If you've wondered what makes Lamar Odom care about something

Let the right one Lin

Lin

Jeremy Lin simply carved up the Dallas Mavericks helping the New York Knicks win 104-97.

Not to take away from the story here, but young, athletic point guards giving the Mavericks fits isn't new news. Shit. That's the buried lead here.

Fact is, for the most part, eight Knicks outplayed nine Mavericks. The Knicks wanted it more. It was pretty clear, even when the Knicks were choking down a third-quarter lead. Hey, Dirk Nowitzki will do that to you. He'll do it some more and he's done it against better teams.

However, when you're on top, folks are gonna gun for you. It's what has been sort of disappointing about the Mavericks starting from the brief off-season: It doesn't seem like defending the title is very important. Lamar Odom could give a shit. Dirk Nowitzki, let's be honest, mailed in his off-season and came in out of shape. Mark Cuban's too wrapped up in making a splash in a couple of months with Deron Williams and Dwight Howard.

No one cares about 2012. And that's sad.

The Mavericks were beat in front of a national audience, a huge TV pull mostly thanks to Lin, and although they're not the lead in most stories, locally we know the Mavericks were show up yesterday morning.

At different times, J.R. Smith, Landry Fields, Lin, Steve Novak and Tyson Chandler all gave the Mavericks fits and trouble. Chandler showed everything that we are missing: Toughness, quick feet, edge. Everything that Brendan Haywood is not.

I didn't think the 2010-11 Mavericks had a title run in them. I don't think the 2011-12 squad is any different. I think last year's Mavericks kills this year's Mavericks. I don't think this can be denied nor is it a state secret.

We trudge on hoping things take shape.

****
While we are at it, what are the Mavericks thinking at this point with Lamar Odom?

If we wanted to compartmentalize yesterday's loss and pin it on one guy, it's Odom, right? He was pathetic. He managed a -17 in 19 minutes, which is tough to do. He was somewhere between apathetic and awful. I can take awful. I can't handle uncaring and awful.

At best, he "figures" it out, realizes he's in Dallas for at least three more months and then he can go where he wants.

At worst ... well ... we're there. This is the worst that can happen.

Do you realize you're going to pay him anyway and play him? Do you trade him as an expiring contract? Do you nail him to the end of the bench?

Just an awful situation.

The only thing that makes any sense to me anymore

Occupy the booger

It's a crazy, mixed-up world out there. Luckily, someone on Facebook is making it clear again.

When I saw this -- "Occupy Valley Ranch" -- I knew I'd found a cause I could really get behind. It's no secret that Jerry Jones has turned the Dallas Cowboys -- one of the most successful, popular franchises in sports -- into a rudderless vanity project for the wildcatting billionaire.

It's turned me into a non-fan and has, no doubt, done the same to thousands of others. It's not that the Cowboys can't find a good enough general manager, who will make wise decisions with personnel and coaching.

The problem is simple: The owner is the general manager and the former isn't firing the latter for anything.

It's quite simply one of the most bizarre arrangements in the history of organized athletics and, yet, the most anyone can say about it is, "That's the way it is. It will never change."

Fuck that. That's retarded.

That's like getting 100 speeding tickets and shrugging your shoulders and saying, "That's the way it is. I can't quit going fast."

Now, you might point out speeding is an individual decision. The Dallas Cowboys are a multi-billionaire dollar organization ran by hundreds involving players making millions and sponsors and ownership making billions.

Let me tell you something fans: The day that there are 20,000 fans in that atrocity of a sporting stadium off I-30 in Arlington on a Sunday afternoon in October is a day Jerry Jones will take to heart.

Problem is, you assholes that complain and bitch are the same assholes feeding the monster. This is not an organization built for the purpose of winning. Yes, I'm 100 percent Jerry Jones wants to win. But he wants to win on his terms. And his terms are retarded and not working.

So, Occupy Valley Ranch if you dare.

Koji Uehara vetoes report that he wants his situation handled

Scarlett Uehara

Reliever Koji Uehara's been on the trading block for several months. A reported deal with the Oakland Athletics was supposed to go down over the weekend.

It's Sunday night and all is quiet on the AL West front. Uehara had the audacity to go to the media and state that he'd like his situation cleared up soon. So would the Rangers.

That's why they've been trying to trade him for several weeks, but Uehara blocked a trade to Toronto. He apparently has a yen for Baltimore and there's no clear indication that he would accept a deal to Oakland.

Honestly, I think it sort of stinks that the Rangers are giving up on Uehara, who had a very poor final half of the season after coming over from Baltimore. He was a virtual non-entity in the post-season. Still, he's a valuable right hander that can get both righties and lefties out. It's relatively unexplained why Uehara sucked outside of Evan Grant stating that the transition from the trade wasn't very good.

