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Dirk Nowitzki "Obviously" Watch

Double dose coming atcha!

"Obviously not," Nowitzki said. "When we first started off, we were struggling, and nobody really knew if we were going to make it in this league. It's been a great ride, obviously. We both went our ways and kind of improved together, worked on our games together and nobody could really see how far we could take this."

Make that a TRIPLE dose!

"Obviously, everybody saw we were kind of talented and we could make our ways in this league," Nowitzki said.

Reds 6, Yankees 3

Beat the Bronx Bombers twice times this year already. Neither count, but it was fun while it lasted.

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: While not as impressive as Bobby Livingston (and who is, when you get down to it?), Harang pitched a pretty solid game. He picked up the win and almost went five innings, allowing 7 or 8 hits (box scores disagree) and 2 earned runs. No walks and 2 K's. Stanton, Cormier, and Coffey followed with scoreless innings, though Coffey allowed 3 hits in one inning. Not sure how none of those scored, but it seemed to work out pretty well for him as he keeps his masterful 0.00 ERA. Meadows pitched the ninth, giving up a homer and striking out 1.

Hitting: Phillips led off the game with a homer, and finished with no more hits. Otherwise, guess who was the offensive story? Yeah, it's Hamilton again. 2/2 with 2 RBI's including a sac fly, along with a walk. The guy is seriously on fire. Denorfia got a hit in his only at-bat, knocking in a run and scoring himself. David Ross, who has had serious problems, had his worst game going 0/3 with 3 strikeouts. Yuck. This guy needs to turn things around. We already knew we were going to see him perform not as well as last year, but he can't be disastrous. We can't afford that, not with Javy underperforming and the black hole that is Moeller. C'mon, Ross. Get that bat going.

Fielding & such: No errors. Gil & Wise stole some bases. Phillips & Gonzalez picked up another double play, and so did the usual trio of Janish-Gil-Votto. Good stuff.

Warriors 117, Mavericks 100

Whoops.

Well, you knew it had to happen. Against Golden State, though? I mean, the NAME of the team isn't even a place. It's not a city, it's not a state. It's a NICKNAME of a state. That blows. When everybody was counting this as the 18th win for the Mavs, they had to subtract 18 and leave it at 17. Time to start a new streak.

The loss really doesn't bother me. The only thing that bothers me is the number of points allowed, 117 is a ton of points. But all the rest is positive. I think it helps give the team some focus. I mean, they found a lot of stuff to talk about that didn't go well, but you win 17 in a row, even if you try really hard to nitpick and find things that went wrong, it's hard. On a subconscious level, you sort of tune that stuff out of your head. But now, with a sizeable loss, it makes it that much more tangible to fix some problems. And the Mavericks hardly have any problems, but they still need to keep winning, because God knows Phoenix and San Antonio still are.

Well, where to begin? The team that has given Dallas the most struggles lately has been the Warriors, oddly enough. Not the Kings, not the Spurs, not the Suns. Not even the Lakers anymore. It's the Warriors. Hard to figure that out, they just know what they're doing. Or Don Nelson, the old coach of the Mavs, has some insider tricks. Whatever it is, the Mavs better figure this team out, especially if they wind up with the #8 seed in the playoffs.

But, to the Warriors discredit, it was the Mavs that fell apart. I guess you can credit the defense of Golden State, but it was the Mavs' own ineptitude that did them in. A season-high 23 turnovers did not help matters, Nowitzki chipping in 7 of those. The Big 3 saw Jason Terry get 16 points and was clearly the best player on the floor. Nowitzki was well off, getting 13 points on 3/11 shooting. Josh Howard got 11 points. Devin Harris was pretty decent last night, matching Terry's points total with 16, but he was 5/13 with poor shot selection. Nobody really played all that well besides Terry, except Austin Croshere picked up a huge 13 rebounds! It was garbage time, but he was all over the trash can at least. Speaking of rebounds, the Mavs usually win when they out-rebound the other team. And they certainly did that, getting 50 rebounds (a season high) to the Warriors 28. Which is the largest margin of rebound differential, so, of course, the Mavs lose. What the?

