The Declaration

I've been trying to figure out what to post about the past couple of days. Not much has really happened that's been "blog-worthy." I was going to post about the Bloc Party show from Sunday, but when it comes to writing about music, I'm not eloquent enough to write well. Most everything just comes out like "it rocks!" or "it sounds like (plug mainstream band) and (some random indie band, just to give me street cred) had a baby!". So I scratched that idea.

I was going to post a funny story from Friday, when Wac and I had date night. We went to this Vietnamese Bistro, Bambuza. I ordered Sugar Cane Shrimp, which is just as it sounds: shrimp (minced then reformed) wrapped around a sugar cane. The first one was pretty good, but the dish got better by the second one when I realized that you weren't supposed to eat the sugar cane. Yes, I am an idiot.

But there just wasn't anything that was burning inside me that compelled me to write.

Then something happened last night. Something so amazing, so exciting, I knew right away that I had found my inspiration to write, my muse.








If you don't know what I'm talking about, you obviously don't know me.








I'll give you a hint:







































































































If you caught last night's game, consider yourself privileged, because what you witnessed last night was one of the best regular-season games EVER. It doesn't matter that I'm not a baskeball historian (or that I'm a die-hard Suns fan), it doesn't get any better than this. Two teams, quickly becoming not just fierce, but hated rivals the two top records in the league, two teams with 17-game win streaks, the top two MVP candidates, the past two Coaches Of The Year, and it turns into a see-saw, double-OT nailbiter? How can this NOT be in the top 10 regular-season games of all time?

So about the game....

I actually had my attention continually being drawn away from the game most of the night. I was trying to start dinner when the game came on, but I caught most of the first quarter when the Suns came out en fuego. We jumped out to a 16 point lead at one point, and it looked like the Mavs were clueless. Maybe they were still dejected after losing to FUCKING Golden State two nights before, but they were clearly stunned and befuddled. But, to their credit, they got their shit together and made it a game by halftime, only down by 7.

Then the Mavs turned it up. Big time. At this time, I had sat down to play my weekly Wednesday night poker game, but every time I looked it seemed like the Mavs were increasing their lead. Before I knew it, THEY were up by 16. What the fuck just happened? Where was our defense, or better yet, our offense? We shrivled up like a bunch of pansies, either because we were too comfortable with our lead or we were playing too scared.

This was the one thing I've been afraid of all season - our ability to handle adversity. We really haven't had that many big games, very many must wins. The voice from the critics have been that we can't win against the best teams (apparently, beating San Antonio and destroying Houston ALL YEAR went unnoticed). Utah has owned us this year, Dallas got us twice (in close games)...even the fucking Lakers were trying to claim their dominance over us (but who really counts them as a top team, anyways?). For the most part, this has been my biggest concern too - how resilient is this team? Can we slug it out with the best of them?

Well, according to Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash...abso-fuckin-lutely.

They tore it up in the fourth quarter! Amare went on a tear and left no doubt that he is 100% completely back. Look at his numbers - 41 points on the night on 16 for 19 shooting. That means lots of baskets around the basket, and lots of vicious dunks. It wasn't until the final minute though that the game looked within reach, and even down by three with just seconds to go, when Nash missed that three, it looked like this comeback was all for naught.

But he's not the 2-time MVP for nothing, and when he nailed that second three, you HAD to know that the Suns were going to pull this thing out. If there's anything we know about the Mavs, it's this: they're the league's biggest chokers in big games. It's not a title that was just handed to them, it's something you earn, which they did by choking 4 straight games in the NBA finals. They fought hard for the first OT, but they just couldn't handle more Amare and Nash. Final score: 129-127.

I've been impressed with the Suns all year long. 17 game win streak, three All-Stars, the emergence of Leandro Barbosa, the scoring, the improved defense, but despite all this, I was skeptical about how we would play in big games. Yeah, we took down San Antonio, but that was at home and San Antonio wasn't running on all cylinders yet. I was skeptical about whether we could beat one of these teams, one of the elite, on their home court when they're playing at their best.

I'm not skeptical anymore. In fact, after last night, I'm ready to make the declaration. No more jinxing, no more superstitions.

This is our year.

I'll see you in June.