Official Dirk is Great Thread

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

To call it an abomination is idiotic. We should hope that Dirk is remembered in such a way a little over 20 years after he retires.

Idiot

[dude1394]

Saw something interesting at spurstalk. It's a comparison of dirk/timmah. they said it was their 70th meeting. There has been some damn goog basketball played in texas for over a decade.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...1&p2=duncati01

[BGMaverick9]

Dirk Nowitzki showing off another lethal weapon

http://www.mavsfastbreak.com/2012/03...lethal-weapon/

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by dude1394

Idiot

It's just more than a little odd that you think someone should be more beloved because he's currently playing compared to one of the most beloved individuals in the history of the DFW area.. one of the most respected and loved coaches in the history of professional sports.

Your thought process is... odd

[Firnen]

Originally Posted by dude1394

It's an abomination. It's the same crud that kept dirk from being voted onto the all-star team when the mavs hosted it. Dallas should be ashamed.

great point. Don't get it why the DFW people are worshipping the ashes of the once mighty Cowboys franchise with so much stubbornness. (Think they managed to win only 1 (ONE!) Playoff game in the last 15 years...)
I take:
1. Actual players over historic ones if are both great
2. Players over coaches

btw In the Chicago edition of this poll D-Rose(zero rings actual player) is atomizing Phil Jackson (6 rings former coach)

Edit:@ Murphy3: Do you take Staubach, Aikman or Emmitt over Dirk and Landry?

[Underdog]

Looks like Dirk is finally edging out Landry 51-49...

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

It's just more than a little odd that you think someone should be more beloved because he's currently playing compared to one of the most beloved individuals in the history of the DFW area.. one of the most respected and loved coaches in the history of professional sports.

Your thought process is... odd

Well... I think the dirkster is the most unfairly maligned sports icon in Dallas's history for sure and possibly nba history. Bar none. He has carried this team on his shoulders for a decade without whining, showboating, drugging, contract holdouts, hometown discounts, through two idiot coaches and some very, very questionable front office work by Donnie/cubes.

All with quiet dignity, flat out hard work and dedication. The only sports icon I put ahead of him is emmit. And there are few that can touch those guys. They are that far ahead IMO.

And I don't think Dallas should be ashamed because of this silly poll, it's just that a silly poll. What i felt they should be ashamed of is not voting him into the starting team at the all-star break, it is that lack of respect ( reflected by Landry out voting him here ) that I truly feel was an abomination, pathetic really.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by BGMaverick9

Dirk Nowitzki showing off another lethal weapon

http://www.mavsfastbreak.com/2012/03...lethal-weapon/

Nice BG..

[Lestat_1795]

Yeah, great stuff BG.

[Dirkadirkastan]

Too many people like football, it's that simple.

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by dude1394

Well... I think the dirkster is the most unfairly maligned sports icon in Dallas's history for sure and possibly nba history. Bar none. He has carried this team on his shoulders for a decade without whining, showboating, drugging, contract holdouts, hometown discounts, through two idiot coaches and some very, very questionable front office work by Donnie/cubes.

All with quiet dignity, flat out hard work and dedication. The only sports icon I put ahead of him is emmit. And there are few that can touch those guys. They are that far ahead IMO.

And I don't think Dallas should be ashamed because of this silly poll, it's just that a silly poll. What i felt they should be ashamed of is not voting him into the starting team at the all-star break, it is that lack of respect ( reflected by Landry out voting him here ) that I truly feel was an abomination, pathetic really.

I understand what you're saying until you bring in the part about Landry. Then you lose absolutely make yourself look....foolish.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

I understand what you're saying until you bring in the part about Landry. Then you lose absolutely make yourself look....foolish.

Whatever your foolishness thinks murph. I put dirk/emmitt above any coach, period.

[GhostFace]

Another solid article BG.

Every time I visit this thread I end up spending an hour on youtube watching Dirk videos, thanks guys.

[haCORErdMav]

I was about 5 when Landry last coached so just off bias and no real knowledge of football then id pick Dirk. But of course just the fact that there's still a bunch of old farts around that are computer savvy and are able to vote that speaks volumes about the guys fame, however this could also entail some bias as most of these "Old Farts" probably aren't into basketball much more than reading the news and the occasional playoff game followed by water cooler talk where until last year was mostly letdowns.

