Dirk or LeBron ~ Who needs an NBA championship more?

I was playing on Facebook earlier and noticed that my friend, Trey Harris, posed an interesting question.  His status read, "Heat vs. Mavs is starting to bounce around inside my head. Whose career needs a championship more? Dirk or LeBron?"

Immediately I started to type.  Here's the exchange.

Me: "No one really expected/expects Dirk to do anything. That's why everyone sounds so amazed when he drops 40+.  LeBron is the idiot who counted championships on his HANDS before a single game.  LeBron needs the championship more."

Trey: "True, Lebron is expected to win. But Dirk & the Mavs have underachieved for so long, this could very well be their last shot. I think it'll be a hell of a series either way."

Me: "Agree, Trey. but in terms of need for a championship for his career/legacy - it's LeBron.  If you're talking about this year SPECIFICALLY, then Dirk for the reason you stated ~ but it won't matter in the eye of the public if Dirk is like Ewing and Barkley and never wins a ring."

Trey: "Sarah, you make a good argument comparing Dirk to Ewing & Barkley (and it killed me that Ewing never got a ring). He'll still be a great player. But Lebron is the golden child. And "The Decision" still hangs over his head. He has more time to win but the expectations are way through the roof. Ayo, shout me out in the blog!"

Well, here you go!  What do all of you think?  Sure, we're jumping the gun and making some assumptions since the Eastern and Western Conference Finals aren't over yet, but it's definitely something for you all to think about as the crucial Game 5s approach.


THE WIRK

Heat are getting worked by the Celtics, and no one in Miami cares

The past 2 weeks, as soon as I land, the first person I've seen on TV is my ex... Thank you, ESPN (i.e. sarcasm)...  I'm loving the fact that the it's the 3rd quarter and the Boston Celtics are beating the Miami Heat.  There are so many empty seats in the American Airlines Arena.  Told you all the bandwagon jumpers would jump off, just as quickly as they jumped on.

The only time Heat fans will support the team is in the finals.  I know.  I was there for Game 5, in 2006, when they were up against the Dallas Mavericks.  Miami won that game (i.e. with a score of 101-100) and eventually went on to win the NBA Championship after winning Game 6.  That season Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade were both members of the Miami Heat, and Riley was still coaching.

Here are a few pictures I took at the game. 

I'm a huge Pat Riley fan

With Dirk Nowitzki at the line,

the crowd chants DA-VID HASSEL-HOFF

Dwyane Wade with a dunk. 

Game over

Based on LeBron's strong performance, I wonder if he is going to use his "I can't do it all by myself," speech (ala Cleveland) in the post-game press conference when the Heat lose...

Anyone remember these quotes from Jeff Van Gundy? 

"They will break the single-season win record [of 72],” Jeff Van Gundy said. And I think they have a legit shot at the Lakers’ 33-game [winning] streak [in 1971-72], as well. And only the Lakers have even a remote shot at beating them in a playoff series. They will never lose two games in a row this year."

Hey, Jeff Van Gundy, guess what?!?!  The Heat just lost two games in a row!!!  How about them apples?!?!  So much for your prediction, but hey ~ at least you had the nerve to take a shot! :-P


THE WIRK

Ron Artest's NBA Championship post-game interview and celebration

So many people are so quick to hate and not congratulate.  Have you see, Ron Artest's post-game interview after the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics in Game 7 for the NBA Championship?  The sincerity in his emotions and the joy in his actions and his voice are visibly and audibly genuine.  I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the biggest Ron Ron fan, but I cannot help but like him after watching him come up huge in a couple of games in this series and after this interview. 

Sports are one of the few forums where men will actually let down their guard and let out their human vulnerabilities.  Men can play the game like boys and still come out champions!



Want to know what happens after the interview, when Ron went to "the Club".  Well, according to the following ESPN article by Sam Alipour, Ron Ron went out to "the Club" in full uniform and then eventually gave his uniform to Chris Brown.  Why not?!?!  It's Ron Ron...  He's come a LONG way from the Pistons-Pacers brawl.  He's a Champion now.


THE WIRK

The Lakers are the NBA Champions, and I argue with a Celtics fan after Game 7

This is a picture of my losing betting slip.  The Lakers are the new NBA Champions, as they defeated the Boston Celtics tonight by a margin of less than 7 points.

During the games, when I watch from home I usually am logged into my Twitter account, to further entertain myself and read other people's witty comments during the game.  I follow about 100 other people.  If you're sports-related and you make me laugh, chances are I follow you. 

I follow TheBigLead on Twitter, and towards the end of the game they tweeted:  Kobe makes 2 FTs. Boston misses, Fouls ... Lakers make 2 FTs? Maybe? #soyouresayingtheresachance

Now, being that I knew the spread I knew exactly what they were talking about!

