Audio By Carbonatix
Whether you’ve reached the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt’s End:
*Hey, remember the shooting incident involving former Richardson Berkner High School football star Aqib Talib that I told you about in March? So does a Dallas County grand jury, which this morning indicted him on felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
*Dirk vs. LeBron. Former MVPs. Losers in The Finals. And the NBA’s two best active players without a ring. That’s about to change.
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*It’s not yet breaking news, but I was asking some Cowboys sources yesterday about this and that and other stuff, including plans for training camp in San Antonio this summer. The response was laughter and a hearty “Yeah, right.” The Cowboys still hope to open training camp at The Alamodome in late July, but rest assured that a contingency plan to hold camp at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington is already in place should the lockout linger into the summer. I think it’s a safe bet that if the lockout is in place on July 1, the Cowboys’ 2011 training camp will take place in Arlington.
*We all have those moments. Times we’d like to forget. We’d give anything for a do-over, a chance to turn regret into redemption. Dallas Mavericks, here’s your chance. For Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, Donnie Nelson and Mark Cuban, it’s destiny. For the rest of us, Mavs-Heat should be an entertaining, intriguing NBA Finals. The script is perfect. And, yes, my wished failure upon the Heat will be in place, and intensified.
*A tale of two Cowboys quarterbacks: This week Tony Romo is getting married, and Troy Aikman’s divorce led him to put his house up for sale. Romo will be married to Candace Crawford tomorrow in Dallas’ Lee Park, while Aikman’s 10,520-foot, Highland Park mansion can be yours for a cool $24 million.
*For what it’s worth, TNT’s Charles Barkley picked Mavs over Heat last night. What’s it worth? The Chuckster has picked the Mavs in all three series.
*And yes, to those of you who so eloquently pointed it out, I’m grateful that my bosses at 105.3 The Fan gave me more rope patience than the Rangers did John Rhadigan. The play-by-play voice wasn’t good in his rookie season, but he was still better than I am today at radio and for me it’s going on three years. You could say it’s the Rangers’ fault for setting him up to fail. Or you could blame Rhadigan for accepting a job he knew he wasn’t ready for. Either way, now we’ve had the Mavs (Bob Ortegel) and Rangers switch TV voices in mid-season. Tough industry, this talking sports.
*If I don’t see you before then, happy Memorial Day. The fallen allow us the freedom to love the Mavs, hate certain sports bloggers and — at the end of each day — shake hands with a certain amount of respect.
*Hot.
*Not.
*When Cuban crowed after beating the Thunder that “there’s 20-some thousand in this building who believed in us when nobody else did,” I think he was over-estimating it a bit. After the Mavs blew the 23-point lead in Portland in Game 4 of the first round, it would’ve been hard for him to find 20 people who believed the Mavs would still be playing in June.
*Sporting event I always watched as a kid but have totally ignored as an adult: The Indy 500. It’s this weekend, but I’m much more into UFC 130 from Vegas. In an upset, give me Matt Hamill over a declining, disintered Rampage Jackson in the main bout.
*Since losing Game 6 of the ’06 Finals to Miami, the Mavs are 10-0 against the Heat. But, sorry, we can’t put any stock into this year’s sweep. Both games were played before Christmas, back when Caron Butler was Dallas’ second-best player. It’d be great if he returned for The Finals, but I’m betting against it.
*For the record, the Mavs led the ’06 Finals 2-0 and had an 89-76 lead in Game 3 in Miami after Jason Terry’s jumper with 6:34 remaining. For those of you with weak stomachs, don’t read this.
*America should love this Finals matchup. After all, we love sequels. Latest example, I’m amped to see The Hangover Part II, out in theaters today. In 2011, in fact, Hollywood is setting a record with 27 movie sequels, including everything from Kung Fu Panda 2 to Paranormal Activity 3 to Scream 4 to Final Destination 5 to even the eighth installment of the Harry Potter series, Deathly Hallows Part Two.
*Those high fives you heard last night were coming from the corporate offices of American Airlines. In The NBA Finals it’s Dallas’ AA Center vs. Miami’s AA Arena.
*The Mavs sorta shrugged during the Western Conference Finals trophy ceremony. Then they backed up their disinterest by discarding the lonely hardware on a table in the locker room. Cuban’s “We ain’t done yet!” just might be a genuine rallying cry.
*We know this: Both the Mavs and Heat know how to close. Dallas ended pivotal Game 4 in Oklahoma City with a 17-2 run. And last night the Heat capped their 4-1 series of the Bulls with an 18-3 kick to the finish line. Both teams are 12-3 in the playoffs.
*You’ll be reading more about this next week, I bet. DeShawn Stevenson and LeBron James don’t exactly like each other.
*Best bets: The Heat will guard Dirk with Chris Bosh, then Udonis Haslem and, in crunch time, LeBron. The Mavs will guard LeBron with Stevenson, Shawn Marion and, in crunch time, Jason Kidd.
*Want Finals tickets to Games 3-4-5 at AAC? They go on sale Saturday morning at 10 at Mavs.com, AAC or via phone at 214-747-6287.
*On my to-do list once The Finals end: Top Golf in Allen. Good times.
*Remember 16-year-old Jesuit High School junior Jordan Spieth, who got the Byron Nelson all gaga last year by finishing 16th? The senior shot a first-round 69 yesterday, good for a tie for 31st.
*I leave with this: The dark, delicious world of Salad Fingers. Episode 9: Letters. Don’t try to figure it out. Just let it ooze through your veins right into your soul.
*This weekend? Swamped. And not complaining one bit. Today I’m at the Byron Nelson Pavilion with RAGE. Tomorrow it’s Vandergriff Honda 11-1, then Baby Dolls Dallas 9-midnight for UFC 130. After a day to catch our breath on Sunday, Monday it’s a Memorial Day barbecue on Lake Ray Hubbard and then Tuesday, hello South Beach for the NBA Finals. Don’t be a stranger.
