Took a couple of weeks, but I just received my copy of An Epic Swindle: 44 Months With a Pair of Cowboys, Daily Mirror columnist Brian Reade’s just-published-in-the-U.K. 338-page recap of Tom Hicks’ disastrous run as co-owner of Liverpool FC. So far, so good, though I feel like I’ve already…
Couple years ago I alerted you to a tennis phenom in our midst. At the time, Keller 14-year-old Mitchell Krueger was just trying to find his way onto the cover of Sports Illustrated for Kids. Over the weekend, he came this close to winning the French Open. Not the French Open…
Been a little concerned obsessed with the Mavs. But I did catch some Rangers baseball Saturday afternoon. Saw enough of Derek Holland to say “Wow!” And apparently he isn’t alone. After swooning without Josh Hamilton, the Rangers tumbled from their 9-1 start into mediocrity. Don’t look now, but they’re back…
For the Miami Heat, Chris Bosh hit a clutch jumper in Game 3. Dwyane Wade scored 39 points in Game 2. And LeBron James made the big-time 3-pointers in Game 1. For the Mavericks in the NBA Finals, it’s Dirk…or defeat. In last night’s kick-to-the-crotch 88-86 loss in American Airlines Center,…
10. I absolutely love ABC’s The Finals open with snippets of great plays and legendary players from the past. How surreal would it be to a year from now see Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd in that production? 9. Down 45-31, Dallas came roaring back again and almost pulled off…
10. Was worried when Dirk Nowitzki left the court during an early timeout. But I think it was more potty break than finger finagling. He dribbled left. He made a hustling save with a lefty tap. A Fraulein finger is zero excuse. 9. And that’s precisely why I hate Dwyane…
When the NBA All-Star Game came to Dallas in February 2010 I got to hop in a Hummer limo. Driven by a big guy. Who had no use for road rules, or police barriers. As he ran over a bunch of traffic cones and headed toward a security barricade in front…
I know he and the Mavericks and even LeBron James are downplaying it, but I’m worried about Dirk Nowitzki’s finger entering tonight’s Game 2 of the NBA Finals here in Miami. Just because it’ll be different. “I’ll be fine,” Dirk says. “It’ll be okay.” But he loves to dribble left…
MIAMI—The Dallas Mavericks, America’s Team. Get used to it, because the Mavs are going to win their first-ever NBA championship this summer. And they’re going to do it as a beloved underdog, resolute in revenge and cheered by a country during their redemption. As much as Americans love sequels and…
On Mother’s Day, the Mavericks’ reserves combined to score 86 points. In Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the Mavs’ entire team managed only 84. Granted the Miami Heat are a bitch defensively. They are quick and fast and long and they did a fantastic job of chasing the Mavericks…
The frustrating thing about Dirk Nowitzki’s injured finger? It happened on a play that wasn’t a foul. “I thought I stripped him clean,” Dirk said after last night’s 92-84 Game 1 loss to the Heat in the NBA Finals. “Then I kind of looked down and I couldn’t straighten my…
[jump] 5. When the Heat are in The Finals, Miami brings out the big hitters. And who might they be? Jimmy Buffet. Gloria Estefan. Queen Latifah. And Ludacris. Yes, those are ranked worst to first. 4. If the Mavs’ bench can’t obliterate the Heat’s sorry subs, this will be a…
USA Today directs our attention to agent Leigh Steinberg’s kick-off column for the Los Angeles Times’s small-paper spin-off The Daily Pilot, which ran last week. In it Steinberg tackles the subject of concussions, which, he writes, have become an “undiagnosed health epidemic … sweeping athletic fields across the country …..
Charles Barkley is 3-0 picking the Mavericks in playoff series this spring. ESPN’s Bruce Bowen is 0-3 picking against them. Me? 2-1. I picked Mavs over Blazers and Thunder but had them losing to the Lakers. In Miami for tonight’s Game 1 of the NBA Finals, I’m having difficulty viewing this series…
Two videos just landed in the in-box via Friends of Unfair Park. Let’s lead with The Association’s Official Ramp-Up to Tonight’s Game 1 of the NBA Finals recapping the post-season that was, so far, for Your Dallas Mavericks. On the other side is Fort Worth filmmaker-slash-puppet master Erik Clapp’s latest…
Dirk Nowitzki and LeBron James are the two best active NBA players without a ring. Jason Terry has a tattoo of the Larry O’Brien trophy on his right arm. Dwyane Wade is trying to depress Dallas. Again. Jason Kidd is the oldest point guard (38) in NBA Finals history. It’s revenge,…
Sorry to pee on your Memorial Day barbecue, but you gotta get mad one more time before we can get even. Revenge, after all, is best served … in South Beach. I know only Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry remain for the Mavericks and Udonis Haslem and Dwyane Wade remain…
Sources telling me this afternoon that the Texas Rangers will today fire rookie play-by-play voice John Rhadigan. We knew Rhadigan was off to a rough start, but this seems unfair. He went into the season with zero play-by-play experience and it showed. Not sure what the Rangers expected. But not even…
After last night’s Game 5 door slammer against the OKC Thunder, your Mavericks are now 12-3 in the playoffs and awaiting an opponent in the NBA Finals. Not bad for a team that about 50 percent of prognosticators picked would lose to the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round. I…
There’s no game out at the Ballpark today — shame too, since it’s likely The Last Lovely Day before summer slams into high gear. Nevertheless, at 11:30 this morning Nolan Ryan and Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington will find themselves at home plate, where Ryan will give Washington the keys…
We’re rooting for the Chicago Bulls in tonight’s Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Right? I know, in the regular season the Mavs were 2-0 against the Miami Heat and 0-2 against the Bulls. But the longer the series goes — it’s currently 3-1 Miami — the more rest the…
10. Much as I’m giddy over the victory and the Mavs’ second berth in the NBA Finals, I’m almost as happy for the way they handled the win. No confetti on the floor. No champagne in the locker room. Not even a drop of celebratory Ginger Ale. Says Dirk Nowitzki,…
