As we found out earlier on Tuesday, UConn Huskies men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun has taken a temporary medical leave of absence.

And if this report from Luke Winn of SI.com is true, then the reason why Calhoun is taking a break is due to some stress-related health issues.

A program source told SI.com that Calhoun’s issue, this time, is stress-related, and that he needed time away from basketball for his health to stabilize. He’ll miss Wednesday’s game against St. John’s, with associate head coach George Blaney taking over the team and the source said it was likely, but not yet certain, that Calhoun wouldn’t be on the sidelines for Saturday’s home game against No. 1 Texas, either.

If true, this is good to hear. Hopefully this is something that will take care of itself in the coming days so that we can see Calhoun back roaming the sidelines sooner rather than later.

Something also tells me we might see a different UConn team than we have this season.

The Huskies usually are a little more relaxed when Calhoun isn’t coaching. This is probably because they know they won’t get yanked since Blaney’s coaching style is a little different than Calhoun’s.

This isn’t to say Blaney isn’t a good coach because he’s a fine coach and has the experience to lead the Huskies.

Just like Allstate, they are in good hands with Blaney.

With Boston Red Sox GM Theo Epstein having wrapped up 3 of the 4 arbitration-eligible players on the team, the lone remaining holdout is outfielder Jeremy Hermida.

According to Ed Price of Fanhouse, the two sides exchanged figures with Hermida asking for $3.850 million and the Red Sox offering $2.950 million.

The next step in the process is to have a date set for an arbitration hearing. But I honestly don’t think it will get that far. Just because the two sides didn’t reach an agreement doesn’t mean they’ll necessary go to arbitration.

They can still work out a deal and avoid Theo’s first arbitration hearing while being the GM of the Red Sox. My guess is they met somewhere in the middle.

The University of Connecticut officials announced on Tuesday afternoon that Huskies head coach Jim Calhoun will be taking a temporary medical leave effective immediately.

Here is the statement from the school:

University of Connecticut Head Men’s Basketball Coach Jim Calhoun will take a medical leave of absence from his head coach position, effective immediately, it was announced Tuesday.

The following is a statement from University of Connecticut Health Center physician Peter Schulman, M.D., Jim Calhoun’s primary care physician:

“It is my recommendation that Coach Calhoun take a medical leave from his coaching position to address some temporary medical issues, none of which involve any previous medical conditions that he has dealt with.”

The following is a statement from UConn Director of Athletics Jeffrey A. Hathaway:

“Our primary concern is Coach Calhoun’s health and his complete recovery. We will do everything possible to support Coach during this time. Jim and I both know that the men’s basketball program is in very capable hands under the leadership of Associate Head Coach George Blaney.”

Hopefully it’s nothing to serious and we’ll see Calhoun back on the sidelines quickly. Best wishes on a speedy recovery Coach Calhoun.

It looks as though Boston Red Sox GM Theo Epstein won’t be heading to arbitration with closer Jonathan Papelbon as they have come to terms on a 1 year, $9.35 million dollar deal.

Rob Bradford of WEEI.com was the first report the two sides were close to a deal while Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com was the first to report the terms.

We still haven’t heard if Jeremy Hermida, Manny Delcarmen and Ramon Ramirez have come to deals to avoid an arbitration hearing. But I would suspect that they won’t be going to arbitration and we’ll be hearing about the details in the coming hours.

Papelbon made $6.25 million last season and continues to set the bar for arbitration-eligible closers.

Update: According to Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com, the Red Sox also came to terms with Delcarmen and Ramirez. Declarmen will get $905,000 while Ramirez will get $1.15 million.

Here’s what Todd McShay of Scouts, Inc. had to say about UConn Huskies defensive end Lindsey Witten who is getting ready to play in the East-West Shrine Game on Saturday.

Witten is the most fluid and athletic of the East defensive linemen. He’s also the leanest of the group, though. Witten, who ranked ninth nationally with 11.5 sacks this season, should have a strong showing during one-on-one pass-rushing drills but it will be interesting to see how he holds up physically at the point of attack versus the run. We also want to see how he does as a pass-rusher. Is he able to use his long arms and quick hands to disengage or will he get overpowered?

He also added this about Witten in another article.

Witten’s senior season couldn’t have gone much better, as he had his best year at UConn and finished tied for ninth in the nation with 11½ sacks. At 6-foot-4, 248 pounds, Witten is an undersized end and might be asked to move to linebacker in the NFL. He needs to prove this week that he’s strong enough to hold his ground against the run and fluid enough to drop into underneath coverage. A strong showing in Orlando could land Witten a spot in the third round of April’s draft.

