Loyalty

The NBA playoffs this year have shown me a new perspective on life as I know it. Not so much that I taught myself something new about who I am but what I have found about other people. As an adult I have always been a fan of the Dallas Mavericks. Sure, I grew up loving the Chicago Bulls just like everyone else my age did - it was a Michael Jordan respect thing and I don't apologize for it. I played basketball and I wanted to "Be Like Mike" just like everyone else. Obviously that didn't work out for me the way I had hoped!

Anyway, there is no doubt I have been loyal to the Dallas Mavericks. That said, when New Orleans temporarily moved to Oklahoma City, I went to games and I rooted for the "home team" just as much as anyone else. The same goes for the OKC Thunder (whose salaries are indirectly paid partially by my tax increase). I have been a big fan from the beginning. However, when they play the Mavs, I have been loyal to my team. It is something that has never been a problem with people during the regular season. In fact, it probably never came up. I only physically saw the two play against each other in person and that game was in Dallas. So none of my OKC friends (which is most of them) have seen me at a game in OKC rooting for the Mavs.

But this year, especially with Twitter and Facebook, many of my friends have discovered a side of me they had apparently never paid enough attention to in the past. And they were not happy with me. Now, the funny thing for me is that many of them had never really shown a strong sports side before so it was somewhat amusing for me that people who thought a double dribble had something to do with babies were giving me a hard time about the team I pulled for. At the end of the day, this never changed who I supported though for one reason - I am loyal.

This absolutely applies to sports in this case but it is just an extension of who I am as a person. It was amazing to me that there were so many people who legitimately got mad at me because I didn't switch automatically when OKC got its own team. Admittedly, I probably would have never been drawn to the Mavs had OKC had a team when I was evolving into adulthood. They were closest team and were a natural team for me to be a fan of. But regardless, my support for the Mavs has just grown and grown through the years. I was a fan when they were horrible - when Roy Tarpley was the promise of a better future and James Donaldson was considered an upgrade from what we had. Then there were the three J's (Jim Jackson, Jamal Mashburn, and Jason Kidd) but the team just never was able to put anything together. Finally Mark Cuban has compiled a series of quality teams centered around Dirk Nowitzki and has had several guys come and go, ranging from Steve Nash to Nick Van Exel to Shawn Bradley to Shaquille O'Neal (no, he never played for the Mavs - I had to make sure you were still paying attention!).

Through it all, I have been loyal. I am the same with my other sports teams.

* The Miami Dolphins, who I first became a fan of during my childhood because I didn't care much for a lot of people I knew who were Dallas Cowboys fans.

* The Texas Rangers, who have done nothing but embarrass and disappoint me until they made it to the World Series last year.

* The New York Rangers, and this one is a little more complicated. I was a huge fan of the U.S. winning the "Miracle on Ice" during the Olympics in 1980. A couple of the more high-profile players ended up on the New York Rangers, which happened around a time in my life when I as an Oklahoma City kid played organized hockey. Thus, fandom was born and has never gone away. But the truth is, I'm not much of a hockey fan.

* THE University of Oklahoma. Yeah, you know what it is - Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner (google or search on youtube for Tony Jefferson "Black and Yellow" and this will make much more sense). I was born a Sooner fan and will always be a Sooner fan. Even during the Schnellenberger and Blake eras. At least with OU, there have been some fantastic highs to offset those low lows!

So I say all this to get to the point - loyalty. People just don't understand that loyalty in sports is something that is an extension of one's personality. I can assure you "The Governorator" does not have a team that he is loyal to. Same goes for Bill Clinton. So all those people who were busting my chops (yeah, I say that phrase) about being a Mavs fan - just know that this is one of those qualities that also dictates what kind of friend I am, what kind of relationships I enter into, and why I tend to defend people who may or may not deserve my support.

I'm not here to bash any of these people who were quick to label me a Judas for sticking with the team I have always been a fan of (at least since they knew me) but it is noteworthy that people can be ridiculously ridiculous when it comes to jumping on bandwagons. It is not a surprise that most - maybe all - of those people who gave me a hard time (some more than others) don't seem to have long-standing friendships or great relationships with the people who are in their life.

So with all of that out there, I will close with this - the Mavs are up 3-2 over the Miami (Over)Heat(ed) and I fully expect Dallas to close it out, regardless of whether it takes 6 or 7 games. Let's Go Mavs!!!

J.W.O.A.G.