JENNIFER FLOYD ENGEL
In My Opinion
Editor's note: Sports columnist Jennifer Floyd Engel, aka The Little Ball of Hate, shares her thoughts each Monday in an online-only column. Sometimes, she's even nice about it.
Earth to Erick Dampier.
Are you there, dude? Are you paying attention?
I ask because Sagana Diop took your job Saturday, at least temporarily. Your coach started him in your place and, if that public humiliation on a night when they were handing out your poster at the AAC were not enough, he provided a verbal smackdown as well. He all but said you had been a disappointment to both him and the Mavericks.
And you responded by saying: “You got to be professional about it.”
That’s it?
That is all you got?
Excuse us if we expected just a little bit more, an impassioned plea to coach Avery Johnson for a second chance, a little anger, something, anything other than indifference.
Do you know what Cowboys quarterback Drew Bledsoe would do if coach Bill Parcells benched him? He’d be flaming mad and then he’d fight for his job.
Ditto for struggling Stars forward Bill Guerin.
And we saw how your teammate Keith Van Horn handled similarly being called out by Johnson. He was implicated in that thinly veiled “lethargic” slam a couple of days ago with you.
He responded with 23 points in his 18-plus minutes on Saturday.
You? You were so motivated that you responded with two points, three rebounds and a blocked shot in your 15-plus minutes and your coach sold this as improvement. Wow, you really were playing poorly.
Excuse me if I am annoyed.
Because what I and everybody watching Saturday were forced to conclude was, you just don’t care.
You don’t care if you are coming off the bench or starting.
You don’t care if you are viewed as one of the best centers in the NBA or a Shaquille O’Neal punch line.
You don’t care that you are leaving Johnson hanging. Don’t forget he is the biggest reason Mavs owner Mark Cuban coughed up seven years and $73 million for you two summers ago when a lot of people were questioning your heart and desire.
“I went out on a limb for it,” Johnson said on Saturday. “I stand behind it. I’ve done pretty much all that I can do. I really just need to get a return on my investment.”
He is talking to you.
Doesn’t it eat at you that Johnson does not feel you are carrying your weight? Or that your teammates are quietly nodding in agreement with that assessment?
What about what S-T beat man Art Garcia reported on Saturday that some Mavs people believe that you “should have been waived under the ‘amnesty clause’ last summer” instead of Michael Finley?
Your name was linked to Chan Ho Park’s – never a good thing in this town. You are dangling dangerously close to taking Shawn Bradley off the hook as biggest Mavs bust.
Any athlete with an ounce of pride would be spitting mad but, hey, you got to be professional, right?
Or, maybe, it is that you already have been paid.
You got your $73 million so who cares if you start? Who cares if Johnson believes Diop gives your team a better chance to win? Who cares if you disappoint?
You should.
You really should.
Because if you were paying attention Saturday, you noticed that the Mavs were better with Diop and you noticed that he provided that missing energy Johnson wants.
Earth to Erick.
It is time to show us who you really are. Or maybe you already have and it just stinks.
AROUND TOWN
What is going on with our local teams:
1. The Stars. While everybody misses Guy Carbonneau the player, word is nobody was sad to see Guy the front office guy leave for Montreal.
2. The Mavericks. Watching hoe Johnson has handled this recent “slump” is proof that hiring him was the right move.
3. The Rangers. Pitcher Roger Clemens “we’d” and “us’d” the Astros during a recent ESPN interview. Obviously, this not a good sign for him switching Texas teams.
4. The Cowboys. Apparently Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt is going to make it to free agency. Question is, does Dallas want the “idiot” kicker whose 46-yard miss Sunday doomed Indy.
OVERHEARD
“By the end of the year, I will have pure white hair. When you have teams like that, they drive you crazy.”
– Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton on his schizophrenic basketball team after watching them play erratically in a victory against Baylor on Saturday.
