Exciting. Excruciating. Exhausting. …
Exalting.
In an epic hockey game that climaxed a fantastic series and prompted lots of bleary eyes, Brenden Morrow scored in the fourth overtime — at 1:23 a.m. thank you very much — to give the Dallas Stars a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks and a berth in the Western Conference Finals.
After goalies Marty Turco and Evgeni Nabokov traded unfathomable saves for more than five hours, Stephane Robidas sent a nifty pass in the crease to Morrow, who rather casually tapped-in the series clincher and the goal that ended the eighth longest game in NHL history and the third longest in Stars’ history.
As Sunday melted into Monday and skill gave way to will, Dallas’ two biggest Stars made the largest plays. While Turco made sprawling save after sprawling save, Morrow — who should’ve ended the series Friday night in Game 5 — fittingly got the game-winner.
I’m certainly not a puckhead, but I’ll say it again: There’s nothing in sports quite like playoff overtime hockey. Screw David Blaine, Stars fans can hold their breath 20 minutes at a time.
And, finally, it was worth it.
*The countdown to Super Bowl XLV officially gets under way this morning as the North Texas Super Bowl Host Committee holds its first press conference. Jerry Jones, Roger Staubach, Tom Leppert and Ross Perot Jr. will be out at the Cowboys new stadium to unveil plans, etc. The most exciting news? We’ll get ourselves a logo.
*The Mavs have interviewed only one candidate and they’ve interviewed him twice. At this point, as I said Saturday, it’s almost a certainty that Rick Carlisle will be the next head coach. At this point, given Carlisle’s Avery-like defensive-minded approach and sandpaper persona, it’s also time to anoint him with a smart-ass nickname: Ivory Johnson.
*Pacman Jones has put his 30-acre, $1.8 million spread on the market in Franklin, Tenn., Yes, the stripper poles are included.
*The Rangers are tied for the fewest wins in the American League, but tall drink of awesome Josh Hamilton is the AL’s Player of the Month and, come Friday, David Murphy just might be the league’s Rookie of the Month. This should not come as a surprise, but Texas does not have a player nominated for Fielder of the Month.
*On Friday the Rangers’ lineup included five players who started the season at AAA Oklahoma. Either Texas sucks or it has one hell of a farm system. Give you one guess.
*SMU has signed a top-flight passer. But not for June Jones, rather Matt Doherty. The Mustangs have landed Paul McCoy, a 5-foot-11 point guard from Oregon, whom Rivals.com has rated as the nation’s 10th best.
*Kentucky Derby day out at Lone Star Park drew 18,689 people, largest crowd since 1999. To which I say, what recession?
*Jerry Jones says there’ll be no inductions to the Ring of Honor this season, which, of course, will be the last at Texas Stadium. Silly me, I just knew he was gonna put himself in. Just a matter of time. -- Richie Whitt
