The RMS Titanic sank on April 15, 1912. 100 years later, the U.S.S. UConn continues to take on water and may sink before all is said done.

With Jeremy Lamb and Andre Drummond off to get paid in the NBA as well as the departures of Alex Oriakhi and Michael Bradley, the UConn Huskies men’s basketball program couldn’t really afford to lose another player. Unfortunately that is happening to them again.

Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com was the first to report on Saturday that UConn sophomore small/power forward Roscoe Smith asked for and received his release from the school. Wherever Smith decides to go to school, he will have to sit out next year due to the NCAA transfer rules.

After spending most of the 2010-11 season that saw the Huskies win the 2011 NCAA Championship as a starter, Smith saw his playing time decrease this year. In 18.3 minutes of action, he averaged 4.4 points and 3.3 rebounds.

He did come on at the end of the season though and was a big reason why the Huskies were able to make the late season run into the NCAA Tournament.

Whether or not the Huskies are eligble for the postseason next year, they are in trouble. They will have only eight players plus walk-ons unless they can get someone to give them a late commitment. It’s also quite possible that Bradley returns to the school.

While it’s still too early tell, no matter what happens, it’s looking more and more like it’s going to be a long 2012-2013 season for the Huskies.

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photo credit: Bettina Hansen – Hartford Courant

Don’t worry folks, Marlon Byrd and his .070 batting average is coming to save the Boston Red Sox.

With Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury on the disabled list and Jason Repko out with a shoulder injury after crashing into the wall on Friday, the Red Sox are a little shorthanded in the outfield. So with limited options available to them, the Red Sox reached out to old friend Theo Epstein with the Chicago Cubs to get some outfield help.

The Red Sox acquired Byrd and cash considerations from the Cubs for reliever Michael Bowden and player to be named later. Bowden was designated for assignement by the Red Sox earlier in the week.

To make room on the 25-man and 40-man rosters, the Red Sox designated Nate Spears for assignment.

Here’s the full release from the Red Sox with all the details you need to know:

BOSTON, MA—The Boston Red Sox today acquired outfielder Marlon Byrd and cash considerations from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for right-handed pitcher Michael Bowden and a player to be named later.  To make room for Byrd on the 40-man roster, the club designated infielder/outfielder Nate Spears for assignment.

The announcements were made by Executive Vice President/General Manager Ben Cherington.

Byrd, 34, owns a .278 career average (1,040-for-3,735) with 215 doubles, 27 triples, 81 home runs, 438 RBI, 516 runs, 274 walks and 49 stolen bases in 1,069 Major League games over 11 seasons with the Phillies (2002-05), Nationals (2005-06), Rangers (2007-09) and Cubs (2010-12).  A 2010 All-Star, he has appeared at all three outfield positions with 810 games in center, 142 in left and 109 in right.  He has started in center field in all 13 of his games with Chicago this season and reached base safely in six of those contests, going 3-for-43 with two RBI, three walks and a run scored.  Originally selected by Philadelphia in the 10^th round of the 1999 First-Year Player Draft, Byrd has hit at a .287 clip (698-for-2,433) in 661 games since the start of the 2007 campaign.

Bowden, 25, was designated for assignment by Boston on April 15 after posting a 3.00 ERA (1 ER/3.0 IP) in two relief appearances with the club this season.  Selected by the Red Sox in the supplemental round (47^th overall) of the 2005 First-Year Player Draft, the right-hander has made 39 career Major League appearances (two starts) over the last five seasons since 2008, going 2-2 with a 5.61 ERA (37 ER/59.1 IP) and 48 strikeouts compared to 23 walks.

Spears, 26, has appeared in four games with the Red Sox since being selected to the Major League roster on April 15 and gone 0-for-4.  He played in eight games with Triple-A Pawtucket to begin the season, going 6-for-26 (.231) with two RBI, five runs and three walks.  Spears made his Major League debut with Boston last September, appearing in three games with the club.  Originally selected by Baltimore in the fifth round of the 2003 First-Year Player Draft, he has hit .272 (900-for-3,305) with 171 doubles, 43 triples, 55 home runs, 377 RBI, 536 runs, 427 walks and 85 stolen bases in 966 minor league games in the Orioles, Cubs and Red Sox organizations.

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photo credit: AP Photo

After falling yesterday 6-2 on the 100th Anniversary of Fenway Park, the Boston Red Sox look to get back on the winning side of things in the second game of a three-game set with their AL East rivals, the New York Yankees.

First pitch is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. and the game will be broadcast to 91% of the country on FOX. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to it on the Red Sox radio network.

Felix Doubront looks to keep his pitch count under control in his third start of 2012. In his previous two starts, Doubront has no record with a 5.40 ERA (6 ER/10 IP). He made three appearances out of the bullpen last year against the Yankees and had no record with a 4.91 ERA (2 ER/3.2 IP). Overall in his career, Doubront has made four appearances against the Yankees and has no record with a 3.86 ERA (2 ER/4.2 IP).

