* Is it too early to award the NBA Championship to the Mavs? The Heat were atrocious last night in their 99-85 loss to Dallas, and Heat fans can't have high hopes that the next 3 games being played in South Beach will help turn this around. My buddy Ben, who's got a great tactical mind, thought there was no way Miami would allow Dallas to dictate tempo for 7 games. Throught the first two games they haven't, yet Miami is still down 0-2. First give credit to the Mavs for this. They've been a hybrid team, able to run when they need to, and execute in the halfcourt when needed. With Dirk, Jason Terry, Josh Howard, Jerry Stackhouse, Devin Harris and Marquise Daniels, the Mavs are the best one-on-one team in basketball, and yet all of those guys are excellent in transition too. It's been a killer combination all playoffs long. Dallas' strategy looks to be to make Dwayne Wade work for his 20-30 points a night, double-team Shaq before he even thinks about touching the ball, and dare anybody else to beat them. Thus far, Miami hasn't done it, and although the Heat may take game 3 (anybody think the refs could give a couple-or thirty- calls to the Heat Tuesday night to try and make this interesting?) or 4, Dallas just looks to have too much.

* If I told you that a center in last night's game was 2-5 from the field and 1-7 from the line for 5 points, you'd probably guess it was Erick Dampier, right? Or Desagana Diop? Nope, it was Shaquille O'Neal. Think about that-- SHAQ SCORED 5 POINTS IN AN NBA FINALS GAME!!! Honestly, is this the end of the Diesel as we know him? I mean I don't care how old the guy is, he's still 7'1 and 350, and even if all 5 Mavs are draped over him like a curtain, the Big Aristotle should still score more than 5. What has happened?!? * I do know this: Dwayne Wade is certifiably insane if he signs a contract extension with Miami this summer. Just plain crazy.

* My Mariners and the Local 9 (your Minnesota Twins) have played two series in the last 2 weeks, and there's some interesting parallels there: Twins catcher Joe Mauer is hitting leading the world with in hitting at .386 (can somebody talk to him about the sideburns? Please? This isn't 90210) and Mariners outfielder Ichiro is 2nd at .366 (he's hitting .461 (47-102) since May 17). In the team's series last week, Mauer and Ichiro were a combined .528, and the WORST day for either of them was Mauer's 2-4 day Wednesday. Think about that. It will blow your mind!

* Twice in those series the two best young pitchers in baseball squared off: the Twinks Franisco Liriano and the M's Felix Hernandez (by the way, just a little giddy that we've seen Good Felix 2 games in a row. He absolutely dominated the Angels yesterday. King Felix has returned! King Felix has returned!) each won once, and both were essentially lights out in their performances. I was in attendance for their duel a couple of Friday's ago in the Big Giant Ugly Garbage Bag, and watched all of the rematch at the Safe last week. These two are going to be very good for a long, long time. Too bad we can't say the same about their teams!

* What's just absolutely ridiculous about Mauer right now is that he has zero protection in the Twins lineup. None. Zip. ZILCH! NADA! The Big Mountie Justin Morneau is the only Twin in the top 30 in the AL in homeruns (14) or RBI's (47)(First the Twins finally get a new stadium approved, and now a Twin could finish with 30 HR's in a season for the first time since 1987? Start building your bombshelter because there's no room in mine!). In case you're wondering, the Royals are the only other team that can make that claim. If this is the Mauer we can expect, Twins fans should start a riot if GM Terry Ryan isn't allowed to spend money on some hitting this offseason. With Mauer, Liriano and Johan Santana, Minnesota has three of the best building blocks in the bigs, and if they wait 4 years for the new stadium to start putting talent around it, they're going to be sorry.

* I'm putting together the ol' NFL preview for 2006. Last year I started strong (scroll about 2/3rds of the way down), but ended up having to do too much in too short a time to finish. This year I'm going to start posting sooner (like say this week!) in hopes of previewing all 8 divisions. * I've admitted before (and will again) that I'm not the greatest at predictions, but I realized even the "experts" have trouble doing this as well. Let's look at what the Big Boys picked, and compare to what actually happened in 2005:

What actually happened: PLayoff teams (* denotes wild card)

NFC- Giants, Bears, Bucs, Hawks, Skinnies*, Panth* AFC- Pats, Bungles, Colts, Bronch, Steelers*, Jags* Super Bowl- Steel over Hawks.