Just look at the shooting, though. Poor shot selection or wise shot selection and poor shot, as the Mavs shot 42.3% and the defense was not up to the task at the other end as the Warriors shot 57.1%.

Oh well, the Mavs finally reached double-digit losses. Time to win again. HUGE GAME coming up tomorrow night vs. the Suns. We'll see what they're made of. Suns and Mavs, that is.

Reds 3, Blue Jays 0

Most impressive Spring Training game yet. And that's saying..............something. Right? Anything? It surely says something.

Maybe the better story is the most impressive outing of Spring Training. That's correct, it beats Bobby Livingston smoking down the heart of the Yankees. This one belongs to Matt Belisle, new frontrunner for fifth place.

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: Only 2 hits allowed today. In the entire game. A truly impressive shutout victory. It begins with Belisle, and thankfully does not end with him. But Matt was the starter, going further than any starter previous to him, going 4 innings and allowing 1 hit. 1 measly hit! 1 walk and 3 K's thrown in for good measure. What a kid. I just named him dark horse, but he's not too dark anymore. Just a horse. Weathers and Hermanson followed up with back-to-back innings of no hits. Victor Santos pitched the seventh and eighth, allowing the other hit and K'ing 2. I like the guy. He pretty much has no shot of getting the fifth, especially with Belisle showing everybody up. But I think he could be used at some point during the year. Jared Burton got the save, K'ing 2 and walking 1.

Hitting: Freel got leadoff duties yet again. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come. Unfortunately, he only had one at-bat and didn't play most of the rest of the game. Hopefully everything is okay for the loveable little guy. He did make his at-bat productive, getting a hit and scoring a run. Norris Hopper replaced Freel and went 2/3 with 2 of the 3 RBI's. Phillips, Dunn, Moeller, and Denorfia got the other hits, Dunn getting the other RBI on a base hit in the first inning. Psst.......check the shortstop lineup for the Jays. Looks like Clayton and Olmedo. Sound familiar to anybody? We miss ya, li'l Rey.

Fielding & such: No errors today, 2 double plays instead. Gil & Janish turned one over to Votto (in a sign of things to come) and Phillips & Gonzalez finally got the first of hopefully many and many.

Mavericks 108, Lakers 72

Observe the brutality of it all.

I did, because I watched it on TV. And it was henceforth named "incredible."

Margin of defeat - 36 points = largest margin of victory on the year, largest margin of victory ever against the Lakers, worst loss at home ever since the Minneapolis Lakers became the Los Angeles Lakers

The win - only the third time in 32 tries at Los Angeles, 17 straight victories, have won 38 of past 40 games

72 points - second lowest points total ever scored by the Lakers, only 2 shy of the franchise record

Runs = 26-5 run in the first & second quarters, 16-2 run to finish the first half.

22-6 = best road record in the NBA, with the Suns only having a better HOME record.

------

What all of this means is an attempt to showcase to you how this win was huge, but just a small piece in the cog of the Dallas Mavericks' superb season. Incredible. Amazing. What a game. The Lakers were shorthanded, that's true. But just watching the game, the Mavericks cleanly beat the Lakers in every category. They were by far the better team and it was truly a team effort. I'm glad I get to be part of such a great ride.

Reds 9, Pirates 8

Ye Old Redlegs defeat the Freddy Sanchez-less Bucs.

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: Milton had maybe a typical day at work, going 3.2/3, giving up 7 hits and 3 earned runs. He walked one but had 3 K's, which was nice to see. Stanton, Livingston, and Coffey threw some no-hit innings in the middle, and Coffey in particular was on fire striking out all 3 of the batters he faced. Brad Salmon had an interesting 2/3 of an inning as he gave up one hit but 3 runs. None of them earned. Shackelford got the win allowing a hit and a run, but again, no earned runs. How about all of these runs that were not earned runs? We'll talk about that in the bottom category, so please stay tuned. Meadows pitched a clean ninth for the save.

