The Birdman

My friend Wes and I were recently discussing the sparest white guys in the NBA with names such as Shawn Bradley and Chris Kamen (who actually averaged 12 points per game) and then tonight I was reminded of someone else. He isn’t exactly a spare; instead he qualifies for a category that has very few members…freaky!

Denver Nuggets guard Chris “The Birdman” Anderson is a super freak. He captivates the crowd; home and away, the moment he steps on the floor. His Mohawk hair, tattoos, and defense is absolutely a sight to see. While we are talking about tattoos…I’m going on record saying the Denver Nuggets players combine for more tattoos than any other team in the league.

Back to the Birdman. This guy is the modern day Dennis Rodman running up and down the court as if Forrest Gump was chasing him. On to the hair, ok so Dennis would use crazy colors, but the Birdman has a Mohawk which I would say is comparable. Anderson also has mad hops like Rodman as you will see in the video posted.



Want another comparison? Both of these guys played college ball in Texas. Rodman played for awhile at Cooke County Junior College, while Anderson spent a year at Blinn College. Both have also been heavily involved with drug use at various times, but perhaps that comparison could have gone without saying.

So as crazy as The Birdman might be there is no doubt he is a fan favorite that you can’t help but root for. Well, unless he is in the dunk contest. You might remember he was the guy that missed his first eight dunk attempts during the 2005 contest. Check out his skills if you haven’t heard of him.

Rangers on the Road

April was supposed to be an easy month for the Texas Rangers, yet the ball club is two games under five-hundred and on the brink of a make or break seven game road trip. First up the inning eating Roy Halladay and the American League East division leading Toronto Blue Jays. In case you haven’t seen the standings lately that is not a lie. Toronto has started off hot to jump ahead of New York, Boston and Tampa Bay in what most consider the best division in baseball.

So, does this high powered Ranger offense have a chance against Halladay? During the previous three seasons the 2003 Cy Young winner has gone 4-2 against the Rangers. Only once did he give up more than four runs in those starts and three times he has given up two runs or less. The one time Texas did knock him around was 2007 when the Rangers sent the Toronto starter out of the game in the sixth after giving up nine runs.

The answer is no. I hate to say it, but Texas has no chance tonight against Halladay, who by the way is 3-0 this season. To steal a couple of lines from Bob Sturm, this offense is not as high powered as people think. Yes they are capable of putting up 19 runs in one game, but then it is followed by half a week of bad baseball. The best example should be fresh on the minds of Ranger fans as the club put up 19 runs against Baltimore in one game then followed it with a combined nine runs in the next three games…against the third place Kansas City Royals.

I hope I’m wrong, but this is the Rangers.

Mic (with a C)

NBA Playoff Picks

Ok so I forgot to post my picks at the onset of the playoffs, but we are only 1 game in, so here we go. Hope you can follow my nicknames for the teams.

Eastern Con.
Round 1 winners
Clev over Deet
Da' Bulls over the defending champs
Dwight Howard (Magic) over 76
Hotlanta hotter than the Heat

Western Con.
LA LA LA over anybody
Mile high (Denver) over Water high (New Orleans)
Homer Call (Mavs) over sad suck Spurs
Two Texas teams advance (Houston) over Poor, I mean Por.

Ok now it gets serious
Lakers over Rockets
Denver over Mavs
LAKERS FROM THE WEST

Cleveland over Atlanta
Magic over the Bulls
CAVS FROM THE EAST

LAKERS WIN IT ALL IN 6 GAMES.

MIC (with a C)

I-35 Rivalry Alive...For now

The last time the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs met in the postseason the audience was captivated by a seven round slugfest. Remember Mavs fans? That was the year Dallas took down the reigning NBA champ Spurs and carried the momentum all the way to game 3 of the 2006 Finals. The two previous playoff meetings of the twenty-first century went the way of the Spurs. In 2001, the Mavs were riding high after winning three straight to take down Utah. However, all hope was quickly smashed as San Antonio won the series 4-1. Much of the same in 2003 when both teams had at least 60 wins in the regular season as the Spurs took the series 4-2.

So, Mavs and Spurs fans enjoy this year and the 2009 opening round matchup in what could be the best Texas rivalry of the last ten years. More importantly it could be the end of an era. Tim Duncan, the two-time MVP continues to get older and it seems to be showing. Dirk Nowitzki isn’t getting any younger either.

