WATERCOOLER CHAT: SHAQ ROOTING FOR KOBE
A bit of a quiet day in the sports world with the NBA Finals set to begin Thursday night.
NBA
But hey, there is a little bit of Finals news. It appears that the Lakers can count on having at least one more fan in the stands. Yes, Shaquille O’Neal has publicly stated that he will be rooting for Kobe and the Lakers to win it all. This is huge for Kobe who’s always been a rival to Shaq. But now Shaq said he really wants Kobe to win his 4th championship. People currently think that Kobe can’t win a championship without Shaq, but Kobe has stated that people were crazy for thinking Shaq could have won those 3 championships without HIM. So for Shaq to pull for Kobe is a very mature step in their feud. Perhaps it’s all behind both of them.
SOCCER
It’s World Cup Qualifying time in soccer. Many don’t realize that the 32 teams on display every four years for the World Cup had a very long road to get there. It’s a grueling qualifying process, and many strong teams don’t even make it to the big tournament. Well, the U.S. has always struggled in Costa Rica, and this year was no different. They were pummeled 3-1 in an important qualifying match, and didn’t look like they were poised to compete on the World Stage just yet. Their only goal was scored by Landon Donovan on a penalty kick, and that’s not exactly something to get excited about. Let’s hope they improve in the next few matches.
MLB
And in baseball, Ichiro Suzuki was looking to extend his hit streak, hoping to break Joe DiMaggio’s last remaining important baseball record. They played host to the Orioles, and yep, Ichiro got another hit. This puts his streak at 27 games. He’s not exactly close, given that DiMaggio’s record is 57 straight games with a hit, but 27 ain’t too shabby. Let’s hope he can keep it up and give both Seattle fans and us something exciting to root for. Seattle 3, Baltimore 2.
