TheInsider
When I arrived at the AAC for what would be my last game as the HP Insider, I was told that a local station had agreed to interview me about winning the contest, but at the last minute they were able to obtain an interview with Kobe Bryant instead, so I had been bumped. I guess I can't blame anyone for choosing a superstar like Kobe over little old me, but I would have felt much better had I been bumped for a certain German born Maverick instead of the purple and gold wearing opponent!
I had mixed feelings about last night's game. On one hand, I was so excited that I'd be getting to meet Mark Cuban and the prospect of seeing Dirk score his 20,000th point that when I stepped out of the shower and got dressed, I initially put my underwear on backwards! (Didn't take long to realize that SOMETHING was just not right.) But on the other hand, I was a little saddened that the most extraordinary experience of my life was drawing to a close and in less than 24 hours, I would return to being plain old Mandi, just another Mavs fan living a normal, ordinary life. I knew I already had some amazing memories that would last a lifetime, but no idea what the night still held in store for me.
When you're a billionaire, you can run on your own time and do things your own way, I suppose, not that I could do anything more than imagine living that life. As we stood near the Mavs bench waiting for Mark Cuban to appear, out of the corner of my eye I saw someone waving at me and looked over to see it was none other than Jason Kidd, smiling and waving from the bench. I doubt I could ever get used to something like that, but I'd sure be willing to try! As tipoff grew nearer and there was still no sign of Cuban, I began to wonder if I would be able to meet him and still make it back to my seat in time to keep from missing even a small portion of the game. My first priority was, and is, to be a Mavericks fan above all else, and as much as I wanted to meet Cuban, I really DID NOT want to miss a minute of the ball game.
When Cuban arrived, though, all the waiting was worth it. Not only did he apologize for being late but he seemed almost as happy and excited to meet me as I was to meet him, if you can imagine that! He shook my hand, gave me a hug, and we posed for a few pictures, all in a matter of about 90 seconds. The PA announcer was just getting ready to introduce the Mavericks when Cuban turned and said, "Come on, follow me!" and led me down to the Mavericks court, where we stood in the receiving line as the intro music began to play. Just like me, he was counting down with the music: 4...3...2...1..and the drum beat! As the starters were announced and came running down the line giving low fives, I was standing RIGHT THERE! OMG, never in all my life did I imagine I would be able to experience anything like this, and I even told Cuban as much, which brought a bigger smile to his face. I didn't stick my hand out to be slapped by the players as they came through because I was too busy screaming and clapping my hands together, as any #1 fan would do for their team. After the introductions, we walked back off the court and Cuban said he would make sure I got whatever I needed in order to have postgame access to the players, etc.
The game itself was a thriller, a very close game, even though the Mavs played from behind for the better part of 48 minutes. Dirk was his usual unbelievable self, crossing the 20,000 point threshhold and scoring 15 in the fourth quarter alone. Shawn Marion, among others, played some killer defense on Kobe and it wasn't until late in the game when he really started scoring. But in the end, despite everyone's efforts, the Mavs still came up just a little bit short. One thing that I did find rather disheartening was the overwhelming number of Lakers' fans in the AAC. Here we are, playing IN DALLAS, and the Lakers' fans were making more noise than the Mavericks' fans, aside from the standing ovation when Dirk hit his 20,000th point. In the final seconds, when Dampier was at the free throw line, tons of boos could be heard from every corner of the arena, and try as hard as we might, Dad and I couldn't cheer loud enough to drown them all out.
After the game, we again attended Coach Carlisle's media session, and he brought up several great points, like the fact that even though some people might want to point to single play as the reason the Mavericks lost, there were at least a dozen plays which factored into the overall big picture, and it would take a complete team effort, not just the work of one or two guys, to get the Mavericks back on the winning track. I really enjoyed listening to and learning from Coach Carlisle the past week, as he seems like a very levelheaded and intelligent man.
Once Carlisle's press conference was over, we got to go down in the bowels of the arena and wait for the players and coaches to come out. Not only was I able to talk to and take pictures with Josh Howard, Matt Carroll, Shawn Marion, Erick Dampier, Coach Carlisle, Assistant Coach Dwayne Casey, Drew Gooden and Dirk, but I also had the opportunity to meet and greet and pose with some of my favorite former players, such as Ro Blackman, Darell Armstrong, and Popeye Jones. Even though I didn't make it onto the postgame show with Derek Harper and Gina Miller due to Dirk reaching the 20k milestone, I was able to pose for a few pictures with them as well. And one of the nicest, funniest guys I met this past week, Jeff "Skin" Wade, stopped for a goodbye hug and a picture, too. All in all, it was a fantastic way to end my final night as the HP Insider.
The signage around the arena announcing the HP Insider
Derek Harper, me, and Gina Miller
Me and Skin