If he wants to go back to Baltimore, you have to assume he never wanted to leave in the first place. Maybe not worth trying to save, which I guess is the general idea.

Random Texas Rangers Baseball Card of the Day

In honor of the start of Spring Training, I present you Scott Fletcher.

Dirk

Lamar, Lamar: When you gonna wake up?

Give the Dallas Mavericks credit: At times, they can put on a clinic.

Out of nowhere -- in a quarter they typically tank ... the third -- the Mavs allowed a lowly eight points on the road to the Philadelphia 76ers. The 16-point differential in the quarter give the Mavericks a brilliant comeback, a two-point edge in the game and, eventually, the win, 82-75.

The 76ers scored 24 in the second half. Dirk Nowitzki matched them with 24 of his own in the second half. He notched probably his best game of the year -- despite shooting like shit in the first half -- with 28 points and 12 rebounds. Typically the double-double machine in his career, Nowitzki's rebounding numbers have drastically plummeted the last two season. He has double-digit rebounds in just three games. His season-high was 13 in January against the Spurs.

Otherwise, it was Maverick defense locking down on the road. The 76ers' backcourt went 0-12. The team shot 33 percent. The starting five went 10-39.

The Mavericks have won six straight and are nine games over .500. Still, they're second in the Southwest Division thanks to the Spurs winning nine straight ... very, very quietly.

Notes:
1. You'd think at some point Lamar Odom would realize he's a part of something, at least for this year, and get his head right.

2. Amber Alert: Ian Mahinmi.

3. It's good that Dom Jones can get minutes and produce. He was not great overall. Was able to score a little.

4. The Mavs are 8-6 on the road. Stealing one without three of your top four guards on the road against a good team means something.

RIP, Gary Carter

Kid

Former New York Mets and Montreal Expos great Gary Carter, 57, died today no thanks to brain cancer.

A stalwart of my youth, I'll always know him as a Met, which ironically was the start of the trail off of his career. From as far back as I can remember, any discussion about catching began and ended with Gary Carter.

Curly headed and smiling, he looked like a long-lost uncle.

See ya at the crossroads, Kid.

The dismantling begins

Stay hard, Nick

A day after the Dallas Stars fell significantly short in Detroit and it was pretty obvious to most that the nail had been hammered into the coffin, the Dallas Stars' unloading has begun.

The Stars shipped defenseman Nick Grossman to the Philadelphia Flyers for a second-round 2012 draft pick and a third-rounder in 2013. Knowing next to nothing about the value of NHL draft picks, I defer to Defending Big D's Brandon Worley, who surmises that it's a good booty for the 27-year-old blue liner.

Honestly, sounds a lot like the 2007 amateur draft for the Texas Rangers when they acquired two first rounders and three supplemental first rounders in what was considered a really nice draft in A) restocking the minors and B) acquiring big-league talent.

As for Grossman, he was an unrestricted free agent after the season and was unlikely to return to the Stars. At 6-4 and about 230, you'd think he would have been a unholy terror on the ice. Instead, he was more of a gentle giant. Almost the opposite of Derian Hatcher. Nonetheless, he was good -- probably the Stars' better defensemen.

He made his debut in 2007 the same year as Mark Fistric and Matt Niskanen -- the core of new, young talent on the blue line that helped the Stars into an unpredicted Western Conference Finals. None of that talent has necessarily panned out. Niskanen flopped around and was sent to Pittsburgh last year. Grossman played well, rarely made mistakes and turned into a really good penalty-killer, but he can't handle the puck and he's not throwing his body around. I've always like Grossman. But he never blew my skirt up.

Anyway, the Stars have showed their hand a little. Expect more moves and watch out for the talent in the minors that might finally get some ice time.

The unsecret: Deron Williams and the Dallas Mavericks

It's on the Internet, so it must be true

An actual footnote from Bill Simmons' NBA All-Star column last week should have perked every ear in the League and Dallas-Fort Worth:

"We're all supposed to pretend this might not happen even though it's a bigger summer lock than Michael Phelps winning a gold medal. I haven't talked to one person 'In the Know' who isn't 100 percent convinced that Dallas is getting him. But let's all keep pretending this isn't true."

Yes. Bill Simmons is saying that Deron Williams is coming to the Dallas Mavericks.

Clearly, no details on if Williams is talking off the record or if Mark Cuban is doing the same. Someone's talking and Simmons' statement is so cryptic and "wink-wink" that it seems pretty legitimate (and the fact that it appears that he's pretty tied in with NBA folks, media and management).

