Wednesday, September 05, 2007 Sayson: Dirk, the fashion police, etc. By Homer Sayson Second Overtime
CHICAGO – Where do broken hearts go?
Normally, to any place sunny, where eternal sunshine could chase away the darkness.
But when Dirk Nowitzki “needed to go away” after his Dallas Mavericks were eliminated in Round 1 of the 2007 playoffs, he didn’t fly to Aruba or Tahiti.
He went to Australia during the winter, when the place seems to be in total, permanent eclipse.
“We did a lot of camping,” Dirk told Marc Stein of ESPN.com. “We went everywhere: Great Barrier Reef, Melbourne, Adelaide. Obviously, it’s winter in the Southern Hemisphere, so we didn’t see the sun for three weeks.’
Why would anyone searching the depths of his NBA soul go to a nook in the planet where the sun is Awol for 21 days? I don’t know, but I do know that Dirk Nowitzki is anything but normal.
He is an oxymoron, a 7-foot small forward. He is a specialist, a master of the 3-point bomb. And he is special, too, the reigning NBA MVP.
So it’s hardly any surprise that he dealt with his frustrations differently, chasing winter instead of embracing summer elsewhere. Ah, different strokes for different folks.
DESIGNERS GALORE. The US Open Tennis Championships is currently raging at Flushing Meadows in New York. Among the famous faces who had graced the tournament thus far are designers Oscar dela Renta, Michael Kors, and Ralph Lauren.
Also in the crowd was Vogue Magazine editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, who was perceived by many as the villainess in the best-selling novel “The Devil Wears Prada’
If any of those industry giants saw Bethanie Mattek play in the 2nd Round, they would have done either or all of the following:
Vomit
1) Exit the arena 2) Call the fashion police
Mattek, a 22-year old-from Miami, is notorious for her outlandish outfits. And she lived up to that billing at the Open, dressing like Wonder Woman at one point.
In the aforementioned second round, she wore a silver spandex tank top from Bebe sport. And she gloriously matched it with a pleated black skirt.
ESPN.com columnist Greg Garber described Mattek’s skirt as “criminally short.” I call it salacious. And very easy on the eyes.
E-MAILS. From Doods Tolentino of the 40 Aces Club: “Is there a possibility that Second Overtime will invade Sun.Star Bacolod so that more people would enjoy your column?”
I don’t think so, Doods, but the beautiful people of Bacolod can always access my columns by going online. All they have to do is go online at sunstar.com.ph, click Cebu and click sports.
From Jaime Benedicto of Cebu: “After listening to your recent NBA segment at dyAB with Leo Lastimosa, I fully agree that the US basketball team is for real. They’re back with a vengeance, ready to conquer the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and reclaim what’s rightfully theirs—basketball supremacy.”
As great as the competition has become over the years at the Olympics, I don’t see how any team can beat the NBA stars led by Kobe Bryant.
Unlike past teams, where so much individuality reigned, this group has manifested the desire to play as one, which is what always works in a team game like basketball.
Finally from Jim Christian Akiatan: “What can you say about Kobe’s performance in the Tournament of the Americas. Was he obliged to pass or was he too shy to shoot?”
The core of Kobe’s perceived selfishness is distrust. If he doesn’t trust you to make the shot, he won’t surrender the ball. It’s as simple as that.
But surrounded by fellow All-Stars like Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Amare Stoudamire, et al, Kobe has no problem giving up the ball. It’s as simple as that, too.
But in the recent Fiba tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada, Kobe left an indelible mark on defense. His performance against spitfire Leandro Barbosa, whom he effectively shut down, was one for the ages.
Poor Kobe, he gets ripped when he doesn’t pass, and he gets questioned when he doesn’t shoot.
