COWBOYS VS. THE POWER OF THE SUN

6/8/06 COWBOYS VS. THE POWER OF THE SUN

Tonight begins the battle for supremacy in the NBA, between the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat. I think we can look at this scientifically, and come up with some answers as to who I should pick to win. First, how many clients will I offend by picking the Mavericks, and how many will I offend by picking the Heat? I can easily say that we have more events that take place in Florida, with Orlando, Miami, Naples, etc, being some of the biggest event destinations in the world. However, there are at ton big companies located in Texas, so we can't upset them, either. Also, we have speakers on both sides. Former Maverick Walter Bond (http://www.premierespeakers.com/walter_bond), and Heat Coach and President, Pat Riley (http://www.premierespeakers.com/pat_riley) are both in the Premiere fold. I've been booking Riley since I first got here, but with Riley's in-season commitments cutting into his speaking time, I now book Bond more. We must be careful about who we favor.

Actually, who cares about ruffling feathers, I'm going with Miami in six. Take that, Shawn Hanks and David Loy, your beloved Mavs are going down! Cuban did graduate from my mom's alma-mater, Indiana University, I've always liked Avery Johnson, and a guy on my softball team looks like a 5'10 Nowitzki. But the Heat are going to take it to them. I'll even give you the order of who will win what games- Heat, Mavs, Heat, Heat, Mavs last gasp win in game 5, then Heat close it out in Dallas, 95-86. Peyton shuts down Jason Terry a good part of the time, D-Wade will get his, and the suspension of Mav's back-up center DJ Mbenga will show up huge, as Diop and Dampier repeatedly get into foul trouble guarding Shaq. Finals MVP? That's a tough one, but I'll say Shaq. It'll be close between him and D-Wade, but since voters will feel that Shaq doesn't have as many shots left at this, they go with him. Lets get ready to celebrate on the 20th! To read a much funnier Finals pick, read my all-time favorite sports writer Bill Simmons at (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060608)

Email your picks to me at brian@premierespeakers.com