With the unseasonably warm weather here in New England, it seems only appropriate that the (Jason) Bay Watch is heating up.

According to Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times, the Seattle Mariners are very interested in signing Boston Red Sox free agent outfielder Jason Bay.

We’ve been told the Mariners have made a concerted push to land B.C. product and local resident Jason Bay, a Type A free agent left fielder from the Red Sox. This despite the fact that Bay (who gained his U.S. citizenship this year), is not the defensive whiz Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik has prefered in other deals he’s made.

The Mariners don’t seem too be concerned with his defense but like him for the big bat he could provide them in the middle of the lineup.

Although Bay has said that geography won’t play a preference in where he signs, he would be able to sleep in his own bed each night at home as he makes his off-season home there. The Red Sox are still very interested in bringing back Bay as well.

If Bay decided to sign with the Mariners, the Red Sox would receive two compensation picks. Seattle holds the 18th pick in the 2010 draft and the Red Sox would get a sandwich pick as well.

It looks like I was half right yesterday when I said that UConn Huskies head coach Randy Edsall wouldn’t address the rumors surrounding him and the open Notre Dame job. The part I got right was about him saying he was only focused on this Saturday’s game against South Florida.

Before the teleconference with the local media on Thursday, a statement was released stating that Edsall wouldn’t talk about the Notre Dame job. So when he asked, he cut the reporter off and said that’s already been addressed.

From Desmond Conner of the Hartford Courant:

OK, well, when he was asked about the job rumors Edsall didn’t even let the questioner finish before cutting it off. Mike Enright, from athletic communications – and I missed it but not the Coach – made an announcement before Edsall came on that he wouldn’t be taking any questions on the rumors and that he was getting his team prepared for South Florida.

Until Edsall comes out and says he staying at UConn, these types of rumors will continue to run rampant. In a way, I really wish he had addressed the rumors but I’m glad he’s more focused on this Saturday’s game against the Bulls.

A win on Saturday could provide an upgrade in bowl games and a little bigger payday for the Huskies.

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team as they will host the Vermont Catamounts. Tip is scheduled for 7:30 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.

UConn Women’s Basketball links

On Dogs And Smooth Landings [Renee Montgomery – Hartford Courant]

Preparing for Catamounts [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Cassandra Kerns Art Show Scheduled For Saturday [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Maya Moore Considering A Pursuit Of Rhodes Scholarship [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Dixon Update/Recruiting Tid-bits [Rich Elliott – Connecticut Post]

Gyros, bacon and competitive basketball [Roger Cleaveland – The Republican-American]

Still no Dixon sighting; no redshirt possibility [Roger Cleaveland – The Republican-American]

Defense remains a priority for UConn’s Greene [Connecticut Post]

Surprising Vermont Takes On No. 1 UConn Women [Hartford Courant]

VERMONT at No. 1 UCONN WOMEN [Hartford Courant]

McLaren’s role is something to shout about [New Haven Register]

Freshman Faris finding her way on stat sheet [The Day]

Kalana Greene works well in the background [The Republican-American]

Continue reading →

Despite giving UConn Country a little scare in the second half, Jerome Dyson scored 22 points to lead the UConn Huskies to a 92-64 win over the Boston University Terriers in front of 11,502 at the XL Center in Hartford, CT on Wednesday night.

Early in the second half, Dyson was trying to make a move to the basket when he slipped as he went to plant his right knee. Initially it looked like he either reinjured his knee or pulled his groin but he returned to the game just four minutes later.

The Huskies move to 5-1 on the season while the Terriers fall to 2-6.

Including Dyson, UConn had five players reach double-digits in scoring.

Stanley Robinson had 16 points and 9 rebounds while Kemba Walker recorded his first career double-double with 15 points and 10 assists. Gavin Edwards came off the bench to add 12 points and 9 rebounds. Freshman Jamal Coombs-McDaniel chipped in with a career-high 12 points.

John Holland paced the Terriers with 23 points while Jake O’Brien had 18 points and 10 rebounds. B.J. Bailey added 10 points in the losing effort.

