NBA DIARY:
...and this will be the final one of the year: San Antonio 97, Dallas 87--the Mavs are out. I think what did them in was: 1] consistently getting off to slow starts in games in this series. Game 6 last night was the best example, when they scored only 8 points in the first quarter. But they did that several other times. Teams have to come out with energy; they can't put themselves in a hole. 2] I don't think the Mavs' defense was ever quite what they needed it to be all season. 3] San Antonio was better than people gave them credit for, and was playing well at the end of the season. 4] San Antonio's George Hill, relatively unknown before this series, became the X factor. He had 29 points in game 4, and 21 points in game 6. It's going to be a long off-season for Dallas...
BASEBALL DIARY:
Detroit 3, Minnesota 0: a series win for the Tigers over the Twins; very nice, and kind of a rare thing. Biggest stat for the Tigers: Dontrelle Willis gets the win, pitches 6 innings plus, allows no runs. Huge. If he can be a factor, so can the Tigers. It helped too, however, that the Twins did not start either Mauer or Morneau in this game...
White Sox 7, Rangers 5: the key in this game was the 7th inning, when walks, errors, and wild pitches turned a 3-1 Rangers lead into a 5-3 deficit. The Rangers had a chance to sweep the series. It's disappointing that it got away. Ian Kinsler rejoins the team this weekend. He needs to provide a spark...
POLITICS UPDATE DEPT:
So in Florida, Charlie Crist will indeed run for the Senate now as an independent. Er, why, exactly is he running? He has no coherent explanation:
"Employing a bizarre logic that would suggest he doesn't understand the nature of either primary elections or the two-party architecture from which he has benefited immensely over his career, Crist said that whether he wins or loses should be decided by the whole of the Florida electorate. "It's not one club's decision or another — or even a club within that club. . . .That's why we go straight to November."
Funny--he never seemed to have a problem with Republican primary elections before this. Marco Rubio has it exactly right:
"That’s not what this is about at all," Rubio told ABC News's Terry Moran in an interview that will air tonight. "In fact, this has nothing to do with ideas or principles or ideology; it's about, quite frankly, political convenience. It's about someone who wants to continue his career in politics and doesn't believe he can do that this year within the Republican party."
And this is what conservatives must hammer on here--Crist is doing this for no good reason of policy or principle. He simply wants higher office. It's all about his own ambition. I think the people of Florida will reject his unprincipled actions...
In polling news, Republicans continue to look good with Mike Castle in the Delaware Senate race...
...in the Illinois Senate race with Mark Giannoulias...
...and probably in Indiana, where Dan Coats appears to have a solid lead over the likely Democratic senate candidate, Brad Ellsworth. This would be to replace the retiring Democrat Evan Bayh.
