you refuse to pay? Then I will just use my powers for evil and destroy your team's moral...and then go drink some scotch and puff a cigar with my fugly dog. HA!! Suck on that Cuban!"
Does anyone fail to notice that we could have avoided this problem all together? We could have knocked out the Warriors in the regular season. Ya, that game that Avery Johnson decided to rest all of the starters so that they would be healthy for the playoffs. That is just cruel irony right there.
So today starts the reprocussions of this heartbreaking loss. I hate days like today. Everyone gets way to emotionally caught up in the game and is all angry and frustrated. People are pissed off...devistated...a couple had to flee in the night from their bookies because the Mavericks winning the playoffs was a "safe bet". But if I had a quarter for every time that someone predicted the Mavericks as a "safe bet"...
I hate when people are mad about lost sports games. I mean ya. this sucks, and yes, I was angry, and yes, we did kind of let the Warriors kick our ass, but I'm not angry anymore. What I'm concentrating on now is getting better. There is no point in STILL being pissed at the Mavs; they need their fans more than ever now. These are actually the kinds of situations that define real fans because real fans stick by their teams whether they are winning or losing, AND I AM STICKING BY THE MAVS!!
While trying to figure out what exactly happened, I came across an amazing article by my idol, Bill Simmons (writer for ESPN.com...page 2, who I always agree with...him and Randy Galloway...today will be an interesting show on GAC...more to come on that). Anyway, it's titled "The 13 Levels of Losing," and it is genius. Here are the levels:
"Level XIII: The Princeton Principle
Definition: When a Cinderella team hangs tough against a heavy favorite, but the favorite somehow prevails in the end (like Princeton almost toppling Georgetown in the '89 NCAAs) ... this one stings because you had low expectations, but those gritty underdogs raised your hopes ... also works for boxing, especially in situations like Balboa-Creed I ("He doesn't know it's a damn show! He thinks it's a damn fight!") ... the moment that always sucks you in: in college hoops, when they show shots of the bench scrubs leaping up and down and hugging each other during the "These guys won't go away!" portion of the game, before the collapse at the end...
"Level XII: The Achilles' Heel
Definition: This defeat transcends the actual game, because it revealed something larger about your team, a fatal flaw exposed for everyone to see ... flare guns are fired, red flags are raised, doubt seeps into your team ... usually the beginning of the end (you don't fully comprehend this until you're reflecting back on it)...
"Level XI: The Alpha Dog
Definition: It might have been a devastating loss, but at least you could take solace that a superior player made the difference in the end ... unfortunately, he wasn't playing for your team ... you feel more helpless here than anything ... for further reference, see any of MJ's games in the Finals against Utah ('97 and '98)
"Level X: The Rabbit's Foot
Definition: Now we're starting to get into "Outright Painful" territory ... this applies to those frustrating games and/or series where every single break seemingly goes against your team ... unbelievably frustrating ... you know that sinking, "Oh, God, I've been here before" feeling when something unfortunate happens, when your guard immediately goes shooting up? ... yeah ... I'm wincing just writing about it
"Level IX: The Sudden Death
Definition: Is there another fan experience quite like overtime hockey, when every slap shot, breakaway and centering pass might spell doom, and losing feels 10 times worse than winning feels good (if that makes sense)? ... there's only one mitigating factor: when OT periods start piling up and you lose the capacity to care anymore; invariably you start rooting for the game to just end, just so you don't suffer a heart attack ... bonus points because one of these happened last night: Colorado's game-winning OT goal against Detroit.
"Level VIII: Dead Man Walking
Definition: Applies to any playoff series when your team remains "alive," but they just suffered a loss so catastrophic and so harrowing that there's no possible way they can bounce back ... especially disheartening because you wave the white flag mentally, but there's a tiny part of you still holding out hope for a miraculous momentum change ... so you've given up, but you're still getting hurt, if that makes sense ... just for the record, I thought this would apply to the Nets after their Game 3 collapse (I couldn't have been more wrong)
"Level VII: The Monkey Wrench
Definition: Any situation where either A) the manager/coach of your team made an idiotic game decision, or B) a referee/umpire robbed your team of impending victory ... the Monkey Wrench game gains steam as the days and months roll along ... the Patriots and Raiders deserve special mention here because they played two Monkey Wrench games 26 years apart -- the '76 Playoff Game (where Ben Dreith's dubious "roughing the passer" call on "Sugar Bear" Hamilton gave the Raiders second life), and this January's Snow Game (the Brady fumble/non-fumble) ... funny how life works out.
