Author Archives: ianbethune

Red Sox Extend PDC With Greenville Drive

Here’s the release from the Boston Red Sox announcing their extension of their Player Development Contract with the Greenville Drive of the South Atlantic League.

Greenville DriveThe Boston Red Sox and Greenville (SC) Drive today announced the extension of their Player Development Contract (PDC) for an additional four years. The extension keeps the Red Sox South Atlantic League Single-A affiliate in Greenville through the 2016 season.

Red Sox Director of Player Development Ben Crockett and Drive Co-Owner/President Craig Brown made the announcement.

“As an organization, we truly value our relationship with the Drive and the City of Greenville, and we are excited to extend our affiliation for an additional four seasons,” said Crockett.  “Our minor league players benefit greatly from their experience with the Drive’s outstanding staff under the leadership of Craig Brown and Mike deMaine, as well as Greenville’s state-of-the-art ballpark and passionate fan base.”

The Red Sox originally entered into an agreement with the Drive when the franchise moved from Columbia, SC to Greenville for the 2005 season.  The PDC had since been extended twice, most recently for four years through 2012 prior to the 2008 season.

“This is a great day for the Greenville Drive and the entire Upstate of South Carolina,” said Brown. “The partnership we have forged with the Boston Red Sox is of enormous importance to us and the very talented Major League prospects that consistently play for the Drive at Fluor Field.  The true test of a world class organization is the delivery of sustained success over a period of time and the Red Sox have set the standard in this regard.  In the end, the success of an organization is the result of its people, and working with the Red Sox ownership group, Ben Cherington, Mike Hazen, Ben Crockett, the coaching staffs and entire the Red Sox organization has been a wonderful experience.  The Red Sox set the bar very high both on and off the field, which serves as an inspiration to our organization.  We are delighted to formally extend our relationship and look forward to the continued development of our partnership for many years to come.”

The Drive have compiled a winning record in five of seven years since becoming an affiliate of the Red Sox, including each of the last four seasons, and have made the playoffs twice in the last three years, reaching the South Atlantic League Championship Series in 2010.  Alumni who have recently appeared in the Majors with the Red Sox include Lars Anderson, Daniel Bard, Michael Bowden, Clay Buchholz, Felix Doubront, Ryan Kalish and Ryan Lavarnway.  Greenville’s Fluor Field at the West End, which opened in 2006, is modeled after Fenway Park.

Greenville is one of Boston’s six minor league affiliates, joining Triple-A Pawtucket (International League), Double-A Portland (Eastern League), High-A Salem (Carolina League), Short-A Lowell (New York-Penn League) and Rookie Gulf Coast Red Sox (Gulf Coast League).

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine is scheduled as the featured guest at the Sixth Annual Greenville Drive Hot Stove Event tonight at the Huguenot Mill in Downtown Greenville, SC.

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Red Sox To Sign Cody Ross

With Carl Crawford possibly out for the beginning of the season and well, no sure thing in right field, the Boston Red Sox had a little bit of a conundrum as far as outfield depth.

But now, that doesn’t appear to be an issue.

According to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com and confirmed by Alex Speier of WEEI.com and Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston, the Red Sox have signed free agent outfielder Cody Ross to a one-year contract. Edes reports that the deal is worth $3 million plus performance incentives.

Ross spent last season with San Francisco Giants after joining them in late August of 2010 off of waivers from the Florida Marlins. He played an integral part in helping the Giants win the 2010 World Series over the Texas Rangers.

Before the signing of Ross, the Red Sox had only one starter from last year’s outfield, Jacoby Ellsbury, healthy. Ryan Sweeney, who came over in the trade with Andrew Bailey for Josh Reddick, along with Darnell McDonald and even possibly Mike Aviles, were also in the mix for some time in the outfield.

But it looks like the trade of Marco Scutaro to the Colorado Rockies did more than one thing. Obviously it freed up the payroll to sign Ross. But it also meant that Aviles probably wouldn’t be spending too much time in the outfield with him and Nick Punto as the obvious choices to play shortstop in 2012.

