The question is: will an online bowling pro shop ever be more popular than a store inside a brick and mortar bowling alley? Bowling has been considered by some to be a dying sport. Hell, some people don’t even think bowling qualifies as anything more than a hobby. Other than the citizens of podunk towns with nothing more than a Wal-Mart and a bowling alley, who under the age of 35 really cares about bowling?

Apparently, bowling as a sport is still going strong. From office leagues to college courses and late night adventures, bowling alleys have become a haven for people from all walks of life – and they have to buy their bowling supplies somewhere. While the traditional bowling store inside the building would seem the obvious choice, the online bowling pro shop has gained serious momentum.

Everything from Ebonite, Hammer, and Columbia bowling balls to Dexter bowling shoes are now available online, so you can shop from the convenience of your home, office, or public wi-fi spot. Why subject yourself to the prices of a bowling alley when you can shop online and find the best deals on bowling balls, shoes, towels, and other gear?

Showplace Lanes is the nearest decent bowling alley to my house. If I’m going to bowl anywhere, it will be there. Granted, I don’t frequent the lanes very often, but Showplace is the place for me. I’m loyal to the lanes, but not the shop. When it comes to shopping, don’t get between me and a deal. But I’m no scrooge. I want quality, and I want competitive pricing. That’s why I would only consider buying equipment online.

Food for thought. Feel free to comment.

It’s obvious that the Dallas Mavericks’ roster needs some serious attention. Granted, if the Atlanta Hawks or New York Knicks could get their hands on this roster, they’d wet themselves. But we’re not New York or sucky Atlanta. We’re the big D, the home of the next NBA dynasty… at least, that’s what we thought.

Now we’d settle for another run at the title. We’d settle for someone who can stop Baron Davis from playing like Superman. In short, we need someone like Rashard Lewis.

As I’ve admitted in previous posts, I know very little about free agency and the current status of players’ contracts. If you keep up with that kind of thing, you probably won’t find my sports opinions very useful. They’re more for the dreamer than the know-it-all fantasy league member.

In a previous post, I called on the Mavericks to trade Dirk Nowitski. Cuban made it clear in his recent teary-eyed lovefest at Nowitski’s MVP ceremony that he thinks Dirk is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Which means no trade. No consideration of trade. No entertaining the hypothetical benefits of trade. Cuban is the wizard behind the curtain, and his strongest feelings will win out over anyone else’s reason.

So since we’ve got ourselves a giant German dilemma, we best get to steppin’ and find him some serious help on the perimeter. And you can’t find a better free agent this summer than Seattle hero, Rashard Lewis. As far as free agents are concerned, he’s the baddest, most expensive option out there. He also would rather stick with Seattle, or so he says after opting out of his last 2 years on the contract. Methinks it just a safe way to not tick off the team you can count on in case the other teams’ offers suck.

Based on the 2006-2007 regular season stats, let’s take a gander at the league leaders:

Points Per GameÂ

• Kobe Bryant – 31.6 pts
• Carmelo Anthony – 28.9 pts
• Gilbert Arenas – 28.4 pts
• LeBron James – 27.3 pts
• Michael Redd – 26.7 pts

Rebounds Per Game

• Kevin Garnett – 12.8
• Tyson Chandler – 12.4
• Dwight Howard – 12.3
• Carlos Boozer – 11.7
• Marcus Camby – 11.7

I could go on to assists, steals, blocked shots, and turnovers, but you won’t find a Dallas Maverick in the top 5 in any major category except free throw percentage, where Nowitski did have an amazing 90% free throw shooting average.

When looking for suitable support for Dirk, Dallas better be going down the list of leaders and seeing who they might get in a trade. Toss a couple guards and a draft pick at someone for their team’s star. Do whatever it takes. Phoenix has proven that it doesn’t take a deep bench to win playoff games. And San Antonio has proven that starting superstar talent and a deep bench win championships.

Dallas supposedly had the winning combo, but unfortunately the depth of their bench is significantly better in the league than the talent of their starting 5. As much as I like the guys, Jason Terry, Eric Dampier, and Devin Harris are all expendable. Unfortunately, I don’t think anyone will ever consider taking on Dampier’s massive (and undeserved) contract. Devin Harris could probably develop into a top 10 point guard in the next 2 years, but he and Terry are probably the only 2 starters that Dallas will consider trading. Terry alone isn’t enough to get someone worthwhile, so they’re either going to have to trade both guards and a pick or Terry, a pick, and some cash.

Gilbert Arenas would still be an awesome move too. I’m looking at Rashard Lewis and Gilbert Arenas and Tracy McGrady, and I think we can’t do better than these three. Vince Carter is definitely someone I would refuse. We don’t need a spoiled crybaby on the team. We already had Antoine Walker.

Some would argue that Dallas has never been a thuggish team, and that Arenas would only spoil the attitude. There is defintiely a chance of that, but we also want someone with enough confidence to carry the team in the playoffs. Dirk doesn’t have it, and I seriously doubt he’ll develop it. Something has to change, and it needs to start with how the management and coaches view the actual abilities and attitude of this team.

