| FISH ON FRIDAY |
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| by Mike Fisher | Fri, May 25, 2007, 09:51 AM |
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Fact-based sports opinions, served up hot 'n' fresh. ...
* Brace yourself for a laboratory full of “experts’’ and “scientists’’ and their pointy-headed ilk being hired to pontificate on how the Super Bowl doesn’t really generate dough for a host site. And then do the math for yourself. If 100,000 people come into town. … and if most of them stay for three-to-seven days. … and if they take hotel rooms, ride in cabs, rent cars, eat, drink and be merry. … Oh, and those are only the people with tickets. There are thousands more who will come just to be part of the scene, with little desire (and no hope) of actually going to the 2011 Super Bowl. Add it up. Forget the civic pride and the shiny newness and the happy faces and the ancillary development. … It’s an all-time bonanza. No matter what the pointy-headed naysayers are about to say. * I assume now that the Phoenix Suns’ MVP also sucks? And that the Suns should also “blow it up’’? * Big-brained Del Harris is stepping aside. Or stepping down. Or something. I’ll sniff around, while working on the assumption that at Del's age, he just wants to smell the roses (and the freshly-mowed fairways) a little bit. * Mavs assistant Sam Vincent has risen up the ladder pretty fast, eh? Wasn’t it just yesterday when he was coaching the Ft. Worth Flyers? Now he’s headed to the head spot in Charlotte.
* Oh, and what Michael Jordan said about the Bobcats’ search, that he was “looking for the next Avery Johnson’’? Let’s remind ourselves during this Summer of Unrest that the Mavs employ the original. * Meanwhile, you want an interesting name for a potential Mavs assistant? I give you Mario Elle. Avery connections. Texas connections. Paying his dues as a coach. Has taken classes in broadcast journalism. (That’s where I know him from.) Charismatic guy. I can see him replacing Vincent. I have a difficult time envisioning many guys who can pick up Del’s slack, though. * I don’t believe Tom Hicks is a lousy guy. I don’t know that he’s a lousy owner. I do think, however, that he’s a lousy spokesperson.
* With all due respect to Popeye Jones, touted by some (apparently some inside the organization) as The Next Big Thing in coaching. ... well, like I say, I have a difficult time envisioning many guys who can step right in and "be'' Del. * It is just me, or is the news that Keyshawn Johnson is leaving football to join ESPN (and maybe to help out on “Dancing With The Stars’’) something short of headline news? * My friend David Moore of the DMNews insists that Oden and Durant landing in Portland and Seattle will mean an NBA renaissance in the Pacific Northwest and is therefore a “marketing coup.’’ Respect to D-Moore, but. … a) don’t they have to be good first? And b) what if the Sonics move to OKC? And c) The self-centered East Coast media means so much in the NBA. You think they’ll stay up ‘til 1 a.m. to watch Blazers and Sonics games? * As I wrote at the time, Tony Cubes’ comments regarding Michael Finley having a future in Dallas was more of a gesture of politeness, an olive branch, if you will, than it was an expression of a desire to lure Fin away from SA. Nevertheless, a day without “Punish Cuban!’’ talk is like a day without a bowel movement. * I’m ecstatic to see tankers Memphis and Boston fail to secure the sweet spots in the NBA Draft Lotto. Thank you, Gods of Basketball, for reminding us that Tankers Never Win.
* Years ago, I promised young Nate that someday, I’d take him to a Super Bowl. He was probably 5 or so at the time, and I was in the midst of a personal occupational run that would see me attend 15 NFL title games. So my promise didn’t seem like a fantasy, but rather an eventuality.
And then a bunch of New Orleanses and Miamis came and went, and suddenly the boy is a 17-year-old junior in high school and pretty soon he’s going to be off to Harvard or DeVry, or missionary work in Botswana or cash-register work at Sonic, or whatever. So I’m running out of time to make good on my promise.
For that reason alone, I was rooting for Jerry and Roger to bring the 2011 Super Bowl to North Texas. Surely I will make it over to Arlington for a game, right?
So thank you, Jerry. And thank you, Roger. Thank you for doing it for the boy. And now all I need is two $900 tickets. One from Jerry. One from Roger. That oughta do.
* Rick Adelman, whose suitcoats never seem to fit quite right, is the new Rox boss.
* Mark Cuban challenges The Donald to a made-for-TV showdown. I think I’d watch this.
* We’re closing in on an NBA Finals that Dan Shanoff will no doubt christen “PistonZzzzz vs. SpurZzzzz.’’ http://www.danshanoff.com/index.html
* Credit to the Spurs for re-creating themselves as the situation requires; now SA is "the villain,'' "the street-thug team, “the intimidator’’? And credit to Deron Williams, the kid from The Colony. He’s a little buddy of my man Derek Harper, and The Colony is a 3-pointer from my estate in Lewisville, so I guess I’m rooting for him. And while the Jazz are down 0-2, at least Deron isn’t letting me down. * I still say that it’s the bounce of a ball here or there that separates the Spurs, Suns and Mavs. But, the Spurs are still playing, so they get to say they’re better. And the Suns might have a Lotto pick and definitely have a tradeable piece in Shawn Marion. Marion for KG? OK, I’d admit, that might be something that would put a little more separation between the teams. * No, I’m not really watching the NHL Playoffs. Nor am I really watching the WNBA tipoff. Maybe if they somehow combined the two sports, I’d tune in. Shirts vs. Skins. Skins vs. Skates. Something like that. And then still only maybe. * I’m not sure I even understand the concept between the Avery-to-the-Rockets articles. Gossip? Sure. Talk radio? OK. But why are people writing news stories about the Mavs coach * It’s funny to hear the baseball media – who care more than I do and purportedly know more than I do about the Rangers – suddenly jumping off the bandwagon now that the season is, what, less than two months old? I mean, the two lead columnists at the Fort Worth paper, seamheads both of ‘em, are calling for the firing of everybody in the whole friggin’ organization. Once again, I’m so far ahead of the curve! I was off the Texas Rangers’ 2007 Bandwagon. … in 1999.
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