The East-West Shrine Game will be shown on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. on ESPN2.

Editor’s note: The above links are from ESPN Insider

UConn Football links

The Release From UGA On New DBs Coach Scott Lakatos [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

A tumultuous decade for the Big East [ESPN.com – Big East Blog]

UConn football loses second assistant [Connecticut Post]

UConn Football Assistant Heading To Georgia [Hartford Courant]

Georgia hires away UConn DB coach [New Haven Register]

Georgia hires Lakatos as DB’s coach; UPDATED with contract info [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

UConn DB Coach Scott Lakatos Named Secondary Coach At UGA [GeorgiaDogs.com]

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According to Peter Gammons of NESN, the Boston Red Sox and Jason Bay had agreed on the details of a four year, $60 million deal back in July 2009.

That was of course until Bay underwent an MRI which showed some issues with both of his knees. In turn according to Gammons, the Red Sox ownership group reduced their offer to a 2-year deal.

Very interesting stuff. It makes me wonder if the 4-year, $60 million dollar deal offered by the Red Sox during the offseason was actually offered to him.

Obviously the Mets doctors didn’t see the same problems with his knees as the Red Sox docs did with the 4-year, $66 million dollar deal.

For at least the first half, it looked as though the No. 7 Duke Blue Devils were going to give the No. 1 UConn Huskies a run for their money. Instead, whatever Geno Auriemma said to his squires at the half worked as the Huskies put on a clinic in the second half.

A 23-9 run just after the half helped propel the Huskies to an 81-48 win over the Blue Devils in front 9,418 and a nationally televised audience on ESPN2 on Monday night.

It’s the 57th straight win for the Huskies who improve to 18-0 on the season. The loss for Duke ends a 23 game winning streak at Cameron Indoor Stadium as they fall to 15-3.

Maya Moore led the way for the Huskies, who saw all five scorers in double figures, scoring 14 of her 20 points in the second half. Moore had spent the late part of the first half on the bench with two fouls. Kalana Greene was outstanding as she had 18 points and added two rebounds and four assists.

The sophomore backcourt duo of Tiffany Hayes and Caroline Doty both had 13 points with Hayes adding four assists and Doty three. Tina Charles, who earlier on Monday was named the Big East Player of the Week for the third straight week, finished with a double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds.

Jasmine Thomas paced the Blue Devils with 17 points. Both Bridgette Mitchell and Joy Cheek added eight points. Karima Christmas led the Dukies with seven rebounds while adding four points.

UConn got out of the gates quickly in this one hitting two 3-pointers, one each by Moore and Hayes. Duke cut the lead to three at 8-5 but the Huskies used a 17-10 run to push the lead to ten points at 25-15.

Two free throws by Krystal Thomas would get the lead down to eight points at 29-21 but the Huskies would push the lead to 13 points with 2:09 left in the half. Duke would score the final three points of the half to trail by 10 at 38-28.

The 23-9 run to the start the second half made sure the Huskies would get that 57th straight victory.

The Huskies never trailed in the game but Duke never look scared of them, at least in the first half. We’ve seen teams look afraid walking on the court and the results have shown up in the box scores. We all know Auriemma is a master motivator and whatever he said worked as the Huskies looked like a totally different team in the second.

Actually, they looked like the team we’ve seen all season long.

The Huskies are off until Saturday when they head to see Auriemma’s old friend Harry Peretta and the Villanova Wildcats. Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game is scheduled to be broadcast locally here in Connecticut on CPTV.

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UConn Huskies senior center Tina Charles seems to be on her way to Big East and National Player of the Year honors if she keeps playing at the level she’s been doing.

For the third straight week, the Big East Conference has named Charles the Big East Player of the Week. It’s the fourth time she’s won it this season.

In UConn’s two wins over Marquette and Notre Dame, Charles averaged 23 points and 12 rebounds.

In the win over Marquette, Charles had 23 points, 12 rebounds and two steals. Against Notre Dame on Saturday night in primetime, Charles had 23 points and 12 rebounds in help the Huskies to a 24 point win.

The UConn women are back in action tonight as they are in Durham, NC for a non-conference MLK Day matchup with the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can listen to the game on the WTIC/UConn Radio Network.

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team as they are in Durham, NC for a MLK Day non-conference matchup with the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can listen to the game on the WTIC/UConn Radio Network.

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