- No Devin Harris means more jump shots, more standing around, no one attacking the rim, and allowing little rat spares like Rajon Rondo dominate you with 12 rebounds, including a late back breaking rebound and put back. And I now have another team I hate. My disdain for Boston sports grows by the day.
Dallas Mavericks blow it in Boston, 96-90
12:58 AM CST on Friday, February 1, 2008
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News
esefko@dallasnews.com
BOSTON – Missing vital pieces, but not a drop of passion, the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics showed how much fun two great sports teams from the Dallas area and New England can have together.
We'll never know if the Cowboys could have supplied this kind of drama and entertainment had they not fallen short of the Super Bowl and the New England Patriots.
But the Mavericks and Celtics delivered. In one of the season's best shows thus far, the Celtics scored the last six points for a 96-90 victory Thursday night at TD Banknorth Garden.
The Mavericks' winning streak ended at four, and the loss ensured Avery Johnson will not be coaching the Western Conference squad in his hometown of New Orleans at the All-Star Game on Feb. 17.
That honor was clinched by New Orleans Hornets coach Byron Scott with the Mavericks' loss.
But of the Mavericks' 14 losses this season (against 31 wins) this was one of their best efforts. They were missing Devin Harris and Jerry Stackhouse – and it showed at times, like a crucial turnover by Jason Terry in the final seconds.
The Celtics were without Kevin Garnett – who along with Ray Allen and Paul Pierce form the so-called Boston "Three Party."
So down the stretch, it was a gritty play by unheralded guard Rajon Rondo that would spring the Celtics.
Tied 90-90, the Mavericks stopped Boston, as Pierce, who had 26 points, missed a jumper. But as Dirk Nowitzki tried to clutch the rebound, the 6-1 Rondo was sneaking through the trees on the baseline.
"It was a well-fought game, and neither team gave the other team much," Nowitzki said. "I had the rebound in my hand when it was a tie game, and Rondo came out of nowhere. I didn't even see him, and he snuck it up to the basket before I could react."
That put the Celtics ahead for good. Nowitzki and Terry missed drives to the basket, the second of which led to James Posey's free throws with 10 seconds left. Terry, who would normally have been spotting up instead of handling the ball if Harris was healthy, threw a bad pass to Nowitzki to extinguish any last hope for the Mavericks.
The Mavericks pointed to a key officiating call with three minutes to go when Devean George was called for a blocking foul. Pierce hit both free throws to make it 90-88.
"It's dangerous taking that kind of chance at the end," George said. "More times than not, it's not going to go in your favor. I felt 100 percent positive like I was right in front of him."
The Mavericks had other problems, however. They were terrible from long range, yet they shot 22 3-pointers, making only four.
"Too many jump shots," Johnson said. "When we go 4-for-22 from 3, that's not a good night. We just weren't as persistent as we have been."
The Celtics' defense had something to do with that. They allow an NBA-low 88.2 points per game, and the Mavericks struggled to score, which is why they started settling for jumpers.
But both teams unleashed some defensive grit throughout the night. In the final five minutes, the score was tied 86-86, 88-88 and, finally, 90-90, when Nowitzki hit two free throws with 58.4 seconds left. Many failed possessions for both sides during that stretch were caused by sticky defense.
Nowitzki single-handedly kept the Mavericks close in the second half, when he scored 24 of his game-high 31 points.
But he had precious little help as Josh Howard had just two of his 19 points after halftime, and the Celtics got key contributions from Rondo, who picked off a game-best 12 rebounds.
- Lick a dong Laura Miller. Victory Park has come up with another great event.
About MystiQal
MystiQal is all about the true New Orleans Mardi Gras with a Quick twist in Victory Park. MystiQal will be a night parade with beads and baubles featuring pre- and post-parties along the parade route, live music and loads of fun activities with food and drink that celebrate everything that is Mardi Gras.
All activities will kick off at 5pm with the opening of the street festival, located on High Market between Victory and Houston Streets, in the heart of Victory Park. The Mardi Gras Run will begin at Houston Street and Continental. The Grand Parade will begin at 7:30pm, so pick your spot behind the barricades, anywhere along Victory and Houston Streets, and get ready to catch beads and baubles. Live entertainment on the stage and street festival activities will continue until 11pm.
We are not planning any children's activities as MystiQal will be an authentic Mardi Gras experience in Dallas on Saturday, February 2, 2008. Now is the time to book your babysitter and join us at MystiQal.
