Whitt's End: 6.1.12

Whether you've reached the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt's End:

• Something's going on with Jerry Jones. Been covering him since he arrived from Arkansas on February 25, 1989 and, for the first time, he's hinting about the end of his reign. And his road. We've never heard Jones talked about his "winduh," and this week he also offered that "I don't have time to have a bad time." Think about it. Jones has recently attended the funerals of long-time friends and mentors Lamar Hunt and Al Davis and, don't look now, he'll turn 70 on Oct. 13. One playoff win in 16 years may be daunting, but mortality is a perspective-changer.
• Fascinating Western Conference Finals series ongoing. When the Spurs are good they're systematic, making the extra pass and out-scheming you into submission. When the Thunder are good – evidenced in last night's 20-point romp in Game 2 – they run and dunk you into embarrassment.
• Happy June, the month that annually brings us champions in the NHL and NBA, the French Open, golf's U.S. Open, Father's Day, the NBA Draft and, yes, our first 100-degree day of the year.
• Love me some Ron Washington. Shakes off losses of 10-3 and 21-8 in his characteristic "That the way baseball go." But in talking about pitcher Derek Holland's facial hair he also calls it a "muush-stash." Somehow his speech clarity and cadence are endearing.
• If you wonder why I despise the Heat's Dwyane Wade, look no further than Wednesday night's Game 2 against the Celtics. In the final minute Wade drove the lane, jumped in the air and – watch the replay – purposely kicked defender Kevin Garnett in the knee to gain an advantage. Chicken shit. Cheating. Result? Wade made the shot and then got up and glared at Garnett as though he had accomplished something special. Wade is your golf buddy who drives the ball in the woods, kicks his ball out from behind a tree, manages a miraculous par and then screams "Who'da man?!" on the way back to the cart. What a punk.
• Hot:

• Not:

• Rapper Lil' Wayne Tweeted Thursday night that he was "denied entrance" to the Thunder-Spurs playoff game in OKC. Turns out he called wanting to sit on the front row and Thunder officials told him the game was sold out. Buy a ticket? A rap star? Oh, the humanity. Lil' Wayne, likely accompanied by frowny face emoticon, finished his Tweet with "Go Spurs." Yay fairness!
• What is it about American John Isner and marathons? Weird, because he's a tennis player. But his style of game – booming serve and limited lateral movement on the baseline – lends itself to matches where he holds serve but rarely breaks, leading to lots of tiebreakers and, in the Grand Slam events, historic 5th sets. At Wimbledon in 2010 he outlasted Nicolas Mahut 70-68 in the longest match in tennis history and yesterday in Paris he fell to Paul-Henri Mathieu, 18-16, in the 5th set of a match that lasted over five hours. He doesn't always win, but Isner usually gives you your money's worth.
• Mavericks won the NBA Lottery, by not actually even being in the NBA Lottery. The Nets didn't get one of the top three picks, meaning their draft choice went instead to Portland, leaving the re-booted Brooklyn franchise without a first-round pick on June 28. (Mavs have the 17th pick). Doesn't mean free-agent Deron Williams will land in Dallas, just makes staying with the Nets – considering their lack of assets – less appealing. Besides, Mavs were due some Lottery luck, if only indirectly. Dallas had the best chances to win and get the No. 1 pick in both '93 and '94 after 11- and 13-win seasons, but wound up with only the 4th and 2nd picks. How can the Lottery shape a franchise? In '87 the Spurs won and drafted David Robinson. In '97 the Spurs won and drafted Tim Duncan.
• In case you missed it and want to see how truly dorky RAGE is, our TV commercial is right here:

• Breast-feeding in public just doesn't bother me. It's neither erotic nor disgusting. Weird, because I admit I usually make time to hate or love anything and everything.
• Here we go again ESPN. First round of the Memorial Tournament and Scott Stallings shoots a sparkling 66 to take the first-round lead. Tiger Woods cards a 70, trailing by four shots and in 11th place. The Breaking News scroll: Tiger in the hunt at Memorial! and Tiger on the Prowl! It's like a wife who gets her hair styled, legs shaved, make-up perfect and buys a new outfit, only to have her husband look at her – again – and offer only "Nice boobs."
• What does it say about America when the two finalists in the National Spelling Bee are named Stuti and Snigdha? Not sure, but I am sure that one day the 2012 champ will be a Spelling Bee word: Snigdha Nandipati.
• Adding insult to, well, insult, the Allen Wranglers first cut Terrell Owens and have since asked him to return a 2012 Jeep Cherokee and delivered to him a severance check for his ownership stake in the franchise: $50. Ouch. Lots of folks predicting Owens will someday leave this world via his own hand and I'm afraid it's getting more difficult to disagree with them.
• Zombie apocalypse lovers unite! First a homeless man in Florida has his face eaten off by a guy, and now a student at Morgan State in Maryland has confessed to devouring his roommate's brain and heart. Headline that makes you go hug your spouse and call your mom: "Face-eating victim's family thought he'd been dead for years."
• For another couple weeks the Dallas Mavericks will still be NBA champs and, for now, the road to the NBA title still goes through Dallas … as San Antonio and Oklahoma City go back and forth along I-35.
• New 105.3 The Fan lineup beginning Monday. Two words: Hubba. Hubba.
• Barring an unforeseen setback, Greggo will be back on RAGE Monday at 2 p.m. With, I'm sure, a belly full of interesting stories.
• Weird, wonderful saying from my childhood: School's out, school's out, teachers let the bulls out.
• This weekend? Saturday it's another trip to Vandergriff Honda in Arlington 12-2, followed by some fun 'n sun on the lake. Sunday let's get our booty back into church shall we? Don't be a stranger.