Shane Battier get hosed again landing on the 2nd team for the All-defensive team. He finished 3rd in Defensive player of the year vote, yet just 6th for 1st or 2nd team all-defense, thus lands on the 2nd team.
Here's the main reason - NBA head coaches are lazy and do not respect the award - apparently.
124 sportswriters and broadcasters vote on the All-defensive team award and 11 of 'em felt Battier was the best defensive player in the league and he finished 3rd overall easily outdistancing Bruce Bowen, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan who finished 4th, 5th & 9th respectively, yet each earned 1st team all-defense status thanks to the bone-headed coaches. Moreover Battier garnered more votes than those other 3 combined.
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Astros
This is why I love baseball. The Astros trotted out Brian Moehler, Chris Sampson and Shawn Chacon in LA this weekend and so naturally they swept a 3-game set at Dodgers stadium for the first time in more than 15 years.
Moehler hadn't started a game in 2 years and had only seen action 5 times all year. He gave the Astros 5 shutout innings - and truthfully, they were 5 dominant innings. He was in total command and never in trouble. And by the way - you can expect a lengthy apology and an I'm sorry session on tonight's show beginning at 6pm tonight. I have been mercilessly slamming the Astros for keeping Moehler around for the last 2 years.
Sampson gave up 5 runs in each of last two outings, didn't get out of the 5th inning in either of them and allowed 20 baserunners combined. He, too, dominated the Dodgers with 7 shutout innings. He was at his best in the 5th inning, when he faced 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. He induced three consecutive ground balls, the last of which was expertly fielded by the underrated Lance Berkman (defensively, I mean) and tossed to Sampson who easily beat the speedy Juan Pierre to the bag to keep the shutout intact.
Chacon was no different than he has been since GM Ed Wade smartly inked him during spring training. He tossed 6 more strong innings, picked up his 6th quality start, yet of course he left trailing, 2-0. Chacon tied the major league record of 8 starts to open the season without picking up a win or a loss. He's in a group of 19 pitchers at the top of the quality start leaders with either 6 or 7. Here are some of the names Chacon is keeping company with: Carlos Zambrano, Tim Hudson, Johan Santana, Brandon Webb, Dan Haren & Jake Peavy.
And one more thing - Lance Berkman has blisters on his feet from walking on the sun. He is smoking white hot with the stick. No one in the Majors is hitting better than .500 for the month of May - well except for Lance who is at an astounding .629!!!
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Texans
The 3-day mini-camp is done and forgive me if I don't think that Duane Brown starting was a big deal. The only reason it could be considered a big deal, because of course it was the right thing to do. It's a new blocking scheme with a new coach with the player they desperately want to get ready to play. Incumbent starter Ephraim Salaam is better than a decade into the league, not to mention he's already spent time executing Alex Gibbs system. The Texans know what they have in Salaam - an invaluable backup tackle. They don't know what they have in Brown - the only way to find that out & the quickest way to find that out is to line him up with his other projected starting linemates and opposite the best d-lineman they've got including Mario Williams as often as possible.
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Weekend Wrap
- Romo sings the blues. Cowboys QB leads Take Me Out to the Ball Game at Wrigley Field. Shocker, Bears fans boo him mercilessly. (Fan IQ)
- Dusty Baker limits his team to 26 outs. The Cincy enquirer makes sure we know it's not the first time. (Fan IQ)
-----------------------WEX
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