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April 19th 2011: Daily Sports News – Gossip – Headlines

Sports water cooler headlines and sports gossip for Tuesday April 19th 2011. Shea Matthews weighs in with his analysis and opinions on today’s sports action…

Water Cooler – April 19th, 2011

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.

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Top PUBLIC Bets Today:

#1. 59 Detroit Red Wings 91%
#2. 954 Cincinnati Reds 91%
#3. 956 Florida Marlins 89%
#4. 952 Philadelphia Phillies 87%
#5. 970 Baltimore Orioles 87%
#6. 960 Chicago Cubs 85%
#7. 731 New Orleans Hornets 80%
#8. 979 Detroit Tigers 80%
#9. 735 Miami Heat 79%
#10. 967 Chicago White Sox 79%

Sports News – NBA news: Dwight Howard to win Defensive Player of the Year; Grizzlies extend Zach Randolph; Jason Williams to retire after season; Darren Collison injures ankle; Rick Adelman out as Rockets coach

Dwight Howard to win Defensive Player of the Year

Dwight Howard is poised to lock up his third straight Defensive Player of the Year Award. The Orlando Magic center was second in the league in rebounding (14.1/game) and fourth in blocks (2.4/game). The announcement is supposed to come today.

The Memphis Grizzlies have extended Zach Randolph with a four-year, $71-million contract. The All-Star averaged 20.1 points and 12.2 boards this season and joins Rudy and Gay and Mike Conley, who also signed long-term deals to stay in Memphis.

Jason Williams’ once-promising NBA career is fading away. He dazzled with the Sacramento Kings early in his 11-year run but “White Chocolate” is almost finished. Williams, who is playing a bench role with the Grizzlies against the San Antonio Spurs in the playoffs, told a Memphis newspaper this week that he’ll retire when the season ends.

The Indiana Pacers suffered a major blow in last night’s loss to the Chicago Bulls. Darren Collison sprained his ankle after he stepped on the foot of a photographer. He tried to return to the game but couldn’t run.

Rick Adelman was an underrated coach with the Houston Rockets, quietly guiding them to a 193-135 record, good for the best winning percentage in franchise history at .588. But his days with Houston are finished. His contract expired and he and the team have agreed to a “mutual parting.”

MLB news: Joe Nathan out, Matt Capps in as Twins closer; Barry Zito on DL; two minor trades for Blue Jays; Peavy to be examined after setback; Mike Leake arrested for shoplifting; Giants activate Ross, send Belt down

The road back from Tommy John surgery is often a rocky one and longtime Minnesota Twins closer Joe Nathan learned that over the weekend. After he blew a second straight save opportunity Saturday, manager Ron Gardenhire removed him from the closing role. Matt Capps has taken over ninth-inning duty.

Barry Zito is on the disabled list for the first time in his career. He sprained his foot on Saturday, left his start and ended up on crutches. The San Francisco Giants placed him on the 15-Day DL Sunday.

The Toronto Blue Jays were busy today, announcing a pair of minor trades. They shipped lefthanded pitcher David Purcey to the Oakland Athletics for minor-league hurler Danny Farquhar. They also traded cash to Cleveland for righthanded minor-league pitcher Yohan Pino.

It looks like the Chicago White Sox will have to wait even longer than expected before Jake Peavy returns. The righthander left Monday’s rehab start at Double-A Birmingham due to shoulder soreness. He felt discomfort around his surgically repaired latissimius dorsi muscle toward the back of his throwing shoulder. Peavy will be re-examined today.

What was Mike Leake thinking? The sophomore Reds pitcher was arrested for shoplifting on Monday. He was accused of stealing six T-shirts from a Macy’s department store, removing the security tags and leaving without paying the $59.98 he owed. Police say the incident was caught on camera. Leake was booked into a Hamilton County jail yesterday afternoon.

Leake’s attorney told him not to discuss his arrest. Leake did apologize yesterday to his family, the Reds and his fans “for this distraction.” He was the eighth overall pick in the 2009 draft.

Playoff hero Cody Ross is ready to rejoin the San Francisco Giants after being out since spring training with a strained calf. His return means the Giants will send blue-chip rookie Brandon Belt back to Triple-A. Belt is hitting only .200 on the season and thus probably needs some more seasoning anyway.

NHL news: Disciplinary hearings for Kunitz, Downie; No suspension for Torres; Boudreau rips MSG and Ranger fans

The big hits keep piling up in the NHL playoffs – some of which have created controversy. Two different disciplinary hearings will happen today, both stemming from the Penguins/Lightning series.

Pittsburgh’s Chris Kunitz will be assessed for his elbow to the head of Simon Gagne. It looked very deliberate, so I’d expect Kunitz to be suspended. Steve Downie didn’t throw an elbow but the Tampa forward left his feet to launch himself into Ben Lovejoy and could face a ban of his own.

Vancouver’s Raffi Torres won’t be suspended for his hit on Brent Seabrook in Game 3 of the Canucks/Blackhawks series. The Hawks thought it was a blindside, shoulder-to-head hit but the league thought otherwise.

Bruce Boudreau may have just made a big mistake. The Washington Capitals head coach ripped Madison Square Garden and the New York Rangers’ fans, complaining about the building’s facilities, saying that the fans weren’t that loud and that “its reputation is better than the actual building.”

Bruce – why would you say that when you have another game in New York before you head home? Expect the Ranger fans to get nice and loud tonight.

NFL news: Braylon Edwards furious over DUI charge; Devin Hester slams NFL for kickoff rule change; Vikings interested in Donovan McNabb

Free agent wide receiver Braylon Edwards is furious over his latest DUI charge. He told the New York Post it was “B.S.” and only received attention because it happened in New York City. He said he “never drives in New York,” and that “I don’t know where the heck I’m going,” He usually has a chauffeur but the circumstances were abnormal since he was leaving a former teammate’s event.

The NFL is changing up kickoffs. They’ll be moved up to the 35-yard line and only the kicker will be allowed to line up more than five yards behind the point of the kick. The change is designed to reduce the speed of collisions between players.

The NFL’s greatest kick returner of all time, Devin Hester, isn’t happy. “I think it’s just a foolish rule,” Hester said Saturday. “It’s like they don’t have nothing better to do than come up with a rule like that. There’s 1,000 rules they could’ve come up with before that rule. “

Could Donovan McNabb change teams for a second straight season? Unnamed sources in the Washington Post claim that the Vikings are “indeed” one of the teams interested in acquiring the quarterback from the Washington Redskins. However, the report says that “none of the teams” interested in him will give up much to get him since the Redskins have already “tipped their hand” that they want McNabb out of town.

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