Now it looks like once Crawford is healthy and back patrolling the outfield, Sweeney and Ross will split time in the outfield. I’m guessing that new skipper Bobby Valentine will use Sweeney against righties (he bats lefty) and Ross against lefties (he bats righty). Where DMac figures in this is anyone’s guess but unless the Red Sox carry three catchers (highly unlikely), he’ll probably be the fifth outfielder again.

Ross is a career .261 hitter with a career OBP of .323 and OPS of .779. He plays a good outfield and unlike previous years past, he’ll get to learn how Fenway plays since the Red Sox’ new spring training home, Jet Blue Park, has the same exact field dimensions as the Fens.

Another good low cost option for new GM Ben Cherington. Now the question remains, does he have enough money to pursue a trade for another starting pitcher or even a free agent pitcher like Roy Oswalt.

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Photo credit: Getty Images

Whale Sign Forward Randy McNaught

HARTFORD, January 23, 2012:  Connecticut Whale general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the Whale has signed forward Randy McNaught to an American Hockey League contract.

CT WhaleMcNaught, a 6-5, 221-pound native of Nanaimo, B.C., comes to the Whale from the University of Calgary, where he was scoreless with 24 penalty minutes in 12 games this season.  Last year McNaught, 21, was with the Western Hockey League’s Vancouver Giants, but his season was limited to eight games by injury.  In those eight contests, McNaught had a goal and an assist for two points, along with 27 PIM.
A seventh-round (190th overall) selection by the parent New York Rangers in the 2010 NHL Draft, McNaught suited up for 154 total contests in a four-year WHL career with the Chilliwack Bruins, Saskatoon Blades and the Giants.  His career stats include 15 goals and 12 assists for 27 points, and 321 penalty minutes.

RANDY McNAUGHT’S AMATEUR RECORD

The Whale return to action this Friday night, January 27, as they host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at the XL Center.  Faceoff is 7:00 PM, and that begins the Whale’s “Trading Card Weekend”, as 5,000 fans will receive the Whale’s second set of player trading cards, sponsored by Webster Bank.  The featured players for this set are All-Star Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, Cam Talbot, Ryan Bourque, Kelsey Tessier, Jordan Owens and, in a historical tribute, former Hartford Wolf Pack star Ryan Callahan, now captain of the parent New York Rangers.

Then the next night, this Saturday, January 28, when the Springfield Falcons visit the XL Center for a 7:00 game, will feature a giveaway of additional sets of the first group of Whale trading cards.  That array included cards of All-Star Mats Zuccarello, Wade Redden, Kris Newbury, Chad Johnson and Carl Hagelin.  Also, after the game on Saturday night, Audy-Marchessault and Zuccarello will conduct an autograph session in the XL Center atrium to sign their cards.

Tickets to all 2011-12 Whale home games are on sale now at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, as well as on-line at www.ctwhale.com and through TicketMaster Charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000.

Save on your tickets, and get the best seats, with a ticket plan for the Whale’s 2011-12 AHL campaign, which are on sale now. For information on season seats and mini plans, visit www.ctwhale.com, or call the CT Whale ticket office at (860) 728-3366 to talk with an account executive today.

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

KML Wins Sixth Big East Freshman of the Week Honors

UConn Huskies women’s basketball freshman Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis picked up her sixth Big East Freshman of the Week honors on Monday. She only needs four more to tie former Husky Maya Moore’s record of being named ten times.

Here’s the release:

STORRS, Conn. – Freshman forward Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis earned her sixth BIG EAST weekly accolade of her career as she was tabbed the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week for the second consecutive week as announced by the conference office on Monday.

UConn's Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis shoots over Cincinnati's Bjonee Reaves in Big East action at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs. Mosqueda-Lewis, chosen as the 2011-12 BIG EAST Preseason Freshman of the Year, gets the nod after averaging 16.7 ppp and 6.7 rpg in a 3-0 week for Connecticut. UConn defeated two ranked opponents this week with an 86-35 win over No. 24 North Carolina and an 88-44 win over No. 21 DePaul.

Mosqueda-Lewis shot 39 percent from the field and 40 percent from the three as she tallied double-figures in all three games with 15 against UNC and 10 against Cincinnati. She recorded her third 25-point night of the season as she led the Huskies over No. 21 DePaul, while also leading the team in rebounds with seven.

