Whether you’re at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt’s End …
*Let me put this as delicately as possible: Ron Kulpa is an overly sensitive, empowered asshole whose reckless ego should prevent him from holding any position of authority. First and foremost, major league umpire. NBA ref Scott Foster’s arrogance has drawn the ire of the Rockets this season. We all remember Serena Williams’ run-in with chair umpire Carlos Ramos at last fall’s U.S. Open. But why does it seem that baseball umps are the biggest of bastards? Couple of years ago in Arlington, umpire Gerry Davis ejected Adrian Beltre for – gasp! – not standing directly on top of the on-deck circle. Wednesday night it was Kulpa’s turn to make the easiest of officiating gigs look impossible. He made a couple of crappy ball-strike calls and, when the Astros dugout aired its displeasure, escalated a situation he’s paid to diffuse. Kulpa initiated conversations, physically touched a player and abruptly interrupted between-innings warm-up pitches. At one point during a nose-to-nose with Houston manager A.J. Hinch, Kulpa screamed, “I can do anything I want!” Like a lot of umps, Kulpa is disillusioned to think he’s a star attraction. That pitchers – rule book be damned – need to satisfy his strike zone. Given his irrational temperament, the only thing Kulpa should be the boss of is the trash in his neighborhood. I’ll say it again: There will be a time when future sports fans are aghast that games and results were once decided not by computers, but by flawed humans with anger, arrogance and, yes, agendas.
*Very real possibility this is the last Whitt’s End with Dirk Nowitzki as an active player and that makes me sad all day. As a writer that began covering him upon his arrival from Germany to DFW Airport in late June 1998, my favorite Dirk moment is easy: His MVP award press conference in 2007. I know, but hear me out. Off an amazing season, he had horrible first round in the upset loss to the Warriors. He tried to put on a happy face in accepting the trophy, but couldn’t do it. “Honestly,” he told me in the bowels of American Airlines Center as he walked toward his car without the hardware, “this f*cking sucks.” Having been subjected to me-first players that would rather play well in a loss than play poorly in a win, the moment struck me: This is what integrity looks like. His production is obviously Hall-of-Fame worthy, but to me it’s his professionalism, loyalty and humanism that makes him the greatest DFW athlete of all-time.
*I’ll give the Rangers credit. In taking two of three from the Cubs and Astros, they’ve done something I would’ve bet against at any point this season: Being two games over .500.
*Call Wednesday night perfect in DFW: Rangers win. Mavericks lose. Cowboys didn’t award any contracts to any drug-addled players. Jerry Jones extended the contract of Randy Gregory through 2020. Yes, the same Gregory that was suspended indefinitely by the NFL in February for again violating the substance abuse policy. It’s the pass rusher’s fourth suspension. He played just two games in 2016, missed all of 2017 and is now given a contract for 2020. Sometimes good things happen to bad … decision-makers.
*We’ve all cringed – or perhaps been enraged – at the video of former Deep Ellum bartender Austin Shuffield repeatedly punching L’Daijohnique Lee. He deserves the harshest punishment for his heinous attack. But … in no way should all charges against Lee have been dropped. Without her multiple mistakes, the incident wouldn’t have commenced. Lee drove the wrong way on a one-way street around 4:30 in the morning, blocked traffic while trying to figure out her bearings and then threw the first punch at Shuffield after he knocked her cell phone out of her hand. After the physical altercation, Lee smashed out the back window of Shuffield’s pickup. Again, Shuffield repeatedly punched a defenseless woman. Inexcusable. But this, at times, took two to tango. The Dallas County District Attorney deciding not to prosecute Lee for any crimes is inexplicable. The score of this game was lopsided, but it was closer to 35-7 than 52-0.
*Since I believe that teams’ success is overly reliant upon luck rather than skill, I’m not a big hockey guy. But congrats to the Stars for making the playoffs. I will say this, there is nothing that delivers sustained and open-ended, nerve-racking moments like overtime playoff hockey. I’ll tune in. Probably to see a game-winning goal accidentally carom off a skate.
*The Rangers’ starting pitching is gonna be up and down, but mostly down. And the biggest goal of the season is for Joey Gallo, Nomar Mazara and Rougned Odor to make improvements to prepare them to lead a team that can legit compete in 2020 and beyond. However, gloves can tweak expectations. How are the Rangers off to their best start since 2013? Because they started the season without making an error for the first 49 innings. Don’t give away runs and good, surprising things can happen.
*Kudos to Texas A&M for making a good – no, a great – hire in Buzz Williams. And I’m not just saying that because his first coaching job paid him $400 a month and a dorm room at UTA. Williams’ teams are always prepared and well-coached, evidenced by Virginia Tech’s offense consistently getting open shots and the Hokies’ final-shot, out-of-bounds play producing a layup in their heart-breaking loss to Duke in the NCAA tournament. Pains me to say it, but A&M now has a much better basketball coach than – NIT championship run notwithstanding – Texas (Shaka Smart).
*Speaking of March Madness, I watched Texas Tech-Gonzaga with life-long Red Raiders fans. It was heartwarming to see their reactions at the final buzzer. Tears of joy. Years of frustration, melting away. On an admittedly smaller scale, reaching the Final Four for Tech was like Cubs fans finally winning the World Series.
*Because humans suck, a pregnant whale washed up dead on a shore in Italy last week. In its belly, scientists found almost 50 pounds of plastic, most of it plates and water bottles. The whale had recently eaten, but the nutrients in her stomach were blocked from traveling to her bloodstream by the plastic. Shame on us. In the wake of a flood last spring, I was biking around White Rock Lake and noticed a nauseating slew of plastic trash where the water had risen and since retreated. I mean, seriously, how damn difficult is it to throw an empty water bottle in the trash? Ideally it should go in a recycling bin! Bottom line: Our aloof, arrogant laziness is killing our planet and everything that lives on it.
*Not sad that the AAF folded because, honestly, I didn’t watch one play. I realize that football is religion in Texas, but I also know that too much of a good thing is a bad thing.
*Being in the media has its privileges. One of the best is the chance to play famed Colonial Country Club just a month before the big boys come to Fort Worth for the PGA’s Charles Schwab Challenge. Lucky enough to play my own ball in the annual “Wide Open” media sneak preview tourney Monday. Will also be lucky to break 90. Ish.
*This weekend? Another Saturday dodging rain drops in a tennis tournament, then rooting for Beard over Izzo. As always, don’t be a stranger.