One more epic playoff run by Dirk would leave little doubt imo =)

[roadrunner]

As a lifelong Dallas area sports fan since the 70's, born in '71, I started as a Cowboy fan and gravitated to the Mavericks and Rangers in the early 80's and then the Stars in the 90's.

As much as I love my Mavs I have always been a Cowboy fan first. My dad was a big fan of the Cowboys and passed that passion to me. They were the first in the metroplex to win a major championship and the run that the Tom Landry teams went on such as 5 SB appearances in 9 years, 2 SB championships, playoffs 16 out of 17 years??? (memory may be a little off) all are remarkable accomplishments that I give not just the players, the organization but Tom Landry iconic status. And for those who may not know, the Cowboys were known as the team that couldnt win the big one for those many successful years before they finally cracked thru and beat Miami in SB VI, so they went thru just as much or more adversity than the Mavs have this last decade before finally breaking thru. I guess its like your first love that you never really shake.

Not in any way to disrespect the enormous amount of reverance I have for Dirk and what he has accomplished, but I would have no problem voting for Tom Landry over him for the reasons mentioned above.

[chumdawg]

I'm with Murph on this one. Dirk is great and all, but there's no way a self-respecting Dallas sports fan could vote against the great Tom Landry.

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by chumdawg

I'm with Murph on this one. Dirk is great and all, but there's no way a self-respecting Dallas sports fan could vote against the great Tom Landry.

Not all self-respecting Dallas sports fans:

1. Are old enough to have rooted for a team coached by Tom Landry

2. Care about the Cowboys as much as other area teams.

The list of Dallas sports figures I care more about than Tom Landry is very, very long. He means an incredible amount to my dad, and good for him, but he had zero impact on my sports life.

[chumdawg]

Originally Posted by jthig32

Not all self-respecting Dallas sports fans:

1. Are old enough to have rooted for a team coached by Tom Landry

2. Care about the Cowboys as much as other area teams.

The list of Dallas sports figures I care more about than Tom Landry is very, very long. He means an incredible amount to my dad, and good for him, but he had zero impact on my sports life.

Good for you. Now, then...if your local sports knowledge/appreciation is really that limited, then maybe you aren't the kind of person who ought to be voting in such a poll.

[FreshJive]

I'm a Mavericks fan first, and I'm not old enough to fully appreciate Landry, but c'mon man it's Tom F'n Landry. He's a national legend like Michael Jordan. Dirk is a local hero.

Landry
Emmit
Aikmen
Dirk

For me personally:

Dirk
Ro
Nash
Harper

[cowboyuptx]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

There's something wrong about someone organizing a vot against Tom Landry. I think I'll skip this one and not vote at all.

This...

[Scott McGuire]

As a 30 year old guy who is only a Ranger and Maverick fan only I'd have to say that my list is:

Dirk
.
.
.
.
.
.
Pudge
Juan
Nash
Finley
Terry
Cuban
(the whole current Ranger team)
Nolan
Some random Rangers like Dean Palmer Julio Franco Will Clark
Kidd

Probably not like anyone else's list. So needless to say I'd vote Dirk over anyone that DFW poll puts out.

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by chumdawg

Good for you. Now, then...if your local sports knowledge/appreciation is really that limited, then maybe you aren't the kind of person who ought to be voting in such a poll.

So anyone thirty and under can't vote, huh.

Should I get off your lawn while I'm at it, old man?

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by FreshJive

I'm a Mavericks fan first, and I'm not old enough to fully appreciate Landry, but c'mon man it's Tom F'n Landry. He's a national legend like Michael Jordan. Dirk is a local hero.

Landry
Emmit
Aikmen
Dirk

For me personally:

Dirk
Ro
Nash
Harper

The question in the poll is "Who do YOU love?", not who does everyone else love.

Dirk won, btw, so now we can argue about Dirk vs Staubach, which is essentially the same argument.

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by jthig32

Not all self-respecting Dallas sports fans:

1. Are old enough to have rooted for a team coached by Tom Landry

2. Care about the Cowboys as much as other area teams.

The list of Dallas sports figures I care more about than Tom Landry is very, very long. He means an incredible amount to my dad, and good for him, but he had zero impact on my sports life.