Here in Dallas, we’re still in shock and recovering from the disappointment that is this year’s Dallas Mavericks team. After the initial shock wore off, everyone in sports radio started asking the question: how did we ever expect this team to win a championship? And what will it take to get this team on the track we expected?

There’s no doubt that Dallas needs a major change. Sure, we all think Dirk’s a nice guy and he’s great for regular season play. Yee-haw. That doesn’t solve our woes. We need someone who will carry the team on their back when it counts.

We need someone like Tracy McGrady or Allen Iverson. AI is obviously not an option, but we need a player to come in and lead the team by example. Forget trying to pump up the players with speeches. Give them someone they can believe in who defies logic, and you’ll have a championship team.

Of course, we’ve never had a championship in Dallas, so we’re not really expecting the Mavericks to get it right for next year. We expect that the team is in the condition it’s in because the leadership has terminal weaknesses.

Don’t shrug it off and say that the Mavs just had a difficult matchup against the Warriors. Champions don’t make excuses.

There is no way around it: the Dallas Mavericks experienced a colossal collapse during round one against the Golden State Warriors. And after listening to Randy Galloway on ESPN Radio and some moron on The Ticket, it sounds like the commentators have rebounded rather quickly. They don’t sound shocked. Dallas was expected to win the championship. They had 67 wins in an 82 game season. Dirk was/is the front runner for the MVP award this year. Avery Johnson should have been considered for Coach of the Year again. The Mavs had the seventh best season record in the history of the game. Jason Terry had an excellent shooting year. Josh Howard really seemed to come into his own.

So why, please tell us all, did the Mavs crumble under the first sign of playoff pressure?

The answer is so simple, and some fans have already picked up on it (to the consternation of the idiot press):

Dirk is not a winner. That’s the bottom line. Dirk doesn’t act like a winner. He doesn’t play like a winner. He plays with skill and talent, but HE HAS NO ATTITUDE. Dirk’s mentality is fine for pick-up games. But in the NBA playoffs, you absolutely MUST have attitude.

Just look at Steve Nash. He didn’t quite have the attitude in Dallas. But after his move to Phoenix, Nash had two things going for him that Dirk did not:

1. He had something to prove to the Mavericks and to himself

2. He joined a team of players with attitude

What Steve didn’t possess naturally, he gained through his teammates. Attitude rubs off on others, to some degree. It builds confidence. Playing with a beast like Amare Stoudamire injected some attitude into Steve’s game. He drank the koolaid since arriving in Phoenix, and you can tell that he expects to win.

Some schmoe calling in to a radio show after work on Friday summed it up nicely. He said that the problem for Dirk is that he’s German. It’s a completely different culture there. During Nowitski’s childhood, he didn’t face the same basketball culture that our kids face here. Basketball has become completely ego-centric on the blacktop and in rec centers around the country. Boys watch the NBA stars showboat and they idolize the ones with flair and attitude. If you pay close enough attention, you’ll notice that the biggest idols around the country are the players with attitude. Allen Iverson, Vince Carter, Kobe Bryant, Baron Davis, Tim Duncan, Shaq, Tracy McGrady, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Dwayne Wade, and Jason Kidd all have that spark – that killer instinct.

American basketball players tend to have a chip on their shoulder. They’ve had to prove themselves every day of their lives against everyone else who acts like a star. It doesn’t always make for the best team mentality, but you want someone who knows the pressure of “Do I have what it takes?” to handle the ball when the playoffs are on the line. You want a Baron Davis, as Golden State has proven, to handle the ball and make miracles happen in the most unlikely circumstances.

And DirK? Well, Dirk is a nice guy. He’s had it too good here, and he’s soft. Forget his skill. That doesn’t even matter when we’re talking playoffs. If he can’t muster up the attitude to compete, trade him, and trade him now. As Golden State proved, you don’t need an MVP candidate on your team to beat the #1 seed. You need speed, accuracy, and attitude. It will be interesting to see how the Warriors match up with the next team. If they play Utah, lookout. That could be an adrenaline pumping series. If they play Houston, I give the edge to the Warriors because of their amazing speed.

I know that some of you will call the trade of Dirk Nowitski as an extreme overreaction. I get that. You’re loyal. You drank the koolaid. I get it. But those of us who are still objective realize that Dirk will probably be a winner, but he’ll be a winner somewhere else. If he’s going to have a chance at a championship, Dirk needs to be traded and feel like he has something to prove, just like his buddy Nash (who, consequently, never won MVP until he moved away from Dallas).

I loved the Mavs for the very reason that they can’t win a championship: they’re a nice team. They’re nice guys. They’re polite, and humble. I love that attitude. But they don’t act like they’re better than anyone else. They don’t ooze confidence. They’re like teenage boys still unsure and hoping someone else will validate them. So make some trades now, Dallas, if you want to keep your fans from jumping ship.