The fall

I don't know about everyone else, but I can't get the image of Shannon Stone, a Brownwood firefighter, leaning over and tumbling from the leftfield stands last night at the Ballpark.

He died, as we learned, later. By most accounts, he was conscious and talking as he was being taken to the hospital. He was with his son.

I don't know exactly what he died from. It wasn't immediate. The story notes that his head was bleeding badly and it was relatively obvious that he had fallen headfirst. I'm sure that's all concrete behind that scoreboard.

I don't know why this is getting to me. I have to admit, I'm not the most sensative of guys. Although personally mesmerized and terrified of death and all that, I have almost zero problem reading newspaper after newspaper of murders, riots, insurrections in foreign countries and wars. I see it as just one of those things that happen in life, that being death.

I go to a lot of Rangers games and my tickets are right next to a railing. If I take my daughter, the ushers always tell you to stay away from the railing and do not lean on it. I always imagine a foul ball being hit my way and how I would react. I know that if a ball came towards me and was in a downward trajectory I would reach over and attempt to get the ball.

No longer. It's sickening to think that a death of a man going to a cruddy ballgame with his kid has to remind us that there are so many more important things in this little life of ours. You can go to Academy or Dick's Sporting Goods and buy all the fucking baseballs you want. Nothing can replace what happened last night.

In my usual macabre fashion, I did think about all the variables that went into Stone and his son attending that game. The rain storm that washed out the game in order to make yesterday's make-up day happen. I think of possibly those pitchers working faster in order to get past the fifth inning and making that an official game and making last night fiction.

I think about that guy and his kid opting for different seats. I think of Conor Jackson fouling the ball off into the stands or to the ball girl in left field. Or maybe Jackson never making contact. Or hitting a home run.

I think of Josh Hamilton tossing the ball into the stands in foul territory.

I know it's ridiculous to think about all this shit. It certainly does nothing for that firefighter's son and the rest of the family. It doesn't help Hamilton or the Texas Rangers get over this. But I think that despite all of our outward manifestations and rhetoric, we are overwhelmingly terrified of death. We agonize over the small things that accumulate over a day, a week, a year or a lifetime without the ability to change them, and that, moreso, is the most terrifying thing of all.

Just don't feel like talking baseball

Shit. My stomach just sunk. I watched the TV report noting the death of the guy that fell from the left-field seats at the Ballpark in Arlington going for a baseball tonight.

It was the second inning. The Oakland Athletics' Conor Jackson hits a foul ball down the left-field line and it winds up close to Josh Hamilton, who tosses the ball to the front row of the stands. The mans just leans too far over and falls awkwardly. You can tell that he landed on his head.

His kid was right there next to him.

Several things:

1. The Rangers will need to address the foul ball thing. Handing the ball to fan is one thing. Tossing it -- something that's relatively common -- seems real uncomfortable. What if the fan misses and it bonks them on the nose? Clearly, death is something they never think about.

2. This is two straight years of some guy falling over the partition. Expect those to go higher.

3. Can the fan's family sue? If the fan buys a ticket, do they accept all responsibility for their actions and any accident? Is there a difference between a foul ball conking you on the head and a player being a part of the accident?

4. Not to bring it back to the sports page, but this is some fucking bad mojo. Needless to say, the Rangers would never want someone dying in their ballpark. However, this has got the stench of bad vibes all around it for the remainder of the season. Not unlike the brawl with Frank Francisco in Oakland in 2004. That incident killed the Rangers' momentum that year.

Tiger 2.0

Yep, that's Rory McIlroy on a fucking cupcake

Media and fans of the game of golf have another love affair. Pun not intended.

It's Rory McIlroy, the 21-year-old dimpled Irishman who, if you haven't heard, won the U.S. Open by a billion strokes while having a happy-go-lucky, aw-shucks smirk with that shaggy haircut burrowing out from under that baseball cap. He probably doesn't need to save. He's played golf since he was a kid. He's been viewed as the Messiah. He had an emotional moment with his overbearing father when he finished his round.

Yeah, it sounds like Tiger Woods in 1997.

