Brian Cardinal: NBA Champion

I know the seeds of this were planted in the fall of 1998, when I, as a freshman, went to the co-rec for a pickup game and ended up running with none other than Citizen Pain himself, Brian Cardinal. We won back then, with me dropping a sweet dime for him on a fast break at one point. I'd like to say that one random pickup game gave him the confidence to win with anyone on his team, no matter how good or how crappy (and in my case, it was probably pretty crappy). I went on to write about guys like Cardinal, who worked his butt off to get where he is today.

Congratulations to the Custodian on winning his first NBA Championship, and to the Mavericks as a team. He is a man that has worked to earn everything he has gotten in this league. I don't think it is a coincidence that he played in just four games in the Finals, and Dallas won all four. They needed a dash of hard work and attitude off the bench, and Rick Carlisle was not afraid to call on one of our favorite Boilermakers of all time. Enjoy it, Citizen Pain. You are a true Boilermaker.