The Custodian Wiping Up Miami

First off congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks. The Heat will surely win several titles before it's all said and done (sorry, Dan Gilbert), but for now it is good to finally get some new(white) blood in championship row. Before I get to my main point of this article I have to say something about Miami and their failures. I thought I covered this last summer, but the reactions from Gilbert and Cleveland just keep getting more pathetic. There has never been a fan base bandwagon on another team like this, but I guess when your city hasn't won a title in decades and surely won't for many more years, you have to live with moral victories like this.

OK, finally for the actual article. I love Dirk and all, but lets be honest. He has no business receiving the Finals MVP Award that clearly should belong to Brian "The Custodian" Cardinal. Obviously pissed about being left out of the Mack Is Berning White Man Tournament, Cardinal came into the playoffs with one goal: To prove that he is the whitest basketball player alive. Appearance is definitely a check as The Custodian trots onto the court everyday sporting a pair of knee pads that were probably designed for roller skaters. Add to that his bald head and general goofy demeanor, and he looks like he would be much more comfortable in a YMCA rec league.

Nicknames are very common in sports, but very rarely does a nickname describe an athlete the way "The Custodian" does for Brian Cardinal. The man does more dirty work than anyone else. I would not be the least surprised to find out that he actually works as a janitor for the Mavericks locker room and arena on the side. He takes charges (or at least tries to), fouls hard, dives after loose balls, and tries to swipe inbound passes. By my calculations, he spends 44 seconds on the floor for every minute he plays, which is tops in the league. In the 2009-2010 season with Minnesota, Cardinal averaged more fouls (1.9) than points (1.7) per game, putting him in an elite club with legends like Greg Ostertag, Manute Bol, and Charles Oakley. This is not even mentioning the energy he puts into cheering when he's not in. Cardinal always sits on the end of the bench with Peja and jumps up and screams every time Shawn Marion deflects a pass out of bounds, or Tyson Chandler grabs a defensive rebound. When the scuffle broke out between Mario Chalmers and DeShawn Stevenson, you know The Custodian was the first one sprinting over to break it up. All that passion, and he stills leads the league in sportsmanship.

I wrote this tribute to Brian Cardinal not only because he is white, but also because I wanted to give credit to guys coming off the bench who are usually overlooked. As a former scout team wide receiver, I identify well with players like them. The depth of the Mavericks was a huge advantage in the series, and without guys like JJ Barea, Ian Mahinmi, and Cardinal stepping up, they would not have won. So when you're watching ESPN and hearing the analysts only talk about Dirk, or maybe ESPN2 with Jemele Hill complaining about how the league rigged the series against the team with more black people, remember that in order to win, you need more than just superstars, and more than just a strong starting five. You need guys like Brian Cardinal.