The more and more I've thought about the bullshit that's befallen Woods the last two years the more I've realized that he's gotten a bad shake. Yes, he cheated on his wife and he is a A No. 1 asshole for doing it (or doing them ... so to speak). However, he's not unlike anyone else. Why we are so angry is because Woods painted himself as a family man and all that bullshit. Again, he's not unlike anyone else.

We -- fans, media, spectators -- put these limitations on Woods and other celebrities and we see them as being beyond the basic carnal reflexes that wind many in jail for messing around with kids or raping women and send the rest of us to Internet porn.

We think celebrities or politicians who should be solely interested in their short game or running a country don't like to get laid. When we learn that they're as nitwitted as the rest of us, we get angry, for zero reason.

We love McIlroy the same way we all loved Woods in 1996. The kid that was a phenom and had known nothing but golf. The kid that had a weird relationship with his dad. The kid that was better than everyone else.

It's the same. McIlroy might win about six or 10 Majors. He could catch Jack Nicklaus. He is also going to get married. To some foxy chick because athletes get all the girls. More than likely, they will have children. There will be portraits. There will be blurred paparazzi shots of them -- sunglassed and in windbreakers -- taking walks and shit.

There will also be other women. There might be drugs or alcohol. There will be unfair expectations.

In fact, McIlroy has a better chance at winding up like Tiger than Jack. Because there is one Jack. There are millions of Tigers -- dudes with a divorce, alimony, a bad knee and shitty golf game.

Why making comparisons is dumb

Who can compare?

Why are American sports fans so obsessed with making comparisons or, if you will, comps?

There's a psychology to this. I think it comes down to insecurity. Most people don't understand the true complexity of an athlete's game -- from his brain to his body. For example, a vast majority of people that know who Lebron James is don't exactly know what makes him so good. The same with Dirk Nowitzki. In fact, let's go ahead and include every athlete -- professional or no.

Sports fans know how to play a game. They don't know how to dissect it or enjoy the nuance.

This is why we have sports writers, radio guys and the pundits we see on ESPN or we might read at Baseball Prospectus. It's what makes an OK color analyst on TV a great color analyst on TV: The ability to explain those subtleties and details to a dumb audience.

One of the biggest hubs of controversy in the recent NBA Finals were the comps of James to Michael Jordan (or Magic Johnson ... or Scottie Pippen) and those of Nowitzki to Larry Bird.

The camps were at a stalemate. James' comparisons were based on the observation that he stunk. Nowitzki's comparison were based on him being very good.

Comps are made because A) we're lazy; and B) we're stupid.

Both go hand in hand really. At first, we're stupid. Luckily, if you watch enough of the sports, read about it, study it, read more, listen to others you might develop a true grasp of the game with the ability to make salient and insightful points.

Most remain stupid and don't want to put the work into it. They just want to know why Tony Romo can't just throw the ball to Jason Witten 40 times a game. That's laziness.

Most people can't look at Nowitzki's game and tell another person what's so good about it: Maybe his ability to get his shot off against smaller guys, his touch, the ability to take certain guys off the dribble and, frankly, his noted improvement every year from passing to rebounding to understanding the flow of a game.

Comparisons are often shortsighted. Nowitzki is compared to Bird because they could both shoot, they have shaggy haircuts and they are both white. Those are actually where the comparison ends.

Truth is -- and I love Dirk Nowitzki -- but he is no Larry Bird.

Here's another truth: Of the 250,000 people that crammed into downtown Dallas yesterday, I would predict 95 percent have not seen Bird play a substantial amount of basketball.

Some are too young. Others merely just jumped on the Mavericks' bandwagon. Still, a vast majority have no idea what Bird was about.

First and foremost, he was not a good defender. He was a fantastic defender. He was gritty and tough his entire career. Nowitzki can not come even close to touching him here.

Bird was the superior passer. He was the superior rebounder.

Bird has three NBA titles. And three MVP awards. Bird was simply better.

Comparing the two is unfair ... to both.

For one, Bird was the superior player and if his name has to keep fighting off more and more white guys for eternity, then it sort of devalues what he was actually about.

