Our very own Dallas Mavericks seem to have taken on the role of media darling this postseason. Deserved? Perhaps. However, we are talking about a team that just won only its 2nd playoff series in what, 13 or 14 years? Aren't these folks getting a little carried away?

Well, not if you listen to the player's. No, they don't think they are the best thing since sliced bread, but they do think that they have just as good a shot at a title as anyone. The way they played in the opening round supports that. Now, there is only one problem, this.

We are all too familiar with the SI Jinx. Will it bring down the Mavs? Only time will tell. From what I know, the jinx is like a good baseball player in that it gets 3 out of 10 people appearing on the cover. When you consider some of the spares that have appeared on the cover over the years (Todd Marinovich, Tony Madarich, Oregon State football team), the odds swing even more into the favor of the talented ones not being jinxed. In some cases, it might seem that there was a jinx initially, but in retrospect there was no such thing.

Take the 1992 Dallas Cowboys as an example. Coming off an 11-5 season and a return to the playoffs, the Cowboys were a team on the rise, but I don't know that anyone considered them a team of destiny that season. After getting off to a great start, the Cowboys found themselves on the cover of SI. I believe the caption on the front was "The D is back in Dallas", with Ken Norton Jr. pictured prominently. The Cowboys next game was a highly anticipated match-up against the powerful Philadephia Eagles on Monday night. The Cowboys got walloped. The jinx lived. As Lee Corso would say, "not so fast my friend!" You see, the Cowboys would lose only two other games all season on their way to winning the first of 3 Super Bowls in four years.

So, I say good for the Mavs! After a decade of losing, the organization deserves all the positive attention that it can get. By the way, Steve Nash will be on Letterman tonight.