This was the plan. Clear out Tyson Chandler, get Jason Kidd and Jason Terry off the books, and load up for another two- or three-year run with Dirk Nowitzki.

The debate stands now as to whether Nowitzki needs a point guard or a defensive center. Chandler clearly made a huge impact without significant points, something Williams provides. A defensive bookend in the frontcourt with Nowitzki seems the best option and that could include an expensive option like Dwight Howard or maybe Cuban and Donnie Nelson have a cheaper option in mind.

Is Williams worth it? I think he's a swell player. I also think he's a lead dog on a bad team or a pack runner on a good team. On the Mavericks, the game would still run through Dirk with Williams being a secondary option. I'm not in love with Williams. He's really good. I don't know if he's good enough to win a championship, even with Dirk.

Also, this brings up another point: Will the Mavericks bring back Jason Terry? Unless he completely falls off this season, he's good for a two- or three-year contract, right? He's a useful bench guy, instant offense and a part of what the Mavericks built here. Will they let him walk? As the world turns.

4. 
   

Mark Cuban pays $40K to get an infinite amount of respect

As I sit in my mom's basement and rattle off half-cocked opinions about meaningless sports, I'd like to think I give folks a relatively fair shake.

I explain myself. I extol virtue and condemn malfeasance on equal footing. I think.

I'm no fan of Mark Cuban. He's a self-promoting, grandstanding, crybaby egoist. I love that he bought my favorite basketball team. I don't necessarily like the way he carries himself publicly.

Then he does this: He bails out Dallas' only decent tradition.

The annual Greenville Avenue St. Patrick's Day Parade -- ironically it's one of the city's most popular and well-done events despite Dallas not being overtly Irish ... but instead incredibly alcoholic -- was in peril. Escalating costs had placed the Greenville Avenue Area Business Association in a bad spot: They could no longer afford to do the parade, which is a huge boon for that area in addition to being one of the two or three things that make Dallas a cool city.

They were $40,000 short. Swoops in Cuban. He's pledged to put up the remaining cash needed for this year's parade.

The cynic in me would say that Cuban was again scrapping for headlines. However, I don't feel that way. I just feel like Cuban's giving back to the city that's supported him and his basketball franchise and the people that have filled the American Airlines Center, bought Marquis Daniels jerseys and crowded into downtown Dallas last summer has the Mavericks were paraded through downtown.

To my knowledge, this isn't a tax write-off. He also gave another $25,000 to the Dallas ISD scholarship fund, which usually benefits from the parade's profits. This is just Cuban being a sweet, sweet guy -- giving back to the city and the people that love and support him.

That's admirable to me. Cuban is media and publicity savvy to a fault. It's part of the reason he drives some nuts. Yes, it's a public relations move. But no one cares. Because at the heart, it's just Cuban doing this city a solid. He's a citizen, who happens to own a basketball franchise.

Comin' correct: TCU and drugs

The story broke yesterday morning: 17 individuals (now 18), mostly students, were arrested in a drug sting operation at Texas Christian University.

The drugs: Pot, coke, X, fake acid and other narcotics.

The rub: Four of those arrested were TCU football players including stand-out linebacker Tanner Brock.

The other rub: Head football coach Gary Patterson had his team take a drug test on Feb. 1 and according to one source 82 players failed. Brock said to an undercover cop that 60 people would be "screwed" with a drug test.

Here is what we know that the media stories are not telling us (because they shouldn't):

1. There is not a college or university in the nation that you couldn't arrest 17 people for dealing drugs. I'll go ahead and say 99 percent have and equally "bad" issue with drugs if not worse. And I could be wrong about that one percent.

2. TCU and Fort Worth cops are basically OK with making a low-level bust on a bunch of kids.

Hey, we've seen "The Wire." We know how this goes. You can take the easy way out, do some hand-to-hands, make some busts, put the money, guns and drugs on the table and let the media take pictures while you grandstand behind a podium.

That is what TCU and Fort Worth and any other law enforcement agency involved is doing. Grandstanding.

Basically, they busted Bodie, Poot and Wallace -- the corner boys selling a dimebag to some stoners in a parking lot. By all accounts, there's nothing major about the quantity of drugs being pushed here. Not like catching Nate Newton with a truck bed full of weed. This is minor junk: College kids getting high.

Hell, TCU-Fort Worth didn't even get Wee Bey, Stinkum, Savino, Cheese, D'Angelo or any mid-level players. By all accounts, they're not even sniffing the Avon Barksdale, Stringer Bell or The Greek of this operation. You go high enough up and you'll find those guys.

