I was dating a girl last year about this time, and she was wonderful. There were some pitfalls along the way, but we always patched things up and moved forward. I even wrote about her to most of you last summer. Things were looking really promising, and I was certain that we would wind up getting a ring. Then late last June, another man swooped in and stole away her pride, her dignity and our promise of a ring. Just like that, she was gone. I thought I would never love again. Everyone came back after the fact and told me how they knew she was bad all along, even though they all loved her while things were going well. I was crushed.
But this past November I met a new girl. She was very similar to the last one that broke my heart, but this one seemed better. She had more focus, more discipline, and most importantly, more passion. It started out real rocky at first, but when the relationship kicked into high gear, boy howdy, did it ever take off. All those nay-sayers and "I told you so" guys were back on board with my new girl. They were gushing about how great she was, how well built she was, and how proud I should be of her. They talked about how consistent she was, how overwhelming she was, and how deep she was (which made me slightly uncomfortable). Things have been going great until recently. Some of those guys are starting to nitpick again. They are finding flaws about her that never bothered them earlier. Though they once were saying they loved her and she was perfect, now they want her to change. They are saying that there are others out there that are better than her, and that I'm a fool for sticking with her. Why would they do that? Why would they ditch a beautiful girl for some flavor of the week hot chick. I've said it before (not on this blog, but trust me I've said it), there's a difference between a beautiful girl and a hot chick. All beautiful girls are hot chicks, but not all hot chicks are beautiful girls. A beautiful girl is like a perfectly poured pint of Guinness. A hot chick is like a sixer of Busch Light tallboys. I have a beautiful girl and maybe love is blind, but I refuse to focus on her flaws. Sure she has some, but her positives far outweigh her negatives. To all those experts that are looking to jump from the beautiful girl to the hot chick, I have one thing to say: Go talk to Brad Pitt. He left behind a beautiful girl for a hot chick, and now he's got a house full of foreign kids with wacky names. My beautiful girl is the Dallas Mavericks, and I'm committed. Are you?
(Note to the awesomely wonderful Mrs. Dude: The following was an analogy and not to be taken literally. I haven't dated anyone but you for the last decade. Please don't throw all my crap out on the front lawn.)
(Note to the Dallas Mavericks: The following was an analogy and not to be taken literally. I am not calling you to a bunch of girls. Please don't come to my house and beat the crap out of me while I'm picking up my junk off my front lawn.)
3 CHEERS: MAVS 71 @ NUGGETS 75
DIRK'S DIGITS!
There are two ways to look at this one: 1) Dirk had 22 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and a block trying to will his team to a tough road victory, or 2) Dirk shot 9 of 23, only got to the free throw line 3 times, and committed 6 turnovers to aide in the Mavs ugly offensive night. No matter what you say, I think you know which side of that pool I play Marco Polo in.
1. Carmelo Anthony - There are two ways to look at this one: 1) Melo scored a game-high 23 points, made 9 of 11 free throws, and grabbed 10 boards to lead his team to victory, or 2) Melo shot 7 of 21 and was consistently in foul trouble on a night when the Mavs refused to drive to the basket.
2. Allen Iverson - There are two ways to look at this one: 1) A.I. had 22 points, 5 assists and 2 steals to continue his growing chemistry with Melo, or 2) A.I. shot 9 of 23, turned the ball over 3 times, and was consistently in foul trouble on a night where the Mavs only shot 11 free throws as a team.
3. Erick Dampier - There are two ways to look at this one: 1) Damp had 11 points, 13 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal to give the Mavs a rare complete game, or 2) the fact that Damp is the only Mav with a Cheer is indicative of how awful this game must have been.
RANDOM CRAP!
- This game was on Friday night, which was my daughter's 2nd birthday. We were able to take her out to Chuck E. Cheese to meet some friends and play, and we still made it home by tipoff without even trying. If it weren't for the loss, it would have been a perfect day. Happy birthday, Payton. Daddy loves you.
- Josh Howard sprained his ankle (again!), and he's lucky that it wasn't worse. No ankle sprain looks pretty when you see the replay, but this one looked bad. The only real reason I wasn't sick to my stomach the whole game was because Howard was able to walk off on his own power. I wrote down during that game that he wouldn't be back regardless, and apparently I'm a genius. Howard only played 7 minutes. No doubt his extra 18 points a game would have made a huge difference in this fiasco.
