Whether you’re at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt’s End …
*Scooch a bit, Luka. There’s another kid – even younger – vying to be the best young player in DFW. Hello, Miro Heiskanen. Only 19, the rookie defenseman produced a playoff debut for the ages in Nashville Wednesday night, scoring two goals to help the Stars beat the Predators in Game 1. Heiskanen became the third teenage defenseman in NHL history with two goals in a playoff game. He’s also the youngest player in Stars history with a post-season goal. For all the hype surrounding the Mavs’ 20-year-old Doncic, Heiskanen might have an equally bright future.
*Dirk … lasted 21 years with one team. His career in Dallas is old enough to drink beer. I can’t fathom another player being good enough, healthy enough and – mostly, in the age of free agency and super teams – loyal enough to last 21 years with the same DFW team. He is truly a once-in-a-lifetime player. Says Rick Carlisle, “You’re not gonna see this ever again. There’s no one like him. He’s a throwback. He’s not cut from normal cloth.”
*Of all the Rangers’ problems I expected this season, closer wasn’t on the list. Alas, here we are. Jose Leclerc blew his first save of the season in a loss Tuesday night, then took the ball again Wednesday. This time with a four-run cushion. But he promptly loaded the bases with no outs, walked in a run and had to be yanked before Texas survived with a 5-2 win in Arizona. Said manager Chris Woodward, “There’s always a level of concern … We have to get him right mentally and physically.” Oh boy.
*Dirk … became the oldest NBA player (40) to score 30 points in Tuesday’s home finale. He also became the oldest (looking) player to ever (barely) dunk.
*Now that DeMarcus Lawrence is locked-up long-term, next up on the Cowboys’ “pay that man!” list is … Amari Cooper. Negotiations with Dak Prescott will be the toughest, so they will be last.
*Dirk … played with 199 teammates (Jason Terry most frequently) with the Mavs. Typical of his low-key lack of attitude, his favorite all-time teammate is Brian Cardinal.
*I’m no hockey guy – but as I predicted last week with luck playing a huge factor, the Stars’ first goal in Game 1 went in off a Predators defenseman’s knee – but doesn’t seem to me the Stars beating Nashville will be that big of an upset. The teams, which play in the Cotton Bowl’s Winter Classic on Jan. 1, 2020, were separated in the regular season by only four wins and seven points. Give me the hotter, better goalie in Dallas’ Ben Bishop. Stars in six.
*Dirk … played in 1,521 games. Only Robert Parish and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar suited up for more NBA games.
*We can now see what was unseeable. In other words, scientists have actually taken a photograph of the most powerful element in the known universe: A Black Hole. The photo is stunning. A fiery “ring” that is actually huge amounts of matter squeezed into a small area creating a massive gravitational field and drawing in everything around it – including light. But, to me, even more impressive than the photo is how far away the event took place. Stick with me on this, because I get both dizzy and strangely excited about this sort of math. A light year – the distance a ray of light will travel in one year – is 5,878,625,373,183.6 miles. 5.8 trillion miles. To my tiny brain, that’s incomprehensible. Now, check it. The galaxy in which the photographed Black Hole exists is … 55 million light years from Earth. That’s right. 55 million multiplied by 5.8 trillion. Next time someone you know demands to be the “center of attention”, get out a calculator, solve that equation and then humble them mercilessly.
*Speaking of Luka, he won Western Conference Rookie of the Month every month this season. That’s right, 6-for-6. There should be zero debate about him winning Rookie of the Year.
*I know the popular, fabricated narrative is that Virginia used its stunning 2018 loss to a 16 seed as fuel for its championship run in 2019. But I call b.s. The Cavaliers are good, but you have to get lucky to win a one-and-done tournament, but they had more than their share of good fortune. They trailed by 14 points in the first round. They made a miraculous, last-second escape against Purdue. They got a favorable whistle (vs. Auburn) and replay (vs. Texas Tech). And they are also the first champion in 30 years that didn’t have to beat a No. 1 or No. 2 seed. This isn’t just sour grapes because I was pulling for my Tech friends, but I think Virginia is the weakest March Madness champion since UConn in 2014.
*Dirk … led one of the most unique title runs in NBA history. Jordan had Pippen. Kobe got Shaq. LeBron needed Wade and Bosh. Curry has Klay and Durant and now DeMarcus Cousins. Dirk? He did it with an over-the-hill Jason Kidd, Terry and Tyson Chandler. We knew we were witnessing something special in 2011, but we never realized it was the most atypical, one-star championship run of the last 30 years. Even more impressive, to get his trophy Dirk had to vanquish LaMarcus Aldridge, Kobe Bryant, Russell Westbrook-Kevin Durant-James Harden and LeBron-Wade-Bosh.
*Buddy: “Tiger’s leading The Masters! He always makes it exciting!”
Me: “Always, huh? He hasn’t won there since Bill Parcells coached the Cowboys, 2005.”
Buddy: “Wait, that can’t be right?”
Me: “The power of the media. The weakness of your memory.”
Buddy: “I don’t care, I’m rooting for him.”
Me: “Remember when he went an aloof 0-4 for Team USA in last Fall’s Ryder Cup?”
Buddy: “Yeah, but …”
Me: “Also, he’s not a nice human being.”
Buddy: “But he’s good for golf.”
Me: “What? You’re rooting for golf? Like, as a whole?”
Buddy: “He’s still Tiger.”
Me: “Exactly. Hope he shoots 89.”
Buddy: “Tigerrrrrr!!”
*Dirk … scored 48 points on 15 shots in a playoff game, going 24-of-24 from the free-throw line in Game 1 of the 2011 Western Conference Finals against the Thunder. One of his most indelible performances. 48 on 15 will be hard to top.
*Not next year, but for 2020-21 I hear the Mavs will unveil a new logo. It’ll be time. We’ve had the Don Carter Mavs and the Dirk Nowitzki Mavs. Time for a new look for the Luka-Porzingis Mavs.
*Dirk … taught us all the invaluable lesson of persistence. He never stopped trying, and never stopped trying to get better. People forget that – until the summer of 2011 – he was a popular pinata for DFW critics convinced he was too slow, too soft and too European (code for “too white”) to win a title.
*Played in the Colonial “Wide Open” Media Tournament on Monday and, well, let’s not worry so much about my score. I birdied 10 and 17 and made one of the most unique pars in the history of fabled No. 16. I skull-shanked a 6-iron that seared over the hedges and toward some meandering, innocent folks in the walkway in front of the iconic red-brick clubhouse. My entire group cringed. A window? A noggin’? Nope. A … CLICK! Miraculously, my ball hit the brick wall and caromed back through the hedges and down the slope of rough until coming to a rest on a perfect lie a couple yards in front of the pond. Of course, I chipped up to within 6 feet and made the putt. I’d give Tiger 100 attempts to match that par.
*This weekend? Sunday at The Masters. As always, don’t be a stranger.
