Monday Water Cooler – April 23rd, 2010
Here we go with today’s sports water cooler talk. Here, you won’t just find the straight news; you’ll find the stuff everyone is talking about – the ice breakers, the Twitter Sports Picks and topics…well, basically all the stuff you discuss at the water cooler.
Enjoy!
The NFL draft ended with a barrage of trades and some big roster cuts.
We’ll kick off the week’s news by reviewing some of weekend’s most significant deals.
NFL news: Campbell to Raiders; Seahawks load up on running backs; Jets cut Faneca
We saw a bunch of deals go down in the wee hours of the 2010 NFL draft but perhaps the most significant was the one that sent quarterback Jason Campbell from Washington to Oakland in exchange for a draft pick. It may not have seemed that way because of his conservative offense and general jitters in Washington but Campbell can actually throw a deep ball; that should keep Al Davis happy. Not so happy: JaMarcus Russell. He could be cut any day now. Stay tuned.
The Seattle Seahawks were busy over the weekend. Apparently not satisfied with Justin Forsett or Julius Jones as the go-to guys in their backfield, they acquired LenDale White from the Titans, reuniting him with former USC coach Pete Carroll. They followed up that deal by bringing in speedy scatback Leon Washington, apparently hoping for a broken-leg discount.
Other moves on the weekend included the Raiders sending Kirk Morrison to the Jaguars and the Jets releasing pricy guard Alan Faneca.
MLB news: Fan falls at Miller Park; Pirates’ Jakubauskas concussed by line drive
It was, apparently, a violent weekend in the majors. First off, an unfortunate spectator tumbled 14 feet while reaching over the left-field rail at Miller park during Cubs’ batting practice. The fan, who was decked out in Cubs gear for the road game and trying to catch foul balls, was in his 20s. No word on whether or not he was inebriated, but I certainly have a guess.
The carnage didn’t end there. Pirates’ starter Chris Jakubauskas got drilled in the head with a comebacker yesterday and was taken to the hospital, where he was later diagnosed with a concussion and head contusion. He apparently didn’t lose consciousness, however, and is expected to make a full recovery. Now he just has to avoid the heebie-jeebies the next time he takes the mound. Easier said than done; just ask Matt Clement.
NBA news: D-Wade goes off at “last game in Miami”; David Stern goes off on coaches
Yeah, yeah. We know – it could’ve been D-Wade’s last game in Miami. I personally still think he’s by far the least likely of the free agent class to leave (Miami, Cleveland or Toronto – where would you want to live?) but Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarter-final was still billed as his potential farewell to the Heat. Slash didn’t disappoint, exploding for 46 points. He scored 19 in the fourth quarter, including his team’s first 14. The Celtics as a team scored 15 in the fourth. Pretty awesome.
The usually mild-mannered NBA commissioner David Stern went on the offensive last week. Maybe he was trying to avoid more Tim Donaghy chatter; maybe he was just feeling gassy. Whatever the reason, Stern launched an attack on whiny coaches, stating that they:
“…should be quiet because this is a good business that makes them good livings and supports a lot of families, and if they don’t like it, they should go get a job someplace else. I don’t mean to be subtle.”
Way to go, David! Based on his usual demeanour, that’s the equivalent of Roger Goodell literally beheading Ben Roethlisberger.
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