Pre-dawn posted-up jubliation

I've been up since 4 this morning, prowling the Web for the torrent of stories posted about the Spurs' championship win. The daily newspaper writers have to file within a few hours of the game, so I gave it until sunup Eastern time before I started to check. There were 4,000 stories listed on Google News. I wallowed in the print coverage like the old sportswriter than I am. TV is fun, but the real story is still in the words.

The house was dark and quiet, but it surely was neither last night while our TV unreeled the victory story. The greatest moment was probably the last three minutes of the last quarter, with Timmy earning that MVP trophy by dropping a bucket from way over in Bruce Bowen's territory, baseline corner, followed by kicking a pass out for Manu's three-pointer. Drove the Spurs' lead to seven, I'm screaming and jumping up and down, Detroit calls a timeout, Abby's standing in front of the TV hollering as if she's on the floor of the SBC center, where we know the real fans don't even sit down in a Finals game. I remember standing in front of my seat in 2003, screaming at the crowd around me, "Everybody, up on your feet. We want to win!"

Ah, the delicious madness of sports. This year was different, like it meant so much more, because we'd tasted the last title up close, and then so far away at the final game. We were watching during the last title game in 2003 from a bar in Victoria, Canada, screaming at the TV there, too. Bemused Canadians would stroll by and say, "So, there's a basketball series going on, eh? Who's playing?"

I'm sure they feel the same way when they come to the States and see most people ignoring hockey. But once the Spurs won in 2003, we were completely cut off from the glory of the aftermath. No newspaper coverage, because we headed off to Tofino the next morning, the start of a stunning vacation in a haven of eagles, bears and otters. But no Spurs.

This morning I didn't have the wildlife to entertain me, but I read a few dozen stories, looking for the sharpest columnists. I liked William C. Rhoden's column in the NY Times, recalling the last game 7. Seattle's Steve Kelley filed a nice one, putting Duncan in his rightful place in NBA history. Only one other player has lost all 11 teammates from his title team, and then won again with a completely new crew: Bill Russell. A fellow whose caliber Duncan will match, given a few more seasons.

Meanwhile, Mike Wilbon, who hasn't gotten a single prediction correct in his Pardon the Interruption poodle-dog TV performances — he picked the Pistons less than two hours before last night's tip-off, like he's picked against the Spurs all through the postseason — well, he had the grace to flip-flop and give Duncan his due in today's paper. Not much crow will be eaten for the TV, though. Maybe Wilbon knows something about football. Watching the USA Today basketball writer David Dupree hack down Wilbon's assumptions, that was priceless.

JA Adande wrote about Pop's place in the coaching pantheon, too. A modest guy with three title rings and three superstars locked up until 2010. Adande wrote, "You won't see Popovich writing a book — either a motivational manual or an expose — and you won't hear him hogging the spotlight. When someone asked him to assess his role in his team's success the other day, he snapped, 'Next question.' "

Pop is a fellow who said on TV, as his first comment when he was handed the trophy, "I don't know how we did it."

The newest fun of all was capturing the podcast from the Detroit TV station that clipped all those post-game interviews. It takes more than 100 games to win a title in the NBA these days, especially against a team as good as the Pistons. Listening to the glory of these moments, removed by a few months, will be another sweet plum that two more years of technology brings.

Through the night and into the dawn I pulled on my old editing skills, the ones I first practiced at The Daily Texan newsdesk while editing the best UPI wire stories in college. Finding the best was easier this morning. It didn't take much skill to round up the story of a team from a small sports market that has the best winning record of any in sports since '97. Academy opens at 9, with plenty of Spurs gear on sale.