All content contained on this website is for informational purposes only and is subject to change without notice, so please check back for updates.
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Press Release
02.02.2008 Victory Park transforms into New Orleans during Mardi Gras- complete with a nighttime parade, outdoor cafes, street vendors and live music and entertainment. MystiQal will rival the most authentic Mardi Gras experience without ever leaving Dallas.
MystiQal, the first night parade in Dallas in over a decade, will feature beads and baubles, parties along the parade route, live music and loads of fun activities with the food and drink that celebrate Mardi Gras. So, start thinking Mardi Gras in Dallas…. MystiQal …? Yes! Thousands of people lining the streets, partying? Yes! Beads? Yes! Floats? Yes! Fun? Oh, heck yes!
In New Orleans?
- A dude you can really get behind. What a guy.
Family matters most to Dallas Cowboys' Jason Witten
09:59 PM CST on Thursday, January 31, 2008
By TODD ARCHER / The Dallas Morning News
tarcher@dallasnews.com
SOUTHLAKE – As you walk into Jason Witten's home, you soak in the spoils of his fame and fortune as a four-time Pro Bowl tight end for the Cowboys.
There is an understated country feel to the home tucked away in a Southlake neighborhood. Beyond the pool, there is a pond where he can fish. Upstairs is a media room, complete with his jerseys from high school to college to the Cowboys and other autographed photos and helmets.
But look closely at the walls in the family room. Look at the pictures on the end table. Or in the kitchen. Around the media center. Above the fireplace.
They are all of Witten, his wife Michelle, and their 1-year-old son, C.J.
You can feel the warmth, the love, the devotion, the faith. One day not too long ago, Witten playfully tossed C.J. in the air, catching him with the softest hands as they exchanged the same wide smile.
"He's wanted to give his son the perfect family, whatever that is, that he never had," Michelle said. "He wants C.J. to have the things he felt like he never could have."
Today in Phoenix, Witten will be honored as one of the four finalists for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award.
The other finalists are Miami's Jason Taylor, Pittsburgh's Hines Ward and Kansas City's Brian Waters, the Waxahachie native and former University of North Texas standout, whose 54 Foundation benefits underprivileged families in low-income areas in his hometown, Dallas and Kansas City.
The winner will be announced Sunday before New England plays the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII.
"If there's a guy the NFL could look at and say, 'We want every player to be like this,' then that's Walter Payton," Witten said. "He stood for everything the league is about. Not just on the field but off the field as well. I know what he did, and it encourages me to do more to be like Walter Payton."
Witten was named Cowboys Man of the Year for his off-the-field work. He is heavily involved in all of the team's charitable functions, such as the Salvation Army. He has been part of the "Take a Player to School," program since his rookie year.
The NFL asked Witten to be a part of its "Play 60" initiative that asks kids to exercise for at least 60 minutes a day to fight obesity. He also runs a football camp in Elizabethton, Tenn., his hometown, for more than 900 kids and hopes to start a camp locally this year.
But his passion is The Jason Witten SCORE Foundation, which supports families affected by domestic violence. SCORE stands for Support, Community, Overcome, Rebuild, Educate.
To understand why Witten gives so much of himself, you have to go to a place inside his soul, a place he does not talk about much.
Not yet a teenager, Witten was living outside Washington D.C. with his mother, Kim, father, Eddie, and older brothers Ryan and Shawn, when he witnessed the verbal and physical violence his father inflicted on the family.
"Those heartaches, those cries in your life that you go through, I thought that every kid goes through them," Witten said. "I knew I didn't have much, but I didn't know there was another side out there. I thought one present for Christmas was the way it is."
But at 11 years old, Witten's life changed. Witten, his mother and brothers left the father and moved to Elizabethton to live with their grandfather, Dave Rider. He was not only Witten's football coach at Elizabethton High School, but became the male influence Witten lacked.
"I learned quick to say, 'Yes sir. No sir. Yes ma'am. No ma'am,' " Witten said.
Witten learned about football, but he also saw his grandfather open the car door for his grandmother. When he skipped school once to get a haircut, his hands trembled when his grandfather met him at the school entrance and demanded his car keys. A month went by before he got them back.
When Witten was named to his first Pro Bowl in 2004, the first person he called was his grandfather, and he struggled getting the words out.
"He was a role model for how to treat other people, how to treat your wife," Michelle said. "It was a respect factor his grandfather put in him. It was how to love other people and do things the right way."