Hitting: Nice to see some offense come back, and it started with Ryan Freel leading off, going 2/3 and scoring both times. The story here, and has been the whole time, is Josh Hamilton. Hamilton was 3/3, all singles, and got an RBI for his troubles. What a kid. Alex Gonzalez was 2/3. EdE was 2/4. Adam Dunn was back to his old self, going 0/3 with 2 K's. Yuck. Castro provided the highlight with a pinch-hit 2-run HOMER!! Haha, who would have guessed? Nobody did as he got up to swing the bat. Couldn't have worked out much better, though. Then Jerry Gil hit a double and scored the winning run for the team. Nice way to do it.

Fielding & such: So, about all those unearned runs? Thanks for FOUR errors today. Playing small ball the hard way. Here's who screwed it up for Salmon: EdE had his 2nd error of the year, Bellhorn had one, and Norris Hopper of all people got in the crazy mix. Shackelford's unearned run was his fault and should have been earned because he got called for interference. 15 yards and a first down? Apparently not. Seriously, though. Shouldn't it count as an earned run if the pitcher is the one to make the error? Get real. Freel & EdE had stolen bases today, and Jerry Gil got a little ahead of himself trying to steal 2nd base and was rejected. Inherited runners who scored, which had been good and low for the Reds, was 4-for-4 today. Not great. Errors helped, though.

Devils 3, Sabres 2

Well, they did it. It all came into place.

Minnesota takes care of Buffalo last night on the Devils off night and the Devils take care of the retro-jerseyed Sabres tonight. Not much changes. Buffalo remains #1 in the East, New Jersey remains #2 in the East. But Buffalo has 93 points, and New Jersey has 92. It's close. 20 days or so left until the end of the season. The battle for Eastern Conference domination is officially on.

Very exciting game. The Buffalo crowd seemed bored with it because it wasn't 8-7 or anything like that, but it was pretty dang exciting nonetheless. Well played by both sides.

It started off with a bang, Cam Janssen and Andrew Peters threw down pretty much right after the game started. Afterwards, Zubrus got the first goal for the Sabres and it looked like things were off and running. Travis Zajac answered him not very long afterwards, getting assists from his linemates and tying things up at one. The rest of the period held no more scoring, but it was by no means uneventful.

The second period started and as soon as it started, Mike Rupp was the recipient of a nice rebound and scored a goal for the Devils a mere 33 seconds into the period. With Colin White still out and no replacement for him (and why the heck not? someone explain this to me) and Gionta out and Rasmussen taken out early in the game, lines and ice time were shuffled for a whole lot of players and Rupp saw some action he would normally not see. He made use of it for his 5th goal of the season. The second period slowed down for a while and it picked up steam at the end of the period. At 16:12 of the second period, Daniel Briere got a nice pass and shot a nice shot past Brodeur for his 28th goal of the year. This tied things up at two goals apiece and then Sergei Brylin got flagged for high-sticking. Not only that, but he got the dreaded 4-minute penalty. Not sure if it was worth it, seemed pretty cheap to me. But I'm partial to the Devils. Anyway, with the Sabres just tying things up and the crowd brought back from the brink of death and with a FOUR-MINUTE penalty just called, things were looking Buffalo's way. It appeared to be disastrous. This was the last thing the Devils needed.

But lo and behold, what's this? The Sabres are playing all over the place. Jim Dowd takes advantage of their haphazard style of play and leads an odd-man rush with Langenbrunner. He notices he can't slide the puck to Langenbrunner, the angle was not right and the backcheck was too fierce. Instead, Dowd maneuvered up toward the goal, flung the puck behind him to Rafalski and Ralf let one fly into the net right before the end of the period. A rare shorthanded goal for the Devils!! And a HUGE goal, it could maybe be the biggest goal of the season because that halted the Sabres momentum in its tracks and no scoring was done in the third period, but there was plenty of action.

The teams will meet again one more time, and the stakes may even be higher.