"Level VI: The Full-Fledged Butt-Kicking
Definition: Sometimes you can tell right away when it isn't your team's day ... and that's the worst part, not just the epiphany but everything that follows -- every botched play, every turnover, every instance where someone on your team quits, every "deer in the headlights" look, every time an announcer says, "They can't get anything going," every shot of the opponents celebrating, every time you look at the score and think to yourself, "Well, if we score here and force a turnover, maybe we'll get some momentum," but you know it's not going to happen, because you're already 30 points down ... you just want it to end, and it won't end ... but you can't look away ... it's the sports fan's equivalent to a three-hour torture session
"Level V: The "This Can't Be Happening" Game
The sibling of the Full-Fledged Butt-Kicking ... you're supposed to win, you expect to win, the game is a mere formality ... suddenly your team falls behind, your opponents are fired up, the clock is ticking and it dawns on you for the first time, "Oh my God, this can't be happening."
"Level IV: The Broken Axle
Definition: When the wheels come flying off in a big game, leading to a complete collapse down the stretch ... this one works best for basketball, like Game 3 of the Celtics-Nets series this year, or Game 7 of the Blazers-Lakers series in 2000 ... you know when it's happening because A) the home crowd pushes their team to another level, and B) the team that's collapsing becomes afflicted with Deer-In-The-Headlitis ... it's always fascinating to see how teams bounce back from the Broken Axle Game ... by the way, nobody has been involved in more Broken Axle games than Rick Adelman
"Level III: The Guillotine
Definition: This one combines the devastation of the Broken Axle game with sweeping bitterness and hostility ... your team's hanging tough (hell, they might even be winning), but you can feel the inevitable breakdown coming, and you keep waiting for the guillotine to drop, and you just know it's coming -- you know it -- and when it finally comes, you're angry that it happened and you're angry at yourself for contributing to the debilitating karma ... these are the games when people end up whipping their remote controls against a wall or breaking their hands while pounding a coffee table ... too many of these and you'll end up in prison
"Level II: The Stomach Punch
Definition: Now we've moved into rarefied territory, any roller-coaster game that ends with A) an opponent making a pivotal (sometimes improbable) play, or B) one of your guys failing in the clutch ... usually ends with fans filing out after the game in stunned disbelief, if they can even move at all ... always haunting, sometimes scarring ... there are degrees to the Stomach Punch Game, depending on the situation ... for instance, Sunday's Kings-Lakers game and Monday's Celts-Nets game featured agonizing endings, but they weren't nearly as agonizing as Cleveland's Earnest Byner fumbling against Denver when he was about two yards and 0.2 seconds away from sending the Browns to the Super Bowl).
"Level I: That Game
Definition: Game 6 of the 1986 World Series ... one of a kind ... given the circumstances and the history involved here, maybe the most catastrophic sports loss of our lifetime."
When classifying Game 6 (the name under which it will not be infamously known to all Mavericks fans...ever), the first instinct is to put it under Level 1: That Game. C'Mon, this wasn't THAT game, far from it. It just seems like it now because the wound is fresh. Don't be so melodramatic, for gosh sakes! This could be considered a Level VII: the Achilles Heal, our fatal flaw being that Old Nellie used to be our head coach and knows how to beat us...but I think everyone knew that because GS has beaten us 8 our of our last 9 regular season meetings. I would classify Game 6 most closely as Level VI: The Full-Fledged Butt-Kicking. The Mavericks seem to always get that "Deer-in-the-headlight" look in pressure situations **cough**Finals '06 against Miami**cought**. And now, we did it again. Yes, Coach Johnson does need to work on getting our weaknesses under control, but he also needs to find a way to get his players to unwind a little, a way for them to find the momentum they need even when they are playing a sink-or-swim away game with fans like the ones in GS **cough**crazy**cough**.
Actually, I must commend the GS fans. The entire game, everyone was on their feet yelling and cheering. When you go to a Mavs home game and look at the fans in the 100-200 section...they're just sitting there (unless the score is really close in a clutch situation). While watching Game 5 the other night, they showed all the NDBP: the North Dallas Beautiful People, the people who are just there because they can AFFORD to be there. They are their to be seen in their season seats at the AAC, all the bleach-blonde women in their David Yurman jewelry, talking on their Blackberry cell phones. How do you even talk on your cell phone at any basketball game??? And the men are all in buisness suits talking...buisness. Here's a hint: deals are made on the golf course, not at the AAC. Not only should you be cheering on your team, but the noise level could lead to some money miscommunication...so really, you would be saving yourself a lot of money. I'm not saying that all 100-200 people are like this, its just the NDBP that are.