- When you break down the game, you can point to two things that lost this game for the Mavs. Both teams shot 36%, rebounds were pretty even (49-47), assists (20-19), blocks (5-7), steals (5-6), and even fouls (23-18) were all relatively close. So the difference was the Mavs 18 turnovers that lead to 17 Nugget points, and the Mavs only getting to the free throw line 11 times compared to the Nuggets getting there 27. Normally I would blame the refs, but it wasn't their fault this time. The Mavs went the first 23 minutes of the 24 minute long second half before they shot their first free throw. The Mavs were lazy, sloppy, careless and settled for too many jumpers even though they weren't falling all night.
- I blame ESPN for ruining the karma in this loss. Because Lebron and the Cavs couldn't wrap up a Wizards team that was missing two of it's top 3 players, they didn't cut to the Mavs game until 4 minutes into the first quarter.
- I was stoked when the Mavs held the Nuggets to 13 points in the first. The Nuggets average 105 points a game. I didn't realize that in the third, the Mavs would only score 14 of their own. Really the only thing worse than the Mavs offense in the first half was the Nuggets offense. The good news was that the Mavs had held the Nuggets to a first half season-low 30 points. The bad news was that the Nuggets held the Mavs to a first half season-low 37 points. A defensive tussle, this was not. Both teams just sucked offensively.
Do you think that Melo and A.I. just buy a set of arm sleeves and split the cost? And do you think they are on a 2-for-1 rewards plan at the local tattoo parlor and cornrow shoppe? - I don't know if you've ever noticed this, but during timeouts Dirk takes out his mouthpiece and shoves it into his sock. Half of it is dangling out in the breeze, and the other half is wedged between sweat-soaked sock and sweaty German ankle. Then when play resumes, he takes it out and shoves it right back into his mouth. It's kind of gross, but yet is it quite possibly genius?
- I understand that Avery is using this stretch run to experiment with the team. He wants to play with different lineups and matchups, get some bench guys playing time so he knows what to expect out of them come playoff time, and rest up some starters for the two month grind ahead. Still, it's hard to watch the Mavs losing in a close game while all our studs are sitting on the bench for an extended period.
- When this game is over, the Nuggets starting dancing, hugging, jumping around and all around celebrating like they had just won the title. Perhaps they had a right to do so since they had just beaten the best team in the league and notched only their 2nd victory all year when scoring less than 100 points. But considering that there's still a mathematical chance that they might be the Mavs first round opponent, is that really the memory you want to leave the Mavs with if you face them again in the playoffs? Don't you think that a team that has had a phenomenal season fueled mostly by their ability to use any and all losses to motivate them to beat their opponent into submission would file that little display in their memory banks to replay the next time you cross paths? If you managed to out swim a rogue seal that has developed the taste for mammal blood, would you then dive back in to slap it in its vicious little face? Dumb move, Denver. I would hope and pray you don't face the Mavs again this year.
- With this game being the Mavs 13th loss, they won't reach that magical land of 70 wins in a season which has only been done once before. I know that 70 wins weren't the goal this year and it would've just been syrup on the pancakes, but if I know all that, why is it still so disappointing?
- I know the Mavs don't like to lose, especially in this fashion, but allowing the Nuggets to win further increases the possibility that the Mavs won't have to face them in the first round. Since the Mavs are looking to get in and out of the first round as quickly as possible with as little effort as possible, facing a team that loves to run and gun and throw up 105 points a game probably isn't their first choice. Do you think the Mavs lost on purpose to help align their playoff stars? Doubtful, but interesting to think about.
Thank you for reading my love letters about my beautiful girl. Some people might just be afraid of commitment. Some might be tentative to put themselves out there out of fear of being hurt again. Some might just always feel that the grass is always greener or they are perfectionists that will never be satisfied with anyone. I don't know, but that's their problem. I'm not afraid. I have a beautiful girl, and I'm going to see this one through to the end. I'll be sure to let you know how it all plays out, and if we hopefully get a ring. I love her, she's perfect, and so far there's no reason to change. Go Mavs!
Oh, man! Speaking of Mrs. Dude -- hope you didn't forget her birthday like I did. (the 12th). I get so caught up in anticipating the receipt of 3 Cheers, I forget other awesome events, even when they are on my pocket PC and 2 other calendars. Dude, could you, possibly, make this blog less awesome so I can acknowledge other special occasions in my life? Oh well, it was just a thought.
Posted by: gk eades | April 12, 2007 at 08:03 AM