Notre Dame’s Devereaux Peters was named as the Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for the BIG EAST. Peters averaged 19.5 ppg in an average of 20 minutes per game.

The Huskies return to the court on Wednesday, Jan. 25, to take on Syracuse at 7 p.m. in Syracuse, N.Y. The game will be televised on CPTV.

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Photo credit: Cloe Poisson – Hartford Courant

Paw Prints – The Daily UConn Roundup – 1/23

Paw Prints The Daily Roundup

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 Men’s Basketball links

UConn Men Feeling Ryan Boatright’s Absence [Hartford Courant]

Huskies looking for bigger effort from their big men [New Haven Register]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Huskies Shutdown Martin, DePaul In 44-Point Win On The Road [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Kelly Faris Emerging As Leader UConn Women Need [Hartford Courant]

Challenging stretch speeds up learning curve for Huskies [New Haven Register]

Doty’s knee a cause for concern [The Hour]

UConn Football links

Big East recruiting needs [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

UConn Football Coach Paul Pasqualoni Talks About Joe Paterno [Hartford Courant]

Other UConn related links

W. Ice Hockey. Women’s Ice Hockey Falls to No. 4 BC, 3-1 [UConnHuskies.com]

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

Stick a Wilfork in Them; Ravens Miss Wide Left; Patriots Go to Indy

Vince Wilfork #75 of the New England Patriots celebrates after defeating the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium on January 22, 2012 in Foxboro, Massachusetts.

Do not ask me how I remained so calm in a room full of people screaming their heads off at the television.  Maybe it was my fire service training that helped me stay calm, maybe it was the fact that I’ve seen this same show so many times in the last decade I could have predicted the final act.  In my head I was screaming “SHANK IT!!!”, on the outside there were no signs.

I was the first one though in that room full of people to scream out “WIDE LEFT, HE MISSED IT!!!”

Thank you Billy Cundiff, for you are now my “Shankapotamus”.

What a game it was tight the entire time, it was one of the best games I’ve seen in a while and did you notice the officials only threw flags when they had to?  Offsides, illegal motion, etc and other than that they let them play.

Robert Kraft, team owner of the New England Patriots celebrates with the trophy after his team defeated the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium on January 22, 2012 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Thank you Vince Wilfork, you are a beast amongst boys.  With all due respect to the late Clarence Clemons, Wilfork is “The Big Man”.  One handed he sacked Joe Flacco.  One handed he brought down Ricky Williams, one handed he made several plays and along with Kyle Love, Brandon Deaderick, Mark Anderson and “Big Money” Gerard Warren the defensive line was dominating.  The pushed, they pulled, they fought for what was there’s and what wasn’t.

Thank you Brandon Spikes, Rob Ninkovich and Jerod Mayo for your all out intensity in the middle of the field.  And one more for Moore, Sterling Moore, the rookie DB from SMU who last year was at the Super Bowl as a fan and this year will most likely play in it because in crunch time, game on the line, do or die, put up or shut up, he did them all.

The offense was only once again just decent and as Tom Brady said they carried the team because he “sucked pretty bad today”.  But the efforts were there by Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, Wes Welker and BenJarvus Green-Ellis.  And with those all out efforts and the good play from the offensive line you guys are going to the Super Bowl.

In the end thought it may have been the teams guardian angel that blew that kick wide left, we will never know.  What we do know is the New England Patriots are once again going to the Super Bowl with a chance at their fourth championship in 10 years.

Stay with Sox & Dawgs for all your Patriots Super Bowl XLVI information.

Ravens at Patriots Gamebook. This includes the box score, all the stats, play by play, drive charts and more.

Ravens at Patriots Game Recap.

To continue reading the Baltimore Ravens @ New England Patriots recap, hit the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Turning Point(s) of the Game

Ravens K Billy Cundiff misses wide left from 32 yards with 11 seconds to play and the Patriots win the AFC Championship.

Offensive Player(s) of the Game

Ravens QB Joe Flacco was 22 of 36 for 306 yards 2 TD’s, 1 INT and 3 sacks.

