CHECK IN: Where are you from?

[KillerLeft]

So KL, gonna share your real story, or no?

The first paragraph was a joke (I live in Ft. Worth) but the story is real. The only relevant thing I left out is that I played with the Mavs Drum Line for many years (I thought that detail would ruin the joke).

[FunkBoreland]

Born and raise in Fort Worth all my life, never went to Dallas at all during my youth until my late 20's, when I became the (former) Beer Man at AAC. Loved that job, loved being able to see Mavs game live much more after half a decade seeing them from the Tele. 

If you saw a bright yellow shirt at Mavs home games, you probably saw me.

[DanSchwartzgan]

Iit might have been the publicity they got when Cuban bought them. Anyway, I remember really liking Finley's game a lot during my first couple of viewings, and pretty soon I was appreciating more and more about the other players on the team. By the time they traded for Juwon Howard (just as a timestamp reference) I was hooked, and have learned everything I can about the Mavs and the NBA ever since. 

I've actually learned quite a bit from the good people here, so thanks!

I love the strategy part of team construction and Cuban also drew my interest.  I didn’t know what a message board was before then.  But, the big bold deals (and thinking about the next one) was really fun.

To answer the original question, East Texas, but my grown kids live in FW, so I’m over there quite a bit.

[Benskix2]

I'm from Dallas (Lake Highlands) originally, I live in Bosque County on Lake Whitney now.  I'm 41, so my first memories of watching basketball are Mavs vs Lakers playoff games in the 80s.  I feel like I grew up in Reunion Arena, although that was mostly watching Dallas Sidekicks indoor soccer games and not all that many Mavs games.

I joined the message board Cuban made after he bought the team and was there for years.  Fish used to post all his stuff there to promote his site so I was aware of DB.Com, then when Mavtalk collapsed I joined DB.com, and now I'm here.

[SleepingHero]

The only relevant thing I left out is that I played with the Mavs Drum Line for many years

I can't trust you anymore after falling for that masterpiece of a troll you previously threw out there.

Just well done for getting me that badly.

[Reunion Mav Old]

I still love this thread! I arrived in Dallas on June 7, 1981 on the day the Mavs drafted Mark, Ro and Jay. I had my season tickets in the green row of Reunion Arena the next day, a life long dream. I had season tickets till 2014. My wife and I REALLY loved it. Now my wife's great job has us in Sugar Land, Texas southwest of Houston.

[meistermatze]

Cool thread you guys, really nice to learn some personal information. Not a surprise that ze germans are the biggest minority around here.

I am german myself, a "Schwabe", if you like because I was born and pretty much bounced around the whole south of Germany. I went to school in Rottweil, finished my first studies in Freibrug, my second in Stuttgart und worked in Munich for a while (I am a Advertising and Communications consultant, turning 31 this month). I don't really share the accent though, since there's only Prussians on my mothers side of the family tree.

I started to follow Dirk when we first got internet access in our home, which was around 99, I'd say. I started to read about him online, bought magazines ("Bravo Sport" in the beginning as a kid, later "5ive" and "Basket"). I almost immediately grasped how special it is, that some german blonde white dude was over there and killing it - that's what fascinated me. Stuck to reading and playing video games (NBA Live 2001 was the first one) and watching the national team play. Hedo Turkoglus three-pointer was my first of many heartbrakes as a basketball fan.

Kept that going for a few years until finally, my dad answered my pleas to get us Premiere (now known as Sky), which was a pretty expensive pay TV option and the only way to really follow the games at that time. I was around 13 or 14 and, sometimes with, mostly w/o my parents permission I watched the games at night (they showed like 3 games a week and Dallas was featured every two weeks or so).

Premiere went bancrupt at one point and we did not have another option so I could not really watch the 06 debacle but the year after, I discovered illegal streaming services on the internet and my quest of finding out how tired I could be at school really picked up pace. I think between 07 and 12 I almost watched every game live, which was pretty insane. But since I started my studies in 09 I guess I could handle that lifestyle.

I think I got the League Pass in 2010 and I eventually adopted the habit to avoid learning about the results and watching the games on demand later, sometimes 2 or 3 games in a row. My family and friends now know not to tell or ask me about basketball until they are sure I am up to date lol. That's how I do it now, since I am working full time, which is a big reason that I don't post anymore, because I have to skip this place as well in order for me not to get spoilered.

My best memory, of course, was our title run in 2011. I shared this story on the board before (I remember Pat aka flamethrower especially cherishing this part): After the next disappointing season my dad (who's a big sports fan but never came around to basketball, I guess only due to the time shift) started repeating what the mainstream media was saying about Dirk: He'll never win a title. I told him at the beginning of the season that if me made it to the finals, he'd have to watch a game with me in the middle of the night. Back then I thought Roddy B and Tuff Juice would put us over the hump that year. When Butler got hurt in Milwaukee, I thought the season was over. Boy was I wrong all the way lol.

So we watched game 4 together (he acutally had to wake me up, I would have overslept), drinking beer, cheering together and watching JETs great game. To this day, my dad refers to him as "der Kleine", which means "the little guy" lol.

A couple of days later, I was in Italy on vacation, I watched the game by myself in the morning (on demand not knowing the result because the hotel's internet was broken. I was scared to death to get a glimpse of a newspaper or anything on my way to the bar) in a little bar with internet access, cracking beers, too nervous to talk, eventually crying like a little kid.

Good times.

[KillerLeft]

The only relevant thing I left out is that I played with the Mavs Drum Line for many years

I can't trust you anymore after falling for that masterpiece of a troll you previously threw out there.

