Mavs Monday Donuts: America Twiddles Its Sporting Thumbs - And Roars
DALLAS - We present Dallas Mavericks Donuts: America Twiddles Its Sporting Thumbs ... with a roar!
DONUT 1: MAVS MAGIC NUMBER
No, not the conventional "magic number.'' Different time, different meaning. Sports Illustrated says the Dallas number is "14'' - and here, explains why in "NBA By The Numbers: 30 Stats for 30 Teams This Season (So Far).''
That's a good read, and - because I wrote it - I believe this is as well: "Tiger King' Netflix Film Review: A 'Joe Exotic' Wink at Lost Teeth, Lost Limbs and Lost Souls.''
@tigerkinglords
Also good thumb-twiddling: Our Mavs Step Back Pod Ep. 'Quarantine': Favorite TV Shows, Video Games, Snacks and More vs. COVID-19.'' Click on in!
Or, kid's how about a Mavs Stay-at-Home Coloring Book, courtesy of Uncle Fish! Print and go!
By Fish
DONUT 2: BBALL AND BEYOND
How is Luka Doncic wasting his time? With toilet-paper juggling. And winning awards.
And yes, the health epidemic is creating a boredom epidemic, too, so we're left watching Angels baseball stud Mike Trout make golf trick shots in his house. ... and a bunch of other jocks doing jock-like things out of boredom.
DONUT 3: OUR MOMS
The implications of the idea, floated by a Texas politician, that the elderly are in some way "willing'' to die ... or "not scared to die'' ... demonstrates a tragic lack of understanding of the human condition.
Or maybe the politician actually has a full understanding of the human condition but also wants the cogs of American commerce to chug on.
But whatever his motivation ... he's wrong.
I can speak to it on a personal level, having just lost my mother at age 80. As I wrote on social media this week:
And NBA player Karl Anthony Towns surely can speak to it, regarding a mom, and does so here.
I'm all for old people being valiant. But they should be allowed to volunteer for that role - not elbowed forward into it by politics.
DONUT 4: WHERE'S WALDO?
DallasBasketball.com, for 21 years now, as been proud to bring you the best sportswriting in DFW. Richie Whitt helps us do it again with this extremely in-depth profile of former North Texas radio star Wally Lynn, who had it all - including multi-millionaire wealth courtesy of Mark Cuban ... and who doesn't have it all anymore.
'Where's Waldo?' The Life (And Near-Death) Of Former DFW Sports Media Star Wally Lynn' is here.
DONUT 5: THE TOP 5
The Mavs have executed some brilliant trades over the years - so many that "top five'' doesn't quite contain 'em all. But our Dalton Trigg does his best here, with The Top 5 Trades in Mavs Franchise History.
DONUT 6: QUOTABLE
"People are stuck at home and they need a diversion and they need to be entertained. To the extent we were the first to shut our league down, (we'll examine) to what extent can we be a first mover to restart our economy."- NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
DONUT 7: BY THE NUMBERS
Three-game series instead of best-of-seven for the 2020 NBA Playoffs? I'm down with it. The problem that I see? How to convince owners to sacrifice the revenue that comes with seven games rather than three.
DONUT 8: CORONAVIRUS AND OLDER ATHLETES
Hadn't thought of this specifically, but Sports Illustrated has, noting that the coronavirus sports hiatus hits aging athletes especially hard.
DONUT 9: HOW NBA STARS ARE SPREADING THE WORD
"Hot Clicks'' steers us to a review of how NBA stars are using social media to educate about the coronavirus.
Happy to say that - not surprisingly - the Mavs were at the fore of this movement, too.
And now this: Steph Curry ...
Interviewing Dr. Fauci.
DONUT 10: SHAVED WAGES
Our buddy Marc Stein has been all over the story of the Philadelphia 76ers planning to cut employees' salaries (as we note here) before reversing course ...
Good for the Sixers employees. But don't be lured away from what this story is really about. "A cheap billionaire''? To me, that's a secondary point. More important: The belt-tightening is real
If you don't believe me, ask the employees of the NHL Montreal Canadiens.
DONUT 11: WHAT'S ON TAP?
Not a damn thing.
DONUT 12: THE FINAL WORD
“No one has perfect information right now, and so all decisions are tough. But, you know, if I had to guess based off the people I’ve talked to at the CDC and other places, I would say that the over/under would be June 1, and I’m taking the under.” - Mavs owner Mark Cuban, with information - and, I think, an aggressive optimism about the return of the NBA.
