Powerful Pair Provides Muscle for Splash : Indoor soccer: Defenders Hamlett, Black lead Anaheim in playoffs against Sacramento.
One is the consummate-looking athlete, built like a bull. The other has Scottish blood running through his veins and a pit-bull mentality.
The word on Denis Hamlett is that he is strong and fast--and you shouldn’t get in his way.
The word on Ralph Black is that he is tough and coarse--and you shouldn’t get in his way.
Together, the two Splash defenders could be henchmen in a Clint Eastwood movie.
Now playing: “The Enforcers--No Handgun Required.”
Of course, Sacramento already knows this.
Hamlett and Black were the centers of attention when the two teams played in Sacramento last month; Hamlett became entangled with Knight goalie Mike Dowler, and when Sacramento players swarmed around Hamlett, Black charged to the rescue. A videotape of the incident reveals Black leaping atop the pile, Hamlett spitting at an opponent and Black kicking someone in the stomach.
Both were hit hard by league Commissioner Ron Weinstein. Black was fined nearly one-tenth his monthly salary and suspended two games. Hamlett was fined and suspended one game.
Both missed the most recent meeting between the teams--they were serving their suspensions--but both will be on the floor tonight as the Splash opens the first round of the Continental Indoor Soccer League playoffs against Sacramento at The Pond. Kickoff is 7:35 p.m.
The Splash (20-8) won the Western Division title--clinching against Sacramento--and the Knights (15-13) finished fourth; the winner will play either second-place San Diego (18-10) or third-place Las Vegas (17-11) in the league semifinals. All series are best of three. The Splash split its two games with Sacramento.
The Splash has had a remarkable journey already. As the Los Angeles United last year, it was the CISL’s most inept franchise and finished 6-22. Under new ownership, in a new building, with a new coach, mostly new players and a new name, the Splash had the second-best record in the league, trailing only defending-champion Dallas (24-4).
Much of the credit must go to Hamlett and Black, two big bodies in the back line who know what it’s like to do the dirty work and get overlooked--by everyone but the referees.
Black, the team captain, is having one of his best years offensively. He has 13 goals and 22 assists; defensively, he has 36 blocks. At 30 years old, he has played 13 professional indoor seasons.
He was one of two players management felt it had to have to be successful; the other was point-scorer Dale Ervine.
“Ralph has given us the experience and leadership and aggressiveness that we’ve needed--the fight, the never-say-die attitude,” said Splash Coach George Fernandez, who played for Sacramento last year. “He has given us everything we expected of him.”
With seven games left in the regular season, Black was six penalty minutes away from 20, which would have cost a one-game suspension. He never got there.
“I told Ralph to play his game and not back off,” Fernandez said. “If he has to miss a game, we’ll cross that river when we get to it.”
Black complains that he is dogged by referees, that his reputation from the Major Indoor Soccer League still haunts him.
“I can mix it up, but I don’t foul a lot,” said Black, who committed 29 fouls in 25 games. “I get a lot of two-minute penalties for talking. You don’t see Ralph Black getting two minutes for hitting people. I got eight minutes this year for talking. I think it’s a little unjust because the guys who are getting me are the guys who were referees in the MISL. I think I’m getting a bum rap for it.”
But Ralph, what about Sacramento and that dive into the pile?
“I think it was silly to jump into the crowd,” Black said. “The whole incident with Sacramento had nothing to do with me, it had something to do with a teammate. When my teammate gets hit, I get hit. When my teammate gets kicked, I get kicked. That’s why I’m a team player.”
And the videotape does show he kicked only after he was struck in the face by Kenny Latham.
Hamlett did reach 20 penalty minutes. In fact, he finished the year ranked fifth--with 34 penalty minutes in 25 games. He was called for 56 fouls--tied for 10th in the league. His hard tackles don’t win him many friends--or many calls.
“He’s getting a raw deal because he’s too strong for these (forwards) and these referees don’t realize how strong he is,” Black said. “Denis is probably our toughest and is definitely our strongest player, but Denis is no different from me: If there’s a 50-50 chance of getting the ball, he’s going to go right through you.”
Said Fernandez: “He’s the league’s most unjustly penalized player.”
Hamlett, 25, is playing his third year indoors, and has some outstanding offensive figures despite playing in the back: He has 12 goals and nine assists to go along with 32 blocks. He has a disarming way with children and is nicknamed the Hammer.
“I don’t try to intimidate people--that’s not my style,” said Hamlett, a 5-foot-11, 190-pounder. “(But) I had the same problem my first year in the (National Professional Soccer League). It was just my strength; logic is that someone 190 pounds versus someone 170 pounds, the heavy guy is going to win. With my size and strength, I overpowered guys. (Fernandez) said, ‘You’re going to get calls like that because the officials don’t know any better--they haven’t seen anything like you.’ ”
