To the eastside

They're movin' on up after all.

The Mavs people, the Mavs. Forgive me for trying to conceive a title more creative than "Post-trade Mavs analysis" I'm trying to deliver a good product after all people.

So apparently Dallas is awesome now. We're as good as the Lakers. Even Kobe said it! It must be true! But where are the Mavericks really in the grand scheme of things we call the NBA? Let's take a look.

2/13/10 - The day the dunk contest died

I guess I should of known. The foreshawdowing was written all in front of me.

I had two tickets. One for me and one for anyone else for NBA All-Star Saturday night. And guess what? I couldn't find one person to go. I asked everyone. I put it as my facebook status. I was practically begging people who lived 3 hours away to come with me. My Dad didn't even want to go until I couldn't find anyone else. Heck, I asked the cute girl who let's media memebers in during UT Arlington basketball games to go, the most I've talked to her besides "Hi" "Hello" or "How're you doing?" She of course said no. But let's go back...

:(

Well I screwed the pooch on that one.

Turns out you have to buy Jam Sessions tickets waaaay in advance. As a result, Thursday is sold out, the weather is miserable and Mr. Long has already made plans with his fiance for Friday (because he actually has a life, unlike me)

So it is my regret to inform you that TROP will not be attending the Jam Session. Sorry, it hurts me more than it hurts you I'm sure.

But don't fret! I will still be attending the game Sunday night (and possibly the Saturday night festivites as well)

So keep checking back here at TROP, because I'll post some other stuff to hold you over this weekend.

Programming note: NBA All-Star weekend 2010: Rice of Passage style

You read that right: The Rice of Passage (TROP for kids on da street) will be covering NBA All-Star weekend from head to toe (or more like chin to knee). Over the next few days we (Phillip Long and myself) will be dropping some hotter than hot videos about our adventures to All-Star weekend 2010.

Our failed attempt at a video podcast (equipment is expensive!) has inspired us to at least salavge some sort of video shenanigans. We have one Flip video camera and that's it. I'll be looking through my potential hook-ups before tomorrow night to see if I can get some mics, better cameras, etc. If not we at least have something as crappy as it might be. There will also be pictures posted.

And yes this means I will be attending the All-Star game on Saturday. My sweet hook-up (Dad + Toshiba Electronics + birthday next week = tickets). I don't know for sure if I'll drop a video from the All-Star game (I will 100% for sure have pics) so we'll play that by ear. But here's what you can expect Friday morning: Coverage of the NBA Jam Session!

Myself and Mr. Long will attend the Jam Session sometime tomorrow night. Expect goofing off, terrible fan interviews, no player interviews and a showcase of our elite basketball skills.

As always, my twitter will be busting full of our misadventures throughout the weekend, starting tomorrow night

You've been warned.

We are all Durant-nesses

I think I should let the record show that I have an extreme bias towards players I have watched in person. Can't help it. There's some sort of emotional attachment that happens when you're actually in a stadium/arena/field/ballpark that gives you a completely different outlook on players.

Its easy to tell who I have a "Seen-in-person" bias for. Dirk, A-Rod, Josh Hamilton, Josh Howard, Steve Nash, Nick Van Exel, Pudge and LeBron.

Each of those athletes I have seen in person and can recount a specific moment that made me think "Wow, I love everything about this guy." (ex. LeBron: Seeing him during his rookie season, stealing the ball from Michael Finely before rising on the other end with his now trademark one-handed tom-a-hawk. It was like the first time I heard The Beatles.)

So there's one name I left out on that list. His name is Kevin Durant. And he is the future of the NBA.