It's unfair to Nowitzki, too. Bird had no comps. No one was watching him win those titles in the 1980s and simply commenting on his ability by saying he was in the mold of George Gervin or Jerry West. I don't remember anyone comparing Michael Jordan to Julius Erving or Oscar Robertson. They simply watched the game and enjoyed the brilliance.

If we are smart, we'd do the same. Instead of attempting to look "smart" and say so and so reminds me of so and so, why not take these players for what they are and enjoy it?

Fact is, most of us are dumb. A vast, vast, vast majority have never seen Erving, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Rick Barry, Bob Cousy, Moses Malone or Earl Monroe play the game. Many others have never really seen Magic, Bird or, even, Jordan.

Just leave the comps alone.

A little bug

Once upon time, I would get worked up by all the peripheral bullshit that comes with watching and enjoying professional sports.

I hated the network announcers that seemed to perpetually downplay my favorite team and praise the opponent. I hated when opponents would get injured by a seemingly innocuous play. I hated when the opponent would mock or ridicule my favorite player. I hated when the referees were apparently fixing the game and making certain decisions that proved favorable for the opponent and not my team. I hated pundits that seemingly piled on my favorite team and could not withhold the praise for another.

Here's the rub: I was 15. The problem is that all you assholes are 40 years old and some of you are "journalists" with a certain obligation to provide insight and opinion about the actual game and not the bullshit that surrounds it. I'll give you a pass for not being impartial. Just give me something good.

Over the past month, Dallas Mavericks fans have bitched about the officiating, opponents hotdogging, opponents feigning injury, opponents being dirty, certain players getting calls and others not.

Again, I struggled with the same thing. Unfortunately, I was a dumb kid that didn't know any better.

I dare anyone to go and rewatch the 2006 NBA Finals. For every suspect call by an official, count all of the mistakes by the Mavericks. I daresay its a 3:1 ratio of bad plays to bad calls. The officials didn't steal that series for Miami, the Mavericks gave it to them.

Mavericks Nation -- ahem, the same crowd that for 41 games would stroll into the American Airlines Center in the middle of the second period and stay on their phones for the other period before leaving early to hit a bar -- was all a-titter over video of Lebron James and Dwayne Wade walking into the arena with their shirts over their faces, coughing, sneezing and pretending they were sick.

Clearly, this was comment on Dirk Nowitzki's game 4 when he played with the sniffles and a high temperature.

First of all, let's face it, we overblew Nowitzki's illness. It wasn't Michael Jordan's flu game. The flu knocks you the fuck out. Temperature and the sniffles (I believe Dirk called it the sniffles in the post-game interview) do not constitute the flu or any serious illness.

Does a temperature suck and could it affect a game? Sure. However, I saw Nowitzki with that temperature dash past Udonis Haslem for that clinching lay up and he didn't seem that weak to me.

We bitch when Dwayne Wade feigns a hurt hip and yet ignore our own innate ability to overrate our own guy's "illness." We're all cut from the same cloth: As assholes.

Two, Dwayne and Lebron know Dirk. They probably see each other relatively often. They're all three superstars and those two have the utmost regard for Nowitzki. Chances are, at some point, on the court they talked to Nowitzki and his "illness" and they all probably laughed about it.

What we watched and got all pissy about wasn't a "diss" as much as it was an inside joke that none of us were in on. It was dumb to get so angry.

The truth is, what does any of this matter. It doesn't. Still, everyone gets their feathers ruffled and gets so angry at these athletes. Meanwhile, Nowitzki and Co. could give a shit about officials, being disrespected or what the opponent is doing.

The Mavericks haven't lost sight of what is important. The fans and media have. It's about winning. It's about hoisting that trophy at midcourt on Sunday or Tuesday. It's about the ring.

Wade keeping his hand in the cookie jar too long or the "coughing" fit will mean nothing if Nowitzki and Co. finish this out. If they don't, fans will have nothing to bitch and moan about other than their own team.

Can't stand the Heat, get out of my kitchen

The Bron

I have openly and unapologetically rooted for the Miami Heat all season.

