JET Back on the Runway, PT II

Sefko has Rick Carlisle talking about it here.

I talked to Jason Terry on Sunday at Carlisle's ping pong tournament.  He told me point blank he's shooting for a Wednesday return against the Bulls.  Detes of that conversation here. What was interesting is that Terry offered up his return plans.  I didn't have to ask.

Derek Harper and I return from an extended Mavericks Game Night layoff and offer up pre- and post-game coverage of Mavs/Bulls on Wednesday night starting at 7:00pm.

JET Back on the Runway???

A very fragile-looking Jason Terry made an appearance at Rick Carlisle's ping pong tournament on Sunday.  I say fragile because I was almost scared to give him a hello hug.  His face was a tad swollen after having facial surgery on March 5th.  A smidge puffy, would best the way to describe it.

He told me he expects to be back in uniform against the Bulls on Wednesday.  He and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones are the most optimistic people I know. 

"You sure?" I asked.  "Yep." he assured me.  "Wednesday."

I like the effort.  We'll see.

Ain't No Party Like a Ping Pong Party

And what a party it was. 

Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating but the first-ever Pancreatic Cancer Network's Purple Ping Pong bash at SMU's Moody Coliseum was a blast.  Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle is a ping pong fanatic and hosted the event.  He recruited Dirk Nowitzki, JJ Barea, Matt Carroll, Derek Harper, former Ranger Jeff Russell, Olympians Nastia Luikin and Carly Patterson, SMU men's basketball coach Matt Dougherty, Texas running back Tre Newton, Popeye Jones, Mark Followill, Emily Jones, Bob Ortegel, Chuck Cooperstein, yours truly and many more. 

Honestly, when Carlisle called to ask me to play, I thought I was in trouble for something I said.  No joke.  It took me a while to call him back and he texted me telling me to check my voice mail.  "UH-OH!" I thought.  Turns out, it was a gracious invitation to be a part of the event and I was so honored he thought of to me.

Needless to say, I stunk.  Completely totally sucked.  Dirk Nowitzki killed me. I joked with him that the MVP was going down today.  Not so much.  The Big German is ping pong master and has a table in his living room.  He event went to playing with an arm behind his back to give at least me a fighting chance.  Not so much.

My team consisted of Popeye Jones, who was fabulous, Caron Butler, who didn't play because of a tight lower back, the fabulous Emily Jones and a pancreatic cancer survivor.  We lost in double elimination.  No worries.  It was worth the embarassment.

JJ Barea and Dirk were the two best Mavs ping-pongers.  Jeff Russell, Bob Ortegel and Derek Harper were also incredibly good.  I think people who have offseasons are much better ping pong players than those who have full-time jobs. One Mavs player, who will remain nameless, told me he was much better at beer pong than ping pong. Touche.

Roger and Marianne Staubach were so generous, once again, to be one of the event's sponsors.  Roger's mother died of pancreatic cancer.  He never ceases to amaze me.  I was chatting with him when a representative from the Pancreatic Cancer Network thanked him for his support.  He told her to call his office on Monday because he wanted to send them more money.  So impressive.

My takeaway: 1) I suck at ping pong but want to get better.  It's nice little workout and great for hand-eye coordination (in fact Mark McLemore told me would start playing in January to get ready for Spring Training).  2) I want to be in the position to be as philanthropic as Roger and Marianne Staubach.  Not a bad position to be in.

***Special double, triple, quintuple thanks to Kerry Randel for taking some FABULOUS pics of the tournament today!***

Mavs/Hornets Mixed Bag PLUS Attack of the Drunk Chick

Mavs get their 7th win in high blood-pressure inducing fashion. Plus - what goes on AFTER Mavs games???? The attack of the tipsy Mavs fan might be the more interesting story.

A couple of notes...Eduardo Najera said after the game, the Hornets zone defense was effective. The Mavericks recent success has been impressive considering that, according to head coach Rick Carlisle, they've had only one "semi-normal practice." I asked Carlisle before the game if he was impressed with how the new players (Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and Deshawn Stevenson) have integrated into this system and if the streak was a sign of their comfort level. He said I was focusing too much on the results and needed to look closer at the games. Fair enough. The fact that New Orleans cut a 25-point deficit to just four points supports his answer. Still, the results still don't suck.

Lots of people are drinking that Mavs Kool-Aid and jumping on the bandwagon. Are you or do you think this is all fool's gold? Or have you already been there?

DFW, We Have a Leader

FINALLY!

For a particular story I am doing, I have been asking a number of Rangers about who their leader is.  I have asked Manager Ron Washington  and GM Jon Daniels who they look to when they need to impart a message to the team.   The unanimous answer, on all fronts, has been one man: Michael Young.

This shouldn't come as a shock or surprise; but I will tell you it's impressive.  He leads by example and does it vocally, as well.   Pitcher C.J. Wilson might have said it best: "He's made so many sacrifices for the team.  To keep his bat in the lineup and keep his different positions, win a gold glove at short, now he's playing 3rd.  He can win a gold glove there you know."