Here's what people picked:

Sports Illustrated: Super Bowl: Panthers over Colts

NFC: Eagles, Vikings, Panthers, Rams, Cowboys*, Falcons*

AFC: Pats, Ravens, Colts, Chiefs, Steelers*, Jets*

ESPN: John Clayton: SB: Colts over Vikes

NFC: Eagles, Vikes, Panthers, Rams, Falcons*, Carrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrds*

AFC: Pats, Steelers, Colts, Chefs, Chargers*, Ravens*

Chris Mortensen: SB: Eagles over Colts

NFC: Eagles, Vikes, Panthers, Rams, Falcons*, Cowboys*

AFC: Pats, Ravens, Colts, Bronch, Bills*, Jets*

Fox Sports: Jay Glazer: SB: Falcons over Colts NFC: Eagles, Bears, Falcons, Rams, Giants*, Panthers* AFC: Patriots, Ravens, Colts, Chargers, Chiefs*, Jets*

Me: Super Bowl: Never picked

NFC: Eagles, Vikes, Rams, Panth, Bucs*, Lions*,

AFC: ?? (I never posted)

So what did we learn? A) I need to actually finish my picks for an accurate comparison, and b) This is as much for fun as it is for accuracy. NOBODY picked the Seahawks to make the playoffs let alone the Super Bowl!! Just wanted to throw that out there so when all my picks go wrong this year, at least you'll know I won't be the only one.

* So I was looking through some old posts yesterday, trying to find one that I swore I wrote comparing Adam Morrison to Wally Sczcerbiak, proving that Morrison will be a better pro than people believe. Apparently I never wrote it (which means I WILL write it this week), but I did find the following from my NBA preview... 

Mark Cuban needs to deal the Diggler now for as much as he can get, and build around someone else because the Dirk will not lead a team to the title. I had high hopes for him that maybe, just maybe, he'd be the first European to step-up when it mattered. Of course that was right before chewing out Jason Terry at the end of game 5 and then missing all 5 of his shots in OT. Maybe if he didn't shave his head every year things would be different, but I doubt it.

I was right at the time I wrote it, but boy I'm REALLY wrong now!! Dirk Nowitzki has risen from a good NBA player to one of the league's 5 best in the post season (I'll at least point out that he hasn't shaved the 'do this year), and I think this has been a good lesson for me to learn. Dirk hadn't come up big for the Mavs when it mattered, but he worked his tail off this offseason, and is now pretty much unguardable. He's shown more of a willingness to go into the post, and is killing the smaller guys down there that used to give him trouble. And the outside shooting? Yeah, it's still there.

I wrongly believed that if you couldn't get it done in the playoffs on more than one occasion, as was the case with The Dirk, then you'd NEVER get it done. Well Dirk has proven me wrong, as did Lebron. Unless you're Peyton Manning or Alex Rodriguez (who never have been and never will be clutch), apparently you CAN learn to be clutch!!

* A poll on ESPN.com had Dirk rated as the league's 5th best player behind Lebron, Wade, Kobe and Duncan. I agree with all of those except Duncan- even when 100% (which TD was not this year), his free throw woes make him less valuable than Dirk.

* Not that I'm ever right with predictions, but I like Dallas to win the series. They've got the size to contain Shaq (and by "contain" I mean make him work for his points), and guys like Josh Howard and Marquise Daniels to slow down Dwayne Wade (and by "slow down" I mean keep him shooting under 70% from the field). They also have the quickness on the perimeter to do what Detroit couldn't: drive to the basket on the slower Heat forwards and guards. Oh and have I mentioned Dirk is unguardable? Because he is. SHould be a fun series, although it's ridiculous we have to wait till Thursday to start it.

* Stanley Cup Finals start tonight (congrats to the 4 or 5 households that actually get OLN). I'm cheering for Edmonton because they're a Canadian team (and their best players are generally Canadian) and I hate Carolina (although I obviously support all the great Canadian players the Canes have). Carolina is a prime example of why the NHL isn't working and will never work in the South: Carolina has been one of the worst franchises for attendance since their inception. Sure, the place will be packed for the games, but how many people down there really care?  The South has very passionate sports fans (as college football and that sport where guys drive cars and turn left for 4 hours will attest), but unless the team's in the Finals, the people don't show up. Send the team back to Hartford, send the Coyotes back to Winnipeg, and get rid of Florida, Tampa, Atlanta, Nashville, and Anaheim. Please.

* I may be losing my manhood, but I'm actually interested in the World Cup of Futbol. I still find a full soccer game to be boring, but the intensity with which fans in the rest of the world follow this sport, well it's impressive, and almost enviable. I still love the story that in the 2002 World Cup, Ireland (my ancestors) voted to change their clocks to Korean time (something like 9 hours ahead) so that they wouldn't have to watch the games at work. I don't think the amendment passed, but that's still impressive. THAT'S a passionate fan base. Of course the Irish didn't make it this year, and neither is Scotland (my other "homeland") but oh well. 

* I'm REALLY ready for football season!! These June and July Sundays when there's NOTHING on reminds me how much I miss football.

* Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry was arrested for the 3rd time in 6 months. He's the early leader for the 2006 winner of the "Onterrio Smith Award for Athlete Who Just Doesn't Get It".

I've never met Minnesota Timberwolves VP Kevin McHale. I have nothing against him as a person. He's probably a nice guy, and as a matter of fact, I'm sure of it, because that's all I hear from anybody who knows him or deals with him. But Timberwolves fans, after this season we may lose Kevin Garnett. The greatest athlete in the history of Minnesota sports could very well ask to be traded because the organization, fans, and media are too "Minnesota Nice" to McHale, the guy whose most responsible for the team's current state. Where's Donald Trump when you need him? Garnett could leave this summer because none of the people around Kevin McHale have had the courage to tell him the two simple words he needs to hear: You're fired.

