Fan Sightings

I don't know if this is good luck or not, but in the last week, I have run into both Boogie Bob and Thunder (or Turbo or whatever his name is) the lip-sync guy. Boogie Bob was at Wal-Mart. I talked to him briefly. Above, he's pictured with Sarah Dodd, reporter for CBS11 and one of our guests in the suite during Game 1 against Phoenix. I sat next to Thunder at...ready for this...church! I didn't talk to him. He slipped out before the service ended. Probably had to go warm up for the game that night.

Only seven teams in NBA history have swept the finals. The last team to do it was the 2002 Lakers vs. New Jersey. The same franchise has never done it twice. Let's make it eight.

Since 1980, only eight teams have won the Finals: Lakers (8), Celtics (3), 76ers (1), Pistons (3), Bulls (6), Rockets (2), Spurs (3). It take a while to climb to the elite in the NBA, but once you're there, it seems to stick.

From the way-back machine: check out this scouting report on Dirk from 1998. Note his upside:

"At best, he's the next Keith Van Horn."

A few more notes from Game 2:

• During some Dampier free-throw attempts in Game 2, a fan behind us was chanting "M-V-P! M-V-P!" Funny.
  
• I can't wait to revisit "Ericka-talk" after the series. Shaq enjoys calling Damp "Ericka" and cracking jokes about him playing for the Monarchs, not the Mavericks. Funny, but not as funny when Shaq is the third-best center in the Finals.
  
• Before Sunday night, there had only been six four-point plays in Finals history. Howard and Stack both had one. Stack's was tremendous - deep corner, end of the half, shot clock on his back.
• As much as I enjoyed attending Sunday night, I've got to say that I was never really on the edge of my seat. Even when the game was close, I didn't have that worried, nail-biting feeling. During other playoff games, you could have found me pacing the floor in the luxury suite, yelling at a TV in a sports bar, or standing in front of my TV because I couldn't sit down. This time, even with the score close, it was never worrisome. (Is that a word?)