WATERCOOLER CHAT: RAIDERS IN DISARRAY, WHITNER-HITNER CLOTHING, RAYS SHUT OUT INDIANS
FOOTBALL
In the NFL, the Oakland Raiders are the middle of another season of disarray. They have been going with 2nd year quarterback Terrelle Pryor, but Pryor has suffered some injuries, making him a questionable start every game. Last week, high-paid back-up Matt Flynn came in, and played decently, but still wound up losing the game against the Washington Redskins. Now, Matt Flynn, the guy who was once paid $20million by the Seattle Seahawks sight unseen, has been relegated to the 3rd string quarterback. They are clearly not impressed by this guy. They even chose an un-drafted rookie, Matt McGloin, ahead of Flynn as their primary back-up quarterback. This is why it’s risky to pay a lot of money upfront before someone is truly tested in the system.
Elsewhere in the NFL, San Francisco defensive star Donte Whitner was fined $21,000 for a relatively hard hit on a Rams player in last Thursday night’s game. Whitner didn’t think he should have been fined, as he was only making a standard hit in the end zone to try and get the player to drop the ball. Now that he has a violent reputation, Whitner said he is changing his name from “Whitner” to “Hitner”, suggesting that he only makes hard hits. Whitner even said he’s going to start manufacturing a “Hitner” clothing line.
BASEBALL
Finally, in baseball, it was the American League Wild Card one-game playoff between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cleveland Indians. Cleveland is definitely America’s most deprived city in terms of sporting success, and they desperately wanted this team to at least earn the right to play the Boston Red Sox in a full playoff series. Fortunately for Cleveland fans, the Indians are the hottest team in baseball right now. And those are usually the teams that wind up making a big run in the playoffs. But, Tampa Bay’s pitching was too fierce, and the Rays bats came to play. The Rays shut out the Indians, and earned the right to take on the Red Sox. Cheer up, Cleveland — the Browns are on a 2-game win streak. Tampa Bay 4, Cleveland 0.
