It’s game day for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team as they are at XL Center in Hartford, CT hosting the Maine Black Bears at 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally on My-TV9. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can listen to the game on the WTIC/UConn Radio Network.
Well it finally looks like we have the reasoning behind ThumbGate 2009 and the reason why Boston Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell wasn’t traded to the Texas Rangers. Since the trade to the Texas Rangers was called off on Saturday due to a thumb injury Lowell suffered towards the end of the season, many were wondering and speculating as to whether or not the Red Sox knew about his injured thumb. Lowell put an end to the speculation on Monday night when he spoke via telephone to Rob Bradford of WEEI.com.
“I’ve had very open and honest communication with the training and medical staff,” Lowell added. “The day this thing happened it was X-rayed and I told them about the pain, which was Oct. 2. That’s why I didn’t play the other two games (in the regular season). We taped it up in a way that we thought would help me in the postseason. They thought it might be a strain or a bone bruise. I don’t want to lay blame on anybody because in ‘07 my other thumb got hurt and they thought it was a strain as well and it ended up being that way and everything settled down nice and easy.
How many times do we hear doctors tell us with some rest that an injury will get better? That’s exactly what the Red Sox and Lowell did. As Lowell points out in the interview, he’d had a similar injury in the past and rest healed it. So what’s not to think it wouldn’t work again. What I don’t get is the fact that if the Red Sox knew about the injury during the MRI on the first day of the winter meetings why was still brought up in the trade talks. Did they really think they were going to slip one by the Texas Rangers? Continue reading
As fans of the Boston Red Sox, should we be blaming Jason Bay’s agent and not Bay himself as to why he won’t be back in Beantown?
If you want to believe Bill Madden of the New York Daily News then yes, Joe Urbon is to blame.
As for Bay, he, too, can thank his agent, in this case Joe Urbon, for pricing him out of Boston, a righty hitting-friendly ballpark/and virtual guarantee of the playoffs every year to, very likely, a pitcher’s paradise in Citi Field and a Mets team that, even with him, looks to be no better than a third-place club in the NL East. At least the Mets seem to realize that Urbon, after losing the Red Sox, has no more market for Bay, especially after the Seattle Mariners, who were bidders early on, acquired Milton Bradley on Friday to fill their last remaining need of an outfield bat.
I’m told that even after the Red Sox signed Mike Cameron to play left field, Urbon went back to them to see if they would re-visit negotiations with Bay, which broke off after the agent rejected their four-year offer of just over $60 million. Kind of like that scene in “The Godfather” in which the soon-to-be garrotted Abe Vigoda/Tessio pleads for mercy to Robert Duvall/Tom Hagen, who replies: “Can’t do it, Sally.”
If you want to believe Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe then Bay himself is to blame.
Be advised: The players are adults who make their own decisions. While it’s easy (and even fun) to demonize agents, the agent works for the player. His job is to present the player with the opportunities that are available and let the player make a decision
And while Jason Bay may well have enjoyed his time in Boston, he seems intent on getting more than the $60 million the Sox offered. That’s his call and good luck to him.
Jason Bay knew exactly what risks he was taking. Whether it works out well for him or not remains to be seen.
Folks, Pete Abe is right.
Bay’s agent is just doing his job. If Bay really wanted to be back in Boston, he would already be here. He could have accepted the Red Sox latest offer or tried to come to an understanding during negotiations during the season. But he made his choice.
Bay is entitled to see how much money he can get on the open market.
In my opinion, he deserves it.
UConn Huskies senior forward Stanley Robinson was named to the Big East Men’s Basketball Honor Roll on Monday.
Robinson had 23 of his 26 points in the second half to help the Huskies to a 60-51 come-from-behind win over the Central Florida Golden Knights on Sunday afternoon at the XL Center in Hartford, CT. He was 9-of-13 from the floor and also pulled down 5 rebounds.
The No. 11 Huskies are back in action on Tuesday night when the Maine Black Bears come to the XL Center at 7 p.m. The game will be televised locally on My-TV9 and SNY by the Big East Television Network.
Plenty of tickets remain for the game and you can use the promotional word “HUSKIES” to participate in a Buy 1 Get 1 Free offer.
For the second straight week, UConn Huskies junior All-American Maya Moore has been honored by the Big East. And for the second straight time, she’s been named to the Big East Honor Roll.
Moore had 23 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in just 21 minutes of action in UConn’s 90-35 win over Iona on Sunday night at Gampel Pavilion.
No. 1 UConn returns to action on Wednesday night when the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal come to the XL Center in Hartford, CT at 5:30 p.m. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN.