In December, the Wittens launched the foundation and the first event benefited 30 families from The Family Place, the largest family violence service provider in the Dallas area.
The stories, like the one of an 18-month-old who was given Kool-Aid and noodles to eat twice a day, made Witten shudder and wanting to help more.
"I remember those feelings and those times, and I see kids now, and I can't really relate my level to theirs," Witten said, "but I know what my feelings were and they'll be there the rest of my life."
Witten has intermittent contact with his father, but he holds no grudge. He wants his father to know C.J. and the couple's next son who is scheduled to arrive in April.
In fact, Witten wonders where he would be if not for what happened earlier in his life. To this day, it drives him on the field, and it drives him off the field with his foundation.
"Our first goal with the foundation was leaving a legacy," Witten said. "We all have an opportunity to make an impact while you're playing. I want to use that to set a standard for long after that. When I'm done playing football 10, 15 years down the road, the foundation is still impacting the youth."
JASON WITTEN
NFL experience: Five seasons
College: Tennessee
On the field: Will play in his fourth straight Pro Bowl next week after catching a career-high 96 passes, most in team history by a tight end, for 1,145 yards. ... With 348 catches, he has the most in team history by a tight end and is seventh all time among Cowboys receivers ... He is one of eight tight ends in NFL history to have four straight 60-catch seasons. ... Missed only one game in his career because of a broken jaw but returned the next week. ... Third-round draft pick in 2003.
Off the field: Finalist for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award. ... Started the Jason Witten SCORE Foundation, which benefits families of domestic violence. ... Runs a football camp in Elizabethton, Tenn., for more than 900 kids. ... Has taken part in the NFL's Take a Player to School Program since his rookie year and is a spokesman for the league's Play 60 initiative ... Wife, Michelle, son, C.J. ... Expected to graduate from the University of Tennessee in May. ... For more information on his foundation visit jasonwitten82.com.
FINAL FOUR
The winner of the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award for off-the-field contributions will be announced Sunday. The finalists:
Player Team
Jason Taylor Miami
Hines Ward Pittsburgh
Brian Waters Kansas City
Jason Witten Dallas
- According to Razor, it was -40 last night in Edmonton. Stars continue a road trip that I want to go on one day. The 3 game Western Canada swing.
Cold medicine: Dallas Stars welcome Alberta trip
Forget cold weather; Dallas will feel heat against Oilers, Flames
01:20 AM CST on Friday, February 1, 2008
By MIKE HEIKA / The Dallas Morning News
mheika@dallasnews.com
EDMONTON, Alberta – So this is what it's like when heaven freezes over.
Well, it is if you're a hockey fan.
The Stars were greeted by temperatures of minus-18 as they flew into Edmonton on Thursday for a weekend series in Alberta. They play the Oilers tonight and the Flames in Calgary on Saturday.
To some, it was the perfect environment to enjoy the perfect sport.
"I personally think it's exactly how it should be," said Andy Moog, the Stars' player development coach and a former Oilers standout. "It's a hard winter sport, and it's a hard winter city. There's a reason hockey is so popular, because that's all there is to do when it's this cold."
The run through Alberta is one of the most popular on the Stars' schedule, because players get to immerse themselves in the culture of hockey. The sport is on television all the time, it leads the sports coverage in newspapers and on radio, and the players are the top celebrities in town, hawking everything from soup to doughnuts to tires.
"I grew up in it, so it's obviously home to me," said forward Stu Barnes, who was born and raised in Edmonton. "But after you leave for a while and come back, it really is something to see. It's everything to them."
Stars analyst Daryl Reaugh worked the broadcast of Tuesday's Oilers game against the Sharks on Versus. Also a former Oilers goalie, Reaugh said he was impressed with the fan support in temperatures that were reported as cold as minus-40 (F).
"That's as cold as I've ever been in my life, and it was just one of those nights when it would have been really easy to stay home and watch the game on television," Reaugh said. "But that just wouldn't work up here. The place was full, the crowd was wild, and they were ready for a great hockey game."
As much as it would seem this has been going on for 100 years, the Oilers-Flames rivalry is fairly new. The Oilers started as a World Hockey Association franchise and joined the NHL in 1979. The Flames moved from Atlanta in 1980.
"I think it's definitely one of the best rivalries in hockey, if not the best," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "For those first 10 years or so, there were some great battles there, with big, strong, fast hockey teams. I don't think you can really know the perspective of that until you've been in it."
The cities have distinctive personalities. It's a three-hour drive north from Calgary to Edmonton, across flat prairie land where the wind blows cold.