I like KFAN. I really do. But most of the on-air staff on that station fall all over themselves to heap praise and love on McHale whenever he's on the air or his name is mentioned. On the Sludge & Lake Show last night, I almost drove off the road because of something Sludge said. After my seething anger had subsided, I realized that what he had said was what so many people around the Wolves believe and accept, and I think that's why it made me so mad. A caller had stated that McHale doesn't get enough criticism from Minnesota media and basketball fans for the horrible decisions and non-decisions he's made the last 2 dozen years. Sludge's response was that (and I'm paraphrasing here) "He does get plenty of critisicm (really? from who?) and that yeah he's made a lot of bad moves. He hasn't had many draft picks work out, but you can say that about a lot of teams. Like (Michael) Jordan, a great player doesn't always mean he's going to be a great GM." Here's the part I'm not paraphrasing. This is an exact quote, and is what sent me off the handle:
"But he's such a nice guy."

(let me get a running start at this one...)

WHAT THE HELL DOES BEING A NICE GUY HAVE TO DO WITH RUNNING A PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL TEAM?!?!?! WHAT DOES BEING NICE HAVE TO DO WITH THE FACT KEVIN MCHALE IS A TERRIBLE GM?!?! YOU JUST SAID HE CAN'T DO HIS JOB, AND COMPARED HIM TO MICHAEL JORDAN, WHO WAS EQUALLY AS BAD AT HIS!!! BUT BECAUSE HE'S NICE WE CANT FIRE HIM?!?!WELL GUESS WHAT? JORDAN'S THE GREATEST PLAYER IN THE HISTORY OF THE @#$%^* SPORT BUT HE GOT FIRED!!!!!! THEY CANNED HIM BECAUSE HE WAS INCAPABLE OF TURNING THE WASHINGTON WIZARDS INTO A WINNER!!!! THIS DOESN'T MAKE JORDAN A TERRIBLE PERSON, IT JUST MEANS THE PEOPLE IN WASHINGTON HAD THE BALLS TO TELL HIM HE SHOULDN'T BE RUNNING THEIR TEAM!!!! I DON'T CARE HOW NICE MCHALE IS OR HOW GOOD A FRIEND HIS IS WITH THOSE IN THE ORGANIZATION OR WITH THE FLAGSHIP STATION!! HOW CAN YOU SAY YOU CARE ABOUT WINNING OR CARE ABOUT THE TEAM WHEN YOU'RE SO BLATANTLY PUTTING FRIENDSHIPS AHEAD OF WINNING?!?!?!?

(...taking a moment to allow redness to leave my face, and for steam to cease from blowing out of my ears...)

Look, McHale's a good guy. I get it. A big hero for the Gophers, a real man's man on and off the basketball court. Old school, doesn't take any crap. One of Minnesota's finest, one of Minnesota's "our guys", a true "Minnesotan" in every sense of the word. Got it. But he's failed running the Wolves. I could fill pages (and Jer and I have in the past) and pages with the blunders the guy's made. Saying he's been a failure at putting a championship team together in Garnett's 11 years is not saying he's a bad guy: it's just saying he shouldn't be a GM. Timberwolves fans are some of the most passionate in the NBA. They care about this team as much or more than any fan base in the Association, and have been through as much or more adversity since the city was awarded a franchise. They DESERVE to cheer for a champion as much as Garnett deserves to be one.

Wolves fans, please, I beg you: stop being Minnesota nice. As much as you don't want to think about, realize losing Garnett is a real possibility here. In a pregame interview with TNT last night, Garnett was the most outspoken he's been on how McHale and owner Glen Taylor have mishandled the team around him. Garnett still answered in more of a "read between the lines" style than calling anyone out, but it's the latest sign that Garnett's patience with the organization is not only running thin, it's running out. Before it's too late Wolves fans, put aside "McHale the Minnesotan" and look at him as "McHale the GM". Realize we could have a GM that can actually makes a solid draft choice more than once or twice a decade, and a GM that actually KEEPS draft picks to make a solid choice. A guy who actually knows how to pick up the phone, and use some creativity to make a deal and get some guys around Garnett that he can win with. McHale got ripped off in the Cassell/Jaric deal by Elgin Baylor, who before this year was considered one of the worse GM's in any sport!! So what does that make McHale? For the last 10 seasons, Timberwolves fans have accepted exactly what this current group of players around KG is going to give you: good, but not good enough.

Please, before it's too late, before I have to throw up all over myself watching KG win a championship in another city, call out Kevin McHale. Demand he find a new job. Demand a new guy to run the team. If you don't, the only thing McHale's really doing is helping to pack Garnett's bags this offseason when he demands a trade to a team that cares about winning. And there would be nothing nice about that.