WATERCOOLER CHAT: LILLARD ROOKIE OF THE YEAR, BLACKMON DUI, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS LARGEST STADIUM
BASKETBALL
The big/anticipated award in the NBA is for rookie of the year. Going into the season, many thought the winner would be the #1 overall pick (as it usually is) Anthony Davis from Kentucky. While Davis did have a good season, injuries derailed him from being in contention for the award. The #2 overall pick Michael Kidd-Gilchrist still has a lot of potential, but his rookie season in Charlotte was lackluster at best. So this year, the winner of the award was actually the #6 overall pick, showing that there are diamonds beyond the Top 3. Yep, Damian Lillard took the award after a fantastic season playing point guard for the Portland Trail Blazers. Despite his efforts, the Blazers missed the playoffs, but they are a young team with a lot of talent and should be in the playoff hunt next year.FOOTBALL
In the NFL, second year star wide receiver Justin Blackmon was caught during the off-season on a DUI charge. The NFL has a NO substance abuse policy, and yesterday the NFL suspended Blackmon for the first 4 games of the season. This stuff happens occasionally in the NFL, but… this one will have a serious financial concern on Blackmon. As part of his contract, Blackmon deferred his guaranteed money for a more lucrative bonus offer based on performance; incentives more or less. This means that if he hits certain season-long milestones (e.g. receptions, receiving yards, etc…), he would be entitled to more money than he made up front. With the suspension, it said in his contract that some of these incentives are null and void. So basically by driving drunk, he not only was a danger on the road, but he cost himself a ton of money.
And in college football, Texas A&M’s move to the SEC has been a tremendous success. Among other things, last year, they realized they had a Heisman winner in quarterback Johnny Manzie,. Now they’re taking steps to try and battle the University of Texas as the flag ship team in the state. They believe that they can ascend to one of the top athletic programs, and that’s why they just approved plans to expand their stadium to hold 102,500 people. That would make it the largest stadium in the SEC, surpassing the University of Tennessee. Next year, they’re projected as a National Championship contender, and it will be exciting to see if they can live up to the hype.
