WATERCOOLER CHAT: JETS GET TEBOW, BOUNTY SCANDAL PENALTY, SHAKA TO STAY AT VCU

FOOTBALL

In the NFL, the ‘Where Will Tim Tebow Go’ drama didn’t last long.  One team wanted him badly, and got him.  That team… the New York Jets.  Even thought they recently signed their quarterback Mark Sanchez to a 3-year deal, the Jets believe that Tebow will be a serviceable back-up, but, more importantly, they think that Tebow could be a good character guy in New York.  Tebow inspired the Broncos every week, and for the Jets, a team with a locker room in disarray, having a good-character like Tebow around could make people come together.   Tebow may even come in as a decoy on plays to confuse opposing defenses.   Either way, this will keep the Jets extremely relevant next season.

Elsewhere in the NFL, the penalty has finally come down on the New Orleans Saints for their ‘bounty’ scandal.  As a refresher, Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was offering players additional money to lay injury-causing hits on opposing players.  For example, he would tell his linebackers that they would get $1500 if they could knock the opposing quarterback out of the game.  In case you didn’t know, that’s definitely against the rules in the NFL.  And Saints head coach Sean Peyton knew everything that was going on for a few seasons, but didn’t do anything about it.  The NFL has imposed their penalty:  a one-year suspension.  That’s serious, and sends a definite message to other coaching staffs never to try something like this.  As for Williams, he is suspended indefinitely (and that might be something in the range of 3 or 4 years).  In fact, that might just force him into early retirement.  This is a nasty story, but justice had to be done.

BASKETBALL

Finally, in college basketball, the University of Illinois program has been terrible the past few seasons.  Back in 2005 and 2006, they had a very respectable program that even went to the National Championship Game, led by point-guard Deron Williams (now a superstar in the NBA).  But since then, they’ve been horrible.  They finally parted ways with their head coach, and were looking for someone to lead them back to national prominence.  Their first choice:  VCU head coach Shaka Smart — a guy who led a tiny school in Virginia to the Final Four, enhanced their recruiting class, and brought them back to the tournament this year for an upset win in the first round, and just barely missing a trip to the Sweet Sixteen.  Surely they could offer a better pay check, but Smart declined their offer and will stay being a king in a small city.  Probably the right move on his part.

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