This is what I know about the NBA:

Larry Bird - that white boy could play some ball

Spud Webb could dunk

The Bulls kicked A in the '90's

Pacers/Pistons vs The Fans in 2004: I still don't know who won.

Dirk Nowitzki: Punk'd

Mark Cuban - Billionaire - not millionaire because that would mean an insult.

Mark Cuban is part of the very little information that I know about the NBA, but he's a big part of what every sport organization knows - Team Spirit. I honestly believe Team Spirit can make or break a team - and is it even called Team Spirit - anymore?

I went to a small private Catholic high school which in translation means poor and broke. I played basketball in uniforms that were at least 25 years old, and I'm talking polyester, the fiber that doesn't breathe. We didn't have a bus - we had Vans. The one time we did have a bus, my senior year, the heater didn't work. We didn't even have football. Our homecoming was during basketball season. You had to really love basketball to stick it out and I did.

Now my husband went to a small town public school. Football, Basketball, Track, Golf, Cross-Country, a lot more variety of sports. It sometimes shocked me to hear the things he said in dusgust  "Man, the football team got new uniforms.." (his were about 2 years old) "...but that's alright because we were the first team to get Air Jordans." And not just any air Jordans - the very first ones ever! They were like the envy of every high school in the district. So to hear him talk about how they got sick and tired of eating chicken fried steaks after games just made me hungry for a chicken fried steak. Here is a school with funds, but generally lacking in one area - team spirit. It seemed to me that the only time the football team received overwhelming support int he stands, was if they were in the playoffs. It wasn't like that at every game and unfortunately, they didn't make it to the playoffs often. And if they were suffering a losing season it was only  worse. It pained my husband to know that there wasn't more support for his hometown team no matter what the record was. They had a small amount of loyal fans but nothing like the Iraan Braves.

Iraan, Texas. My mother-in-law's hometown of about 1200 people, but team spirit the size of a 5A school. I have been in that town when the football team departs to go to a game. I think the entire town shuts down, not only to get ready to go to the game, but to line the road, all decked out in black and red for the buses of players, coaches, band members and cheerleaders to see. I am lucky enough to experience this level of team spirit during their football seasons and actually attended the State game against Groveton in 1996. I felt if I didn't scream at the top of my lungs (like everybody else) then they weren't going to win. The band would start playing this warchant and everybody would break out in Tomahawk hand gestures. You can't help but look at all the craziness in the crowd. You could just see it in their eyes, you could hear it in their screams, you could feel it in your chest. It was faith in their team. This is how it is at every game! And at every sport - even the band has gone to State! It was only natural that I broke out in tears when we won against Groveton (14-7). Undefeated - the perfect season. What every high school football player dreams of - any athlete for that matter. The Iraan Braves, a team and a town, taken serious every year.

Now, I'm not saying that faith alone or team spirit will get you to State or to the Playoffs, but it can turn around an organization and they begin to believe in themselves. I think that is what Mark Cuban is to the Mavericks. Mark Cuban is that crazy guy you see at high school or college games that paints his face or body and starts yelling "Defense (stomp, stomp) Defense!" No matter how ridiculous he looks, he slowly transforms the crowd into a madhouse that rocks the stadium. And even though a player can physically accomplish every task in front of him, sometimes you just need to look at the stands and feel the love and the faith the fans have in you to get the job done. The Dallas Mavericks are getting the job done.