By Mike Fisher -- DallasBasketball.com
And now, we search for something to fill the void during the Mavs’ All-Star Break. Could there be anything more blecchy than the cheesefest known as Valentine’s Day?
Nothing to get me in the romantic spirit more than a professional athlete’s headbutting a competitor, so thank goodness for the Knicks’ Kurt Thomas, who found himself so frustrated Tuesday by the enveloping defense of Dallas rookie Josh Howard that the volatile TCU product first pushed, then slapped an arm, and then finally used his forehead as a weapon, thus earning himself an ejection, helping the Mavs earn a 105-90 home win, and helping J-Ho earn even more admiration.
Josh, will you be my Valentine?
Let’s allow Howard to create some Hallmark-worthy prose:
“He said a few cuss words, I said a few cuss words, then he head-butted me. I guess since I’m a rookie, he thought I was going to back down. But I wasn’t going to back down from anybody.’
I’m swooning.
Anyway, there you have it. Thomas was gone. Howard was left to score 17, tying a season high. And while the Mavs’ wheelbarrow is overloaded with quality offensive stones, somebody around here has got to be the mortar. We nominate J-Ho, and not just because his numbers (8.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, about a block, a steal and an assist in his 23 minutes per) are good enough to win him a spot in the All-Star Rookie Challenge Game (so we know Josh and All-Star Dirk won’t be lacking for something non-blecchy to do this weekend).
For J-Ho, one night he’s guarding Peja. The next night he’s guarding Kobe. The next night he’s guarding Kurt Thomas. Whether it’s 6-9 shooting guards, “the Next Michael Jordan’ or a power forward/center East badboy, J-Ho is on the job.
He and the rest of the Mavs – now 33-19 going into the Break – deserve some time off. They’ll get it, with practices not scheduled to resume until Monday.
Whatever will we do with our free time? What will we watch to fill the void?
Here’s my Top Five Blecchy Cheesefest TV Events To Watch While We Can’t Watch Our Mavs:
5) A CHARLIE BROWN VALENTINE Saturday, ABC – The blockhead is still trying to bang that Little Red-Haired Girl.
4) IT MUST BE LOVE: Sunday, CBS – Real-life couple Mary Steenburgen and Ted Danson (is the white hair also a wig?) Play what the promotional material calls “an unhappily married couple.’ To which we ask, Is there any other kind?
3) COPS: LOVE HURTS SPECIAL EDITION: Saturday, Fox – A perfect gift to these guys’ ladies: Throw that wife-beater undershirt in the laundry, bro.
2) LOVE CONNECTION MARATHON : Saturday, Game Show Network – Old Chuck Woolery episodes are introduced by ‘love expert’ EvanMarriott. Oh yeah, Evan is the perfect guy to advise on matters of the heart, given the fact that his way of landing a wife was to go on TV and pretend he was rich.
1) NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PRESENTS: WHEN ANIMALS ATTRACT: Friday, Fox – Kind of sad that instead of you having a date, you’ll be watching platypuses get it on. ... um, platypus-style.