Dallas Mavericks, Dallas Stars give fans a double dose of championship possibilities
DALLAS — A rare professional sports occurrence in North Texas allows fans to cheer for the historic.
"There's never been a time where neither the Stars nor the Mavericks have been into the conference finals at the same time," Chuck Cooperstein said.
Cooperstein is the radio voice for the Dallas Mavericks and is regarded as the higher authority on sports in DFW. He is also a big Dallas Stars fan, too.
"A couple of years ago, we had a game seven that was played on the same day when the Stars lost in Calgary in overtime, and the Mavericks beat Phoenix," Cooperstein said. "And that's pretty exciting because obviously game seven is game seven. There's no two better words in sports, quite frankly."
The Stars crushed the Colorado Avalanche's hopes of moving on with their season with a double-overtime win. Then, the Mavericks beat the Oklahoma Thunder to advance to the Western Conference finals by one point.
Now, the two teams face off on Wednesday and Thursday nights in the Western Conference Finals of their leagues.
"Just for the next two weeks, there's 14 consecutive nights, possibly, if the series both go the distance, of true reality television," Cooperstein said.
The radio broadcaster called it a clunky phrase but described the victories as the greatest confluence of events for the two franchises. He said it was creating a swell of excitement for him and, of course, fans.
"It's rare, and you've got to appreciate these moments. You've really got to appreciate them for what they are," Miguel Vasquez said. "They're rare, they don't come too often, and you've just got to appreciate it and live in the moment."
Vasquez was among the fans who watched the World Series Texas Rangers lose at home on Sunday. Victory was still in the air.
Erin Palacious and her friend Sawyer (who did not want to provide any other part of her name) were also at the game. They can't wait for the Western Conference finals to begin.
"Texas has so much pride and to see our sports doing so well," Palacious said. "All of our teams---doing well."
A true rarity even brought Police Lt. Chris Moore's fan side out as they helped with traffic at the baseball game.
"The people that are playing those games have worked really, really hard to get where they are," Moore said. "I think it's not asking too much to ask the community to be behind them. And we are, for sure."