Freddy Garcia also makes his third start of the season this afternoon. In his previous two starts, Garcia is 0-1 with a 6.97 ERA (8 ER/10.1 IP). The 12-year veteran made five appearances (four starts) against the Red Sox in 2011 and was 1-2 with a 4.74 ERA. Garcia has made 21 career appearances (20 starts) against the local nine and is 9-4 with a 4.45 ERA. Nine of those appearances (eight starts) have come at the century old ballpark where he is 3-1 with a 4.32 ERA.

Click on the read more button below to see today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the overnight and day if you’re on the home page.

Here are today’s lineups:

8-6		4-9
1. Derek Jeter	DH	1. Mike Aviles	SS
2. Nick Swisher	RF	2. Ryan Sweeney	RF
3. Robinson Cano	2B	3. Dustin Pedroia	2B
4. Alex Rodriguez	3B	4. Adrian Gonzalez	1B
5. Mark Teixeira	1B	5. David Ortiz	DH
6. Curtis Granderson	CF	6. Kevin Youkilis	3B
7. Andruw Jones	LF	7. Jarrod Saltalamacchia	C
8. Russell Martin	C	8. Cody Ross	CF
9. Eduardo Nunez	SS	9. Darnell McDonald	LF
Freddy Garcia	SP	Felix Doubront	SP

And here is how the hitters have fared against today’s starting pitchers:

REFRESH OR CHECK BACK OFTEN AS MORE LINKS WILL BE ADDED BEFORE GAMETIME IF/WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE AND WILL BE BOLDED

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

Fenway’s 100th:Sox players awed by ceremony [CSN New England]

Fenway’s 100th:’A terrific event’ [CSN New England]

Video: Peter Abraham on Fenway party, Red Sox-Yankees opener [Extra Bases]

Sox and Cubs talking about a deal for Marlon Byrd [Extra Bases]

Mike Lowell: Future Red Sox Manager? [Surviving Grady]

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Photo credits: Getty Images, AP Photo

Given all the hoopla of the day with the events surrounding Fenway Park’s 100th Anniversary celebration on Friday, that the Boston Red Sox would have put a better fight than they did. After all, there were some pretty famous alumni, legends if you will, on the field with them before the game.

The players of the past helped shape the Fenway Park into what it is now. A place where the dreams of baseball players and fans can come alive and be kids again.

Instead though, the New York Highlanders (Yankees) decided to spoil the party as they took a 6-2 win over the Red Sox behind five home runs and Ivan Nova‘s right arm.

All five of the home runs that the Yankees hit yesterday came off off Clay Buchholz. It’s the second time this season a Red Sox starting pitcher has allowed five home runs in an outing. The other was Josh Beckett in his first start of 2012.

Buchholz certainly didn’t do himself any favors as the home runs were hit on pitches that missed the location he was aiming for. It was like he was grooving them into the wheelhouse of the Yankees hitter during batting practice. They were perfectly located for a home run swing. The only good thing to come from the home runs if you were a Red Sox fan is that they were all of the solo variety so the Yankees weren’t exactly blowing the local nine out.

But with Ivan Nova keeping the Red Sox hitters at bay by attacking the strike zone all afternoon, those solo home runs could have been two-run or three-run blasts as far as the scoreboard was concerned.

The start for Buchholz is concerning. It was his third straight start of 2012 that he hasn’t performed up to expectations. Of course all the blame can’t solely be placed on him as the offense is in a bit of a funk too.

Bobby Valentine tried to shake up his lineup on Friday afternoon in his first foray into the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry. While his “new” lineup resulted in ten hits on the afternoon, it only was able to push two runs across the plate.

The first run came off the bat of David Ortiz who hit a solo home run that was initially ruled a double before the umpires gave him a home run after looking at the replay. The other came when Mike Aviles doubled in Cody Ross after Nick Swisher lost the ball in the sun in right field. And by the way, both Ortiz and Aviles were the only members of the team with two hits on the afternoon.

Something needs to change with the Red Sox offense right now. Both Ryan Lavarnway and Will Middlebrooks are off to good starts in Triple-A Pawtucket. It is hard to make the case for Middlebrooks to come up though with Kevin Youkilis entrenched at third base despite his struggles. Youk did pick up a hit on the day to raise his average to .195.

But Lavarnway is a different story.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia has looked lost at the plate as his .103 average suggests. His OBP of .161 isn’t helping matters either. Salty does have an option left on his contract so it’s quite possible the Red Sox could send him down to let him work out the kinks with a little less pressure and have Lavarnway come up.

Whatever Ben Cherington and Valentine decide to do to get more out of this team, they need to do something quickly before things get out of hand.

On a different note, it was great to see all of the Red Sox legends past and present on the field at the same time. For me though, it was awesome to see Terry Francona put aside his differences and let the fans give him one final ovation. He definitely deserved it for all he did for the Red Sox during his time as skipper.

