Long Live Dikembe!

There are going to be (hopefully) three really good games tonight:
Rockets vs. Magic (TNT)
Cavaliers vs. Kings (TNT)
Clippers vs. Mavericks (Don't knock the Clips - they took the Spurs to the final seconds last night!)

Anyway, the Rockets game got me thinking back to a game I watched earlier this month when the Rockets played the Mavs. In that game - involving such vaunted superstars as Yao, Tracy McGrady, and Dirk Nowitzki - what struck me most was the person running the hardest, scrambling after loose balls, energizing the crowd wasn't some hotshot young All Star with a million endorsements. It was 100-year-old veteran Dikembe Mutombo.

Now when Van Gundy brought the Mutombo to the Rockets, my first reaction was "He's still alive?" and then "Oh God." I thought he'd be Shawn Bradley - you know, play 5 minutes, somehow get injured, then be out for the season...Come to think of it, that describes Can't-Even-Get-His-Ears-Pierced-Without-Getting-Hurt Darko, too. What a jackhole. Anyway, I was completely blown away by his effort. He may not be the shot blocking, finger wagging Deke of old, but damn, old man's still got something left. Plus he had this inexplicable, gi-normous bandaid smack dab in the middle of his face. Funny as hell.

So, in conclusion, I'd like to say, Mutooooooomboooo! Long may he wane, I mean reign!