An added piece to this series was the deflection of Michael Finley from the Mavs to the Spurs. During the ’06 Western Conference Finals Jason Terry decided he needed to hit Finley below the belt causing anger amongst the clubs. Finley, now 36 with his NBA title should be hanging it up soon. Not to say he will this year, but when he does a portion of the rivalry will be gone. Avery Johnson, a member of both teams during the great games is sitting in a studio now. With his new role as a television analyst he will no doubt distance himself from the competition.

Lastly, although expectations are low this playoff season for the Mavericks, you would have to think Mark Cuban will make off-season changes if it doesn’t end in a championship. Although the rivalry should continue for years to come much of the math adds up to this year being the end of an era in the rivalry.

Merry Christmas Calipari

Merry Christmas Calipari

First let me say there is nothing better than sitting on the front porch with temperatures in the mid 70’s just straight chillin. So, I can’t stop thinking about former Memphis coach John Calipari and the salary of 5 million and change he is going to be receiving at Kentucky. Let’s get real it isn’t his fault that kind of money was offered to him. He would be a fool to not take it.

Fitting that on April fools I would write about Kentucky being fools to offer a salary of that magnitude. In the current economic times we are hearing how difficult it is for college students to get the funding to attend school, yet this university is willing to shell out millions to a coach. How about dropping his salary to three million and use the other two to make sure all your practice squad guys get some sort of financial aid. Not to mention the walk on kid who isn’t seeing a dime, yet working his backside off everyday in practice to make the good guys better.

Besides, who in their right mind would go to a school that fired Tubby Smith? And who in their right mind would fire Tubby Smith? The answer is the same for both questions. Someone who has money as the first priority.

Mic (with a C)

When Reality hits it hurts

The new schedule was released today at 1053 The Fan and my name was not on it. Although I knew this would happen it is still a hard thing to see. I’ve put much time and effort into my short stint at the station and had a hard decision to make when approached with my new job opportunity of being an airborne traffic reporter for KRLD-AM.

This isn’t to say my run at the sports station is over, but merely on hold. I’ll be on KRLD-FM most weekends in May doing the sports flash updates. It’s a weird feeling though to leave a role that most people don’t want. Let’s be honest in this business no one wants to be a board op for their entire career. They are one of the lowest paid and sometimes least appreciated people in the industry despite having a ton of responsibility. However, I can’t seem to completely give it up. Some of my best days at work occur on a Saturday or Sunday morning just running the sound board. The absolute best days are when I’m working with Pete and Mrod and running their board for them.

Those two guys have been extremely nice and we have built a great chemistry in two months times. So if you get a chance listen to 1053 The Fan Tuesday night from 7-10pm. Not sure if they will let me on the air with them but perhaps I’ll be able to say adios. Now with that said there have been talks of using me in another position at the fan that would also allow me to keep my traffic gig. More to come and I promise I’ll get back to sports soon.

Mic (with a c)

Life in the fast lane

As many of you know I’m an advocate for safe driving. It is on the very rare occasion that I drive over 65 miles per hour. Many positives can be mentioned in conjunction with driving 65 or less. For instance it is a gasoline saver and it provides you with a little more reaction time if something goes wrong. So while I might drive in the slow lane, the rest of my life constantly seems to be in the fast lane and I’m wondering why?

As I was reading the blog by Cobb (http://fancyblogname.wordpress.com/) I’m thinking to myself. I’m willing to work 60 hours in a week but I can’t spend 60 minutes in a church service. And for what reason? Money? Fame? For the mere thought that someone might know my name when I say it. Singer/Songwriter Tracy Chapman says in the song Crossroads “You think money rules and all else fails. Go sell your soul and keep your shell.” That statement says so much yet so many people including me are unwilling to just give up a little and let God take a little more responsibility in our life.

The other side of the coin is I love the business I’m in. It is a hard one to break into and I’ve been extremely fortunate to be on the air in Dallas/Fort Worth. More often than not a sacrifice is made when trying to accomplish something. Recently I’ve been wondering at what point will the sacrifices I’ve made be enough, but the human flesh always wants more. So, as I’m mainly talking to myself I’m also saying this to anyone who is still reading. Make sure you are sacrificing for the right reasons.

I have a hard decision to make within the next month regarding work and I’m sure there will be more blogging about it, but in case you are wondering this decision that has consumed much of my time is the reason for this blog which had nothing to do with sports.

Mic (with a C)