Boring Brilliance? Ho-Hum, Mavs' Luka Doncic Again Driving Dallas With 'The Right Play'

Luka Doncic's blind brilliance, Jerry Jones' updated Rolodex, Bruce Bochy's old tricks and the biggest sporting event in the history of DFW, all in this week's sports notebook.

WHITT'S END 10.28.22

Whether you’re at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt’s End …

*Watching Luka Doncic never gets old, because I always see something new.

In the Mavs' pulsating, overtime win over the Brooklyn Nets Thursday night, it wasn’t Doncic’s 41-point, 11-rebound, 14-assist triple-double that was the lasting image, but more so his no-look, over-and-behind-the-head assist for a Maxi Kleber layup. Nobody else in the NBA envisions that pass, much less executes it. Blind brilliance. Made his consecutive behind-the-back assists on 3-pointers by Kleber and Reggie Bullock in overtime seem almost ordinary.

He's the first Mav to score 30+ points in a season's first four games. Wonder if he can do it in all 82? Doubt him at your own peril.

Said teammate Maxi Kleber: "He just has a good feel for when he should shoot himself and when he has to get other people shots.

"He just makes the right basketball plays all the time."

*One of the biggest sporting events in the history of Fort Worth comes to Dickies Arena next week.

Not sure if it rivals the United States’ tennis Davis Cup win in 1992 or Annika Sorenstam playing golf with the boys at The Colonial in 2003, but the WTA Finals is a big, global deal. Sure it more moves the needle of us tennis geeks, but the likes of French/U.S. Open champion Iga Swiatek and rising U.S. stars Jessie Pegula and Coco Gauff smashing serves in Cowtown will be news reported around the world.

Not to slight the Cowtown Marathon, select TCU football games or last Spring’s March Madness early-round games, but I’d say the U.S. team led by tennis legends Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras and Jim Courier winning the Davis Cup at Tarrant County Convention Center 30 years ago is No. 1 in Fort Worth history. Not far behind is Sorenstam’s inclusion at Colonial, which was the biggest “Battle of the Sexes” sporting event since Bobby Riggs played tennis against Billie Jean King at Houston’s Astrodome in 1973.

Starting Monday, the eight best women’s players will decide the WTA’s year-end champion of 2022. It’s not a Grand Slam, but it’s major.

The arrival of the marquee event got me pondering: What is the biggest sporting event in the history of Dallas-Fort Worth?

I’m not talking about the Dallas Cowboys clinching an NFC Championship, the Texas Rangers going to the World Series or the Dallas Stars punching their ticket to the Stanley Cup Finals because – despite our narcissistic blinders – countries such as Poland (home of No. 1-ranked Swiatek) didn’t give a damn about those relatively regional successes. The world might lend an ear to the ultimate champions of our pro leagues, but our venues have only hosted trophy hoisting by opposing teams – NHL’s New Jersey Devils in 2000, NBA’s Miami Heat in 2006 and MLB’s San Francisco Giants in 2010.

As for “global” Dallas events, golf held its PGA major at Cedar Crest (won by Hall-of-Famer Walter Hagen) in 1927 and Dallas Athletic Club (captured by a guy named Jack Nicklaus) in 1963. Men’s tennis culminated its year with the WCT Finals from 1971-89 at SMU’s Moody Coliseum and Reunion Arena, crowning notable champions like Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Arthur Ashe and Jimmy Connors.

But the No. 1 event in DFW sports history comes down to football vs. futbol: The 1994 World Cup vs. Super Bowl XLV in 2011.

The Green Bay Packers beating the Pittsburgh Steelers in AT&T Stadium was watched by a then-American TV record 111 million viewers; the Brazil-Netherlands quarterfinal at the Cotton Bowl drew a world-wide TV audience of a half-billion – with a b.

Nonetheless, give me the championship game over the quarterfinal.

Until, that is, 2026, when the World Cup returns to America and a record-breaking final that could be played in Arlington.

Admits Cowboys owner Jerry Jones of soccer, “Candidly, I think it’s a broader interest from the perspective of Dallas.”

*Built for better? A year ago after seven games the Cowboys had a better record (6-1 to 5-2), more points (32 per game to 19) and more touchdown passes from quarterback Dak Prescott (16 to 1) than this season. These Cowboys may not have the record-breaking offensive stats or eye-popping defensive takeaways, but they are better equipped for when it matters. 