Why? Mostly because of Lebron James. I don't own jerseys or apparel. I don't gloat or necessarily promote (this point makes this post rather awkward) that I like James or the Heat. I am just of the opinion that James is the best player in one of my favorite sports and I find a lot of pleasure in watching him and watching him win.

So, I root for the Heat.

Over time, I tended to root for them because no one else really was, and most tended to openly hate the Heat. It's for no real reason, which makes this feelings so frustrating and it makes me root for Lebron and Co. even more. Right now, with the Heat a mere game from the NBA Finals, they're on the verge of forcing all of the playa hatas to step off.

I find the hate dumb. Granted, James clearly handled "The Decision" really poorly. OK. So he's not a public relations specialist. He's also 25 years old and surrounded by more hype men than wise men.

What James did was cocky. Not harmful. He didn't hit a pedestrian and flee the scene. He wasn't busted with drugs. He's not getting arrested for smacking around his baby's mama. He's just a foolish kid. Let's put this in perspective.

As far as "hurting the game" by joining forces with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh (and any collusion that took place), that's bullshit. Nobody said that about the Boston Celtics four years ago. No one made as huge a fuss over the Lakers getting Pau Gasol. Hell, the NBA had a referee that was fixing games due to gambling issues and that's largely forgotten. But not Lebron and the Heat.

People also like to drag Chris Bosh down, noting that the power forward is not a superstar like James and Wade. Maybe he's not a superstar. He's still really good and better than most. He's also the third best player on his own team. Isn't that just about right for him?

Fans -- more so than any other group -- hold more double standards and think with such distortion that it's borderline unfair being involved with sports. We want our heroes to win more than anything -- more than all of the money in the world. When they choose the best chance to win, and it's not OK with us, we are allowed to hate.

It doesn't make any sense. I choose to fight irrational behavior.

Mavericks Nation is getting cocky

Z-Bo

You'd think a franchise that's been mired in awfulness for half its existence and then another decade of playoff mediocrity would equate to a humble and patient fanbase.

Not in Dallas, motherfuckers!

Might as well cancel the rest of the playoffs because this is the year of the Dallas Maverick. It's an empty net.

Mavericks fans pretty much have the next opponent -- Oklahoma City or Memphis -- beaten and the Finals are a mere formality toward Dirk Nowitzki being officially named the greatest basketball player in the history of our lifetime.

The same city that announced a parade route before the 2006 Finals. The same city that roots for the Dallas Cowboys.

I'm prepared to rain on everyone's parade. There is little doubt the Mavericks have exceeded expectations. However, the adrenaline that accumulates after sweeping the hated Los Angeles Lakers is skewing our vision. Our hyperbole for Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki has run out. Instead, we are left with extolling Brendan Haywood and J.J. Barea (whose contributions in the Lakers series have been widely misconstrued).

Here are three reasons why the Mavericks will lose to the Thunder and Grizzlies:

Oklahoma City Thunder

Russell Westbrook
I love that Dallas fans ignored the Trailblazers' success in the regular season, but are quick to point out that Westbrook scored a mere 43 points in the three Dallas-OKC match-ups. The Mavericks don't have someone that can guard him at point guard. If he wants, he'll go for 30 per.

Kevin Durant
I've stated it before: The NBA Playoffs are generally built (basketball in general is, anyway) for the best player on a particular team. Durant is pure superstar, who can get any number of shots from any number of spots around the court. Unlike Kobe, Durant has a bit more faith in his guys to back him up, so putting up ill-advised jumper after jumper is not his game. Durant is the best player in this series.

Match-Ups
The general consensus is that the Mavericks fandom would rather play the Thunder. Frankly, I didn't want any part of Memphis, OKC or Portland. All three presented some scary match-ups. Ironically, the opposite was true for the Lakers. I think the Thunder present some mismatches on offense. I think the same is true of the defense. Serge Ibaka is more than capable of giving Dirk Nowitzki trouble. Not that he will and maybe Dirk goes for 35 a game. I also think the Thunder have the speed to get after the Mavericks' point guards. I just don't see a strength of Dallas' that the Thunder can't potentially counter against.