Reds 5, Indians 2

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: Paul Wilson started. Pitched 3 innings, 1 walk, 1 K, 0 hits. Very nice outing. I don't know if it should be described as "masterful" or "brilliant" unless you are comparing it to every other outing he has had since 2005. Then I guess you can use these terms. Seriously, though, this guy is now the leading candidate to be the #5 starter? Is it that easy? Do things change on a whim that quickly? I don't buy it. I mean, it was a great outing, I'll give you that. I'll also give you that there is no consistency shown that you can build anything off of that outing. Here is how I see things going, or at least how they should go, for the fifth starter job:

--Kirk Saarloos (he will be on the team no matter what, still could be bullpen guy)
--Bobby Livingston (maybe not initially, but he looks like the man right now, I give Saarloos the nod due to his proven track record)
--The Lizard
--Matt Belisle (nobody talks about this guy, but he's the dark horse)
--Victor Santos
--Paul Wilson
--Homer Bailey (sorry, Savior)
--Phil Dumatrait

Anyway, back to the game. Jared Burton pitched next and didn't do anything spectacular. Saarloos pitched the next 3 innings, giving up 4 hits, walking 1, K'ing 1, and giving up 1 earned run for the win. Dumatrait pitched a scoreless eighth, and Coutlangus struck out 1 for the save.

Hitting: Denorfia, oh Denorfia. Today was your shining day, getting the most at-bats out of anybody, showcasing yourself all throughout the outfield, and being "The Man." But no, you went 0/5 with 2 strikeouts. I don't know what's happened to you man, but after I pegged you to be the starter in CF when the team breaks camp, you have done nothing but prove me wrong. Hatteberg was 0/3, as was Phillips. Guys you can count on to make the hit did not do so today. Anderson Machado finally joined the offense and went 2/2 today with a sweet triple. Conine went 2/3, and ever since I said he was an offensive black hole, he has done nothing but prove me wrong. This is what you get, folks. Make sure to bet against everything I say, that way you'll know to be right. I just don't get it right ever. But it makes for a good paradox. Javier Valentin, hitting worse than Denorfia right now, finally got a hit. Juan Castro of all people went 2/3 with 2 RBI's. Chad Moeller got a pinch-hit RBI double. Others with doubles were Conine, Castro, and Crosby. You'll know something's wrong if Conine and Moeller are the actual designated hitters during the regular season. Crosby went 2/3.

Fielding & such: Jerry Gil had the fielding error today. Reds also turned two double plays with Janish and Votto in the thick of things. If you think about it, though those guys will be on the receiving end of a lot of double plays in the future, as they should be with the Reds team in a few years in Janish's case or a lot sooner in Votto's case. Makes the future exciting.

Wild 5, Sabres 1

Well, Harding didn't get the shutout but the Wild got a huge win. For themselves and for the New Jersey Devils.

My 2nd favorite team took care of business for the Devils heading into tonight's game. I even got a little treat as I was listening to the Wild on the radio, they had Tom Chorske in between periods to talk about the Devils!! That was pretty cool.

So, here we go. HUGE GAME.

Sabres - 93 points
Devils - 90

No matter what happens, Buffalo remains the #1 team. Which sucks. But if the Devils win in regulation, they are within just one point. For first place in the Eastern Conference.

Raiders do a million things

Check it.

Just when you thought they weren't doing enough. They were already quieting restructing deals, signing current players, and making position changes. But today they made their national splash, signing Dominic Rhodes in the biggest deal for the Raiders in quite a while. They didn't stop there, however.

They resigned Alvis Whitted (no word on the Chipmunks) today, not sure how you feel about that. I don't really care.

They also picked up two tight ends - Fred Wakefield formerly of the Arizona Cardinals and Tony Stewar formerly of NASCAR.

Just kidding, Tony Stewart formerly of the Cincinnati Bengals.

I don't know much about Wakefield or Stewart, but you could tell that the Raiders were not pleased with their tight end production. I still like Courtney Anderson and I don't know why. I think he can be good. I think John Madsen could be really good as well, but is more of a receiver. But anyway, we got two tight ends, not sure if we are going to keep either of them, but it's worth looking at.

In bigger news, the Raiders picked up Justin Griffith on free agency. The deal is 3 years, $3.8 million. Another million-a-year deal that the Raiders are playing safe. I like this move as well. We are definitely attempting to upgrade our offense, I just hope we don't consistently overlook defense and assume everything will be as good as it was last year. But that's a topic for another day. Griffith was with the Falcons last year, meaning he knows Greg Knapp well. Hopefully that works in everyone's favor. I think it well. We need a true fullback and we have one. Not one of the top fullbacks in the league, but a serviceable player. Griffith leading for Rhodes.........that's better than anything you've heard around Oakland in a while. Except maybe Crockett leading for Wheatley.

