WATERCOOLER CHAT: ANOTHER OLYMPIC GOLD, KNICKS SHEDDING MONEY
OLYMPICS
Last night in the Olympics, it was men’s figure skating. The favorite was the Russian: Evgeni Plushenko. He came out of retirement attempting to make history and win a second straight gold medal. However, the U.S. was hoping that their own Evan Lysacek could take the prize. Well, it was very VERY close, and Plushenko gave an amazing performance, even celebrating at the end suggesting “Yep, I did it”. But… he was wrong, as the final scores indicated that the United States’ Evan Lysacek had in fact won the gold. This came as a major upset, and also makes Lysacek the first U.S. men’s skater to win the gold since Brian Boitano in 1988. Congrats to Evan!!!
And in women’s skiing, Lindsy Vonn was hoping to win yet another gold medal. Prior to the Olympics, Vonn was injured, but she did surprise everyone by winning a Gold on Wednesday. Well, yesterday didn’t yield such positive results. Just about 20 seconds from the finish line,Vonn’s right ski was got on one of the slalom gates and she fell. Many thought this was due to her injury, but her coach thinks it was just aggressive skiing. However, Vonn said her ankle is killing her right now. Vonn still has another event coming up on Saturday, and hopefully she will have a chance to rest up, heal, and give it her best.
BASKETBALL
And in the NBA, there was yet another major 3-team deal. The Rockets sent Tracy McGrady to New York. Essentially, McGrady is a salary dump, and the Knicks will probably get rid of him during the summer. Knicks rookie Jordan Hill and Jared Jeffries will head to Houston. Meanwhile, the Rockets also acquired the Kings Kevin Martin (a secretly great player). The Kings will receive Carl Landry from the Rockets and Larry Hughes from the Knicks. This trade was all about shedding money for the Knicks. They are going to make a serious push for LeBron James in the off-season (and maybe Dwayne Wade), and they need all the money they can get. The Rockets however have now reloaded and have a very exciting team. Their General Manager is quite a crafty guy, and if they get Yao Ming back, they will definitely be super competitive in the West next year.
