ROWDY TIME SPORTS

They were left for dead just a few months ago. They were a team going nowhere; their leader was struggling to come back from an injury, and the players they got in the offseason simply weren’t living up to the hype.

It was time to give up – “Team Tank,” as one radio host who likes to get tased put it. Time to just pack it in and put all their hopes in some unproven college kid they’d get with a lottery pick.

Fortunately, the Dallas Mavericks weren’t listening to anyone but themselves.

And now, following a thrilling 109-102 overtime win agains the Clippers, the Mavericks are closer than they’ve been in a long while, just one game back of the Lakers for the final playoff spot with 11 games remaining.

And one win away from getting rid of those ugly beards they’ve sported for months, the ones they vowed not to shave off until they reached the .500 mark again.

Suddenly it doesn’t seem so unrealistic, does it?

The Mavericks a indeed alive and well, and they’ve suddenly made the times at the American Airlines Center fun again.

Heck, in a way, it’s a lot more fun than in other NBA buildings right now. Throughout most of the league, teams are just playing out the strings for the next three weeks while their fans wait for the real games to start. For the Mavs, the playoffs are now.

What makes it even more fun is how so many said the Mavs would have no chance of catching the Lakers because well, they were the Lakers, that unbeatable superteam of Kobe ,Nash and DHo.

Uh, has anyone been watching the Lakers this year? They’ve been a time bomb that’s managed to explode multiple times already. Now Kobe’s trying to get them to hang onto this playoff spot because, despite five rings, he still has an inferiority complex about needing to prove he’s better than Jordan and that he, not the big guy in the middle, is The Man on his team. Not that said big guy has been “all about team’ himself all year..

The Mavericks, on the other hand, are playing like a driven team and at the perfect time. Of course, part of that has to do with Rick Carlisle finally making some drastic changes to his lineup. And if the Mavs don’t get in, that my be a bigger What If the Dirk’s injuries – why Carlisle waited so long to replace the disappointing Chris Kaman and Darren Collison with Brandon Wright and Mike James.

But if they do make it ,it could be his finest coaching performance.

And if they do get into the postseason, what then? Can the Mavericks really expect to make any noise in the playoffs with the last seed in the tough Western Conference?

Well, they will be one of the hottest teams when the playoffs start, and that’s always a threat. And three upsets by 8 over 1 seeds in the last six years – one of which Mavs fans saw all too painfully – tells you a four-and-out from an 8 seed isn’t a sure thing anymore.

And you only have to look at basketball’s ice brethren for further inspiration. The current owners of the Stanley Cup won it with an 8 seed in the NHL playoffs.

Either way, win or lose, the Mavericks will come out of this season looking like a team that banded together and fought to the bitter end. That will be much more appealing to prospective free agents – and ticket buyers – than one that packed it in and put all it’s hopes on lottery ping pong balls.

When the Mavericks host the Indiana Pacers on Thursday, it’s reported the team barber will be in attendance. If they’re smart, they’ll let him perform the group shave at center court following a Dallas win for everyone to celebrate with them.

And then they can get down to further business – making their critics look foolish for counting them out months ago.

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As I write this in preparation, the weather outside here in Dallas Fort Worth has been cold, cloudy and gloomy. It’s been like that since Wednesday, and that’s not surprising to me.

For it was Wednesday that the new management at my favorite radio station, 105.3 The Fan, dealt me and many other loyal listeners a blow that has us depressed and up in arms.

Jasmine Sadry, the very popular “sidekick” on The Fan’s morning show “New School,” announced that afternoon that The Fan was not renewing her contract. That morning was her last day on the air.

And the resounding cry of Fan Fans was loud and clear: “WHAT… THE… HELL?????!!!!!”

Radio and media is a volatile business; I get that. I have friends who have worked in the field, so I know all too well that turnover is very high in their line of work. But you would expect them to make good decisions. And this is not a good decision.

They just up and kicked out someone who had a large and loyal fan base, kicking those fans in the crotches in the process. And they got rid of someone that I truly consider a friend.

It was roughly 13 months ago that I first met Jasmine in person. I was at the Fan Sports Lounge on one of those nights when she agreed to come on and get heckled by Arnie Spanier when he was at The Fan. When she came in that night, I saw a Jennifer Aniston lookalike (think Rachel circa Season 3) that made me say “Wow.” I couldn’t stop myself from jokingly confusing her for Ms. Aniston; when she laughed back, I could tell she was a fun person.

(For the record, I have since dropped the Aniston comparison. She now reminds me more of a grown-up Amy Jo Johnson, AKA the original Pink Power Ranger, which is better because A. I had a major crush on that Ranger as a kid, and B. Jasmine admitted to me she wanted to be the Pink Ranger as a kid.)

Let’s get this out of the way: I knew early on I would have no shot with her. She now is in a relationship with Jake Runey, and even though she’s joked about “being in a relationship isn’t what it’s cracked up to be,” I can tell they’re happy, and I’m glad for both of them. Still, I could never stop flirting with her, since it’s probably the closest thing to a relationship I’ll ever get, and the fact that she always went along with it just showed me the type of person she is – as beautiful on the inside as out.