Better blueprint? 

A running game that can move the chains and milk the clock. A stingy defense that has held six of seven opponents under 20 points. Those elements win tight, tense games often affected by weather. They might even win in the postseason.

Says Jerry, “It feels like we’re practicing playoff football.”

*For the first time in their history the Rangers have a manager that has won a World Series: Bruce Bochy. 

Feels like owner Ray Davis had it up to here with young guns and their analytics. Jon Daniels, 45, out. Chris Woodward, 46, out. Bochy, 67, in. If he can duplicate what 60-plus managers like Dusty Baker (Houston Astros), Buck Showalter (New York Mets), Bob Melvin (San Diego Padres) and Terry Francona (Cleveland Guardians) accomplished in 2022, the Rangers’ hire will be a home run. 

Bochy, by the way, is a future Hall of Famer on the short list of managers with at least 2,000 wins and three World Series titles along with Connie Mack, Tony La Russa, John McGraw, Joe Torre, Sparky Anderson, Joe McCarthy and Walter Alston. When it doesn’t work in sports – and sometimes in life – you gravitate toward the antithesis for a solution. Teams sucks with young leadership? Hire an old hand. Office job dragging you down? Join the Peace Corps. 

At one point in the future the Rangers will tire of Bochy and hire a young manager in the name of “fresh perspective.” But for now, this pendulum-swing feels right.

*In case you needed reminding, radio personalities are not stars but rather just flawed people. Sometimes extremely creepy and criminally flawed. In December 2020 former DFW country music personality Justin Frazell sexually assaulted two teen-aged girls, one at a road show in Denton County and one at his house during a New Year’s Eve party. He pleaded guilty to one charge and no contest to the other, somehow avoiding jail time (getting only deferred adjudication).

Then there is Clois Raborn, a regular voice on the once-popular-now-defunct Russ Martin Show. Last week he was sentenced to 24 years in federal prison for producing child porn images of him sexually abusing a girl between the age of 4-6.

*It’s been so long since the Cowboys played in a Super Bowl that the TV co-stars of their last MVP are all, well, dead.

How long has it been since #DallasCowboys won a Super Bowl? ⁦@nbcsnl⁩ ran a replay last weekend from 1996 featuring XXX MVP Larry Brown and … 3 guys no longer with us.https://t.co/3xQTClle4G pic.twitter.com/J1dSB0Rzod

— Richie Whitt (@richiewhitt) October 24, 2022

*Hot.

*Not.

*Once upon a time Jones had on his Rolodex confidants such as Barry Switzer, Larry Lacewell, John Madden and Al Davis. Through the years the list has – hopefully – been transferred to a smartphone and edited. These days it likely includes Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and … “Add Jason Witten and Tony Romo, among others,” Jones said this week on 105.3 The Fan. 

Bill Parcells is still on speed dial, right? But what about Jason Garrett? And Jimmy Johnson? Hmm.

*Was at a Longhorns watch party last week vs. Oklahoma State and it struck me that one of the Texas band’s signature songs is something called the “Wabash Cannonball.” Catchy, but Wabash is a town in Indiana and the “cannonball” is a … train? Actually it’s a mythical train, that hobos imagined taking them to their final resting place as a “death coach.” What the what?! 

Turns out the song – first made famous by country crooner Roy Acuff in 1936 – was a favorite of Longhorns coaching Darrell K. Royal. The band played it in Austin as a tribute to Royal one Saturday in the 1960s and it stuck, still belted out today between the third and fourth quarters of every Texas game. And now, Paul Harvey, you know … the rest of the story.

*I’ve been writing about Mark Cuban since before he bought the Mavs in January 2000. In the early days he was single, bombastic and the kind of rebel who got fined for saying the NBA’s head of officiating “couldn’t get hired at Dairy Queen” and then worked a shift at a local DQ drive-thru for charity wearing the name tag “Tony.” 

In the past 25 years he’s changed. Mellowed. Married. Father. Champion. 

But I’ll be damned if some things never changed. 

Ran into him last Saturday morning at Lifetime Fitness (formerly the Premiere Club) on Mockingbird in Dallas. Like he has done for decades, he was there looking for a pick-up hoops game. 

Me: “But what about your hip replacements … how are they holding up?” 

