Archive for August, 2013

WATERCOOLER CHAT: MANNING HITTING STRIDE, TEBOW QUESTION, LEBRON’S PROMISE CAMPAIGN

FOOTBALL

In the NFL, Peyton Manning said in a Sirius XM radio interview yesterday that he felt a lot better in his second year in Denver.  Everyone saw the brilliant performance that Manning put on in 2012, but Manning has a lot more up his sleeve for this season.  He said he is much more comfortable with his receivers now, knowing exactly how they will run and come out of a route.  Because of this, he can throw his passes more precisely and cater them specifically to what the receiver will do.  Manning said that HE didn’t notice, but his receivers have been pointing out that his balls hit them more in stride.  The Broncos should be very dangerous this season.
The media is now circling Patriots coach Bill Belichick for answers on Tim Tebow’s status with the team.  Tebow is currently penciled in as the 3rd string QB behind Tom Brady and Ryan Mallett, but Mallett left their first pre-season game hurt, which brought in Tebow for a couple of series.  Tebow did nothing to impress, but the media still wants answers about where Tebow stands.  Belichick took the podium, and in Belichick fashion, told reporters that he wasn’t ready to talk about  that at this time.  so get ready for some Tebow drama in New England. 

BASKETBALL

Elsewhere in sports, LeBron James is continuing his off-season vacation touring the nation.  However, it’s not all basketball and endorsements for LeBron.   LeBron is involved in an “I Promise” campaign which encourages kids to stay in school.  LeBron has been going to elementary and middle schools across the nation, forcing kids to “Promise” that they will stay in school among other positive things.  LeBron is really turning into a genuine role model for kids that goes beyond just being a great basketball player.  It will be interesting to see what else he decides to do philanthropically during his career.

 

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WATERCOOLER CHAT: MANUEL PLAYS ENTIRE GAME, RYAN MISSES SANCHEZ INTERCEPTION, A-ROD HOMERUN, DUFNER WINS PGA

FOOTBALL

Football fans started to pay attention this weekend to the pre-season NFL battles.  In one choice highlight, the Buffalo Bills looked surprisingly good against the Indianapolis Colts, and they put up a lot of points.  Florida State star quarterback E.J. Manuel is likely going to take the reigns for the Bills this year, and they wanted him to get experience right away.  They let Manuel play the entire first half to cut his teeth.  Manuel threw for 107 yards and touchdown and the Bills liked what they saw.  Manuel still has a long way to go before people go gaga over him, but this is definitely a solid start.  Buffalo 44, Indianapolis 20.

Rex Ryan, head coach of the New York Jets,  got some heat this weekend for saying the didn’t watch his quarterbacks, specifically Mark Sanchez’s interception returned for a touchdown in the pre-season opener against the Detroit Lions. Ryan was huddled with his defensive players during the play.  Jets lost 17-26.

 

BASEBALL

 

Elsewhere, even though Alex Rodriguez is technically suspended throughout the entirety of next season, he’s still playing this season.  And yesterday against the Tigers, Alex Rodriguez finally came back from his injury and long-stint in the minor leagues.  Of course, to add fire to the flames, A-Rod knocked a homerun blast off of Justin Verlander.  All this after the controversy surrounding his use of performance enhancing drugs.  That got fans shaking their heads.  Rodriguez’ reappearance likely won’t help the Yankees much, as their offense is pretty poor this season.  New York 5, Detroit 4.

GOLF

In the PGA Championship.  A lot of people were curious to see if Tiger Woods could continue reigning supreme.  But a new face came to the foreground in this tourney.  Actually, a stoic face, in Jason Dufner.  Dufner doesn’t exactly smile much, but he did enough to take home the coveted PGA Championship.  He even got a kiss from his girlfriend while holding the trophy.