Young's willingness to do whatever it takes and ability to excel at each attempt isn't lost on his teammates.  "Everyone's going home and looking at himself in the mirror saying 'what can I do to push the team over the top?' Wilson added.

Why does that impress the hell out of me?  Because for years I have asked just about every key player on every pro team in Dallas who the leader on his team was.  EVERY, single player gave me a different answer or named a few guys.  Some players (dallas mavericks) named the owner (mark cuban)!  It's so refreshing to have a team that knows who that guy is.  What's even more refreshing is to have a guy who's willing to put himself on the line to do it.  Many players aren't brave enough to do that and for Young to do is a testament to his character. 


Almost More Impressed by the Peeps
While I've been busy dissing the autograph flies at spring training, I must give huge kudos to the fans.  They are a loyal bunch.  I have asked Rangers execs asked if the number of fans is lower than in years' past given the economic climate.  Overwhelmingly the answer is no.  Fan turnout is impressive for a team not named the Cowboys, Yankees or Packers.  There's something to be said for the loyal baseball fan.  Even more impressive is the loyal Rangers fan.  There have been some rough years in the Arlington.

BTW, my personal favorite, The Cookie Lady, is in Surprise with her husband.  I did a story with her years ago and received about two dozen cookies for my colleagues at the station.  Here's hoping we see some of her sweets in the next few days! ;)

U Can't Control What the Ball Do (or the Hooch Apparently)

So Josh Howard's "stomach illness" that  forced him to miss the Wizards game on January 20th was possibly a raging hangover?  Does that surprise you at all?  Lord knows I've been there (the raging hangover part) but at least I'm enough of an adult to get my job done.   

Eddie Sefko has the detes on something that doesn't surprise any  of us.  I remember reporting the "stomach illness" when I first heard the details that day and Derek Harper's first words were "he is outta here."  At least Howard's passion to party is consistent.  Sources have told me he was taking advantage of the Dallas nightlife until 5am just about every night during All-Star weekend.  (not passing judgment there....just reporting)

Howard is a player who repeatedly did not take responsibility for his actions.  He blamed the media for his wrongdoings and was constantly enabled by the Mavericks and his hangers-on.  He went from being the untouchable commodity to a player who's more of detriment than asset.  

Are you disappointed his departure didn't happen sooner?  Did the Mavs reluctance to trade him sooner hurt this team?   I had heard he was on the block for a while.  Perhaps other teams were wiser in their unwillingness to take him on a player.  Regardless, he's the Wizards problem now and he might  continue to be just that: a problem

Blueprint Cleanse Day 3: To Break or Not to Break

Day 3 on the Blueprint Cleanse

This one was the challenge.  Days 1 & 2 were routine workdays and presented no social challenges.  Day 3 was a bugger not from a hunger or craving standpoint but from a "let's deal with reality" perspective.  I had a big, bad (actually fun) event Thursday evening.  Dilemma: do I continue with the cleanse or do I break it?

The day itself went wonderfully.  I exercised, doing an hour of a killer pilates class, a 40-minute walk with the dog and 15 minutes of jumping rope.  A lack of energy was never a factor for me on the Blueprint Cleanse.

I continued throughout the day on the juice cycle, downing them as needed, waiting about and an hour and a half to two hours between juices.  Then came decision time.

It was 6pm and I was drinking my last green juice of the cleanse.  I had gone 72 hours without food, essentially the recommended time for a full "Blueprint Cleanse".  I left for the event, which was a party honoring former Texas governor Bill Clements and his wife, Rita, for their contributions to the University of Texas system.  It was an assembly of some of the state's most interesting and educational, philanthropic and political minds.

Long story short, when the salad course came, I ate it.  I broke the cleanse.  I really felt fine about doing it.  That night I ate salad, fish, a bite of some yucky, generic chocolate flourless cake and a glass of wine.  I didn't feel badly or gross, I felt great.

Friday came and I still felt great.  I actually froze my cashew milk, the final juice of the cleanse, and drank it on Friday.  I juiced the entire day until dinner, which was an evening out with friends.

All told, the Blueprint Cleanse was a success for me.  The pre-cleanse puffiness I had was gone.  My stomach was as flat as it has been since bathing suit season.  I felt amazing.  I worked out every day while on it and, although hungry, I never lacked energy.  I thought it was a good, easy effective way to cleanse and jumpstart some water weight loss.  It was quite pricey, in my opinion.  Maybe it's a twice-a-year undertaking.  It inspired me to get back to juicing on my own.  For ease of use and an absolute idiot-proof way of getting introduced to juice fasting, it's excellent. 

Postscript:
After a weekend of roadtrip indulgences and an excellent Super Bowl party, I'm ready for another juice fast.  The interesting thing is - 2 of my girlfriends have gone Blueprint crazy.  They signed up to do it, too.  I think it would be fun to do it together with a group of folks.  That way we can be social and drink our juices together in wine glasses! (a girl can wish).