Much of the production work in the petroleum industry comes through Edmonton. Calgary has more scenic surroundings, with the Canadian Rockies in the distance, and houses management companies for many oil firms.
"The two cities have their own identities, and they argue about everything from provincial politics to the sports teams," Reaugh said. "So that sets up the rivalry pretty well."
There is no arguing the importance of hockey. The Oilers' fans pack 16,839-seat Rexall Place every game and create one of the noisiest environments in hockey.
Flames fans showed in 2004 they can be just as wild and crazy. During a run to the Stanley Cup Finals, a stretch of restaurants and bars known as "The Red Mile" hosted as many as 35,000 fans before, during and after games.
"I don't know how to compare it to the Cowboys, but I think that in some ways, it's even bigger and more intense," Moog said. "So much of the identity of the people is tied to hockey. It's just a huge part of life in all of Canada."
The Stars say that drives them to play better. Since Tippett has been coaching the Stars, they are 14-7-5 in games at Calgary and Edmonton.
"It goes both ways," Stars captain Brenden Morrow said. "The home team feeds off it, but we get a lot of energy from that type of atmosphere, too."
- The new staff starts the long road back to getting the walk on program back to normal. Another Makovicka will play at Nebraska. Check out Jeff, a freak who could block like a fullback, catch like a receiver, and run like an I-Back. Fast forward to 1:15.
Youngest Makovicka to walk on at NU
BY BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star
Friday, Feb 01, 2008 - 12:34:59 am CST
The Makovicka assembly line has produced one more.
Jordan Makovicka will keep up the tradition and become the fourth Makovicka brother to walk on to the Husker football program.
The list of walk-on commitments in Nebraska’s current recruiting class has now reached two dozen.
It wasn’t an easy decision for Makovicka. The East Butler senior had a baseball scholarship offer from Creighton on the table.
But Husker football is not an easy thing for a kid who grew up in Nebraska to just push away, whatever your last name.
The hiring of coach Bo Pelini went a long way in helping Makovicka decide.
“This past season it was always crossing my mind that maybe I didn’t want to give (football) up yet,” he said. “After Coach Pelini was hired, I was about 90 percent sure that’s what I wanted to do, and then last week after I was up there and met with the whole staff, that clinched my decision.”
Husker coaches want to start Makovicka out at I-back. He could also potentially be a safety. Makovicka said he’s not currently entertaining ideas of also trying to play baseball at NU.
His older brothers, Jeff and Joel, played fullback for Nebraska during the program’s glory years in the ’90s, competing in a hard-nosed manner that elevated them from walk-ons to scholarship players and household names across the state.
Joel was a two-year starter, finishing his career in 1998 third on the school’s career list for rushing yards (1,447) by a fullback. Jeff was a backup to Cory Schlesinger in 1994 when NU captured its first national crown of the decade, and was a starter in 1995 when the Huskers repeated.
Joel went on to play in the NFL for the Arizona Cardinals from 1999-2002.
After Jeff and Joel, there’s Justin, who walked on in 2006 and redshirted. Justin will be a sophomore next season.
As good as the older Makovickas were, Joel said: “I think both of the younger ones were better than we ever were.”
Despite the history of the Makovicka name at NU, Jordan’s older brothers never put any pressure on him to play football.
More of the pressure came from fans, hoping to see another Makovicka playing for Nebraska.
“I’ve dealt with the pressure, the hype of playing behind them all of my life,” Jordan said. “I’ve learned to deal with it, almost to ignore it and just do what I can do on the field.”
Joel expects his brother will bring the same fire the rest of them did — with a “chip on his shoulder” to try to show he’s worthy of a scholarship.
Such was the motivating power of the Husker walk-on program when Jeff and Joel played. Joel senses it might be coming back.
“Jordan kind of grew up in a time when Nebraska was Nebraska,” Joel said. “Coach Osborne was there. You had guys like Coach (Frank) Solich, Coach (Ron) Brown. He grew up watching us with that type of atmosphere. Now, it seems like that’s what they’re getting back to and he wanted to be a part of it.”
- The Ticket press conference moments.
- Super Bowl
- Neutral field with 72 degree temperatures. Randy Moss finally being unleashed in the playoffs. Eli keeping it close against Brady? Doubt it.
- Remember, New England scored at will in week 17. Moss went off. And NY only managed 1 sack.
- The clock strikes midnight for NY.
New England 38
New York 17
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