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WATERCOOLER CHAT: LEBRON AT JURY DUTY, MO TO BLAZERS, KEMP’S FAN

BASKETBALL

Even though LeBron James may be the King of the World right now — a reigning champ with 2 rings on his finger, that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have to do Jury Duty.  Yesterday, LeBron posted to Instagram that he was ready to go do his civic duty.  Imagine showing up in the jury room, and seeing LeBron James waiting there bored just like you.  And he still runs the same chance as everybody else getting on a long trial, although you would have to imagine the lawyers would dismiss him as a distraction.

Elsewhere in the NBA, the Portland TrailBlazers are trying to become this year’s Golden State Warriors: a young team that is finally starting to put the pieces in place to make a playoff run.  Thursday, they added veteran point guard Mo Williams.  Williams will back up their rookie of the year Damien Lillard, but he also adds some veteran leadership to a team that is full of talent.  A strategic move by the Blazers.

BASEBALL

Finally, in a sad story out of the baseball world, the young terminally ill fan who befriended the Dodgers’ Matt Kemp died yesterday.  Joshua Jones was a huge Matt Kemp fan, and in a road game in San Francisco, Matt Kemp ran over to Joshua and gave him a signed ball, his jersey, his hat, and his shoes.  It was an incredible moment that went viral.  Thursday, Matt Kemp got the call that Jones had died, and it hit Kemp hard.  Kemp said he didn’t think it was going to happen that soon.   Here is the viral video:

YouTube – Videos from this email
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WATERCOOLER CHAT: WELKER CHIDED, JENNINGS BRAINWASHED, SHABAZZ KICKED OUT

FOOTBALL

In the NFL, now that former New England Patriots’ wide receiver,  Wes Welker is about to start next season with the Denver Broncos, he is opening up about his former Patriots coach Bill Belichick.  Welker said that he “put up with” Belichick, explaining to the media that he never liked when Belichick chided him in front of the entire team.  Welker said that all of Belichick’s yelling seemed to be a new thing towards the end of his six-year stint with the team, and that this is definitely one of the reasons he wanted to get out of town.  Welker said that he feels like he can be more of himself in Denver — that there is a more open attitude there.  Either way, Peyton Manning is sure happy that Belichick mistreated Welker, because now he’s got another incredible end zone target.

And in some more news about athletes gossiping about their former team, new Vikings wide receiver Greg Jennings said that he was practically “brainwashed” while in Green Bay.   He said that the organization indoctrinates its team members to think that the rest of the teams in the division are lower tier teams, and that everything in Green Bay is the absolute best.  And, why is this brainwashing,? Every team thinks they’re better than every other team (or at least they should).  That’s the nature of competition, but apparently Jennings found this unsettling, and feels much more at home on his new team.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, this week is the annual rookies educational camp in which rookies attend a workshop learning how to deal with the lifestyle of a professional basketball player.  They learn how to handle their money, how to deal with the media, and most importantly how to avoid the wrong people (e.g. people looking to hustle them, steal their money, or sue them).  Well, one of the main rules at the camp is “No guests allowed”.  That may be the case, but Timberwolves rookie and former UCLA standout Shabazz Muhammad didn’t seem to care, as he invited a girl back to his room.  The NBA had no tolerance for that, so they booted him right out of camp.  If he can’t follow that simple rule for a few days, how well is he going to take specific directions from a coach.

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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.

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WATERCOOLER CHAT: AROD SUSPENDED FOR 211 GAMES, RODGERS’ REPLACEMENT, HARD KNOCKS NEW SEASON

BASEBALL

The league has thrown the hammer on Alex Rodriguez.  Alex Rodriguez was suspected for using a form of performance-enhancer called Biogenesis.  Now, the league has decided that A-Rod will be suspended past the 2014 season.  That’s a 211 game suspension.  This might mark the end of A-Rod’s career, although it’s likely that some team will find a use for the aging slugger when he is eligible to play again. A-Rod is expected to appeal so you haven’t heard the end of this.

