Monday Water Cooler – April 19th, 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!
As always, the weekend gave us plenty to report in Monday’s news, including everything from a boxer’s suicide to a no-hitter.
Boxing news: Former champion Edwin Valero commits suicide
Just four hours after being arrested and charged with his wife’s murder, former WBC lightweight champion Edwin Valero is dead. The Venezuelan boxer reportedly hanged himself in his jail cell using his own clothes.
Valero was a dominant fighter, sporting a 27-0 record with 27 knockouts. He never fought in the United States because he suffered brain hemorrhaging after a motorcycle accident in 2001 and most American jurisdictions refuse to license any fighters with brain injuries.
MLB news: Olivo predicted Jimenez’s no-hitter
If you take a good look at Ubaldo Jimenez’s stuff – which includes the highest average fastball velocity among major-league starters – I suppose you’d react the way catcher Miguel Olivo did last year. During the World Baseball Classic, Olivo caught Ubaldo Jimenez on Team Dominican Republic. He was so impressed with Jimenez’s talent that he told Jimenez that he’d throw a no-hitter someday.
Then, after joining Jimenez on the Rockies this year, Olivo told him after a February bullpen session: “Someday, you’re going to throw a no-hitter.”
After catching him in a spring-training start in March: “Someday, I’m telling you, no-hitter.”
Well, Olivo was onto something, wasn’t he? Jimenez pitched the first no-no in Rockies’ history on Saturday night against Atlanta.
More wacky stuff happened Saturday night in the majors. The Mets and Cardinals battled to a ridiculous, 20-inning 2-1 final score. Among the more interesting factoids that came from that marathon, which was a scoreless tie through 18 innings:
Position players Felipe Lopez and Joe Mather pitched the final three innings for St. Louis and Lopez pitched a scoreless inning; pitcher Kyle Lohse played the last three innings in left field and made two putouts; Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez estimated that he warmed up 10 times and threw 100 pitches in the bullpen before entering the game in the 19th inning; The Mets used 24 of their 25 rostered players, with only Oliver Perez never getting the call.
NFL news: Roethlisberger suspension to come by Tuesday
He’s no Tiger Woods, but I’ll be glad with the Ben Roethlisberger situation is settled. It’s dragging on, isn’t it? Mercifully, it appears the NFL will make its decision on his possible suspension by Tuesday at the latest.
Most sources believe commissioner Roger Goodell will in fact suspend Big Ben, but the length of the penalty is anyone’s guess. Reportedly, Goodell became increasingly angry throughout last week as more information from the sexual assault investigation became public. For example, several witness indicated that Roethlisberger’s entourage blocked people from entering the bathroom where the alleged incident took place.
NBA news: Garnett suspended for Game 2 against Heat
The Celtics find themselves in a hole already. Sure, they beat the Miami Heat in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarter-final, but they’ll be hard pressed to win Game 2 now that Kevin Garnett won’t play. The NBA suspended KG for drilling Quentin Richardson in the head with an elbow during the final minute of play.
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