Friday, June 03, 2011

06/03 (Mavs!) Quickie

Never been more happy to be wrong. Writing off the Mavs after Game 1 was a mistake -- but, let's be honest: It took a collapse of epic proportions by the Heat last night to keep it from being 2-0.

That's what makes it so delightful: The complete and utter collapse, particularly after that little celebration after Wade's 3 put Miami up 15 (Wade leaving his hand up, like Sidney shooting against Billy Hoyle in "White Men Can't Jump" then LeBron giving Wade that "boxing-punch" move.)

Let's start with this: The celebration was not even close to out of line, based on other celebration comps. If there hadn't been a time-out, it wouldn't have even happened (well, maybe the Wade hand thing).

But if the celebrating made the Mavs mad enough to come back -- or, equally, made the Heat satisfied enough to let Dallas do it -- then that's the reality.

I'm not sure I would attribute the comeback to "I'm so mad that I'll play better!" -- mainly because the corollary (that you weren't playing your hardest to begin with) is so depressing to consider -- as much as Dallas executing at an extraordinarily high level and Miami imploding in a similar extraordinary way; with no margin for error, it took both.

And so we have the proverbial "It's a series." Everyone is better for it, mostly fans.

****

Federer knocks off Djokovic: Greatest win in Fed's career? Certainly his greatest non-title-match win.

Knicks split with Donnie Walsh: This can't end well for the Knicks, whether or not Isiah Thomas is involved.

Shaq's retirement press conference: He is so savvy -- and authentic. Killer combo. And "The Big AARP" is genius.

Giants GM Brian Sabean appears to want Scott Cousins hurt and his MLB career ended: Sabean is presumably defending his biggest star -- and certainly offering red meat to his fans -- and while I'm sure Buster Posey appreciates the sentiment as a projection of his own pure frustration, he can't possibly want to see Cousins drummed out of MLB, right?

As for Sabean basically announcing the retaliatory measures, it touches on one of my least favorite things in MLB -- "the unwritten rules." I hope Joe Torre tells Sabean that if anything happens to Cousins, Sabean will get personally fined $500,000 dollars and the offending player(s) suspended for 50 games. Baseball's unwritten rules are stupid.

Looks to be an amazing weekend ahead -- both in sports and just out and around. Enjoy it, and please stop by Quickish all weekend long for the best takes on the latest news, plus recommendations to some fantastic reads, both off the news and kind of serendipitous.

-- D.S.

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