Thursday Water Cooler – April 15th, 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!
We missed a day of news – headlined by yet another marquee NFL wideout getting traded – so we’ll catch you up on the latest in this soap-opera football offseason.
But first, let’s give our props to Kevin Durant.
NBA news: Kevin Durant becomes youngest player to win scoring title
Clap, clap, clap. Gotta hand it to Kevin Durant. After scoring 31 points last night, the Oklahoma City star eclipsed none other than LeBron James in the scoring race, finishing with 30.1 points per game. Durant, just 21 years old, passed 22-year-old Max Zaslofsky of the 1947-48 Chicago Stags to become the NBA’s youngest-ever scoring champion.
As we often see immediately after a regular season ends, winds of changes are blowing throughout the league already. The Philadelphia 76ers fired coach Eddie Jordan after just one season. Meanwhile, rumors are flying in Boston that Doc Rivers plans to leave the Celtics and possibly retire after the playoffs.
The most surprising rumor of all: The Indiana Pacers have actually considered moving the franchise to a new city if the city itself doesn’t agree to cover the cost to run Conseco Fieldhouse. Maybe it’s time for Larry Bird to get involved again? With his wallet this time?
NFL news: Brandon Marshall a Miami Dolphin
Brandon Marshall finally got his wish. The big, physical receiver was shipped from the Denver Broncos to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a second-rounder in next week’s draft and a second-rounder in 2011. Hint: don’t draft Kyle Orton in your fantasy league next year. But watch for Chad Henne and the Dolphins as a whole to improve significantly. My sources indicate that Marshall may or may not have better hands than some guy named Ted Ginn Jr.
Ben Roethlisberger update: Big Ben may not be out of the woods yet in NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s eyes. Gooddell claims that the NFL “will continue to gather more information” on the accusations of sexual assault before deciding whether or not to discipline Roethlisberger.
MLB news: Orlando Hudson hints at racism in free agency
It’s been a fun start to the regular season, with exciting debuts from guys like Jason Heyward, but talk of racism in free agency has made this week a downer – and just a day before Jackie Robinson Day, strangely enough. Twins second baseman Orlando Hudson pointed out that prominent black players like Jermaine Dye and Gary Sheffield, both of whom have plenty to offer a major-league club in his eyes, can’t find a team right now. Hudson didn’t specify the reason why but let us fill in the blanks when he said:
“We both know what it is. You’ll get it right. You’ll figure it out. I’m not gonna say it because then I’ll be in [trouble].”
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