Water Cooler – October 29th, 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!
Whether or not you’re a fight fan, perhaps the biggest sports story of the week comes from the world of mixed martial arts. Find out the UFC’s “major announcement” in today’s news.
UFC news: UFC merges with WEC, will adopt two new weight classes
If you’re a UFC fan, things just got a whole lot more interesting. Yesterday, UFC President Dana White announced that the UFC had merged with the WEC, another fight promotion under its ownership, effective in 2011. The results will be temporarily chaotic but ultimately very exciting.
The featherweight and bantamweight classes now move into the UFC, giving it seven divisions. That means Jose Aldo, considered one of the top three or four pound-for-pound fighters on the planet, now fights in the UFC. Cool stuff. There will be a temporary, boxing-like scare at first when the lightweight and welterweight classes have two belts but those problems will be fixed with UFC/WEC unification bouts soon.
NFL news: Kiwanuka out for season
The Giants’ powerhouse pass rush will play the rest of 2010 with a bit less bite. Defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka flew out of the gate with four sacks in his first three games but was diagnosed with a cervical disc problem in his neck. The Giants tried to wait out the injury but it isn’t healing fast enough. They placed Kiwanuka on injured reserve yesterday, ending his season.
MLB news: Jose Guillen implicated in HGH probe
Jose Guillen was likely disappointed after being left off San Francisco’s postseason roster because of a neck injury. Now, the news for him is going from bad to worse. Guillen has been linked to a federal investigation into performance-enhancing drugs. It isn’t the first time he’s been connected to PEDs. IN 2007, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that he purchased more than $19,000 worth of HGH between 2002 and 2005.
NHL news: Marian Hossa out “weeks”; Havlat’s agent slams Wild
The Chicago Blackhawks were eager to see what Marian Hossa could do over a full season after he started last year late. They won’t find out this year. Hossa flew out of the gate with 11 points in his first 11 games but suffered an upper-body injury against the Kings on Wednesday.
Coach Joel Quenneville claims the injury is “not of a serious nature” but Hossa will miss at least a couple of weeks.
Martin Havlat’s agent is none too impressed with the Minnesota Wild. Allan Walsh ripped them for using his client in a “purely secondary role.” He went on:
“Look at this season. He’s played four straight games at about 14 minutes of ice time, he’s used on the second power-play unit, he sits for long stretches, he’s not used in the shootouts. At a certain point in time, one has to ask, ‘Why is he here?’ One has to ask, ‘Why pay this guy $30 million not to play?’”
I smell a trade. Seriously, L.A., it’s time to step up. You missed out on Kovalchuk. Time to atone.
Comments are welcome below!
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