"A toast,'' said Charles Barkley, raising his glass to cap a very, very late night at Hotel ZaZa's bar, Dragonfly.
A toast? A toast to Steve Nash's late-game brilliance? A toast to yet another classic Mavs playoff outing in Game 1 of the WCF? A toast to Ernie Johnson's hoped-for improved health?
"A toast,'' Sponge Chuck Fat Pants bellowed, "to my man Taylor Hicks!''
Thus, confirmation of your suspicion: Barkley gets paid to watch the NBA. But even on a thrilling night like Wednesday at the AAC, he finds a way to actually pay more attention to "American Idol.''
Barkley was joined at the party by TNT partner Reggie Miller (who is maybe the worst broadcaster in TV history; last time we checked, he was calling the Dallas coach "Avery Nelson''), and milling around somewhere was sideline guy Craig Sager, who conceded to me in conversation that he dresses the weird way he dresses as a TV gimmick. At ZaZa, he was dressed like a regular schmoe.
And where is Thursday's party? And Friday's? Well, don't tell anybody I told you, but Steve Nash is planning to be at downtown sports bar "Ten'' on Thursday afternoon to watch some sort of international soccer crap. And one of the proprietors of "Ten,'' ex-Mavs trainer Chad Lewis, is celebrating a birthday on Friday night. So there is a chance Nash and Barkley and the whole NBA gang will stop in there after Game 2.
That is, if there isn't another episode of "American Idol'' for Barkley to watch.

Oh, and there was a basketball game, too. In case you, like Sponge Chuck Fat Pants, didn't catch it. ...

The Mavs suffered from some dubious calls down the stretch. They suffered a major injury, too, Josh Howard going down with an ankle (matched by Phoenix' Raja Bell sustaining an even more serious leg injury). There were villains (yes, Steve Nash got booed) and villains-to-be (somebody named Boris Diaw scored 34, including the game-winner with 0.5 seconds left). There were heroes (Devin Harris, 30 points and a jumper with 4.8 seconds left). ... with feet of clay (Harris missed two point-blank layup tries in the final minutes).

And there will be the oft-mentioned "adjustments'' -- the biggest one being that Dallas must downshift in this Western Conference Finals, "downshift'' meaning NOT run, NOT look for quick shots, NOT be suckered into 3-point launches. Play just a little defense while solving the Suns' so-basic pick-and-roll and use 24 seconds to find the easy shots that Phoenix will inevitably give them and Dallas will avenge this 121-118 Game 1 loss.

And in doing so, they can make this trip to the NBA Finals thrilling enough to even get Charles Barkley to actually watch.

Longtime Lake Highlands coach Jerry Gayden was named Abilene ISD athletic director Tuesday. Gayden, who was a veteran Wildcats' assistant, was promoted to replace Mike Zoffuto in 1994.An Abilene native, Gayden was named by Abilene superintendent David Polnick.

In the last six years at Lake Highlands, the once dominant Wildcats have been to the playoffs twice. They defeated W.T. White in the first round last year before losing to South Garland.

Former Oklahoma signee Scottie Reynolds will sign with Villanova rather than go to Oklahoma. He's the third standout basketball player to opt out of a Sooners scholarship since Kelvin Sampson left to coach at Indiana. On Monday, Nacogdoches' 6-8 power forward Damion James said he'll sign with Texas. Earlier this month, 6-9 former Irving MacArthur forward Jeremy Mayfield signed with Alabama-Birmingham after getting his release from Oklahoma.

A 6-0 guard from Virginia,  Reynolds  had meet with new Sooners coach Jeff Capel and indicated he was open to staying with the Sooners. But after an intensive recruiting period from several colleges, Reynolds said he'll now go to Villanova. 

Capel has gotten two oral commitments from a pair of 6-8 power forwards in Oklahoma _ Blake Griffin (Oklahoma Christian) and Kyle Hardrick (Lawton Eisenhower) in the last three days.For next season, Capel has gotten a commitment from 6-1 guard Bobby Maze of Washington D.C. to replace the spot lost with Reynolds' departure.

Troy Mathieu, who's helped upgrade Dallas ISD athletics since 1998, will leave this summer to become Grambling State (La.) athletic director. Mathieu has overseen DISD's statewide basketball success and even instituted a highly successful basketball showcase just before the UIL state playoffs begin. Five years ago, the showcase drew a capacitycrowd at Reunion Arena. Mathieu has upgraded facilities and personnel throughout the DISD's 21 schools to keep them much more competitive against suburban schools.

Mathieu came to Dallas after being the executive director of the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.