I'm not condoning drug use or distribution or anything. I do think it's overprosecuted and we tend to overreact to drugs. However, a law is a law and those drugs or the way they're doled out is illegal.

However, this is no shining moment for drug law enforcement. TCU hasn't rid themselves of a problem -- just 15 tuition-paying students and four football players. There's going to be 15 others willing to take their place. Stand behind that table where you've piled all the drugs and grandstand. It doesn't matter.

You've essentially re-confirmed what we already all know, assume and lived through. You busted a bunch of kids (ages 19-21), who will either plead down or spend a couple years in jail and parole out in 18 months. You've certainly put a major roadblock in their lives, but by no means are their lives ending.

Poot isn't your problem. Stringer Bell is and the university, city and media are ignoring this.

Blow it up

Who can't use a spare Ribs?

The tide turned when the Dallas Stars fell to the Detroit Red Wings 3-1 last night (giving the hated Wings their 21st straight home win, an NHL record).

It was poetic, sorta. The Stars are not very good. They've had zero momentum in a month and a half and they're 3-4-1 in February and there's little to think that there's a heck of a whole lot left in the tank.

Seeing it against Los Angeles or Vancouver is one thing. Seeing the talent and skill disparity in Detroit last night is another. The Stars can't hold Detroit's jock. I didn't think the Stars, as much as I love them, were making the playoffs three weeks ago. They sure as hell ain't making it now.

"It's time to sell," I said last night.

I'm no hockey expert in the least. I don't need to be to know how ordinary this team is. Thankfully, Bob Sturm has the same idea. He advocates listening on offers for anyone not named Jamie, Loui, Alex and Kari.

Cleaning house. And I have no problem with this.

The Stars, I think, are dangerously close to falling in love all over again. The first time it was for the guys from the 1990s when they hung on to Mike Modano, Sergei Zubov, Jere Lehtinen and others far too long.

I think the Stars and GM Joe Nieuwendyk must avoid the same trap with the likes of Brenden Morrow, Steve Ott, Stephane Robidas and Mike Ribeiro, especially the former two. Ott and Morrow are fan favorites. They deserve all the praise in the world. But those guys are not pieces the Stars can rely on for 2013, 2014 and 2015.

I think Mike Ryder, Ott, Radek Dvorak, Vern Fiddler, Sheldon Souray, Adam Burish, Eric Nystrom, Ribs, Morrow and Robidas have a lot of trade value -- all salty veterans some of whom (Ryder, Burish) have played for the Stanley Cup the last two years.

On the other hand, you can't give guys away. Nieuwendyk's prowess as a general manager will be tested. He needs to get maximum value on guys. Know when to bite and know when to lay off. Know who will help you and who want.

Get younger and more skilled. Get guys that will create a nucleus, not unlike the Rangers, that will win in two years. Let 2012-13 be gravy. Don't feel like it's the playoffs or bust every season. Let the game come to you.

What if the Dallas Mavericks kept Jeremy Lin

To all the D-Leaguers I've loved before

Every NBA team passed on Jeremy Lin. Not all of them gave them a shot.

The Dallas Mavericks did. Donnie Nelson was the only general manager to give Lin an invite to the Summer League in 2010 when he wowed crowds and pantsed No. 1 pick John Wall.

The Mavs were one of only a few teams to give Lin a contract offer. Apparently, several teams offered Lin more than the Golden State Warriors' two years with half of his first year's $500K guaranteed. I assume the Mavericks offered him enough to stay.

He liked the guaranteed money and playing in Oakland not far from his hometown of Palo Alto. It was a fine decision for him. He would have been buried on the Mavericks' bench and I doubt he gets more than the 29 games and 10 minutes a game he got in Golden State.

A year later, he's the biggest phenomenon in the NBA and probably professional sports. At least for the moment.

I do remember that summer in Las Vegas. The reports, the tape and the stats said a lot about the Chinese kid from Harvard -- the undrafted hotshot. He averaged 10 points, 3.2 rebounds 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals a game. He was big (6-3, 200), athletic and spry. Based on his Harvard education, you would assume he's a smart player and can easily pick up new things.

Lin left for Golden State and the Mavericks started their season with this roster: Dirk, JET, Caron Butler, Kidd, Roddy B, Dom Dom Jones, Tyson Chandler, Shawn Marion, Brendan Haywood, Joe John Barea, Ian Mahinmi, The Custodian and Steve Novak.

Steve Novak. He was No. 12. He was the guy that'd be walking the streets if Lin had decided to throw the team that invited him to Vegas a bone.

Chances are, as noted, Rick Carlisle probably doesn't move Lin up much. Being smart, Lin probably would have gotten more chances than a developing and mysterious-injured Roddy B or an underwhelming Jones. Otherwise, Lin would have needed to leap those guys, Barea, Terry and Kidd for guard minutes.

