Things That Piss Me Off

Well, if you're a Mavericks fan and you watched Game 5 of the NBA Finals last night, then you are most likely pretty irate. I am. I did. And, well, I am. There's several reasons for my attitude.

First, the Mavs needed this win. And before the game even begins the worst-run league in all professional sports suspends Jerry Stackhouse for a hard foul on Shaq in Game 4. Yes, the foul was hard, but in no way warranted a suspension. Why the NBA insists on taking the focus off of the games and putting it on the league I will never understand.

Secondly, Dwyane Wade is being treated like Michael Jordan. This warrants two notes: (1) He's not. (2) Even if he was, you cannot call fouls that are not there just because you assume a player is so good he can't miss unless he is fouled.

Thirdly, the refs decided this basketball game, and I'm being told by writers and sports radio folk around the area not to be pissed off. They say that the Mavs missed free throws (they were 21 of 25.) They say the Mavs should've taken the ball to the basket more and need to be more aggressive (why be aggressive if you are getting knocked around but not getting a call.) Here's my problem. The Mavs were in a position to win the game, up by one, 9 seconds left. Dwyane Wade makes an erratic and out of control drive to the basket, throws up a shot, and it misses. Replays clearly show nothing but great defense. No foul. To call that foul and to not be sure of it is wrong. And that pisses me off.

True. The Mavs could've done a hundred things better to be up by 10 instead of by one. But the bottom line is they were in a position to win the game and the rug was pulled out from under them.

So now that I am good and fired up, I feel like writing about some other things that piss me off. Right or wrong, they make me mad. And listing them will probably make me feel better. In no particular order:

A driver who has the right of way at a four-way stop, but absolutely insists that I go ahead. By the time we finish with our hand signals if said driver had just gone like they should've we could've gone through the intersection about 8 times.

Bad Saturday Night Live sketches. Seriously, are they even trying anymore.

The fact that people advance through this life just because they are good-looking. I've seen so many bimbos and mimbos in Dallas without a brain cell to their name who rake in cash simply because of their...other assets. Just watch a reality show if you can stomach it. And answer me this: How come there are no ugly people in the last decade with good enough voices to get a record deal? There's gotta be at least one.

My golf game, when I care about it.

The Cincinnati Bengals finally have a great season and are only awarded 2 prime time games, but the Green Bay Packers go 4-12 and get 3.

Forgetting something and having to turn around to go get it.

Stopping for gas and having to re-pass all of the cars you had trouble getting around initially.

Steve Dennis on ESPN 103.3 FM in Dallas. You know if you live in Dallas. He's the worst and least intelligent of all sports personalities in the Dallas/Ft.Worth area. He must be good-looking to still have his job.

Shaquille O'Neal intermixed in Superman Returns previews.

When I was a kid and someone would accidentally hit the cord connecting my controller to the Nintendo. It would totally freeze my game and I'd have to start over!

Getting shot at, and consequently peppered with bb's, while hunting with a dude from Detroit.

Accidentally ordering my burger without telling the order-taker that I want mayo instead of mustard.

Well, I'm sure there are more, and like I said before, I'm probably completely wrong in letting most of this stuff anger me; but it does and so does the Mavs game last night.

Here's to hoping we rebound and win this thing...