Boxing

In the boxing world, it’s the end of an era.  Oscar De La Hoya, the Latino pretty boy (albeit very athletic) is hanging up his gloves.  In a press conference yesterday, he said, “I just can’t do it anymore”.  De La Hoya, unquestionably, was the most popular fighter in boxing over the past decade, primarily because of his support from the Latino community.  His fights were always big Pay-Per-View spectacles, and he had a reptutation as a good-looking pretty nice guy.  The sport will sorely miss him, especially considering that there really isn’t a De La Hoya figure out there to root for.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

A small Division 1 school has made a big splash.  Florida International has signed basketball Hall of Famer Isaiah Thomas to be its head coach.  This is remarkable considering that Thomas was the General Manager and coach of the New York Knicks just last season.  THE NEW YORK KNICKS!!!  That’s one of the most coveted coaching jobs in sports.  Now, just to take the opportunity, Thomas is headed to Florida International to try and give them a new start.  This is a very small school, but they made a very smart move bringing Thomas to town.  It gives them… cache.

Elsewhere in the college basketball world, some very interesting news revolving around a Duke point guard.  Greg Paulus was one of the top football recruits coming out of High School.  He could have played quarterback at Notre Dame.  However, Paulus opted to play for Coach K at Duke.  He started at point guard for three seasons, and was decent, but was replaced this year by Nolan Smith.  Well, oddly, the Green Bay Packers came knocking at his door.  They want to work him out and see if he’s still got the goods.  This is highly irregular, and it’s very unlikely that Paulus has any shot at donning a Packers uniform next season, but what a cool day for the kid.

Finally, UCONN monster center Hasheem Thabeet has decided to declare for the NBA draft.  This doesn’t really shake things up at the top spot (that will almost definitely go to Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin), but it does make pick 2- 10 very interesting.  Many experts think that Hasheem could use at least one more season of grooming, but he is from a poor African village and looking to get a much needed NBA paycheck.  It’s just a shame that he couldn’t help UCONN win a National Championship before departing, but hey, it was UNC’s year from the get-go.