Lead Us To Victory, Dirk.

It is the refrain of teams who need wins when they have the luxury of having a Superstar. Sure, everyone needs to play well, and sure, this is a team game, but, big man, this is why we pay you what we pay you, and promote you like we promote you. This is why #41 is the most popular jersey in any sport in this city. This is why we flew in David Hasselhoff.

Never have the Mavericks needed Dirk to be Dirk like they do tonight …At least since last time we said this, the night of Game 7 last series…

"How many nights is our main scoring threat going to be 3-for-13?" Jerry Stackhouse said. "I don't think that's going to happen [again]. He's proven that."
Nowitzki said the Mavericks have to remain calm in this situation. And he knows it starts with him.

"I gotta come out a lot better in Game 5," Nowitzki said. "The series is tied. It's not time to panic. We just have to win two games. I don't feel the pressure that I have to score 30 for us to win every night. We're a balanced team."

Perhaps. But often it's Nowitzki who can tip the scale in the Mavericks' favor.
The first order of business is to get back on the boards. Nowitzki was averaging 17.2 rebounds in the five games before the 106-86 blowout loss. He'd been going to the offensive glass – even against the fast-breaking Suns – to the tune of 5.3 per game in the first three matches of the series.

"Hey, when they put a small guy on me like they've been doing, I have to be active and get my hands on the ball any way I can," Nowitzki said. "It's not really any different mindset for me.

"If the ball's in the air, I have to go for it. It's like that with the whole series. Nothing's going to be given to you. We're going to have to go out, be strong and take it."

Be strong and take it. Hard to think of any better advice for Game 5.

Koronka gets shelled, but the Rangers beat Oakland 3 out of 4, and Seattle 2 out of 3 ….That will help you win a bad division…

Meanwhile, in a rather shocking move, The Rangers appear to trade Phil Nevin just to trade him …sure they get Jerry Hairston, Jr, back, but something tells me this is far more about Nevin, Jason Botts, and cash…Here is some Chicago perspective of Mr. Nevin:

"I completely look forward to being in Chicago," Nevin said. "(The Rangers) honestly helped me out quite a bit. ... I will take nothing but positives from here. Nothing bad happened."

The 35-year-old Nevin wasn't happy when he was traded from San Diego.

"The last time I was traded, it was a different emotion," he said. "I was leaving a place I had been at for a long time."

Nevin, 35, is hitting .216 with nine home runs and 31 RBIs for the Rangers. He opened the season as Texas' cleanup hitter but had fallen out of favor with manager Buck Showalter, who has been using rookie Jason Botts as part of a designated-hitter platoon with Nevin.

"I'm more of a National League player. The designated hitter deal is not something I like doing every day," Nevin said. "My first reaction was the tradition of Wrigley Field -- it's probably one of my favorite places to visit."

Nevin has been unable to pull himself out of a month-long slump. He hit .278 with seven homers in April but is batting only .139 with two homers in 79 at-bats in May.

"The way Phil played out of the gate in April, he probably would have been impossible to acquire in a trade like this," Hendry said.

Cowboys cut Kalen Thornton …And I didn’t lead with it…

Edmonton is already trashing itself …despite still being 4 wins from a Cup…Ah, Canadians…

Outside the airport terminal, where the Oilers' charter flight returned, RCMP officers kept watch over hundreds of fans, spread out over a kilometer. Their cars were parked on grass fields, ditches and wherever else they could find room.
But on Whyte Avenue -- Edmonton's main hockey party strip, also known as the Blue Mile -- workers had to clean up after a night of hard partying turned to vandalism.

"I'm very disappointed that people in our city would act like that," Mayor Stephen Mandel told CTV News.

"It's really quite disgusting to see someone not being able to control themselves. It's a hockey game, it's not life or death."

While most of the 30,000 fans flooding into the area were well-behaved, things started deteriorating quickly as the night dragged on, CTV's Erin Isfeld Isfeld said early Sunday.

"We're definitely on the verge of a riot right now," she said at one point. "For the last three hours, we've had fires being set in the middle of Whyte Avenue ... anything and everything that will burn. They're throwing their clothes on them."
Firefighters doused the fires -- and the crowds -- from rooftops. Eventually, police in riot control gear escorted them to put out some of the small fires, she said.
Around 3:30 a.m. local time, Edmonton police -- buttressed by reinforcements from the city of Camrose and RCMP from around the province -- pushed the crowd off Whyte Avenue, Isfeld said. "They essentially forced them to go home."

In the end, 15 people were arrested. Supt. Mark Logar called the behaviour of some fans "totally inexcusable."

Our buddy’s big day is today: Spell Well, Samir Patel …

Samir Patel of Colleyville soared through the opening three rounds of the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee on Wednesday and remained a strong favorite to win the prestigious educational competition before a prime-time television audience Thursday night.

With his parents, Sudhir and Jyoti Patel, seated in the front row, the 12-year-old contender successfully spelled "grandrelle," a two-ply yarn made by twisting together two singles of contrasting color, to advance to the fourth round later in the day.

Earlier, he easily conquered "adiaphorism," which means tolerance of actions or beliefs not specifically prohibited in the Scriptures.

"I just wanted to get my word and get it over,” said Patel, who tied for second place in last year’s contest. "In 40 hours, it’ll all be over and it’ll all be done.”

This Cop doesn’t know the anthem very well …

Did you listen to the Hardline last night? Who is Jim Goldstein? …



Rusty pulls the shocker …

The impossible to believe story of Chris Berman’s lovelife …

Sorry, kids. All blogging done last night as the dentist is killing me again. My teeth and my hair listed as weaknesses on my scouting report.