I haven't said a lot about dirk's impending retirement... On one hand, I am extremely happy for him. I am overjoyed for the love that he has received from fans..from his contemporaries..from the media.. On the other hand, I am at a bit of a loss. It's an enormous hole that I now have. I have had two sports "loves' in my life. Dale Murphy and Dirk Nowitzki. Murphy retired in the 90's.. and now Dirk. I'm afraid that my life has changed so much and athletes have changed quite a bit as well..so much that I probably won't ever have another person/athlete that I truly care about in the same way. I just can't imagine caring about an outcome of a game as much as I did with these two sports giants. And to me, that is sad... I lived and died with every at bat and every game for the Braves for a decade. If any of you are familiar with the Braves of the 80's..well, they were just about as bad as the Mavs of the 90's.. So living and dying with every game... I did a lot more dying than living but it taught me to love the game regardless of the outcome. And that living and dying with each game..well, I can't say that it was the same with Dirk. I learned to pace myself a little bit better as I grew older. Obviously, every game wasn't a life or death thing. There was something called the playoffs (us 80's Braves fans didn't know anything about the playoffs). I just cannot imagine feeling like I did during the Mavs playoff runs.... I don't know.. I'm more or less at a loss right now. I feel as if I have a sports hole that won't ever be filled...
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