I like these moves. Smart moves. GO RAIDERS.

Indians 7, Reds 3

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: Arroyo started, pitched the first 2 innings, allowed just 1 hit and had 3 K's. Nice stuff. Hermanson made his debut, pitching a clean inning. Weathers was adequate. Victor Santos was strong yet again, starting to like this guy. Shackelford & Salmon did well, Ligtenberg had some struggles. The big story here is Homer Bailey. And he finally lived up to his name, giving up a 3-run shot to Rouse and a 2-run shot to Sizemore. He got 2 outs in total, 3 hits, 2 walks, 1 hit batter, 1 K, and 5 earned runs. So much for that fifth slot, as I think this pretty much does knock him out of the face. I don't think this is too disheartening for Reds fans, but maybe on a subconscious level because we expected him to be lights out every time he pitches and to be the savior of the team. He still might be able to do that, he just looked awful today.

Hitting: Well, the offense sure has been in a rut ever since I was talking about how great it was. That's what you'll get if you stick around with me long enough. You'll learn to bet on the opposite of whatever I say. Freel led off and was 0/2. Hamilton was 1/2 and scored a run. Conine had a 2-RBI double, and Bellhorn got the other RBI. Conine also hit into a double play, something I'm sure we will see a lot of. Nothing else stands out really, Denorfia needs to get back on track, but he did get a hit today.

Fielding & such: No errors today. Dewayne Wise had a nice throw from center field to get Rouse out at home.

Dominic Rhodes signs with Raiders

It's official.

Two years - about $7.5 million.

I just read about the rumor this morning and didn't think anything of it. Wow. This is great news. Simply great.

I don't know about anyone else, but I am pumped up. Not just because he was the running back on the Super Bowl winning team, but because I think he has legitimate stuff to help us out immediately.

I have always thought Rhodes was a very solid player. Granted, he is making the move from the team that won the Super Bowl to the team with the worst record, a jump that is difficult to understand. Why would anybody make this move? Well, hopefully he saw something he liked with Oakland. Hopefully he liked more than one thing. Hopefully he sees that progress is being made. I think his stats were amazing for what he was asked to do. Again, he was playing for the Colts. With a great offensive line. And Peyton Manning. But he played well and he ran smart. He can do the same thing here in Oakland. I would prefer to see him the #1 guy and delegate back-up duties to Jordan. Or at least split the carries, with Rhodes getting 60/40. But I don't want LaMont being the #1 anymore. He did run for 1000 yards a while ago, that's true. But I am high on the prospects of Rhodes and I don't think he's even run the ball to the best of his ability yet.

The thing that does bother me is his character issues. He was arrested not very long ago for drunk driving. I am not one to shove this issue off to the side, this is a very big problem that a lot of athletes have and is so dumb and reckless, and yet you get used to it because it happens all the time. Hopefully this is the only mistake he has made and I hope he can change himself, it just bothers me slightly that the Raiders are looking past character issues when it seemed Kiffin was going to be a very stand-up guy about guys being held accountable. I am just assuming they are looking past the DUI and realizing his ability is extremely solid.

All in all, despite the character issues, this is a very encouraging sign and I hope he can be the running back that we can count on and that we need in Oakland.

The Playoff Picture

Look at it right now. It's ridiculous.

Four of the five teams in the Atlantic Division are in it. I dislike these teams. With a passion. They are the enemies of the New Jersey Devils and because the Islanders lost back-to-back games to the Rangers, the Rangers are now at the #8 slot, when they should have been knocked out of the playoffs a long time ago. The Islanders are at #7 and the Penguins, who are going to remain in the playoffs, are currently at #5.

If it can narrow itself down to just the Pens and the Devils, that would be much better. And it could happen. Carolina and Toronto have the same number of points as the Rangers and no doubt will finish the year on a better note. So the Rangers are probably out. The Islanders are harder to figure out and have gotten better lately, so they might be in. That would be sad.

