WATERCOOLER CHAT: BRUINS BACK, BAD NEWS FOR USC, GOLDEN STATE HAS NEW HEAD COACH

HOCKEY

The Vancouver Canucks have had one of the best seasons in NHL History.  They are a force!  They stumbled in the first few rounds of the playoffs, even being pushed to the brink once in a Game 7, but they bounced back and learned from those close calls.  Going into last night, they had a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Boston Bruins and everybody was calling a sweep.  Nobody believed that the Bruins had the talent to even keep up with the Canucks.  Boston took that to heart as the game got to their home ice, and put an absolute shallacking on Vancouver.  The Canucks simply didn’t know what hit them.  They put up 8 goals against an incredible team, and only gave up 1!!!  They are now back in these Finals in a major way, and have all the momentum.  Clearly, Vancouver got caught sleeping, and we can expect a very exciting Game 4.  Boston 8, Vancouver 1.

FOOTBALL

In college football, more bad news for the USC Trojans.  They’ve already been banned from post-season play this season, lost a healthy number of scholarships for recruiting, and even were stripped of Reggie Bush’s Heisman Trophy (because he received gifts throughout his college experience).  Now, the NCAA has taken USC out of the history books.  They have erased their 2004 National Championship from the record.  It’s as if it never happened.  For those that can’t remember, USC destroyed Oklahoma in that game 55-19, but it’s because they were stacked with the nation’s best players — most of whom were receiving illegal gifts as a form of luring them to the school.  It’s going to take a few years to turn this program around, but they sure were fun to watch this decade.

BASKETBALL

And the Golden State Warriors have found their new head coach.  This past season, the Warriors came under new ownership.  And last week, they brought in Jerry West to make some key executive decisions for the franchise.  There was a lot of speculation as to whom their new coach would be.  Many thought it would either be Rick Adelman or Lakers assistant Brian Shaw.  But, the Warriors decided to go with a fresh face from the sidelines, selecting Mark Jackson as the new head coach.  Jackson is a much revered figure in NBA circles.  He had a reputation as a very smart player for both the Knicks and Pacers, and has been a spectacular analyst on television.  They thought with him running the ship, it would give the Warriors a fresh identity (as opposed to going with one of the journeymen coaches in the NBA).  This is Jackson’s first time as a head coach, and sometimes not being jaded by other head coaches leadership style gives coaches an opportunity to truly create a special strategy for a team.  The Warriors have a lot of young talent, a dedicated fan base (when good) and are even located in a big, rich market (Norther California/San Fran).  They might be the surprise team in the West next season.

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