I don't have a problem with someone caring more about someone else other Tom Landry at all. But, I don't agree that it's an abomination to vote for a guy that did as much as Landry did for the Cowboys and this area. Landry is a legend. That's what a legend is.. the love for them lasts long after his retirement and even his death. Dirk is a legend as well. In 15 years when Derek Holland has won 200 games for the Rangers and pitched a shutout to win their first World Series, if they were to have the same poll and he were up against Dirk... I'd vote for Dirk even though he would have been retired for a nearly a decade by then. It wouldn't be an abomination. It would be me voting for the most "beloved".

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

I don't have a problem with someone caring more about someone else other Tom Landry at all. But, I don't agree that it's an abomination to vote for a guy that did as much as Landry did for the Cowboys and this area. Landry is a legend. That's what a legend is.. the love for them lasts long after his retirement and even his death. Dirk is a legend as well. In 15 years when Derek Holland has won 200 games for the Rangers and pitched a shutout to win their first World Series, if they were to have the same poll and he were up against Dirk... I'd vote for Dirk even though he would have been retired for a nearly a decade by then. It wouldn't be an abomination. It would be me voting for the most "beloved".

That's fine, I have no issue with that. I was taking issue with Chum's statement.

[Murphy3]

I know.. I was just stating that I understand where you're coming from.

[Firnen]

Well I think it's a problem not only Dirk and the Mavs are facing, the Rangers and Stars have to battle against this as well. For the last 15 years the Cowboys have been a non contender: They did make the playoffs only a few times and have managed to win only one PO game in that timespan. In the same time frame the Mavs are making the POs nearly every season, Rangers went to b2b WS and Stars have 1 ring and many PO appearances.
On top of this Tony Romo and Dirk get compared to each other in terms of importance for their teams and their performance by the local media on a regular basis (this is the mother of all abominations)
I think even if the Cowboys would go 0-16 for the next 10 years and Mavs, Rangers and Stars would win 10 rings in a row the people in Dallas would love the Cowboys and this franchise would be No.1 in DFW. They seem to love football, accept Baseball and Basketball and ignore hockey here.

[markus1234]

...and Dirk could not care less about all this stuff.

Let Dirk finish his career 1st and then one can take a closer look at his accomplishments. Right now -thx god- Dirk is still a work in progress.

And BTW, i am not even sure if Dirk's goal is it to be "most beloved", "best dressed", "best shooting big man" and other stuff like that. "Most beloved" sounds almost like a backhanded compliment to me...

[dude1394]

Funny bracket in la..

they have magic-kobe on one side and ...vin scully - chick hearn on the other side. Wha??? Hilarious...

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by jthig32

Dirk won, btw, so now we can argue about Dirk vs Staubach, which is essentially the same argument.

I thought so too, although I also thought that Staubach might have an easier run against Dirk than Landry because of the whole coach vs. player thing, but Dirk barely edged out Landry at 51-49, whereas he's beating Staubach pretty handily at 56-44 so far.

The bigger surprise to me is the Emmitt-Aikman matchup, where Aikman is barely leading 51-49... I mean, both guys were equally important to the success of the 90s Cowboys, but only one of them holds any all-time NFL records... Plus, that game back in '93 where Emmitt Smith put the team on his back while playing against the Giants with a 2nd degree separated shoulder is one of the greatest sports moments in history - right up there with Jesse Owens taking the gold at the Hitler Olympics...

[Firnen]

Originally Posted by markus1234

...and Dirk could not care less about all this stuff.

I think you are definitely right on this one. If you compare the voting in other cities editions of this poll on the other hand Dirk should easily win this. DFW sports fans haven't cared enough about the Mavs to create a really big market in Dallas for basketball so the big free agents went to the coasts or the City (where basketball is BIG) most times, but not to Dallas.

As for now New Jersey/ Brooklyn Nets only argument to lure in D.Howard and/or D-Will was the market size for basketball in New York/ Brooklyn (and the benefits that come along with it). Dallas has a big market size itself, but it's all about football. So guess who will be to blame if Deron Williams takes the Nets over the Mavs: Dallas sport fans (who mostly love the Cowboys, but not the Mavs)

Btw: if I was Billy King i would just show Deron the Dallas poll giving the boot to Dirk (have still hope he wins it) and the NY poll taking Jeremy Lin over all NY's sport greats.

[Murphy3]

Why should Dirk easily win this?

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by Underdog

I thought so too, although I also thought that Staubach might have an easier run against Dirk than Landry because of the whole coach vs. player thing, but Dirk barely edged out Landry at 51-49, whereas he's beating Staubach pretty handily at 56-44 so far.