We’ll be back later with today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. So for now, let’s take at look at the overnight links from the media by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

Birthday bash [Boston Globe]

For longtime foes, nothing rivals in comparison [Boston Globe]

Not much fun being had by Buchholz this season [Boston Globe]

Some surprise names among the no-shows [Boston Globe]

Francona manages to put it aside [Boston Globe]

Vintage moments [Boston Globe]

Happy to be back, Martinez has ducks in a row [Boston Globe]

Fenway celebrates its first 100 years [Boston Herald]

Red Sox fall to Yankees, spoil Fenway centennial celebration [Boston Herald]

‘Tito, Tito’ gets his due [Boston Herald]

Hub’s endless love for Pedro Martinez [Boston Herald]

Red Sox survive uniform evolution [Boston Herald]

Struggling Sox a real drag on Fenway bash [Boston Herald]

Double tear-jerker at Fenway Park [Boston Herald]

Blasts turn Clay’s day to bust [Boston Herald]

Ancient rivals put damper on party [Boston Herald]

In these tough times, the Red Sox are still looking for their leader [Rob Bradford – WEEI.com]

Yankees crack five homers off Buchholz in 6-2 win over Red Sox [CSN New England]

Sox can’t shake losing feeling [CSN New England]

Buchholz shelled by homers [CSN New England]

Salty’s roster spot could be in danger [CSN New England]

Millar, Martinez revel in Fenway celebration [CSN New England]

Video essay: What makes Fenway special [ESPN Boston]

Sox players talk about Fenway [ESPN Boston]

Rapid Reaction: Yankees 6, Red Sox 2 [ESPN Boston]

Valentine: Buchholz is ‘still building’ [ESPN Boston]

Hurst brings attention to teen suicide [ESPN Boston]

Special day for Hurst, ex-teammates [ESPN Boston]

Video: Pedro’s fond memories [ESPN Boston]

Video: Olney, Ravech on party, letdown [ESPN Boston]

Heart and soul return to Fenway Park [ESPN Boston]

Party poopers [ESPN Boston]

Pedro Martinez, Kevin Millar reflect on Fenway Park: ‘There’s nothing you can compare it to’ [Full Count]

Closing Time: Yankees spoil birthday bash for Red Sox, Fenway Park [Full Count]

Clay Buchholz is off to a ‘perplexing’ start [Full Count]

In 100 Years, There Has Only Been One Tito [Hartford Courant]

Cody Ross, Red Sox, Struggling With ‘Million-Dollar Question’ [NESN.com]

Red Sox Stars in Awe of Pregame Ceremony, Thankful Team Legends ‘Paved the Way’ [NESN.com]

Which Injured Red Sox Player Will Have the Biggest Impact Upon Returning? [NESN.com]

Bobby Valentine, Red Sox Still Off the Mark As Early-Season Struggles Continue [NESN.com]

Red Sox Offense Must Produce More to Help Keep Pressure Off Pitching Staff [NESN.com]

Pedroia seeking return trip to All-Star Game [RedSox.com]

Loss dampens Red Sox’s celebration [RedSox.com]

Return of ‘family’ sparks emotions at Fenway [RedSox.com]

Memories are what sets Fenway apart [RedSox.com]

Red Sox honor 100-year-old fan [RedSox.com]

Red Sox, Yankees transport back in time [RedSox.com]

Sox alums revel in Fenway’s joyous spirit [RedSox.com]

For Buchholz and Red Sox rotation, trouble is starting early [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]

An appropriate birthday bash for Fenway [Touching All The Bases]

For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England,  ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.

And if you must check out the enemy news, head over to the ESPN New York, New York Daily News, New York Post, New York Times and The Journal News websites. You can also check out our Bloguin brother, NYY Stadium Insider.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as some of the other sports. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Football links

Spring game previews [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

Blue-White Game Caps UConn Football’s Spring [Hartford Courant]

Quarterback competition, filling holes focus of spring game [New Haven Register]

Huskies spring into action [The Hour]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Barnes Arico Hired At Michigan [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Other UConn related links

M. Track. Huskies Ready For Larry Ellis Invitational [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball. Huskies Walk-Off in Game Two of Doubleheader Sweep [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball. UConn CF Billy Ferriter Brings Football Mentality To Diamond [Hartford Courant]

W. Lacrosse. Huskies Register Three Hat Tricks in Win at Cincy [UConnHuskies.com]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

The ballots are out for the 2012 MLB All-Star Game to be held in Kansas City on July 10th and it’s time to vote for your favorite Boston Red Sox player to make the team.

The following Red Sox are listed on the ballot:

• C – Jarrod Saltalamacchia
• 1B – Adrian Gonzalez
• 2B – Dustin Pedroia
• SS – Mike Aviles
• 3B – Kevin Youkilis
• OF – Jacoby Ellsbury
• OF – Cody Ross
• OF – Carl Crawford
• DH – David Ortiz

Unfortunately for him, Ryan Sweeney isn’t listed on the ballot but if you want too, you can write him in on the 2012 MLB All-Star Ballot.

Get voting people, we want to be well represented at the game!