...while wondering what ever happenned to Estes Kefauver

The NBA Playoffs are, to me. like a political convention of the 50's and 60's. Delegates went in with their favorite candidate. When it became aparent that their guy would not win, they threw their support to the next-most-palatable guy. Now this did not mean they no longer wanted their guy to win, just that they accepted reality and went went with the "lemons to lemmonade" strategy.

Now nothing will ever cause me to want anyone other than the Dallas Mavericks to win the NBA champtionship. Nothing. In the event hoever that they are eliminated in this year's campaign, here are the "candidates" in this year's tourney I would support, in order of preference:

1 - DALLAS MAVERICKS

2 - PHOENIX SUNS

Stevie Wonder gave us all he had for six years, and he didn't want to leave. Jim Jackson, my favorite non-Mav, was traded there mid-season too. And this is a team that does not keep bad guys. JKidd beat his wife, he got traded. Penny Hardaway waves a gun, gone. I respect that.

3 - DENVER NUGGETS

Former Mavs Eduardo Najera and Greg Buckner, former Mav office-type Kiki Vandegwegh outweigh the presence of the hated Furious George. This is a likeable team that needs to win it soon before we all figure out what a bad guy Carmello Anthony probably is going to turn out to be.

4 - MIAMI HEAT

No matter what he does for the remainder of his carreer, Kobe Bryant will never shake the stigma of a Miami Heat championship won this season. That alone damned-near makes me want them to win it more than Dallas. Throw in the outrageous talent that is Dwayne Wade and this is a team I would not mind seeing win it all.

5 - INDIANA PACERS

Although he would be team captain of the "guys who would make me seriously reconsider being a Mavs fan" team if traded here, Regina Miller's swan song has been an amazing ride. Rick Carlisle deserves Coach of the Decade for getting them this far. And the scrubs who got them here deserve rings for their efforts.

(the other four startes would be Karla Malone, John Starks, Danny Ainge and Gary Payton).

--There's no one else here that I'd enjoy seeing win, so we're down to the lesser of all evils stage.

6 - PHILADELPHIA 76'ers

Mom factor. I grew up in Philadelphia. So we'll put them here.

7 - MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES

The underdog factor at work here, plus I like saying "Pau!" really loud, although their fans have not suffered nearly long enough. If they were still in Vancouver, they'd be above Philadelphia.

8 - WASHINGTON WIZARDS

Former Mavs Antawn Jamison and Etan Thomas, paired with some long-suffering fans make this a team I'd like to see win. They're fun to watch and have nice uniforms, too. :-)

Washington loses some points though, for stealing the Expos. Had they not, they too would be above Philly.

9 - CHICAGO BULLS

Yeah they were pitiful for a while there, but they won like a gazillion titles not so long ago. It's good to see an organization build the right way and play a fundamentally-sound style of basketball. It's exciting to see a coach play rookies and see success. It wouldn't kill us to see Chicago win it all, (after all, they do have former Mav Adrian Griffin) but they really haven't suffered enough to warrant it just yet.

10 - DETROIT PISTONS

We still love Larry Brown.

11 - BROOKLYN NETS

JKidd is a bad human being. Vince Carter admitted tanking it in Toronto. They deserve nothing. Their fans, however took the high hard one this past offseason and were not even kissed. The team traded away all the assets they could, announced a shiny new arena over in NY and they lost one of their most popular players to a season-long injury. Yet here they are. This ranking is for the fans alone.

--now we're down to the teams I outright do not want to see win a champtionship. Ever.

12 - BOSTON CELTICS

My strange Antoine Walker fascination notwithstanding, I grew up a Sixers fan. It's against the rules to ever root for the Celtics.

13 - SEATTLE SUPERSONICS

I've never liked this team. Just never have. They're like that kid in school that you never met or got to know, never had anything specific against. But you just didn't like him. You didn't wish him ill. But you just didn't like him.

14 - SACRAMENTO QUEENS

For at least another week or so, they are still a part of the upper echelon of the conference. By definition, I am not to pull for them. We like Peja and Bobby Jax, and we recently discovered that Cuttino Mobely went to our high school in Philadelphia, But they're the Kings. Rooting for them is against the rules. Until they suck again or -- perish the thought! - we do.

15 - HOUSTON ROCKETTES

Division rival, Texas team and they traded Jim Jackson away. Pick your reason.

16 - SAN ANTONIO SPURS

They are Dallas' primary competition for a title. They are a division rival. They are an intra-state rival (trust me, if you ever lived in Texas you would know how important this is). I don't care if they are nice guys. I don't care if they play the "right way". I don't care if Tim Duncan is a stand-up guy. I am a Dallas Mavericks fan. I will never, ever, ever evereverever pull for the San Antonio Spurs to win the NBA tile.

Until next time,
paz