Defensive Player(s) of the Game

Patriots DT Vince Wilfork was in on 6 tackles (3 solo), 1 sack, 3 tackle for loss and 1 quarterback hit.

Game Notes

Starters for the Patriots were:

On Offense:

LT – Light

LG – Mankins

C – Connolly

RG – Waters

RT – Solder

TE – Hernandez

TE – Gronkowski

WR – Branch

WR – Welker

QB – Brady

RB – Woodhead

On Defense:

DE – Wilfork

DT – Deaderick

DT – Love

DE – Anderson

LB – Mayo

LB – Spikes

LB – Ninkovich

CB – McCourty

CB – Arrington

S – Chung

S – Ihedigbo

Inactives for the Game:

Patriots

1. WR Chad Ochocinco

2. T Sebastian Vollmer (back/knee)

3. T Donald Thomas

4. LB Gary Guyton

5. RB Shane Vereen

6. RB Stevan Ridley

7. QB Ryan Mallett

Ravens

1. LB Sergio Kindle

2. NT Bryant McKinney

3. OL J Boren

4. LB J Bynes

5. RB A Allen

6. CB C Brown

7. WR T Doss

The spread (Patriots minus 7 1/2) WAS NOT covered.  The over/under (50 1/2) WAS NOT COVERED.  I GAVE the points (Patriots) and took the OVER.  I am now 10-7-1 vs. the spread and 13 of 18 calling the under/over.

Baltimore won the toss and elected to receive.

Since Gillette Stadium opened in 2002, New England is 76-15 at home including the playoffs.

The Patriots are 13-3 at home in the playoffs all-time. They are 9-2 in the post season at Gillette Stadium.

Overall in the playoffs they are 23-15, they are 7-1 in the AFC Championship.

This was the second time the teams have had a playoff game in Foxboro.

New England has won 10 consecutive games since their last loss in Week 9 to the Giants.

Bill Belichick’s 192 wins are good for 9th all-time.  Chuck Knox, who coached the Rams, Redskins and Seahawks, is 8th all-time with 193.

He is now tied for 3rd in post season coaching wins with long time Redskins coach Joe Gibbs with 17.

Belichick coached teams are 6-1 vs. Baltimore including playoffs all with New England.

Tom Brady is 5-1 vs. the Ravens including 1-1 in the playoffs.

He is now 16-5 in the post season.  He is now tied with Joe Montana for the most post season all time.

Brady is now 3rd all-time with 36 post season TD passes.  Brett Favre is 2nd with 44 TD passes in the post season.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 100 consecutive games including playoffs, 83 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

Patriots players selected for next week’s Pro Bowl will now be replaced by other players who were selected as alternates.

The Patriots were 5 of 11 in 3rd down efficiency and 1 for 1 on fourth down attempts.  The Ravens were 9 of 17 on 3rd down and 0 for 1 on 4th down attempts.

New England was 2 of 5 in the red zone and 2 for 2 in goal to go, while Baltimore was 1 for 4 in the red zone and 1 for 1 in goal to go.

Baltimore is 1-5 as the road team in the series, 1-4 at Gillette Stadium and 0-1 in Foxboro Stadium.

This was Baltimore’s 3rd AFC Championship Game appearance.  They are 1-2. They defeated Oakland 16-3 in 2000 and lost to Pittsburgh, 23-14 in 2008 and New England on Sunday.

John Harbaugh finished his fourth season with the team, he is 44-20 since taking over and is 5-4 in the playoffs for an overall record of 49-24.

He is 1-3 vs. New England in his career, with his lone victory coming in the playoffs.

Baltimore Ravens QB Joe Flacco is 44-20 in his career in the regular season and 5-4 in the playoffs for an overall record of 49-24 in 4 seasons.

He is 1-3 vs. New England in his career including playoffs.

The Patriots sacked Flacco 3 times on Sunday.

Alberto Riveron was the game referee.

The temp at kickoff was 29 with a wind chill of 23.  It was cloudy and cold.

Attendance: 68,756 at Gillette Stadium, Foxboro MA.