Another big thing to look out for is Buffalo. They are at 93 and the Devils just joined the 90-club last night. If the Minnesota Wild beat them tonight and the Devils beat them tomorrow night, only 1 point will separate the teams, making the battle for the #1 spot that much more interesting. It's a battle the Devils would like to win, considering they will face, as it stands right now, the winner of Tampa Bay/Atlanta and those teams have had their way with the Devils this year. Not to mention the first round opponent Islanders wouldn't be all that easy either. It would be good for them to get the #1 spot, but Buffalo is dang good. If the Wild take care of them tonight, which will be very difficult, the Devils have a great shot tomorrow.

Devils 4, Penguins 3 (SO)

Goals:
First Period: Evgeni Malkin, Penguins (PPG) (Recchi, Crosby) Second Period: Andy Greene, Devils (PPG) (Elias, Rafalski) (FIRST CAREER GOAL)
Sergei Brylin, Devils (Oduya, Gomez)
Third Period: Sergei Gonchar, Penguins (Short) (Staal)
Travis Zajac, Devils (Langenbrunner, Parise)
Michel Ouellet, Penguins (Malkin)

Shots on Goal: 39-24 Devils

Penalties: Devils - 8 minutes, Penguins - 10 minutes

Hate to give the Penguins a point, but better to take 2 of them yourself and add an extra point between the teams in the standings.

Scrappy, hard-fought game. Emotion was running high in the closing moments of the thid period and overtime. Nice to see these two developing some hatred for each other.

Patrik Elias scores the only goal of the shootout as Brodeur shuts out the high-flying Penguins. Currently from Pittsburgh, but that's about to change it seems.

As much as this game pissed me off at times, it was pretty dang exciting. Devils should have won it in regulation, but a costly error allowed the Pens to tie it up. It's easy to get upset about allowing a shorthanded goal, but Pittsburgh is one of the best at scoring them. Lots of flashy talent.

But like I said, although it got erased and I had to start typing all over again, if you throw enough pucks at Fleury, he is susceptible to let some of those in. For all their offensive superpower, they have no reliable goaltending and it was nice to see the Devils destroy the Pens on shots on goal, shooting a lot and allowing single digits in every period. Well done. Not that the Devils were without their flaws, because they had some, but they were playing with Gionta (get well soon, little guy!) and Colin White (surprise!) but still played a pretty decent game.

Nice to see Martin Brodeur get to 40 wins this year. What a workhorse. Now that the winning is back in order, it's time to win and not let the other team get a point.

Reds 1, Yankees 1 (10) -- Tigers 9, Reds 7

The Reds remained undefeated, against one of the better teams in the league, Spring Training or not. HUGE game by Bobby Livingston, starting and pitching the first 3 innings and allowing 5 hits, but no runs and he even struck out a guy. Very solid outing which is a very big deal for him if he wants to make the team. He mowed down some of the best hitters in the game. Very impressive. The Lizard was also impressive, although allowing the only run.

Reds hitters at the top of the order were 1/12, and Jeff Conine was 2/3. Go figure that out. Votto got the RBI.

----

And then the Reds finally lose. It had to happen, but does that make these tears any more manageable? I argue not, good sir.

Harang gets the loss, and it was well deserved. He sucked it up big time. 3 innings, 7 hits, 4 earned runs, and 2 homers. He did strike out one, though, so I guess he makes the team after all. Nobody else after him pitched all that well, except Billy Bray locked up the ninth inning with 2 K's. I like that kid and sadly, he will be better than Majew, but that's easy these days. He could be something special.

Adam Dunn finally got a homer, but Bubba Crosby one-upped him getting a 3-RBI homer of his own. Hamilton and Gil got triples. Wooo!! I'm all aboard the Hamilton train, and not really because of drugs. But he is playing dang well. He wants it so bad and has earned it as far as I can tell. Let's hope so, because you know the Reds brass is keeping him anyway.

