WORLD CHAMPIONS, BABY!

Although I never really doubted my team, I still can't believe this is real.

But it is.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Dallas Mavericks are the 2010-2011 WORLD CHAMPIONS!

And their fans, both old and new, couldn't be happier. Hell, the folks in Cleveland (former home of LeBron James) are so happy they're even thinking about throwing the Mavs a parade too! Surely this is the first time in NBA history THAT has happened, right?

I'm still riding the emotional roller coaster that has been the 2011 playoffs. We're up, we're down, we're hot, we're cold. We got the lead. They made a run. But here we come, fighting our way back into it. Again and again and AGAIN. This postseason, for the Dallas Mavericks and their loyal fans, the NBA really is where amazing happens!

There are a million things running through my mind right now, so much I want to say. But right now, in this moment, words are eluding me. The sheer joy and excitement and pride I feel as a Mavs fan right now is so overwhelming I can't even begin to describe it. One minute I'm cheering and I can't seem to stop smiling. And the next, I'm tearing up and I can't seem to stop crying. This ride has been nothing short of amazing, and it's sweetened all the more by the fact that I've been behind my boys in blue for the long haul. Through the highs and lows, the personal achievements, the failures and now the ultimate success. And I want to say THANK YOU, Dallas Mavericks, for bringing me along for the ride!

While I haven't been here since the inception of this team back in 1980 (cut me a little slack, I was only four!), I have been a tried and true blue Mavs fan for a quarter of a century. I wore my team colors proud back in the day when Uwe Blab and Bill Wennington were a part of the team known as The Chairmen of the Boards, just as much as I did through the dark Dallas decade known as the 1990s, when the Mavericks were the worst team in all of professional sports. And on that infamous day in 2006, when Miami stole away the championship on our floor, crushing the dream for players and fans alike, I was crying right along with my team.

But that nightmare is a thing of the past, forever erased by the fact that, now, the rest of the world can see Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks organization the same way I have always seen them: as true champions.