Oh well, at least I cleaned up nicely at the craps table, to compensate for the bad bet.  At the end of the day, the missed free throws hurt me, but the craps table loved me so who cares! :-P

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Ever argue with a fan of a losing team?  It's pointless.  Friends shouldn't use another person's facebook pages to vent about their team's loss.  I didn't beat the Celtics.  I didn't play a single minute or score a single point.  I was at Game 6.  I'm an old school Lakers fan, even though I'm not a Kobe Bryant fan.  After what I saw in Game 6, and knowing that Perk probably wasn't going to play in Game 7, I thought the best bet was Lakers -7.  Turns out, I was wrong.  But ~ am I the one crying about my loss?  Nope.  Instead, I get this exchange ~ which is here for your reading pleasure.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but in this case it's worth about 40 comments!  ****  And yes, I edited the exchanges because one day my mom might read this blog!

Cry Baby: Yeah I'm glad u lost that bet. I hope u put a lot of money on it.

Me: hey, poor loser, are you blind? it's only 440, and i cleared $1100 with craps so who cares.

Cry Baby: Glad u lost.

Me: go cry on someone else's page

Cry Baby: Lemme guess, you're betting against Strasburg tomorrow too....

Cry Baby: Not on ur page, don't over-indulge yourself.

Cry Baby: Traitor

Me: yeah - you are. it's my pic.

Me: i'm an old school lakers fan, just anti-kobe ~ so play nice or get off my page

Cry Baby: Screw your $440. Glad you lost. You have nothing to show for it. You know you're not a Lakers fan.  You rooting for White Sox tomorrow too? I bet you are.

Me: i have tons of kareem stuff and magic posters in my bedroom (i.e. childhood bedroom and colllege dorm room). $440 is nothing (i.e. i'd won a lot more in vegas recently) - i don't care about it and that's why i bet it. go cry.  get a life and stay off my page. and yes, i would bc i don't care about the nats. i'd root for strasburg though.

Cry Baby: Cavs are dogsh*t. Swallow that.

Me: both aren't NBA champs this year, so it sounds about even to me. don't you have to work tomorrow. maybe you should get some sleep. no one here wants to see you cry

Cry Baby:  do you EVER work? 71 venues is indicative of a tough work schedule.

Me:  i never said i had a tough work schedule ~ don't hate me because my life is a hell of a lot easier than yours :-P

Cry Baby: You know what, nevermind. Go Lakers in your head. Your allegiance it commendable.

Me:  i grew up on the lakers. and became a CAVS fan bc of my ex-fiance and being that i'm from ohio. maybe one day you'd actually know what you're talking about and then who knows you could possibly be dangerous ~ not saying you need to read my blog, but if you can read - perhaps you should check it. i'm a lakers fan but anti-kobe, but last i checked he's only 1 player.

Cry Baby:  Dogshit

Me:  loser

Cry Baby: Traitor  Go White Sox huh?

Me: get a life, and sure - why not? i'm not from here.

Cry Baby:  In the end, Lakers are still 2nd best. Bite me.

Me:  tonight nobody cares...

Cry Baby: So The Wirk is all about the Lakers next year? Or whatever team LaBron goes to? Or a hybrid or either??? Or do you dare to follow the Cavs no matter what happens?

Me: everyone is a potential reader! next year is next year - read the blog and find out.

Cry Baby: Honestly, u shouldn't be slanted in any direction to be a reputable writer.

Me:  i can do whatever i want bc it's MINE ~ that's the beauty of it! and when you do anything remotely interesting that draws my attention, i'll be sure to give you some pointers on it too :)

Cry Baby: That's fine. I remember being remotely interesting when you posted me on your blog when the C's beat the Cavs this year. Congrats, your favorite team won the title this year!!!! Good for you!!!!!

Me: nice try - thewirk.com superfan, but you're obv keeping up bc you knew i hit 71 venues and even my mom doesn't know that. lmao!!! sooooo, thanks for your support and have fun at work tomorrow. i'm gonna hit orbitz since i have about $700 to play with and even though i lost, my life is still better than yours right now. keep on truckin' :-P

Cry Baby: Has nothing to do with my last statement. Now ur just saying ur cooler than I am. Sweet. I'll wake up tomorrow morning and beg to God I can be as cool as you some day.

Me: not sure when your boss wants you at work, but if you're gonna add prayer to your routine, you should go to bed soon. have a great night!

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My favorite Tweets from the game:

THEWIRK: now begins the slowest, most boring time of the year - the lull where there is only #baseball, and everyone holds their breath for #football


sportspickle Is Bill Russell getting so old he thinks he played for the Lakers?
---  Good to know that I wasn't the only one who thought it looked strange to see Bill Russell with all the Lakers.

THEWIRK: is it bad that i chuckled that ron ron thanked his psychiatrist... what a game though ~ he was stellar!
---  You have to give Ron Artest his props.  He played HUGE.

sportspickle: And Scalabrine is back in the game. Shelden Williams should probably retire now.

THEWIRK: my twitter feed has "brian #scalabrine" trending and not "justin #bieber"... the world is coming to an end!
---  Speechless.

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Now like, I tweeted we wait for football and enjoy the summer with baseball...  Take me out to the ball game!


THE WIRK