Lin, by all accounts, was a Barea starter kit. An undrafted go-getter. Lin's a lot more. For one, he's smarter. Two, he's a lot bigger. You wouldn't be giving up size and getting just as much effort.

Fast forward to this December, as the NBA thawed from its nuclear winter and Barea found himself in Minnesota. Lin would have automatically moved up the ladder and even Carlisle is smart enough to see the spark in Lin, especially over Jones and with Beaubois remaining inconsistent and Kidd fighting off injuries.

As reticent as Carlisle is in letting youngsters grow, I really feel Lin would have garnered quite a bit of trust over time, not unlike what Barea was able to do. Had Lin stuck around, I think he would have shot up the ladder with Barea's departure and wound up in the rotation at guard and maybe would have not necessitated a move fore Delonte West.

All of this is guesswork, however. Lin did not come to the Mavericks. He took a different path and he is now today a phenomenon that's spanning fandom and the general public. He's otherworldly for the moment. He would have made a great Maverick though.

Free agency: Dallas Cowboys and destiny

Laurent Robinson Predictions: Patriots, Bucs, Rams, Vikings or Seahawks

The Dallas Cowboys enter the off-season with a hell of a lot of question and not many answers.

They're a weird team. Almost stuck in this purgatory of 8-8. I think the positions they have figured out are really figured out. Like Tony Romo at quarterback is without a doubt the quarterback.

The positions that need addressing really need to be addressed. See: Secondary.

The Dallas Cowboys not only have existing needs, but they have a fair amount of free agents. Nothing blockbuster, I don't think, but guys that did get quite a few snaps. Those guys will need to be replaced one way or the other.

Now, you'd assume that the Cowboys have a plan. Do you really think Jerry Jones has this all coordinated? If the last 20 years is any indication, we all know the answer.

The Dallas Cowboys' unrestricted free agents:

Bradie James
Boy, did his stock drop or what? He's not that old and yet his snaps plummeted and it was clear that he was always a step behind. Hell, maybe he was always not very good and we just couldn't tell the difference. He's too expensive to keep as a part-time inside linebacker.

Keith Brooking
He'll get the good solider send-off. A Wade Phillips guy that was pushed to the side pretty quickly. It's odd how fast his game vanished after that first season. Or maybe he wasn't that great to begin with. Maybe he had the legs for one more quality season. And, yes, the Cowboys will be losing two inside linebackers.

Alan Ball
No way you can bring Ball back after weeks 16 and 17 of the season. He was abused and picked on regularly and with great aplomb in just about any and every scenario imaginable. Granted, he was thrust into a starting role due to injuries. Maybe as a fourth corner he's fantastic. I do think some dumb team will wind up giving him years and cash and I'd let him walk.

Martellus Bennett
Like Ball, Bennett may find someone willing to pay enough money to see if he needs a simple change of scenery. I also think the only reason Marty B has made it this long on the Cowboys is due to his effectiveness in two tight end sets and John Phillips' season-ending injury in 2010. Plus, he was insanely cheap. Otherwise, he's gone already. Some dumb team will give Bennett a payday.

Abram Elam
He'll be back. A Rob Ryan guy, who never over- or underwhelmed anyone. Prediction: He'll fall into the Gerald Sensabaugh (a Dave Campo guy) cycle of always sticking around because he's just effective enough for the price.

Anthony Spencer
Last season the Cowboys went pretty deep into free agency (not that long although it was truncated) watching high-profile defensive linemen fall to other teams before re-signing Marcus Spears and Jason Hatcher. Watch for that here. Maybe the Cowboys kick the tires of a couple of expensive guys before "settling" for Spencer at a lower price.

Mat McBriar
He recently had a cyst taken out of his foot. I don't know if the cyst caused the "drop foot" or if it was a misdiagnosis. Without (pardon the pun) a leg to stand on, I doubt McBriar will have much negotiating power and we know that Jerry Jones loves him a cheap kicker. Maybe a bargain basement steal.

Derrick Dockery/Montrae Holland
I thought both were effective in a back-up, fill-in role and I think both will go to the highest bidder. Cheap enough and they stay with the Cowboys especially considering I think the Cowboys might make some cuts along the front, thinning things out.

Laurent Robinson
How much do you tie into a third receiver? Robinson's about to cash in for a career year. He has no allegiances to the Cowboys, although I'm sure he's thankful for the shot. He'll never be a No. 1 in Dallas, although he could put up numbers equal to that of 2011. The only numbers, however, that I think he cares about come on a check.