Centers' Little Helper

Dennis Hans, unrenowned former adjunct professor of mass comm and American foreign policy, relentlessly exposed the Bush administration’s “techniques of deceit” BEFORE the Iraq war, when it could have made a difference (see links). For decades he has fought baseball’s discrimination against lefthanded infielders and promoted his ingenious clockwise solution. A lifelong advocate for a flowing, non-brutal, flop-free NBA, he now champions the cause of its second-class citizens: the centers.

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Bad things about NBA refs, Part 1
Twice Dwayne Wade has taken very nasty spills in the postseason, and twice the refs and announcers have failed to identify the intentional nature of the fouls. Here is how Michael Sweetney and Dale Davis got away with it:

In both cases, the defender intentionally fouled vulnerable airborne Wade with his left hand — a push to the chest by Sweetney, a whack across the arm by Davis — while going for the ball with his right hand. That’s not how you attempt a clean block. That’s how you make an intentional foul LOOK like an attempt at a clean block.

In both cases, the intentional foul with the left hand is what caused the rotation of Wade’s torso and led to him falling like a sack of potatoes on to his back or hips from quite a height. The fall in the Bulls game could very easily have cost the Heat the series. So far, it looks like he survived last night’s spill in decent shape. But rest assured, the wonderful Wade’s days are numbered if the league permits him to be routinely assaulted in this way.