Limited tickets remain for the game and you can use the promotional word “HUSKIES” to participate in a Buy 1 Get 1 Free offer.
Here’s press release from the Football Writer’s Association of America concerning the 2009 FedEx Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award. DALLAS (FWAA) – The University of Connecticut football team has been named the winner of the 2009 FedEx Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award. The Huskies persevered throughout the 2009 season after the tragic death of starting cornerback Jasper Howard. 
The award will be presented at Orange Bowl festivities, including the annual coaches’ luncheon Jan. 4 and at the game Jan. 5. “The entire University of Connecticut football family is very honored to receive the FedEx Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award,” UConn coach Randy Edsall said. “Jasper Howard will always live in our thoughts and memories. I am very proud of my team and the way they responded to the tragedy of Jasper’s death. Their perseverance both on and off the playing field was incredibly strong and a tribute to the type of student-athlete we have here in our football program here at UConn.” Howard, a 20-year-old junior, died in the early morning hours of Oct. 18, just hours after UConn’s homecoming win over Louisville, after he was stabbed after a campus-sponsored dance. The Huskies lost three emotional games following Howard’s death – to West Virginia and Rutgers by identical scores of 28-24, after holding the lead late, and 47-45 at Cincinnati. “It still doesn’t seem real,” senior receiver Marcus Easley said after the loss to West Virginia, six days after Howard’s death. “It’s hard to believe we were suiting up for a game without him.” “I just feel empty,” Edsall said after the West Virginia game. “The kids played their hearts out and did what we asked them to do. They did a great job but came up a little short. I know ‘Jazz’ is proud of their effort.” Two days after the loss to West Virginia, the entire team traveled to attend Howard’s funeral in his hometown of Miami. But the Huskies, whose five losses were by a combined 15 points, finished the year with three straight wins – including a double-overtime win over Notre Dame on Nov. 21 and a 29-27 win over South Florida on Dave Teggart’s field goal on the final play. UConn will play South Carolina in the Papajohns.com Bowl on Jan. 2. FedEx Orange Bowl Courage AwardFor the fourth straight year, the Football Writers Association of America and the FedEx Orange Bowl announced a weekly nominee each Wednesday during the season. A blue-ribbon panel determined the winner from all of the nominees. The Courage Award was created by ESPN The Magazine’s senior writer Gene Wojciechowski, also a FWAA member. A select group of writers from the FWAA vote on the winner each year. The requirements for nomination include displaying courage on or off the field, including overcoming an injury or physical handicap, preventing a disaster or living through hardship. Previous winners of the FWAA’s Courage Award are Tulsa’s Wilson Holloway (2008), Navy’s Zerbin Singleton (2007), Clemson’s Ray Ray McElrathbey (2006), the Tulane football team (2005), Memphis’ Haracio Colen (2004), San Jose State’s Neil Parry (2003) and Toledo’s William Bratton (2002).
Check this out from our friend Dan over at Red Sox Monster about the Marines coming to Fenway Park during the Red Sox-Yankees Series in May.
UConn Football links
Impressed With UCF? [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]
Tis The Season [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]
Three More Recruits On Board [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]
Papajohns.com Bowl: Gamecocks, Huskies come to town on a high note [The Birmingham News]
It’s game day for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team as they are at XL Center in Hartford, CT hosting the Central Florida Golden Knights at 1 p.m and the game will be broadcast locally on My-TV9. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can listen to the game on the WTIC/UConn Radio Network.
It’s also game day for the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team as they will host the Iona Gaels at Gampel Pavilion on campus. Tip is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally here in Connecticut on CPTV. The game is also available on the internet for a fee through Hoop Streams. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can listen to the game on the WTIC/UConn Radio Network.
Boston Red Sox free agent outfielder Jason Bay was hoping to get a big pay day on the free agent market and have many teams competing for his services. Now it’s looking like the only place Bay could be playing is in Queens in 2010.
With the Seattle Mariners acquiring outfielder Milton Bradley from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for pitcher Carlos Silva, the Mariners seem likely to be out of the running for Bay. Although Red Sox GM Theo Epstein hasn’t officially closed the door, it’s highly unlikely he’ll be back in Beantown.
So where does that leave Bay?
Having rejected Boston’s final offer, it appears the only team with a contract offer out there is from the New York Mets at 4 years, $65 million. The Mets had been considering adding a fifth year and increase the offer to $75 million.
There’s no reason for the Mets to do that though now as Bay really has no leverage. There’d been reports that the San Francisco Giants were willing to offer Bay a five year contract but Bay wants no part of the Bay area.
If I’m Mets GM Omar Minaya, I stay pat with my 4 year offer. Considering the way things have gone, I’d expect that’s the best Bay will get.