The bigger surprise to me is the Emmitt-Aikman matchup, where Aikman is barely leading 51-49... I mean, both guys were equally important to the success of the 90s Cowboys, but only one of them holds any all-time NFL records... Plus, that game back in '93 where Emmitt Smith put the team on his back while playing against the Giants with a 2nd degree separated shoulder is one of the greatest sports moments in history - right up there with Jesse Owens taking the gold at the Hitler Olympics...

Many players on that Cowboys team thought the whole playing with a separated shoulder thing was a bit overblown. I didn't at the time, and I suppose I still don't now.

I think the Aikman/Emmitt matchup is a bit shocking. I thought Aikman would win by a 60-40 vote or so. He's much easier to like from a fan's perspective.

[Firnen]

Originally Posted by Underdog

I thought so too, although I also thought that Staubach might have an easier run against Dirk than Landry because of the whole coach vs. player thing, but Dirk barely edged out Landry at 51-49, whereas he's beating Staubach pretty handily at 56-44 so far.

The bigger surprise to me is the Emmitt-Aikman matchup, where Aikman is barely leading 51-49... I mean, both guys were equally important to the success of the 90s Cowboys, but only one of them holds any all-time NFL records... Plus, that game back in '93 where Emmitt Smith put the team on his back while playing against the Giants with a 2nd degree separated shoulder is one of the greatest sports moments in history - right up there with Jesse Owens taking the gold at the Hitler Olympics...

Dirk is one of the Top20 all-time NBA Players maybe should be even considered near or into Top10 if he manages to end his career at #6 or #7 spot in all-time scoring and keep his 25/10 PO averages intact. Emmitt should be in/near the Top20 as well (maybe best RB all-time). But I don't see Staubach or Aikman in the Top 10 of QB's all-time. Why Aikman has a shoot at beatin Smith? hmm, why do QBs get the SuperBowl MVP trophy all the time...

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

Many players on that Cowboys team thought the whole playing with a separated shoulder thing was a bit overblown. I didn't at the time, and I suppose I still don't now.

I think the Aikman/Emmitt matchup is a bit shocking. I thought Aikman would win by a 60-40 vote or so. He's much easier to like from a fan's perspective.

What's not to like about Emmitt? As far as likability goes, I think they're both easy guys to root for...

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by Firnen

Dirk is one of the Top20 all-time NBA Players maybe should be even considered near or into Top10 if he manages to end his career at #6 or #7 spot in all-time scoring and keep his 25/10 PO averages intact. Emmitt should be in/near the Top20 as well (maybe best RB all-time). But I don't see Staubach or Aikman in the Top 10 of QB's all-time. Why Aikman has a shoot at beatin Smith? hmm, why do QBs get the SuperBowl MVP trophy all the time...

Best != most loved.

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by Underdog

What's not to like about Emmitt? As far as likability goes, I think they're both easy guys to root for...

The whole diamond in poo-poo thing when he left.. he always came across as more self absorbed and infatuated with the numbers when a guy like Aikman seemed to only care about the victories.

Trust me, I definitely liked and still like Emmitt. But not as much as Aikman. I think that Aikman just came across as the ultimate team first kinda guy...willing to sacrifice his stats for the betterment of the team. Again, I'm not saying that Emmitt was all about himself and not the team. I just think that Aikman was the ultimate team guy.

[Murphy3]

So what I'm getting from some of you guys is that how much you're loved is based almost solely on how good of a player you are..

It doesn't work that way for most people.

Now, I will say that Dirk is extremely easy to like AND he is a great player which makes a tremendous combination.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

The whole diamond in poo-poo thing when he left.. he always came across as more self absorbed and infatuated with the numbers when a guy like Aikman seemed to only care about the victories.

I can see that - I definitely wasn't a fan of him finishing out his career in Arizona either...

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

So what I'm getting from some of you guys is that how much you're loved is based almost solely on how good of a player you are..

It doesn't work that way for most people.

Now, I will say that Dirk is extremely easy to like AND he is a great player which makes a tremendous combination.

I think how good a player they are can definitely be a tie-breaker...

I mean, we're down to Dirk, Aikman, Emmitt and Staubach - all extremely likable guys, so you have to have SOMETHING that swings your personal bias.

And, yeah, Dirk being extremely easy to like is a big reason why I became a Mavs fan instead of a Spurs fan when I was living in Austin (Nash helped too...)