Archive for August 16th, 2011

WATERCOOLER CHAT: THOME HITS 600, JOHNSON WANTS HIGHEST PAID, SANCHEZ WANTED TO PUNCH RYAN

BASEBALL

The major story of the night was in the baseball world, as Jim Thome was aiming for the record books.  Only 7 men in baseball history have hit 600 home runs, and Jim Thome was hoping to join that club.  He was just two shy of 600 homers, but nobody expected to see what he did last night.  In front of an excited Detroit Tigers stadium, Minnesota Twins slugger Thome blasted not 1, but 2 HOME RUNS IN THE SAME GAME to join the elite ranks of 600 home runs.  Make that 8 guys to achieve that mark.  And to top it all off, the Twins won the game too.  Minnesota 9, Detroit 6.

FOOTBALL

And in the NFL, Tennessee Titans running-back Chris Johnson is winning his hold-out battle.  He knows that he’s the centerpiece of the Titans offense, and that they better pay him what he wants.  The Titans stated publicly that if Johnson came to camp, they would make him the highest paid running-back in the league.   That usually assuages the ego of these player, but not Johnson — he wants even MORE than the highest-paid running back.  And again, this makes sense.  He’s arguably the best running-back in the league, and is in a supreme position of leverage with the Titans.  The larger problem is that running-back salaries aren’t on par with some of the other positions in the league, and Johnson is much more concerned with being one of the highest paid players in the NFL, not just highest paid running-backs.

Finally, from the NFL, a nice little gossip story.  Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez is both the darling and scapegoat of New York.  If the Jets play well, they love him, but if he has a bad game, they want him… removed.  Last year, Jets head coach Rex Ryan almost benched Sanchez for two consecutive poor performances in important games.  And for those that don’t know, Ryan has a reputation for being supremely difficult.  He’s definitely the type of guy who doesn’t watch what he says.  That’s probably why Sanchez told GQ Magazine that he felt like punching Rex Ryan during that time.  Clearly, that would have been the end of Sanchez in New York, but for a quarterback to come out and say that about his coach, if even in a euphemistic fashion, is rather bold.  Either way, the Jets are in serious position to win a Super Bowl this year.

Share
No comments