Florida Sentinel Bulletin

DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki wrapped his hands around the silver ball trophy that goes to the Western Conference champions and smiled. After five years, he and the Dallas Mavericks are kings of their conference again, earning another trip to the NBA finals.

Yet Nowitzki didn’t flash the wide, toothy grin of someone relieved to have accomplished his goal. Because, he hasn’t.

Unless the Mavs win the next round, too, and become NBA champions for the first time, their whole glorious postseason – and that silver trophy – won’t mean as much. It’s a lament heard by many superstars, but Nowitzki’s indifference amid much of the frenzied celebration around him showed just how serious he is about it.

“I was already thinking about the finals,” he said. “This is nice for a day, but we set our goals in October to win it all. We haven’t done it yet.”

There seems to be a prevailing theory that the current lockout has led to more off-the-field trouble for NFL players. (Though you could also chalk it up to more attention on the behavior of players, if you’re so inclined.)

Ray Lewis has a more interesting sociological theory, however, in that he believes general crime will rise if the lockout continues into the season.

“Do this research if we don’t have a season — watch how much evil, which we call crime, watch how much crime picks up, if you take away our game,” Lewis said in an interview with ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio.

But, um, why?

“There’s nothing else to do, Sal,” Lewis said.

He also seemed to attribute behavior of the general public through vicarious living.

“There’s too many people that live through us, people live through us,” Lewis said. “Yeah, walk in the streets, the way I walk the streets, and I’m not talking about the people you see all the time.”

MIAMI — The first 48 minutes of Dwyane Wade’s night were unremarkable.

The five minutes of overtime changed all that.

And Miami’s Big Three is one win away from playing for the NBA’s biggest prize.

LeBron James scored 35 points, Chris Bosh added 22 and Wade perked up to block three shots – one more than Chicago made in overtime, as the Heat topped the Bulls 101-93 in a scintillating Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday night.

Chicago Bears running back Garrett Wolfe is out on bond following his arrest  Sunday morning on theft, disorderly conduct and assaulting an officer charges in Miami Beach.

Wolfe, 26, had been partying at Cameo nightclub on Washington Ave. when he refused to pay a nearly $1,600 bill, according to an arrest report.

Police said Wolfe got angry with employees and was forcefully removed by bouncers. Officers were called and when they arrived, Wolfe refused to pay the bill, which was for three Champagne bottles.

“F— you, I’m not paying for s—, I run s— here!” Wolfe shouted, according to the report.

Then Wolfe reportedly got physical with the officers, with two of the cops suffering minor injuries, according to police. One officer said he was forced to strike Wolfe in the face and sweep his leg to get him under control.

After a struggle, Wolfe was finally arrested. Wolfe was charged with retail theft of over $300, disorderly conduct, assault on a police officer and resisting an officer with violence.

He was booked into a Miami-Dade jail and later released on $11,500 bond.

I can’t remember the last time I read something about Barry Bonds that didn’t have steroids or perjury as the subject matter, so this story is a breath of fresh air.

According to Lori Preuitt of NBC Bay Area, Barry Bonds has donated to pay for Bryan Stow’s two young children to go to college. Bonds also visited Stow in a Southern California hospital on April 22 and autographed a bat for his children.

Bonds is one of many in the Giants’ family who have shown support since Stow, a Giants fan, was severely beaten outside Dodger Stadium on March 31. According to Preuitt, Tim Lincecum recently gave a $25,000 donation to the Stow family fund.

Some will look at Bonds’ motivation cynically, saying that he is trying to rebuild his image by taking advantage of a tragedy, but that’s missing the point entirely. This is a really nice gesture, no matter what you think of the guy.

The Lakers have reached a deal in principle with Mike Brown to take over as their new coach.

The deal is worth approximately $18 million over four years, with the final year a team option.

The Lakers released a statement Wednesday confirming the team’s hopes to make Brown the successor to Phil Jackson.

Brown, the defensive-minded coach who took the 2010-11 season off after being fired by the Cavaliers last summer, was believed to be the front-runner for the Golden State vacancy as well.

NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA. — Tiger Woods is using crutches and wearing a protective boot on his left leg to make sure he’s healthy enough to play the U. S. Open.

Woods doubts he’ll play the Memorial next week in Dublin, Ohio, but expects he’ll be “ready to go” for the U. S. Open June 16-19 at Congressional.

Woods is counting on proper treatment and rehab. He is bothered by pain in his left knee, left Achilles’ tendon, tightening in his calf, and sore lower back. He says doctors have not mentioned leg surgery.

“I’ve had four surgeries on it,” Woods said. “Obviously, it’s not what it was when I was little.”

Woods said he’ll start training by the end of next week. How his leg responds will determine when he can start hitting balls again – all but ruling out the Memorial.

LOS ANGELES — Hines Ward rode Steeler Nation to another championship Tuesday night: the Mirror Ball trophy in Season 12 of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars.

The All-Pro wide receiver beamed his trademark smile as he hoisted the glittering globe with dance partner Kym Johnson amid a stream of confetti and whoops from Terrible Towel-waving fans in the studio audience. In that audience was Emmitt Smith, the only other NFL player to win the trophy. Ward dedicated his last dance Tuesday to his mom, Kim Young-hee, and kissed her (and waved a Steelers Terrible Towel) afterward.

With a committed partner by his side (Johnson sustained a serious injury two weeks before the finale, causing her to wear a neck brace during semifinals rehearsals), Ward topped actress Kirstie Alley and Disney star Chelsea Kane.
It’s phenomenal,” Ward said after the show. “I’m not going to apologize for winning. I didn’t want to let Kym down all season — I wanted her to win a second Mirror Ball. (She won with Donny Osmond in Season 9). I hope I represented well.”

And he vowed to do a “tribute” to her — an end-zone dance — after every touchdown he scores next season.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Micheal Spurlock believes he is fortunate despite being part of the current NFL lockout.

Spurlock lives in Mississippi, a state that has been hit by the floods from the Mississippi River. Spurlock, however, is happy his home and family have not been victimized by the rising water.

Spurlock is from Indian-ola, located in the Mississippi Delta in the northwest section of the state.

“It’s a blessing that none of my family has been affected by it. They have been getting a lot of rain, but nothing serious,” Spurlock said when reached by phone on Thursday. “They’ve had tornadoes nearby, but the only thing that has hit them has been the rain and wind.

“It’s a blessing and a curse because a lot of other families have been losing their houses and a lot of things because of the flood. Directly, I haven’t been affected, but indirectly a lot of people working at casinos have been affected. I have a friend that lives in Greenville (Miss.) and works at the casino (Harlow’s) and he’s supposed to be laid off for six months. Indirectly, I’ve been affected.”

Spurlock said he was in Tampa two weeks ago working out with quarterback Josh Freeman, but returned home to his family.

Spurlock said he has been working out individually each day at home and preparing for the lockout to eventually end.

“I’ve been in it long enough and I know what it takes to keep my body in shape,” Spurlock said. “Even without catching the football, running routes, I’ve been working on little things. I’ve done a little running. My cardio is fine.”