Early on it was ugly for the Huskies as they couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. They made just 3-of-12 shots and found themselves trailing 13-9. With the score 15-13 in favor of BU, UConn broke out the pressure and it worked wonders. They were able to use the press to go on 12-1 run to pull ahead.

They would expand their lead to 18 points at the end of the first half on a 12-3 run.

The second half was more of the same as the Huskies got their lead to as high as 33 points before settling for a 28 point win.

While not pretty, the Huskies got the job done and got the win. They dominated the glass, holding a 54-29 advantage of the smaller Terriers squad. At this point, a win is a win and that’s all we can ask for right now.

The Huskies return to action on Sunday afternoon when the Harvard Crimson come to Gampel Pavilion. Tip is scheduled for 1 p.m. and the game will be televised locally on My-TV9 and SNY.

Here’s a press release from the UConn athletic communications department concerning the “Huskies of Honor” women’s basketball.

STORRS, Conn. (Dec. 2, 2009) — The 1999-00 University of Connecticut women’s basketball team, which won the 2000 NCAA National Championship, will be recognized as “UConn Huskies of Honor” at halftime of the UConn-Stanford game on December 23 at the XL Center in Hartford.

The Connecticut-Stanford matchup tips off at 5:30 p.m. (ET) and will be televised to a national audience on ESPN2. The current Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ rankings have UConn ranked at No. 1 and Stanford as the No. 2 team nationally.

The “Huskies of Honor” program, which pays visible tribute in the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion to the top individual and team achievements in UConn men’s and women’s basketball history, was launched in 2006.

The UConn women’s basketball “Huskies of Honor” inaugural class was recognized in December 2006 and included 10 First Team All-Americans and Hall of Fame head coach Geno Auriemma.

The honoring of UConn’s 2000 National Championship team will be the second induction of an entire team (players and coaches) into Connecticut’s “Huskies of Honor” program. The 1995 NCAA National Championship UConn women’s basketball squad was inducted into the “Huskies of Honor” last season.

Following the official ceremony in Hartford to honor the 2000 NCAA National Champions, a four-by-five foot panel will be on permanent display at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, recognizing Connecticut’s run to the 2000 NCAA National Title – the second in the program’s history.

In addition to the large panel honoring the team that will be displayed adjacent to the scoreboard on the East end of Gampel Pavilion, the team will be displayed with a plaque located at the lobby level of Gampel Pavilion. The plaque will include a group photo of the 13 players and four coaches who were members of the 2000 NCAA National Championship-winning squad.

The 1999-00 Connecticut women’s basketball team rolled to the 2000 NCAA National Championship with a 36-1 overall record. After posting a 27-1 regular season mark and winning the Big East Conference regular season title at an unblemished 16-0, UConn went on to add the Big East Tournament crown and entered the NCAA Tournament 30-1. Connecticut then registered six NCAA tournament victories, including a 71-52 triumph over Tennessee in the NCAA National Championship game at the First Union Center in Philadelphia.

En route to winning its second national championship in 2000, the UConn women’s basketball team was ranked No. 1 in the nation by both the Associated Press and USA Today for the entire 1999-00 campaign.

UConn led the nation in both field goal percentage shooting (.539) and field goal percentage defense (.339).

Head Coach Geno Auriemma was honored as National Coach of the Year, junior guard Shea Ralph was honored as the 2000 NCAA Final Four “Most Outstanding Player” and was also named winner of the Honda Award, which is presented to the top collegiate basketball player in the country.

The 17 members of the 1999-00 team who will be inducted as a group into the “Huskies of Honor” program on December 23 include: Head Coach Geno Auriemma, Associate Head Coach Chris Dailey, Assistant Coach Tonya Cardoza, Assistant Coach Jamelle Elliott, Stacy Hansmeyer, Paige Sauer, Svetlana Abrosimova, Marci Czel, Shea Ralph, Christine Rigby, Kelly Schumacher, Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Asjha Jones, Keirsten Walters, Tamika Williams and Kennitra Johnson.

