Posted Thursday, June 18, 2009 07:00 PMMilwaukee Brewers catcher Jason Kendall is the kind of hitter that you sometimes see in slow-pitch softball leagues. You know the weakest hitter in the lineup, who all the outfielders cheat way up for because he's got no chance of hitting one deep.
Kendall has hit six homers in six years, none this season. His slugging percentage is .276. He's one of my least favorite batters to watch, unless I'm fading the Brewers or have an under play.
Russell Martin used to be one of the best hitting catchers. In 2007, the Dodgers catcher batted .293 with 19 homers and 87 RBI's. Last year, Martin batted .280 with 13 homers and 69 RBI's.
This year it's hard to tell the difference between Kendall and Martin. They're both fast for catchers and are iron men behind the plate rarely sitting out.
But Martin is batting .236 with no homers. He has five hits in his last 43 at bats through Wednesday. His slugging percentage is .278. That territory is reserved for hitting dregs like Kendall.
Am I being too cynical to think Martin might have been a juicer and now he's off the stuff?
Disgraced referee Tim Donaghy has nothing on Bennett Salvatore and his two stooges, Mark Wunderlich and Ken Mauer.
Not after this bastard crew called 61 fouls in Denver's 106-105 win at Dallas on Saturday. There were a staggering 89 free throws attempted.
But that wasn't even the worst of it. Somehow the trio of amateurs failed to see Antonie Walker intentionally foul Carmelo Anthony twice with under six seconds left with Dallas leading, 105-103, and having a foul to give.
Yes, you're damn right I had under 209 1/2 points. And I handicapped the game right. Denver shot 42 percent from the floor. Dallas shot 40 percent from the field. The defensive intensity was up a notch.
The only way this game went over with 211 points scored is because these idiot referees had to take center stage. These aren't even two physical teams.
This is what Wright said following the game, "... All night long the whistle was blowing fast. At the end of the game when we're blatantly trying to foul, the whistle wasn't blowing."
What could Wright have done? If he would have decked Anthony a la Derek Fisher, the referees gleefully would have called a flagrant foul. That would have given Denver free throws and the ball.
Wright raked Anthony across the arm. He did so right in front of the Mavs' bench, which was screaming at Wright to foul. Wright was so sure the whistle would blow that he stopped playing.
I would have far less of a problem losing my bet if the foul is called. The Nuggets then in-bound the ball and Anthony hits a shot at the buzzer. But the way it went down wasn't right when everybody in the building except the referees and Denver coach George Karl saw a player commit an obvious foul.
"I didn't see a foul," Karl was quoted as saying.
Karl's either blind or a liar.
The league shouldn't fine Dallas owner Mark Cuban if he speaks out or Josh Howard for being justifiably angry. They should fine Karl for being totally disingenuous and fire these referees for their Ed Hochuli-type performance.
Does this referee crew have a propensity for calling a lot of fouls and thus being involving in far more overs than unders? It's a question worth pondering after Saturday's abortion.
The NBA isn't exactly pure is it?
Most people remember Jack Kemp, who died Saturday at 73, as a Republican presidential candidate in 1988 and Bob Dole's running mate in 1996.
I remember Jack Kemp differently. He was one of my childhood heros as the star quarterback for the Buffalo Bills when they played in the old American Football League in the '60s.
Kemp was an exciting scrambling quarterback, who led one of the AFL's best franchises during the mid-60s. The Bills were a lot of fun to watch in those days.
Not only did they have Kemp, but pounding running back Cookie Gilchrist, flanker Elbert "Golden Wheels" Dubenion and star defensive tackle Tom Sestak.
Their coach was the emotional Lou Saban and their kickers were Pete Gogolak, the first soccer-style kicker in pro football, and punter Paul Maguire, who would go on to become one of the worst network announcers.
I'm sure 90 percent of the posters on this forum are too young to remember the 1965 Bills. But believe me, they were a blast to watch.
RIP Mr. Kemp. I didn't agree with his politics, but I respected the man and appreciated the thrills he gave me as a youngster.
The Sacramento Kings (16-56), Washington Wizards (17-58) and Memphis Grizzlies (19-54) own the three-worst records in the NBA.
But none of them are the worst team in the NBA right now. The Kings have no talent, except for Kevin Martin and rookie Jason Thompson.
The Wizards have been decimated by injuries.
The Grizzlies are extremely young starting three rookies, a second-year player and third-year man Rudy Gay.
No, the worst team right now is the New Jersey Nets.
How can any team with playoff hopes and Vince Carter and Devin Harris in the starting lineup lose on consecutive days to Minnesota and Milwaukee at home like New Jersey did on Sunday and Monday by a combined 38 points? The Timberwolves were missing Al Jefferson and Randy Foye. The Bucks were without Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut.
The Timberwolves have been near helpless since losing Jefferson. The Bucks entered their matchup against the Nets having lost seven straight road games and were 1-11 against the spread in their past 12 games.
Following the loss to the Bucks, Carter was quoted as saying, "I want to apologize to the fans having to watch this."
Not good enough Vince. What about those like myself who actually lost money betting on you unmotivated, gutless dogs and I don't mean underdogs.
Forget waiting unitl the end of the season. Lawrence Frank should immediately be fired as the team's head coach. There's no excuse for that type of back-to-back performance, I don't care what kind of chemistry issues there are.
I lost more money on the Nets last year than any other team. So I've mainly stayed away from their games this season and was on a 43-26 hot streak until laying three with the Nets Monday night.
My fault for backing such an unpredictable, loser squad. But I thought at least the Nets would show up and the Bucks were in a free-fall.
It won't happen again. My warning: Play the Nets at your own peril. Either fade them or keep away. Far away.