Friday, November 13, 2009

A few thoughts entering a two-loss weekend

I guess I might as well get the Wolves-related item out of the way: I can't see the Timberwolves winning anything this weekend, with Big Al at home for personal reasons. The only question is how bad they'll get beat.

First of all, I hope things turn out all right for Al and his family. Certainly that's more important than a couple of games. But I'm guessing anybody who has Dirk, Dampier or Marc Gasol on their fantasy team is looking forward to big games. I'm guessing that Nate Jawai and Ryan Hollins aren't exactly going to scare anybody.

Now onto a few other items:

1. I think Mark Cuban is a cool dude (at least sometimes)
Yes, he's loud, brash and kind of a jerk at times, but there is something kind of endearing about Cuban. While I totally disagree with the stuff he said about Kenyon Martin last year during the playoffs, the dude scored some points with me last night.

Not a shock here, but Cuban is big into the interwebs. He blogs like crazy and he's a Twitter fool. But he also gets the social part of social media. What do I mean?

Last night, a Twin Cities Twitter group had a tweet-up at the Bulldog N.E. in (duh) Northeast Minneapolis. So what happens after the Mavericks got to town for tonight's game? Yep, Cuban showed up. That, in my book, is totally cool. There were pictures of Cuban with normal folks all over Twitter last night. Apparently he was great.

Could you see Glen Taylor just showing up at a bar and talking to 20- and 30-something Wolves fans (I'm talking age, not numbers)? He just doesn't seem like a normal guy in the way that Cuban does. On the list of NBA owners who I would like to have a beer or eight with, Cuban is certainly near the top.

Imagine the loyalty Cuban builds with Mavs fans by being a fan? Imagine how excited people would be if Cuban, for example, showed up in a bar with 30 Mavs t-shirts and handed them out? Those people would have a great experience and very well could become big-time brand loyalists.

2. I hate Thursday nights

I know Howlin' T-Wolf tweeted yesterday how he thought last night's TNT games were going to be great. Maybe I'm a bit too cynical, but the last thing I really need to see is more Cavs and Lakers.

There is nothing that irritates me more than watching the same teams over and over and over on national TV. Clearly teams like Boston, Cleveland, Orlando, the Lakers and San Antonio are good, but the league does have 30 teams. That is pretty much the entire reason why I bought the NBA League Pass. I like watching teams try to get better, I like team basketball rather than superstar basketball and I get board with the overhyped.

Aside from the Wolves, I enjoy watching Portland and Oklahoma City more than any other teams. I'm cool with Denver and Atlanta and the Sixers. I'll even watch Charlotte by choice. And there is nothing better than getting in bed and watching those crazy Golden State Warriors for a quarter or so before crashing for the night.

That's why Thursday's are so brutal. Last night, there wasn't another game on the schedule so the options were the overhyped or Grey's Anatomy with the lady. Clearly I watched Meredith and Derek and the rest of those Crazy Kids at Seattle Grace.

3. My biggest surprise

This kind of fits in with the last post, but how about giving it up a little bit for the Sacramento Kings? They lose Kevin Martin and get better? I would not have thought that. I watched much of the second half the other night of Kings-OKC and was very impressed. Jason Thompson was very solid. Beno Udrih has been good as has Tyreke Evans. The Kings are destined for the lotter again, but there might be a little more talent there than I originally thought

That's it for now. No regular TV on the Wolves the next couple of games. Not sure if I'll get them on my League Pass. I hope so, but if not, at least I won't miss anything of great note.

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