66) Coddling Kidd

I became a Mavs fan while living in Waco and going to Baylor. I moved into an apartment complex 10 miles away from campus because it was new and much nicer than anything you could get near campus. Included in the niceness was the workout room. At least four nights a week I carried a handheld CD player into the workout room to lift weights, listen to music and run on the elliptical machine. During football season I discovered I could turn the TV on any game and I would get a better workout. For whatever reason sports inspired me and made the workout something I looked forward to instead of something I forced myself to do.

I soon realized that football only guaranteed me two solid workout days (back then games were only on Sundays and Monday Nights). Instead of listening to music I flipped through the stations looking for something else to watch. Fate brought me to NBA basketball. I grew up in Houston watching the Rockets. I was in high school when they won back to back championships. In Waco, however, they tune in to Mavericks basketball.

The year was 2000 and it was Dirk's first year as a consistent starter and contributor to the team. He was partnered with a young and energetic Steve Nash and the stud of the team Michael Findley. Thus the Mavs entered my life. Over the next couple of seasons I found myself working out almost everyday hoping to see the Mavs play again and again.

L. and I moved to Dallas in 2003 and for our first year of life together we decided to get Maverick's Season tickets. This was the year the big 3 were joined by Antawn Jamison and Antoine Walker. Our seats were high up in the arena, but we loved them. And for the next 8 years I watched every single Mav game I could.

Needless to say, I was broken hearted in 2006 when the Heat (and the refs) tore out our hearts in the NBA finals. But the 2011 Championship run for the Dallas Mavericks has been amazing and rewarding. Before they could win the championship the Mavericks swept the hated Lakers. And then they met Kevin Durant in the Western Conference Finals. After staging one of the most impressive comebacks in NBA playoff history, the Mavs defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in 5 games. I watched as the celebration commenced at the end of the game and was forced to pause the TV when I noticed Durant embracing Jason Kidd. Durant's hands are so big it appears as though Durant is coddling a baby.

Each time I see this image it makes me laugh, and it makes me excited to know the Mavs won their championship!