Post Game Interviews

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Patriots QB Tom Brady post game press conferences via patriots.com

Next Game

The Patriots will face the winner of the New York Giants/San Francisco 49ers game in Super Bowl XLVI at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis IN on Sunday February 5.  Kick off is at 6:30 p.m. on NBC.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

Photo credits: Getty Images, Getty Images

2012 NFL Conference Championship Predictions

2012 NFL Conference Championships

Here are our picks for who we think will win the 2012 NFL Conference Championships in the AFC and NFC that will be held today.

AFC Championship

Ian – New England Patriots 23 Baltimore Ravens 17

Steve – New England Patriots 31 Baltimore Ravens 21

NFC Championship

Ian – San Francisco 49ers 27 NY Giants 24

Steve – San Francisco 49ers 30 NY Giants 24

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

Paw Prints – The Daily UConn Roundup – 1/22

Paw Prints The Daily Roundup

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 Men’s Basketball links

Rocky Top, Rocky Times for UConn Right now [David Borges – New Haven Register]

Jim Calhoun’s Take [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

Wrapping Things Up from Knoxville [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

the wrap [Ed Daigneault – The Republican-American]

The problem with UConn Men: There’s no team in Huskies [John Nash – The Hour]

Crossroads [UConn Huskies Basketball]

Tennessee holds off No. 13 UConn men [CT Post]

It’s up to Alex Oriakhi to turn the corner [CT Post]

UConn Men Lose To Tennessee, 60-57 [Hartford Courant]

Tennessee’s Stokes, Late Arrival, Hurts UConn [Hartford Courant]

Huskies ‘outworked’ in loss to Vols [New Haven Register]

Former Husky recruit Jarnell Stokes making immediate impact for Tennessee [New Haven Register]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

UConn’s defense too much for overmatched DePaul [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Auriemma Says “No Alarm At All” About Doty [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Geno Auriemma on DePaul’s Doug Bruno [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Faris Takes The Reins [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Postgame Reaction On Doty’s Knee Soreness [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Mosqueda-Lewis, UConn women rock DePaul [CT Post]

UConn Women Rout DePaul, 88-44 [Hartford Courant]

Auriemma Talks Of Other Passion: Coaching USA Basketball [Hartford Courant]

Huskies double up DePaul [New Haven Register]

Doug Bruno shares Geno Auriemma’s philosophy [New Haven Register]

Other UConn related links

M. Ice Hockey. Men’s Hockey Falls To Robert Morris, 2-1 [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Swimming. Women’s Swimming And Diving Defeats Seton Hall [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Swimming. Men’s And Women’s Swimming & Diving Top Seton Hall [UConnHuskies.com]

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

Red Sox Avoid Arbitration With Daniel Bard

Boston Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington had been doing his best to get all of his arbitration-eligible players signed before last Tuesday’s noon deadline of exchanging salary figures. When that deadline came and passed, he had four players to work out contracts with.

Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Daniel Bard fields a ball off the bat of Toronto Blue Jays' Brett Lawrie in the ninth inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Monday, Sept. 5, 2011. The Blue Jays defeated the Red Sox 1-0 in 11 innings.Among those four was Daniel Bard.

Well now, it’s down to three as the Red Sox and Bard avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one year, $1.625 million deal. Bard had asked for $1.825 million while the Red Sox were offering $1.4 million. Bard was eligible for arbitration as a Super-Two. He made $505,000 last year.

Bard was told during the offseason that he will be given a chance to compete for a spot in the starting rotation. If he doesn’t stick as a starter, he’ll return to a revamped Red Sox bullpen in 2012.

He was 2-9 with a 3.33 ERA and one save in 70 appearances last year. In 192 career games over 2.5 seasons, Bard is 5-13 with a 2.88 ERA and five saves in 192 appearances.

Cherington now has to try and reach deals with Alfredo Aceves, the newly acquired Andrew Bailey and David Ortiz before they go to arbitration sometime in February.

Aceves is seeking $1.6 million was the Red Sox are offering $900,000. Bailey is looking for $4.7 million while the Red Sox are offering $3.35 million. Big Papi is asking for $16.5 million while the Red Sox are looking to pay him $12.65 million.

Of the three, the most likely scenario is that Big Papi ends up going to arbitration.

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Photo credit: AP Photo