WATERCOOLER CHAT: CHARGERS NAME MCCOY AS HEAD COACH, MARTINEZ KICKS HEAD, HOOSIERS LOSE TO WISCONSIN
FOOTBALL
In the NFL, one of the many coaching vacancies has been filled, as the San Diego Chargers settled on Mike McCoy as their new head coach. McCoy was the offensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos the last 4 seasons. Sure, the Broncos had one of the top offenses in the NFL under McCoy and new quarterback Peyton Manning, but remember that McCoy was also running the show when the offense played well over mediocre quarterbacks Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow. Imagine what McCoy will be able to do with a dynamic quarterback like Philip Rivers. Look for the Chargers to turn it around next season.
BASKETBALL
And in some disturbing news out of the college basketball world, some trouble in Wyoming of all places. Luke Martinez helped the Wyoming basketball team get out to a 12-0 lead this season, a fantastic beginning for a program that is usually completely off the radar. But, the other night, Martinez got into a fight at a local bar and reportedly, according to police, kicked the head of an unconscious victim like it was a football. According to witnesses, Martinez got a running start, and kicked an unconscious man in the head. Now, he faces charges, and has been suspended from Wyoming basketball indefinitely.
Finally, in college basketball, the Indiana Hoosiers started out as the #1 team in the nation. They dropped a game to Butler, and Tuesday got a huge shock from unranked Wisconsin. Everybody inside (and outside) of Indiana is excited that the Hoosiers are actually a scary program to play again (as they have been one of the most historic programs in college basketball), so nobody expected them to suddenly lose to Wisconsin. Are they slipping? They better tighten up before March, because there are a lot of expectations for this program to reach the Final Four, if not win it.
WATERCOOLER CHAT: LANCE OPENS TO OPRAH, BELCHER WAS DRUNK, MISS ALABAMA GETTING TWEETS
CYCLING
The big news of the day was Oprah Winfrey’s candid interview with now disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong. For a decade, Armstrong said he never used performance enhancing drugs, but he promised to be open and honest with Oprah on any question she asked him. She asked him straight up, and Armstrong admitted that he did in fact use performance enhancing drugs to win the Tour De France. Armstrong also apologized to his charity LIVESTRONG for misrepresenting them. At the same time, Armstrong had to be careful about what he said because there are still legal repercussions. People can still sue him, and his admissions on Oprah could be used in the courtroom. Either way, it was an emotional day on Oprah, and it will be interesting to see what Armstrong does next with his life.
FOOTBALL
And there is follow-up the sad situation of Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher, who shot his girlfriend 9 times and then killed himself at the team facilities. According to the autopsy report, Belcher was drunk when he committed the crime and the suicide. Sure, there were definitely more issues at play, but it just gets extra depressing considering that it was all done in a drunken state. This was a horrible tragedy that could have been prevented, but unfortunately it happened. All teams can do now is try to care for their players in both a physical and mental regard.
Finally, ESPN is apologizing to Miss Alabama Katherine Webb. Webb is the girlfriend of Crimson Tide quarterback A.J. McCarron. She was featured in the stands, and ESPN’s color commentator Brent Mussberger said some suggestive comments about her, basically implying that she was really really pretty. Well that attention caused Webb to gain an additional 120,000 twitter followers during the course of the game and made her a public figure overnight. ESPN feels bad for drawing attention to sexuality during a sporting event, and has issued a public apology to Webb. Although there is no indicator whether or not Webb was actually offended by the comments.