Cuban: “One’s 15 years old and the other’s seven and, at my age, they’re the least of my problems.” 

At 64, here’s betting Cuban every once in a while still sneaks in his one-time go-to lunch: A Big Gulp and a pre-made sandwich from 7-Eleven.

*Not sure we’re getting better, but we’re certainly getting … faster. In the past month world records have been broken in the human marathon and the canine 100-yard dash. Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge ran 26.2 miles in 2:01:09 in Berlin last month. And a 51-pound Whippet named “Reas” hit a top speed of 35mph in running a 5.84-second 100. 

Conflicted on which is more impressive. ...

Go out and run a mile as fast as you can. Then run 25 more of them. Kipchoge averaged 4:35 per mile. I bet he’d beat you by almost three hours over the course of a marathon! But, then again, you will also likely be spit off the treadmill if you try to run 12 mph, much less 35. 

A dog can run 100 yards in the time you can 30.

*Stunning stat: The Rangers have lost a game more recently than the Astros. Texas lost Game No. 160 on Oct. 4. Houston, which hosts World Series Game 1 Friday night against the Philadelphia Phillies, is 7-0 in the postseason and last lost a game Oct. 3.

*With our fluctuations in temperature lately, your tire pressure warning light is likely illuminating on your car’s dashboard display. Annoying and, yes, potentially dangerous. Quick fix? Stop by Discount Tire. No questions asked, they offer free “air checks.” Pulled in this week and, without leaving my car, got the tires filled to normal and the warning light vanquished in under five minutes. The best things in life really are free. 

Kudos, Discount Tire.

*He’s talented. And he helped the Los Angeles Rams win the Super Bowl a year ago. But there’s something about the Cowboys potentially signing Odell Beckham Jr. that … just … feels … I dunno … yucky.

*I know, I’m a weirdo. But I still find pleasure in discipline, denial and even successfully suffering. That’s why you’ll find me in Granbury Saturday for a Tough Mudder. It’s running. Lifting. Jumping. Swimming. More running. Climbing. Straining. Laughing. And a little more running. All while playing dirty. Did one a couple years ago, at which I met a girl with my favorite all-time tattoo: “Die Living.” Asked to explain, she said “I’m not going to be one those people content to leave this Earth in a recliner.” Amen.

*There are criminals who break the law for personal profit. And then there is pure evil, like Plano 45-year-old Kevin Genter. For reasons we’ll likely never comprehend, Genter took the time to recently spread roofing nails throughout traffic intersections in the affluent neighborhoods of Highland Park and University Park in Dallas. In all, he threw nails in intersections 30 times, ranging as far north as Toyota Headquarters in Plano. It takes a special kind of hatred to take joy and satisfaction at other people getting flat tires or having accidents because of your handiwork.

*I’ve told you about the next big thing in the NBA: 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama. Handles like Kyrie Irving. Silky jumper like Kevin Durant. Enough meat on his bones to not be the next Chet Holmgren or Kristaps Porzingis. He’ll be the first overall pick in next June’s draft. And guess who he’s working with to expand his moves and his mind? 

Sure enough, Holger Geschwindner. Better known as Dirk Nowitzki’s long-time mentor in Germany. Holger took Dirk under his innovative wing when he was 16. He got Wembanyama at age 17. Look out.

*All these years I’ve used a No. 2 pencil. Whatever happened to No. 1?

*Musical act at halftime of Thanksgiving’s Cowboys-Giants game will be The Jonas Brothers. Nope, can’t name a single one of their songs. You?

*Remember when the Cowboys lost 19-3 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1 and we sorta shrugged because it was to Tom Brady and a Super Bowl contender with a great running game and a monster defense? In Week 8 and with the Bucs now a complete mess at 3-5, it might wind up being Dallas' worst loss of the season.

*From the Dept. of If It Ain’t Broke Don’t Fix It: In 1997 I bought a mask of KISS’ Paul Stanley, and every year since I’ve worn it for Halloween. Here’s to a fun, familiar 25 years! Happy Halloween.

*This Weekend? Friday let’s prop up our feet and rest. Saturday let’s get ’em moving in the Tough Mudder and then maybe get ’em tapping at a post-race Halloween bash. Sunday let’s prop ’em up again and watch Cowboys-Bears. As always, don’t be a stranger.

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