WATERCOOLER CHAT: MICHAEL SAM TELLS WORLD HE’S GAY, RUSSIANS WIN SKATING GOLD, CHEEKS FIRED
FOOTBALL
In college football,  Michael Sam, a defensive end at Missouri and NFL Draft Prospect, has come out and told the world he is gay. This is a big deal, because unlike Jason Collins (former NBA player), who came out at the end of his career, Sam is coming out at the beginning. He is hoping this admission won’t affect his draft prospects and is career in the NFL.    He said: “It’s a big deal. No one has done this before. And it’s kind of a nervous process, but I know what I want to be … I want to be a football player in the NFL.” (Los Angeles Times)
OLYMPICS
And in the Olympics, the Russians are off to a great start in skating, as they took home the gold for team figure skating. This is the first gold for Russia in these games, but they are always strong in figure skating, which dates back at least 50 years.  There is still a long way to go in the skating competition, including the individual and the overall gold medal champion, and there’s a good chance Russia will be standing atop the podium again.
BASKETBALL
In the NBA, the Detroit Pistons were expected to be major competitors in the East coming into the season. They have two young big guys in Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe. Then they went out and got all-star Josh Smith from Atlanta, and a very good rising-star point guard in Brandon Jennings. It looked like a fantastic starting line-up. But, of course, that was only on paper. In actuality, they are only 21-29, and that’s not acceptable for a franchise that just spent a lot of money trying to become relevant again. Thus, it was time for head coach Maurice Cheeks to go. The Pistons gave him his pink slip over the weekend, hoping that they can find a new guy to turn things around.
