Friendly Rivals

John Arellano and Linda Fraga take in the fun before Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals. (John Robbins/Spurs Photo)

Outside of the American Airlines Center prior to Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals Mavs fans can be seen everywhere gearing up for the battle. They know that this game might as well be an elimination game and could possibly be the last game of the season in Dallas. People are painted blue, goods are being sold, excitement abounds, and the challenge is seemingly ready to be met head-on. Nobody is paying attention to the ominous clouds overhead which are becoming more silver and black by the minute. Is it some sort of sign on this Sunday evening? Has to be.

Sticking out in the crowd is a simple black and pink button with the undeniably catchy GO SPURS GO scribed upon it. It belongs to Taft high school graduate and Southwestern Medical School Student Linda Fraga, who is about to witness the Spurs down the Mavs and take a 3-1 series lead in the Western Conference Finals. Standing next to her is good friend, and staunch Mavericks supporter, John Arellano. They are here to root on their teams. One touts a San Antonio victory in five while the other proposes a Dallas comeback in seven. Neither wavers in their faith in their team.

“I think that the Spurs have it in the bag…” says an excited Fraga. “We are going to go to five games and it’s going to be 4-1 Spurs.” Quick to provide a rebuttal, Arellano denies the impending doom on the horizon for the Mavs…“I say we go to seven. I say the Mavs will pull it out. Free throws are the key. The team who has the most free throws will win the series.”

That revelation certainly proved true in Game 3 as the Spurs knocked down 15 more free throws than the Mavs and it would also hold water later in the evening when the Spurs bested the Mavs at the line by 17. Unfortunately Fraga was unable to attend Game 3, but did manage to be a thorn in the side of some friends with whom she watched the game…”I was watching it (Game 3) with all of my friends from school and celebrating the whole game. I was the only Spurs fan of course. Everyone else was a Mavericks fan, but I was pretty much cheering the whole game and they were sad the whole game!”

Looking on to the NBA Finals beginning June 4th Fraga sees nothing but smooth sailing through the New Jersey Nets. “It’s going to be a sweep. It’s always ‘Who is the West going to beat?’ That’s the way it always works.” Not lost in all of her fun was Fraga’s family back in San Antonio. “They’re so excited! My dad has season tickets so they go to all of the games and are huge Spurs fans.”

When asked about how their friendship manages to survive in spite of painfully obvious polar allegiances between the I-35 rivals, Arellano offers up a simple answer. “We’ve been good friends for a long time. We have debates and maybe place a friendly wager here and there on the games.”

If the Spurs have it their way, those wagers will end on Tuesday night at the SBC Center.