FOOTBALL

In the NFL, while the Packers may arguably have the best quarterback in the game in Aaron Rodgers, they have had trouble finding a serviceable back-up.  Fortunately for them, Rodgers has never suffered a significant injury, and they haven’t had to worry about someone taking the reigns.  Matt Flynn impressed two seasons ago in one late-season game against the Lions, and they quickly lost him to free agency.  Now, they think they have found their back-up in Vince Young.  Young started with the Titans, then did two unsuccessful stints with the Eagles and the Bills.  However, Young has said that he feels he can still compete in this league, and the Packers were willing to give him a chance.  If Rodgers did go down, hopefully Young could step in and get the job done.

Finally, if you’re in the mood for one of the best sports shows of all time, HBO’s Hard Knocks starts again Tuesday at 10:00pm.  This year, HBO is covering the Cincinnati Bengals again.  People loved watching the Bengals before because Chad “OchoCinco” Johnson was so entertaining.  In fact, a lot of people thought he signed with the Dolphins last year just so he could be on the show again (Dolphins featured last year).  This year, the Benglas won’t have Ochocinco to amuse us, but the reviews for the show are extremely positive, and critics are saying that the Bengals are just as much fun to watch without Ochocinco around.  Tune in.

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WATERCOOLER CHAT: JOHNNY FOOTBALL IN TROUBLE, FANTASY PRO BOWL, TIGER BACK ON TOP

FOOTBALL

In college football, Heisman Trophy winning Johnny Manziel is in the limelight again. The NCAA is investigating Manziel for possibly accepting money for signing autographs.  If this is the case, there is a chance he could be suspended for the season.  This would be a huge blow to both Manziel and college football in general, as Texas A&M is projected to have a possible run at the National Championship.  If Manziel doesn’t play, this is also a big problem for the NCAA, as he is a huge media draw and will definitely boost ratings.  They need him on the field, but rules are rules.  We’ll see how this one plays out.
And in the NFL, there is a major overhaul to the Pro Bowl.  They are ditching the AFC v. NFC format.  Instead, there will be two honorary captains who will pick their dream football team.  This is the same format as the NHL all-star game, purportedly more fun for the fans.  Everyone likes a fantasy draft.  However,  Hall of Famer, Jerry Rice said that the biggest problem with the Pro Bowl is that the players simply don’t care; they don’t consider it an honor, and thus don’t play hard.  They don’t want to jeopardize their NFL careers by playing too hard and risking an injury.  The new format is slightly safer, and won’t have kickoffs (the cause of a lot of injuries).   Jerry Rice said that he thinks the new format will raise eyebrows, but probably won’t save the game.  We may not see the Pro Bowl much longer.

GOLF

Finally, in golf, Tiger Woods is back on top.  On Sunday, Tiger took home the Bridgestone Championship trophy, edging his competition by a healthy 7 strokes.  Tiger has always done well at Bridgestone.  His comrade Rory McIlroy said “He does well on every course he plays, but he comes back to a few courses on tour that he seems to really excel at.”  Tiger has been up and down this year, but capturing this championship gives Woods his 79th tour win.

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WATERCOOLER CHAT: MLB TO IMPOSE PENALTIES BY MONDAY, FIRST FEMALE REFEREE IN TRAINING

BASEBALL

Major League baseball is expected to impose penalties on accused baseball players tied to performance enhancing drugs by Monday. The reason for imposing the penalties by early in the week is that the players could possibly serve their suspensions now so they could still contribute come playoff time. Alex Rodriguez is one of 14 players on MLB’s list and while most of the players listed will serve a 50 game ban, it appears that MLB will serve A-Rodwith a 200 game ban. And, if he doesn’t accept this suspension, he could be kicked out of baseball for life.  It’s reported that A-Rod will fight the suspension. He’s 38 years old and as baseball’s highest paid player ($38 million),  he may not want to take any time off let alone have this scandal permanently tied to his record.

FOOTBALL

We could be watching history in the making this NFL season with the first female referee. Sarah Thomas is in the NFL’s officiating development program and currently training in New Orleans at the Saints’ facility. It would be fun to see her on the field this season!

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