Tickets for the UConn vs. Stanford game on December 23 at the XL Center are available at Ticketmaster.com or by phoning 1-800-745-3000.

It turns out Billy Wagner did more for the Boston Red Sox than he’ll ever know. By offering Wagner arbitration on Tuesday, the Red Sox assured themselves of two draft picks if he decided to sign elsewhere.

And now those two draft picks will become reality as Wagner has decided to return to the National League with the Atlanta Braves to be their closer. FOXSports.com was the first to report the signing.

Wagner will sign a 1 year, $7 million deal with a vesting option for 2011. The vesting option can become guaranteed if Wagner finishes 50 games next season. If he doesn’t, the Braves will owe him a $250,000 buyout.

Wagner appeared in 15 games for the Red Sox in 2009 and was 0-2 with a 1.98 ERA. He had 22 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings.

Now that he’s built the UConn Huskies football program into a winning one, Randy Edsall’s name has been coming up for coaching openings.

He’s being linked to the Kansas job, that’s not even open yet by the way, due to KU’s athletic director Lew Perkins’ ties to UConn.  And now according to the Chicago Sun-Times, Edsall has been contacted by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, a team UConn just beat two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, a source said Connecticut coach Randy Edsall has been contacted by a Notre Dame representative to gauge his interest in becoming the next Irish coach.

Desmond Conner of the Hartford Courant doesn’t believe this to be true stating that there is no indication that this has taken place yet.

Edsall won’t meet with the local media here in Connecticut until tomorrow afternoon. I’d expect him to address this rumor right off the bat. My best guess would be that he will says he’s only focused on the South Florida game this Saturday night.

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team as they will host the Boston University Terriers tonight. Game time is schedule for 7 p.m. at the XL Center in Hartford, CT and will be broadcast locally on My-TV9 and SNY. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can listen to the game on the WTIC/UConn Radio Network.

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Coming off Duke loss, hosting BU [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]

Three more, then Ater [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]

UConn bench needs to contribute [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]

Former UConn manager Kyle Lyddy’s UConn Book, “From My Seat” [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]

UConn’s Darius Smith showing signs of life [Connecticut Post]

UConn men’s game day: Boston University at No. 14 UConn [Connecticut Post]

UConn Men Still Looking For Bench Help [Hartford Courant]

Preview: Boston University Vs. No. 14 UConn [Hartford Courant]

Calhoun hoping bench awakens soon [New Haven Register]

It’s a matter of trust for Calhoun [The Day]

Boston University at UConn [The Day]

Calhoun needs a bench he can lean on [The Republican-American]

Floriani: A Tempo-Free Look at the PNIT [Rush the Court]

Continue reading →

As expected, the Boston Red Sox have offered arbitration to free agents Jason Bay and Billy Wagner according to Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston.

This means the Red Sox are guaranteed to get at least two draft picks should they sign elsewhere. They would receive the signing team’s first round pick if it is from 16-30 in the first round. If it isn’t, then they’ll receive a second round pick plus a sandwich pick between the first and second round.

The Red Sox are still very interested in bringing Bay back to Boston. They’d also welcome Wagner back but it’s still thought that he’ll take a closer’s job with another team.

They didn’t offer arbitration to Rocco Baldelli, Paul Byrd and Chris Woodward.

If the Boston Red Sox are going to sign free agent shortstop Marco Scutaro, it’s going to cost them their first round draft pick in 2010. The Toronto Blue Jays offered arbitration to Scutaro on Monday meaning that they will get two draft picks if he signs elsewhere.

While interested in Scutaro, the Red Sox have been hesitant due to the fact that Scutaro was bothered by plantar fasciitis late last season. They’ll have to decide if losing their draft pick is worth the price of Scutaro.

Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia has said he’d gladly move over to shortstop if it will help the team. But according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, the Red Sox will explore all other options before turning to Pedroia in the hole.

Alex Speier of WEEI.com reports that the Red Sox have made contact with the representive of their former farmhand Adam Everett while Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald says the Red Sox have also talked to Adam Kennedy’s people as well.