Grocery Shopping With Caron Butler

NBA players gotta eat, drink and get some t-p.  I happen to run into a Mavs player or coach every now and then at a particular grocery store in my nabe.  That's not necessarily blog-worthy but today's supermarket chat made me smile.


Sunday afternoon I almost collided with Caron Butler's shopping cart.  Yes, I am the annoying, wandering grocery shopper.  Having just come from the gym,  not wearing full-on anchor spackle and hair spray it took a second for it to register with him who I was.  After a quick hello, guess what his first words to me were?

"How about the young guy?" he asked with a pretty-big-for-Caron-Butler smile on his face.  Of course, he was referring to rookie Roddy Beaubois' career-high 40 point night against Golden State. (more good Beaubois stats here courtesy of Dallasbasketball.com).  We sang Beaubois' praises for a few.  He was like a proud dad.  I asked him about the team cheering for Beaubois when he got on the bus after the game (thanks, Chuck Cooperstein & Mark Followill).  He said it was really cool and then we said our goodbyes.  No 25K fine in Portland talk, btw.  Call me a bad reporter but  I had collard greens to juice, damnit.  (Seriously).

Point being, I am as jaded and flippant as the next reporter.  Many times, a lot of the players we cover are as well.  A 35-45 point night is really cool and very impressive but it's not something that we would discuss too often the next day.  What struck me was how much of a fan Butler was at that moment.  My job isn't to cheer or root for one team that I sometimes forget that seeing a great performance like Saturday night's is special and more than anything, fun.  Butler's job is to play well and, as a good teammate, brag about Beaubois.  Let's be honest, though, sometimes players just give us media types post-game lip service in singing their teammates praises.  Butler's genuine enthusiasm was wonderfully refreshing and reminded me that it is okay to think a performance like Beaubois' is awesome, as well.

As for that lucky $20. 

This has nothing to do with basketball but it's the first time it has ever happened to me and I had to share!  I bought about 7 items: collard greens, orange juice, juicing apples, eating apples, raw sugar, bananas and that deliciously tasty mint water.

My total tab came to an even $20!  Twenty bucks with tax, title and license!!!!! Never, not once, EVER has that happened to me.  Is it dorky of me to think that's cool?  Sure.  But even the checkout guy suggested I play the lottery.  Done!