WATERCOOLER CHAT: JOHNNY FOOTBALL’S PROFITS, COOPER’S RACIAL SLURS, NBA OPENING LINE UP
FOOTBALL
In college football, a report came out yesterday claiming that Johnny Manziel profited from $7,500 in autographs. Apparently, according to sources, his friend was behind the sales effort. If this is found to be accurate, the NCAA could suspend him for a full season.  In college football, players are not supposed to profit in any way, shape, or form from their likeness. However, ESPN’s Jay Bilas posted to Twitter a severe irony. When you go to Amazon.com and type in “Johnny Manziel”, many items and jerseys come up and someone is clearly profiting from his likeness. They can make a fortune off of him, but he’s not allowed to make anything? Sounds extremely hypocritical.
In the NFL, Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper got in some hot water recently when a video was released of him uttering a racial slur. The video went viral, and many of his African American teammates were quite upset.  Yesterday, after going to various counseling sessions, Cooper returned to the team for practice, and said that he was welcomed back with open arms by most of his teammates. They were all friends before, and are ready to have him back. However, Cooper said he doesn’t want their forgiveness because that puts the burden on THEM. He wants all the blame to rest squarely on his shoulders. He has to earn back their trust and friendship.
BASKETBALL
Finally, in the NBA, the opening games have been announced. The season will open with the Miami Heat v. the Chicago Bulls in what should be a rivalry this year in the East. We will get to see LeBron start his quest for a 3-peat, and also witness the return of the Bull’s Derrick Rose. Will he be back to true form? These teams will probably be at each other’s throats this season, as they are predicted to meet in the Conference Finals. Then, in the later game, it’s the Los Angeles Lakers (without Dwight Howard) vs. the new-look Los Angeles Clippers under new coach Doc Rivers.