Memphis Grizzlies

Zach Randolph
One of the more underreported stories in the NBA this season. Randolph's completely (we assume) changed his life and attitude and promptly becoming one of the scariest players in the league. A man with size and a game that can almost go anywhere on the court, he gives the Mavs' fits. He's not unlike probably a number of other players in the league. But he lights up the Mavericks. This season, he shot 61 percent against the Mavericks averaging a strong 24 points and 12 rebounds per game. For his career, he's a 20 and 10 guy against the Mavericks. He's an animal that I don't think the Mavs have a great defender to put on him.

Just Don't Know Any Better
The Grizz are the buzzsaw of the 2011 playoffs. The Mavericks have been the buzzsaw before. It's never pretty for those getting cut down. The Grizz are a group of young, mean, lean and ornery black dudes. Historically, these kind of players do not roll up to the Mavericks with fear in their hearts.

Because It Can't Get Any Better
As I said Monday, the Mavericks aren't hitting 20 three-pointers again in a game. Dirk Nowitzki, if teams are smart, isn't being left alone at the elbow. J.J. Barea won't scoot around the court at will. There's a solid chance that the Mavericks have peaked at a certain level and the 8-20 nights from Jason Terry could happen at any moment. It's going to happen. The question is "When?" and "Will the Mavericks have an answer?"

The outfield

Hello, win column

The Texas Rangers thwarted a home sweep yesterday in a 7-6 by-the-hair-on-their-chinny-chin-chin win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

You might suspect I talk pitching here. Instead, I want to talk about a trumpet.

Some guy in the upper deck on the third-base side brought his trumpet to the game playing the "Mexican Hat Dance" and "Charge!" randomly throughout the game.

As folks were filing out on the ramp, you could hear him throughout playing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" and everyone was singing along.

Best. Thing. Ever.

I don't know who the guy is but he is invited to sit with me anytime. He needs to be at every game. The way people reacted to him was remarkably cool. He played well and brought an extra element outside of Chuck Morgan's great theatrics to the Ballpark. Really cool.

Now, I want to talk outfield.

Ron Washington rolled out the recently popular outfield of Nelson Cruz in left field, David Murphy in center and Mitch Moreland in right.

Popular because I think Washington hates Julio Borbon, the Rangers were facing a lefty in Jo Jo Reyes last night and ... that's just the way baseball.

However, there's a fundamental problem with this threesome: They're all out of position.

I don't know the exact intricacies of playing left versus right, but there were two hits last night that looked extremely "gettable" and it looked like Cruz was out of position or discombobulated. I just imagine Dave Murphy or Josh Hamilton getting those balls.

Moreland looks the most natural. He has a good arm. Covers the field well. Still, he's not a guy you put in right for 100 games or even 75.

Murphy is probably the weakest link. In a pinch, he can play center with little issue. Nonetheless, he doesn't cover the field like Borbon and he doesn't have the arm of Josh Hamilton. You've got to have either/or, right?

Giving nights off is one thing. Rolling with the Cruz/Murph/Moreland outfield three or four nights a week, I think, is crazy. Seems like Washington is forsaking his own creedo of defense for offense. Not a good thing.

Notes:
1. Thought Cody Eppley was good again, despite the game-tying homer to Juan Rivera. Not to Eppley: Rivera's done that to the Rangers for years. He's an asshole. Don't let it get you down. Congrats on the first win.

2. Thought Derek Holland was bad. Kind of found a tiny speck of control and cadence in his final innings. Total lack of control, too much of the plate, bad things happen.

3. How good has Mike Napoli been? Given the at-bats at the Ballpark, he'd absolutely crush.

4. Mike Young continues his assault on Major League pitching. RBI double gives him 12, second in the American League. No one gets on a roll quite like Young.

5. Mitch "The Bitch" Moreland. The dude simply hits. There are no words for it. Considering his time in the Majors, he's probably the most remarkable hitter on the team.

6. Mike McCoy is the J.J. Barea of Toronto baseball: Short and annoying as shit.

7. Toronto mustered 18 baserunners. Left 12. Scored six.

Evan Grant: Breakin' necks, cashin' checks

In a pear tree

Evan Grant has a fantastic little column clearing up some mistruths surrounding Colby Lewis' paternity leave and the subsequent brouhaha in the media, especially from Richie Whitt. Interesting is Grant's clear hatred for Whitt's column.