Mock Draft

Yahoo! Rd. 3 says the smart money remains on JaMarcus Russell:

Yet to make a move on adding a new quarterback, although dealing disgruntled former All-Pro wide receiver Randy Moss could open the door for a late move by Calvin Johnson to the top spot. Let's face it: How likely are the Raiders to pass on a 4.3 (40-yard dash) wide receiver with that kind of size and production if quarterback isn't the most pressing need? They still could make a move for a signal caller, especially if Houston's David Carr becomes available.

This is one of the more confusing draft takes thus far. Is he advocating for Russell, as it says, or is he advocating for Johnson, which he seems to be? Hmm.....

Mavericks 102, Nets 89

Here we go again.

Same old story, right? Sort of. It was much closer in the fourth quarter than you are led to believe. Things really weren't decided until about 3 minutes left in the game. The Nets kept it close throughout, and I thought Mikki Moore in particular was very impressive. He got 20 points and his hustle was evident all night. Carter got his, you knew he would. I think I say that about every superstar, but that's the great thing about the Mavs. They don't attempt to clamp down on the superstars, to draw all their energy on stopping one guy. They let the star get his, and figure out other ways to win. Hey, they've won 16 straight using that strategy, so let's not knock it.

The night, though, belonged to Jason Terry. He led the way for the Mavs with 24 points. And not just that, but they were timely shots. They were well thought out and just smart plays. Fun to see. Nowitzki had 22 points and 11 rebounds, accumulating yet another double-double. The other one, Josh Howard, was not as evident, only scoring 10. Four other plays either matched or exceeded Howard's amount (Dampier, Buckner, Stackhouse, Harris), so it was clear that the team was spreading the ball around. Dampier in particular was EVERYWHERE tonight, getting 12 points and 14 rebounds. We need more of this from the guy, he definitely helped keep the edge tonight and made the tough moments of the fourth quarter more manageable. He was the star in that regard, while Terry was the more flamboyant superstar of the night.

Good game and now some time off.

P.S. Is anybody watching the Spurs? They've won 10 straight. Yikes.

Reds 3, Rays 1

Reds win again. The only undefeated team as the Yankees lost. Pretty cool.

NOTABLE THINGS

Pitching: Eric Milton did much better today, going 3 innings allowing 2 hits and an earned run. He even struck a guy out, go figure. Belisle pitched the next 3 innings, allowing 4 hits and a walk, but picking up the win. Shackelford pitched a strong 7th and Santos pitched the final 2 for the save, only allowing 1 hit.

Hitting: Freel led off and was 0-2, but scored a run when he got beaned by Glover. All in all, the offense really slowed down today, as you can see by the fact they didn't score 33,000 runs but only 3. Hatteberg is showing the same consistency that allowed him to almost beat out Aurilia for the best hitter on the team last year. Hopefully that stays, as he goes 2/3. Adam Dunn was also 2/3 and got the only RBI on the day. Conine on his first day went 0/2 with 2 K's. Yuck. Don't need to see that guy. Only 8 hits for the team today, and that's depressing considering the great numbers they've given us lately. Denorfia in particular worries me with his struggles. But still the victory.

Fielding & such: Error was on Hatteberg for dropping a pop fly. That dang guy. Can't blame him though, I did the same thing in Bam Bam ball. Two double plays were turned.

Raiders add Jeremy Newberry

More like Oldberry.

Who knows, could be a good move. And while you have teams like Miami, Tampa Bay, and Denver going ABSOLUTELY CRAZY right now with all the moves they are making, this is the first legitimate move the Raiders have made so far. It's not a big deal. It was clear our offensive line was horrendous, and so we signed a free agent lineman to come in and hopefully help us out. Not sure if he's going to play center or not, because we have Grove for that. Unless Grove is going to guard. Hard to figure out what is going on. To Newberry's credit, he wanted to stay close (being with San Fran) and he had a genuine desire to play for Oakland. So we'll give him a shot, hopefully he can put that determination into hard work and help our younger guys get some nasty streaks.

"In researching and evaluating Jeremy's background and history, it became obvious that he is a perfect fit for the Raiders right now," Raiders coach Lane Kiffin said. "He is an intense competitor and definitely understands what being a team player is all about."

This is what Lane Kiffin said. But is this what Lane Kiffin believes? Sounds like Al Davis to me. Hopefully Kiffin is behind it.