Dallas — So this is what it feels like for one of my teams to win a professional championship.
I can get used to this.
Never in my life had I witnessed one of my sports teams win a pro title until Sunday night, when the Dallas Mavericks took down the Miami Heat, 105-95, to hoist the NBA title trophy.
What a game. What a series. And, on a personal note, what a trip.
I decided Friday afternoon that I was going to drive to Plano on Saturday morning so I could be in Dallas for Game 6. I slept maybe three to four hours Friday night, woke up at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, and booked it 7.5 hours down I-35 to Texas.
Best idea? Maybe not, especially considering Game 6 was played in Miami, not Dallas. Maybe not, considering I wouldn't have been able to stay in Dallas to watch Game 7, had it been necessary, because of work obligations.
It's funny, though, what you'd do when pressed to make a quick decision with your favorite sports team on the brink of a historic moment. I had Saturday and Sunday off from work, and it ended up being the most rewarding road trip in my history of being a sports fan.
The Dallas Mavericks are NBA champions.
And I was in Dallas, at Lakewood's First and 10, with friends to witness the purest form of sports nirvana.
This is a story I will tell for the rest of my life. I'll reflect on how incredible it was to be a part of the atmosphere in Big D. I'll share the story, as I did on the phone with my good friend Brian, of how excited I was to glance out the window of my car at the intersection of 75 and 635, look at the Dallas city lights and know we clinched a title. I'll tell tales of my choice of attire, which was a newly-minted black 2011 Western Conference Champs T-shirt.
I'll speak of watching and enjoying the dominance of finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki, who deserves a championship ring more than anyone else in basketball.
As my friend Drew and I practically shut down the bar, we sat there speechless at times until he broke the silence with a fact: "Dude, the Mavs just won the NBA title," he kept repeating. All I could do was shake my head in disbelief. It hadn't sunk in yet, and I'm still not sure it's sunk in quite yet. It's past 3 a.m. on Sunday night/Monday morning, and it's amazing I'm not more tired. Maybe it has sunk in a little bit.
I'll be proudly sporting my Mavs NBA champions T-shirt tomorrow on the drive back home. Don't ask how I already have one, a mere few hours after Dallas won. My mom has a friend who dropped them off after the victory as a gift. I'm rather glad she stopped by.
What does this mean?
First, it means Dallas won its first NBA championship in team history.
Second, it means Dirk elevated himself out of the category of best players to never win a ring, a category previously shared with the likes of Charles Barkley and Karl Malone.
Dirk is approaching monument-type stardom in Dallas. If you constructed a Mount Rushmore of Dallas sports athletes, it would have the faces of Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman, Dirk and Nolan Ryan. One could make the argument Dirk is the greatest Dallas sports athlete ever.
In terms of Dirk's all-time rank among NBA greats, I'd have to think he's approaching top 10-15 status after capturing a ring.
Dirk's a guy who's so easy to root for, especially in these finals with the competition being the Heat. I'm quite certain every city outside of Miami/Florida rooted for the Mavs. Dirk is easy to root for because he's a superstar who's been loyal to his team for the past 13 years. Plus, he didn't use an hour-long television special on ESPN to announce he was taking his talents to South Beach. No, he actually accepted less money than the open market would have demanded since he was an unrestricted free agent, and stayed with Dallas this summer.
Dirk deserves this. The city of Dallas deserves this. And I'm pretty sure the score reads as follows after my road trip: My decision 1, LeBron's decision 0.
Be back on soon for more thoughts on Dallas winning its first-ever NBA crown. Go Mavs.
No comments:
Post a Comment