Just well done for getting me that badly.

@"fifteenth" and @"grumpy23" can vouch for this info. We hung out at the old no. 7 once after a game.

[Reunion Mav Old]

The only relevant thing I left out is that I played with the Mavs Drum Line for many years

I can't trust you anymore after falling for that masterpiece of a troll you previously threw out there.

Just well done for getting me that badly.

"fifteenth" and @"grumpy23" can vouch for this info. We hung out at the old no. 7 once after a game.

Well, I do love the drum line though I don't see them as much on league pass as I did live at the game. You guys are great. 
So...., were you on Americas got Talent with the drum line?
The anticipation of your answer is already killing me.....Do tell!

[KillerLeft]

Well, I do love the drum line though I don't see them as much on league pass as I did live at the game. You guys are great. So...., were you on Americas got Talent with the drum line?The anticipation of your answer is already killing me.....Do tell!

I was not. Didn't even know they were on the show. 

I was part of that group off and on as a sub for a few years, and then I was a regular with them from roughly 2009-2013. Not sure when the show appearance you're talking about happened, but if it happened while I was there, I must've had a conflict and missed it. I don't remember that though.

[Reunion Mav Old]

Well, I do love the drum line though I don't see them as much on league pass as I did live at the game. You guys are great. So...., were you on Americas got Talent with the drum line?The anticipation of your answer is already killing me.....Do tell!

I was not. Didn't even know they were on the show. 

I was part of that group off and on as a sub for a few years, and then I was a regular with them from roughly 2009-2013. Not sure when the show appearance you're talking about happened, but if it happened while I was there, I must've had a conflict and missed it. I don't remember that though.

Well, I am an idiot. Reading your response it came to me that it was the Mavs Maniacs who performed. They won and moved on two rounds but I do not remember when that was. Sorry about that. I do remember the drum line was and is great. 
Any other drumming exploits Mavs fans should know about?

[fifteenth]

The only relevant thing I left out is that I played with the Mavs Drum Line for many years

I can't trust you anymore after falling for that masterpiece of a troll you previously threw out there.

Just well done for getting me that badly.

@"fifteenth" and @"grumpy23" can vouch for this info. We hung out at the old no. 7 once after a game.

It's true. I still regret that I didn't buy Killer a beer for giving us tickets. So wrong.

[jerryjohnson]

I still love this thread! I arrived in Dallas on June 7, 1981 on the day the Mavs drafted Mark, Ro and Jay. I had my season tickets in the green row of Reunion Arena the next day, a life long dream. I had season tickets till 2014. My wife and I REALLY loved it. Now my wife's great job has us in Sugar Land, Texas southwest of Houston.

I believe at one time I knew you as ReunionRowdy and at another time as Chef Ed...right?

[fifteenth]

I don't think Reunion Rowdy is Chef Ed. Just my guess.

[markus1234]

Germany, NBA follower since the CHI-SEA finals

(Still here but just lurking. Maybe next season I will have more time to actually watch the games. )

[Scott41theMavs]

Germany, NBA follower since the CHI-SEA finals

(Still here but just lurking. Maybe next season I will have more time to actually watch the games. )

Good to see you, Markus! Glad you're more than just a "Dirk-only fan."

[jerryjohnson]

I moved from the Chicago area to the Dallas area in the early 90's just as the Bulls became dominant. I attended my first Mavericks game with about 2000 fans. I suffered through terrible drafts and the 3 J's period. Finally, Mark Cuban bought the team and stuff started happening. Just as it did, I moved again to Kalamazoo, Michigan. I had to pay for NBA League pass but it was worth it. 

Those were the days....watching Mavs games while chatting online with the late great Flamethrower42 as our moderator. I figured out how to run Dish network through my PC and I allowed a few members to watch games through a webserver I installed. It was an ups and downs era - 2006 victory over San Antonio and then the stolen championship, 2007 record setting season followed by the Golden State first round loss, and then the sweet 2011 championship over the Big 3. 

I am in the Houston area now and get to see most games. I don't post often but I do read the posts. I love Mavsluver's recaps. Post on!

I'm Jerry Johnson, and I approve of this message.

[KillerLeft]

I moved from the Chicago area to the Dallas area in the early 90's just as the Bulls became dominant. I attended my first Mavericks game with about 2000 fans. I suffered through terrible drafts and the 3 J's period. Finally, Mark Cuban bought the team and stuff started happening. Just as it did, I moved again to Kalamazoo, Michigan. I had to pay for NBA League pass but it was worth it. 

Those were the days....watching Mavs games while chatting online with the late great Flamethrower42 as our moderator. I figured out how to run Dish network through my PC and I allowed a few members to watch games through a webserver I installed. It was an ups and downs era - 2006 victory over San Antonio and then the stolen championship, 2007 record setting season followed by the Golden State first round loss, and then the sweet 2011 championship over the Big 3. 

I am in the Houston area now and get to see most games. I don't post often but I do read the posts. I love Mavsluver's recaps. Post on!

I'm Jerry Johnson, and I approve of this message.

Kind of seems like if you move away from Houston, they'll suddenly figure out how to win a championship. So, you know...don't do that. Stay there, please.

---

Germany, NBA follower since the CHI-SEA finals

(Still here but just lurking. Maybe next season I will have more time to actually watch the games. )

So you haven't been watching? I'm really curious about your opinion on Luka.

[markus1234]

So you haven't been watching? I'm really curious about your opinion on Luka.

Unfortunately not.

But Luka looks great "on paper" of course. Bright future.

No hard feelings on my side. Fortunately he plays a different position

[Kammrath]