Miami Heat

Playing sports as a kid gave me many lessons on life to remember.  Memories of joy and hurt, accomplishment and failure, friendships and rivalries......all to be cherished now.

Remember what it was like when everyone stood in a group and the two captains picked their teams one at a time until there was nobody (except you) left in the group?  I've never forgotten how it felt being the last guy picked.  The humiliation, the embarrassment of sticking out like a sore thumb.  Of course somebody HAD to be the last one picked....who cares?  I didn't like it one bit!!

Similarly remember when the two best kids wanted to play together and insisted on it?  Usually they were the two biggest kids so what could you do?  That kinda sucked too.  One team was always stacked and it usually wasn't my team.

Being the last one picked as well as being on the team getting pummelled wasn't fun.....oh wait no it was!!  I'd rather be picked last than not play the game.  I'd rather lose badly than not play the game. 

It is rare but not unheard of, for an underdog to win.  (just think of the Miracle on Ice at the Lake Placid Olympics).  Watching David struggle with Goliath was always inspiring even when Goliath slays David....cuz there is always next time.

I am not a big basketball fan.  I like to play but not so much to watch.  I prefer college over the NBA anytime.  However, even a casual fan had to take notice when Lebron James and Chris Bosh left their teams as free agents to join up with their buddy Dewayne Wade to create a stacked team in Miami.  Lebron famously declared that he is going to take his "talents to South Beach."  Multiple NBA Championships were predicted and promised.

So now the Miami Heat found themselves down 3-2 to the Dallas Mavericks in the Championship finals.  I am pulling for Dallas.  Dallas has never won the league and had a soft reputation.  This "soft" team battled back twice to defeat Miami in games 3 and 4.  Dallas has one marquee player to Miami's three.  They do not walk with a swagger.....why would they?  They haven't done anything to swagger about. 

More than anything else, I want Dallas to win to slap the stacked team in Miami.  I want Dallas to win because they don't swagger.  I want Dallas to win because nobody expected them to win.  I want Lebron to take his talent to the golf course for the summer.

That being said, if Miami does win, that's ok.  Another one of life's lessons learned through sport is that life isn't always fair.

Go Mavs!!!