The 300 section is the only way to go. The fans up their are not there to "be seen"; they are there to be HEARD!! They are into the entire game. Even the people who are in the last row and can't see very well are into it. The best thing about sitting up there is that you can yell as loud as you want and nobody will give you a "shut the hell up, I'm making a buisness merger/having a conversation about my life on my freaking cell phone" look. The 300 people won't shut you up because they are yelling as loud as you are. You're giving them hugs when your team is doing well. You're participating in the "BULL SHIT" chant with them when your team got called by the refs. You are really sharing in an experience with the 300. I LOVE THE 300 BECAUSE THEY ARE THE REAL FANS!!! They understand that the game is about the game, not about themselves being seen there. Their about the team and being there to support them and being there for them, win or lose. Maybe, if the NDBP had cheered more in Game 1...nope, I'm not going to stoop to that level. I will embrace my fellow fans...even though I am the biggest fan...and I rule all. FACE.
P.S. Dirk: shooting 2/13 in the entire game:: Tony Romo: fumbling the snap on the kick in the Cowboys run at the playoffs. CAN'T YOU SEE THE COMPARISON?? The sad thing is until next season starts, nobody is going to remember all of Dirk's double-doubles or his 24 point shooting percentage; everyone is only going to talk about how he fell flat (or, dare I say it, choked?) in the playoffs...kind of like Romo funbling that ball. Nobody remembers all the balls he did catch; they only remember that fumble.
HeHe...balls.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
I'm Bringing Texas Back...
So I have some news: as some of you know, I planned on going to KU next semester. Change of plans!! I'm staying in Dallas at least for the next semester. I will be going to school (most likely UTD or UT Arlington), working full-time, and living with my friend Stacy.
I know what you all (or some of you) are thinking: wow, she has really fucked up her entire life. And maybe I have. I did not work as hard as I needed to this year, and I really know that. But at this time (and because I was so unhappy at SMU that it pretty much ruined the college experience for me), I feel like it is the right thing to do. After next semester (or next year), I'm probably going to transfer to another school after I raise my GPA (which isn't the best that it could be). So I am going to work very hard to catch up on my coursework next semester and try very hard to make good grades.
This is just a time in my life when I am realizing that I want different things than I thought I did. I want to work my way through college. I know it's not going to ruin my life not to be Sorority Sue. What was good for my parents and everyone else around me is not necessarily good for me.
After making this decision, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted. I am so excited about moving in with Stacy and having my own apartment. I'm moving in July and I've already picked out my bedding! Did I mention the complex has a pool?? for a Dallas July?? That's right...face.
I know what you all (or some of you) are thinking: wow, she has really fucked up her entire life. And maybe I have. I did not work as hard as I needed to this year, and I really know that. But at this time (and because I was so unhappy at SMU that it pretty much ruined the college experience for me), I feel like it is the right thing to do. After next semester (or next year), I'm probably going to transfer to another school after I raise my GPA (which isn't the best that it could be). So I am going to work very hard to catch up on my coursework next semester and try very hard to make good grades.
This is just a time in my life when I am realizing that I want different things than I thought I did. I want to work my way through college. I know it's not going to ruin my life not to be Sorority Sue. What was good for my parents and everyone else around me is not necessarily good for me.
After making this decision, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted. I am so excited about moving in with Stacy and having my own apartment. I'm moving in July and I've already picked out my bedding! Did I mention the complex has a pool?? for a Dallas July?? That's right...face.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
I'm Bringing Lane Back...
Ya, I'm back by popular demand...ok, just Alex's. So a big list of stuff that happened while I was gone:
1. I went to New York for the first time
2. I almost killed a flight attendant for the first time
3. I went to New York's Saint Patrick's Day parade...but did not drink any green beer (unfortunatly)
4. I finished my transfer applications
5. Mavericks set a new franchise record of 18 wins in a row and they tied their franchise record of 60 wins in one season
6. Dirk Nowitzki came within one point of having 15,000 carreer points...and then sprained his ankle
7. I started walking every day and eating healthy...kinda.
So that's it...nothing really blog worthy...
ALEX GIVE ME SOMETHING TO WRITE ABOUT!!!
1. I went to New York for the first time
2. I almost killed a flight attendant for the first time
3. I went to New York's Saint Patrick's Day parade...but did not drink any green beer (unfortunatly)
4. I finished my transfer applications
5. Mavericks set a new franchise record of 18 wins in a row and they tied their franchise record of 60 wins in one season
6. Dirk Nowitzki came within one point of having 15,000 carreer points...and then sprained his ankle
7. I started walking every day and eating healthy...kinda.
So that's it...nothing really blog worthy...
ALEX GIVE ME SOMETHING TO WRITE ABOUT!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)