Mavs Morning Donuts: DFW Is One Big Happy City!

Mike Fisher -- DB.com

   DONUT 1: The Mavs have a lunch-time practice today at the AAC. Lunch? I'll be there! Seriously, a full-scale Thursday practice report coming up in a bit ... 

   DONUT 2: Agent Zero plays his first preseason game in two years (!) and survives it. Now Gilbert Arenas plays his second preseason game in two years. Friday night, Mavs at Wiz, 6 p.m. Watch it on HDNet.

   DONUT 3: The Mavs want to have Josh Howard dip his toe (er, ankle) into the preseason waters in the final week of this exhibition season. But they are expressing confidence that he’ll be 100 percent by the start of the regular season.

   “Yeah, that’s the whole idea,’’ owner Mark Cuban says. “We don’t want to rush him back. He’s getting a lot better. It’s one of those ‘if-it-was-the-playoffs-he-could-play’ things. We want to err on side of  caution. He’s probably 80 percent, but there’s no reason not to just wait until he’s 100 percent.’’

   DONUT 4: The Sporting News says DFW is No. 9 on its list of “Top American Sports Cities.’’ Yay for us! Of course, the list ranks Pittsburgh as No. 1. It ranks “Detroit + Ann Arbor + Ypsilanti’’ as No. 10. And “DFW’’ isn’t really a city. And I never understand the criteria for these lists. Weather? Championships? Golf courses? College football? Square-mile limitations?

   But still. … yay.

   DONUT 5: I’ve got my FISH on FOOTBALL Cowboys notes column up-and-runnin’ at Blogging the Boys … the Cowboys about to go out on a limb. If you’re a football guy, go get it!

   DONUT 6: At this Do you want to smell like Carmelo Anthony? 

   I didn’t think so.

   DONUT 7: Misty Mav misses you. Go check out our Fish-designed T-shirts in the DB.com Store! 
   DONUT 8: Yes, prospective St. Louis Rams owner Rush Limbaugh is going to be a big hit with any football players who happen to be black. 

   DONUT 9: Mark Cuban still has the government nipping at his well-heeled heels.

    DONUT 10: From Abbott:

    I guess LeBron James has some serious mojo in Cleveland. He calls Braylon Edwards childish, and BLAMO -- the wide receiver is instantly traded to the Jets. James also plays his first game with Shaquille O'Neal, and ends up 15 points in 15 minutes, while taking just seven shots. And here he is on Entourage (PG-13 for language).

    Certainly the Browns didn’t trade Edwards for any single reason; it had to be a culmination of his mountain of foolishness. But just in case, it would be wise of other jockstrapped Clevelanders to not tug on the King’s cape.

    DONUT 11: Apparently, the ladies love Kris Humphries.

    DONUT 12: I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, Deion Sanders trying to do a big-brotherly solid for yet another future-skillionaire football kid. That’s all it is, right? Innocent and coincidental and big-brotherly?

    DONUT 13: Did the blogosphere create an environment where Erin Andrews’ stalker felt like a “wacko invited to cross the line’’?

    I remember when I used to think so simplistically.

    I was in the third grade.

     This is the oldest media argument in the book, and it’s as misguided as it has ever been. Beatles music didn’t turn good kids into killers, "The Sopranos'' doesn’t make good kids into gangsters, and the internet doesn’t transform good kids into creeps. The “good kids’’ were destined to be “killers,’’ “gangsters’’ and “creeps’’ anyway, and would’ve eventually found a platform to support their mental illness.