I love The Fan, been a loyal listener almost since its launch. But this decision has really tested my patience with them – the management, not anyone else on the air.

Sources have told me that certain on-air personalities (I won’t say who to protect them) were not to even mention Jasmine on the air, citing the risk of “legal issues.” This is complete bullcrap. During Bruce Gilbert’s term running The Fan, the station underwent quite a bit of turnover, getting rid of Ben & Skin, Jagger, Barskey and Gregg Henson. But all of them (to the best of my knowledge) were given enough advance knowledge to say their own goodbyes on the air, and the remaining talent was allowed to wish them well also. No legal recourse was taken as a result as far as I know. It was one of the reasons I came to like The Fan’s organization in addition to its broadcasts.

I’m not just venting all this because of any personal feelings I have toward Miss Sadry. From a business perspective, this makes no sense.

New School’s ratings were on the rise last I heard, and you can’t tell me Jasmine wasn’t a big reason for it. It takes something special for DFW to warm up to a show hosted by a Redskins fan and a Yankees fan, and she was it. Not just because she was a local product and UNT alum; her vivaciousness and humor on the air, whether it was giving publicity to online sports talk hosts or hilarious impersonations of ESPN’s Doris Burke, gave people a reason to get up early in the morning.

Jasmine will be back on her feet – I have absolutely no doubt about that. She is too talented, too charming and too charismatic to be off the air for long.

But 105.3 The Fan was just dealt a huge blow by a new management team that apparently wants to “make its mark.” And it could take them a long time, if ever, to recover from that mark.

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“Mighty Bulldogs, answer the call, And champions we will be!
With Jesuit pride, defend the true blue and white, Fight on to Victory!”

Okay, maybe we’re not all Jesuit, but for this tournament, anyone who has supported a small school program, we can all have one thing in common.

We are all Zags.

The torch for all mid-majors and small programs who want to believe they actually have a chance in the viscious, high-dollar world of college basketball is being carried by that small college in Spokane, WA, alma mater of NBA all-tie steals/assists leader John Stockton.

In one of the craziest college basketball seasons in history, the team that stood atop the rankings at the end, was, of all people, Gonzaga. As a result, the Zags (though their official team name is the Bulldogs) grabbed a number one seed in this year’s tournament.

Not bad for a program that never made the tournament before 1995.

Other small schools have actually made even more noise in the tournament recently. George Mason, Butler and Virginia Commonwealth have all made the Final Four since, while Gonzaga has yet to get to that spot despite being in the tourney every year since the 1999 Elite Eight run that put them on the map.

But one can’t deny it was that run that inspired such schools into pushing their own programs. The effect of the Zags still runs to this day, even into the Metroplex, where UTA coach Scott Cross boldly predicts his program aspires to be like Gonzaga.

But it’s not just the campus in Arlington where college fans in the Metroplex can relate. The dedication of Gonzaga’s head coach invokes similarities to a certain football coach in Fort Worth.

When Mark Few took over the program in 1999 replacing Dan Monson, many certainly felt any success he had would just lead to the same thing – a stepping stone to a job at a bigger university.

But just like Gary Patterson, Few has stayed in Spokane, likely knowing that he has the chance to build something special that he couldn’t do anywhere else.

It’s loyalty like that that still provides a ray of hope in a game that has become overrun with selfishness and greed at too many times. And this year has so far been one of the biggest examples of that hope.

Last year was a reflection of what was going wrong with the game, as Kentucky won it all with its collection of “one and done” players. College sports have always been about supporting the front of the jersey, but seeing so many players depart before you get to know their names has definitely dulled the sport’s luster.

In 2011: Poetic justice. Kentucky failed to make the dance and then suffered further humiliation with a first-round exit in the NIT. And their spot at the top has been overtaken by Gonzaga.

And this year’s team has five juniors, most of whom will almost certainly be back. Next year’s team could be even better.

Gonzaga still has a long way to go. A struggle to beat Southern in the first round surely gave their detractors more ammo. And they will be even more of a marked team by competitors who still don’t like them crashing their party. They can’t sneak up on people any more.

But if the stars are finally aligned right, Few’s bunch may just finally get over that hump to the Final Four, claim that simple wooden trophy and have fans of UTA, Butler and other “little guys” cheering with them.

“Go! Gonzaga! G-O-N-Z-A-G-A!
Go! Gonzaga! G-O-N-Z-A-G-A!”

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ORAL ROBERTS 84 UTA 76
COLLEGEINSIDER.com TOURNAMENT

The Mavericks’ season came to an end as they fell into a 20-point hole in the first half and couldn’t make up the ground. Fouls were a big problem, as the Mavs were whistled for twice as many fouls as the Golden Eagles.

Oral Roberts advances while UTA’s season ends at 19-14.

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