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Jon Mayo on Neil Ramirez' phenomenal year.

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Mark Cuban was hit in the face last night with something. That's kinda funny. You talk enough shit in an opponents' arena ... during a loss ... you're bound to get hit by something.

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John Canzano on game three.

I hate DFW sports fans

I attended last night's Rangers-Angels game. More than 31,000 fans showed up along with me. Still an accomplishment for a weeknight game when the home franchise is the Texas Rangers.

There, I was accosted by the typical deluge of douchery and obnoxiousness that comes along with a successful professional sports team.

I have no problems with families. Although they might not be fans of baseball or the Rangers, any time you are actually spending time with kids, significant others and whatnot, that can never be bad.

My problem is with two groups:

The Cool Kids
Typically younger, but you get the ritzy Highland Park-types in this group to. Mostly, they just think going to a Rangers game sounds fun. And they root for home runs. Like, "I hope we hit a home run." This group includes the people that know nothing about baseball and girls. Now, girls I'll take. As long as they don't talk. However, when you have a 50-year-old man call the umpire a "referee," you know you are dealing with someone that could give a shit about the game.

The Bandwagoners
I'd like to clarify: Bandwagoners drive me crazy. Yet, I realize they're a necessary evil. But if someone is will to learn and appreciate a team or the game, I am more than willing to ignore them being completely obnoxious. I kind of think that over time they would have learned to like baseball or the Rangers anyway. It's the people that bought a baseball cap during the World Series and scream for the sake of screaming at a "bad" call by the "referee."

I witnessed several travesties last night. It was the fifth inning. Matt Harrison was cruising, sort of, and he allowed a triple by Peter Bourjos (who is an absolute terror for the Rangers) and Jeff Mathis laid down a suicide squeeze. Then Harrison loaded the bases only to strikeout Torii Hunter.

Well, the entire time Harrison is laboring, there is this soft rumble of just ... talk. Like conversations. Some were either right behind you and you can hear them talk about vacations or work or parties. And you can hear it around the stadium. They were paying very little attention to the game, otherwise they would've been up with every two-strike pitch from Harrison.

Skip to the seventh inning: Harrison gets two outs sandwiching a double and then a single, chasing him from the game. Darren O'Day comes in and gets two runners on before getting out of the inning.

Midway through this (Note: It's a 2-1 game), the fans start the wave. All the while O'Day is trying to get a final out. Fans should be into the game. Not doing the wave.

Finally, the Rangers got quietly in the eighth inning in 1-2-3 fashion with some uninspired at-bats. The floodgates open. Hundreds of fans funnel into the aisles and begin the great exodus to the parking lot. It was still 4-1. If nothing else, you could've seen Jered Weaver keep pitching.

The other day, I opined about how much I just don't love the Dallas Mavericks (as players) and how others are feeling the same way. Midway through game No. 2 of their series with the Portland Trailblazers, I realized I wasn't angry with the Mavericks.

I was angry with the fans.

For whatever reason, the Mavericks have the cockiest fans. Complaining about Dirk Nowitzki not "getting calls" (he's "gotten calls" for years), the Danny Crawford thing and all of the rhetoric surrounding this team.

You can't really tell that this is the same fanbase that witnessed the greatest NBA Finals collapse in history. That witnessed a 67-win team get whipped by an eight seed.

They talk of the Mavericks as some sort of institution, a team that have proven something the last decade. In fact, the Mavs have proven nothing and how fans can ignore or bypass this fact is befuddling. It's the same attitude that fans of the Dallas Cowboys have. A sense of entitlement.

I realize I sound like a complete asshole and that's OK. I've personally paid my dues and to simply lump good fans that just love the game the name on the jerseys with ignorant assholes that make sports knowledgeable is wrong.

I am not on some pedestal by myself. There's plenty of fans that are infinitely smarter and more invested in their teams. And they hate these idiots as much as I do.