What we learned – or can’t understand – from this past weekend in sports:
* How did the Arizona Diamondbacks make it to .500? After sweeping the Twins, who are baseball’s biggest disappointment this season, the D-backs improved to 23-23. This is improbable for a team with an anonymous pitching staff and a batting order that strikes fear in few pitchers. During spring training the joke was that manager Kirk Gibson would stand a better chance of winning by penciling his all-star coaching staff as his lineup.
* The San Jose Sharks are in a 3-1 series hole in the NHL’s Western Conference Finals because they are playing out of character. The Sharks might have stood a chance against the Vancouver Canucks, but they wanted to play a mean-spirited, aggressive game that isn’t them. Had they been geared more toward passing and less forechecking, they might be in this series with the Canucks, who are skating rings around San Jose.
* While it’s fantastic that the LAPD has arrested a key suspect in the beating of a San Francisco Giants fan, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ attendance has fallen since increased police presence has increased around Dodgers Stadium. Then again, the Dodgers also have stunk at home, going 11-14 a Chavez Ravine this season.
* New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon has every right to rip the team for its 22-24 start as well as himself for signing the players. But he basically poisoned the lockerroom and has affected the players for the rest of the season. Would you want to be David Wright or Carlos Beltran if your owner says your signing was a waste of money? On the other hand, they’re still getting paid, but it’s certainly a blow to these players’ egos.
* And the cries of flopping against Oklahoma City’s James Harden are hogwash. Flopping has become part of the NBA – remember Vlade Divac? – and if the referee doesn’t notice it, then you haven’t done your job as a pro basketball player. What is that Jim Rome says? “If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying.