A NUGGET FROM THE WIDE, WIDE WORLD OF SPORT THAT I FIND INTERESTING
Just in case anybody had any doubts that Olympic figure skating is as fake as a Ken Lay plea of regret, I ask you to turn your attention to what happened in St. Louis this weekend.
Figure skating hosted its US Championships, which is where they determine who goes to Italy by giving numerical scores for various ice maneuvers.
Michelle Kwan is going.
Did I mention that Kwan did not participate? She is injured. She was not even there. So a committee of ice people convened afterward, voted to have her go anyway because, as some figure skating big wig explained in an AP story, “The committee felt that Michelle has a better chance of winning a medal.”
Can you imagine if real sports behaved like this?
What if the AFC people decided this morning that, even though Pittsburgh had defeated Indy, they believed Indy had a better chance of winning the Super Bowl so Indy is going.
Or what if Major League Baseball decided the Astros would have won the World Series if Roger Clemens had not been bothered by a hamstring so they awarded them the trophy?
It wouldn’t happen.
Those are real sports who do not decide their winner based on their costume or some nonsense called artistic impression or by voting on who they think gives them the best chance for a medal.
Mark this down as Reason No. 457 why nobody considers figure skating a real sport.
NOBODY ASKED ME, BUT …
A couple of Monday Morning Cowboy and other various, assorted non-Cowboy musings:
1. What was Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck wearing in the post-game interview on Saturday? That should earn a $20,000 fine.
2. Is it me or does “Dirk Nowitzki for MVP” not seem so silly now?
3. A couple of random thoughts that went dancing through my head while watching NFL playoff games this weekend:
a. Cowboys coaches have to have felt sick watching how easily Seattle defeated a Washington team that absolutely destroyed them less than a month ago.
b. As good as Peyton Manning is, he is a choker in big games.
c. That pass interference call on Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel was bogus and probably cost them a chance to 3-peat. That should be reviewable.
d. Patriots TE Ben Watson is my kind of NFLer. Total hustle guy.
e. Is anybody else with me in second guessing Bears coach Lovie Smith for switching quarterbacks as late as he did? Kyle Orton was far from perfect, but he deserved to play in the playoffs.
f. You take T.O. I’ll take Steve Smith.
4. As somebody who grew up a St. Louis baseball Cardinals fan, I was happy to see reliever Bruce Sutter get into the Baseball Hall of Fame. That said, what exactly has changed on his resume since he became eligible 13 years ago? Did he log a couple of extra saves in retirement? Did his numbers become better?
Or is this process seriously flawed?
5. And in case you were wondering, my answer is “No way.”
Former Cardinal Mark McGwire does not deserve to be enshrined in Cooperstown. He and all of the rest of his steroid-stained brethren, including and especially Rafael Palmeiro, are cheaters.
6. When did former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson start going to Steve Nash’s hairstylist? Seriously, bring back his hairspray helmet because what he had going on with his ‘do during Fox’s pregame show Sunday scared me.
7. Do not expect either passing game coordinator Sean Payton or defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer back with the Cowboys next season.
7 a. Payton will get another job. Zimmer will quit.
8. If so, linebackers coach Gary Gibbs deserves a shot.
9. Anybody looking for a good book to read, may I suggest: Conspiracy of Fools by Kurt Eichenwald. His tale of what went wrong at Enron is both page- and stomach-turning.
10. Double points to anybody who predicted Stars rookie Jussi Jokinen would be their best player in the shootout.
10a. Half points if you knew who Jokinen was.
11. Coach Scott Drew is going to have Baylor in the NCAA Tournament before he is done.
12. Do not be surprised if Texas A&M crosses that threshold this year.
13. Accepting sponsors invitations and playing in boys tournaments is Michelle Wie’s right but, at some point, just playing and failing to make cuts is not what is best for her.
14. My pick: Carolina vs. Pittsburgh on Super Bowl Sunday.
15. Steelers win.
HATE MAILBAG
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Jennifer Floyd Engel can be heard weekdays 9 a.m.-noon on Dennis and Engel on ESPN/103.3 FM.
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