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 the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis.

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

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UConn Football links

Ken Sweitzer Receives Red O’Neill Award From The UConn Club [uconn huskies]

UConn Offers Four in DFW [scout]

UConn offers Paul [rivals]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Faris hopes to help WNBA’s Sun rise again [carl adamec – sny uconn]

Another title for former UConn stars [jim fuller – new haven register]

Former record holder offers congrats to UConn’s Dolson [jim fuller – new haven register]

Basketball Season Ticket Deposits Now Being Accepted for 2014-15 [uconn huskies]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Pros and Cons to DeAndre Daniels’ Decision to Enter NBA Draft [uconn huskies basketball]

Basketball Season Ticket Deposits Now Being Accepted for 2014-15 [uconn huskies]

Other UConn related links

M. Ice Hockey. Philadephia Flyers prospect David Drake commits to UConn [sb nation]

M. Track & W. Rowing. Chapman, Roth Honored By American Athletic Conference [uconn huskies]

W. Track. Taylor Anderson Earns Track Athlete of the Week [uconn huskies]

W. Lacrosse. Kacey Pippitt Named Conference Offensive Player Of The Week [uconn huskies]

M. Golf. UConn Finishes 8th At American Championships [uconn huskies]

Baseball. UConn Falls At UMass, 5-4 [uconn huskies]

Baseball. UConn Baseball At Holy Cross Canceled [uconn huskies]

W. Soccer. Rachel Hill Invited To U.S. U-20 WNT Training Camp in May [uconn huskies]

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 the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis.

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

Stadium expansion and search for revenue [john silver -sny uconn]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Ramsay dies at 89, was Auriemma’s HOF sponsor [carl adamec – sny uconn]

Boley To Make Unofficial Visit This Week [rich elliott – ct post]

Auriemma Idolized Ramsay Growing Up In Philly [rich elliott – ct post]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Tremont Waters excelling on and off basketball court [new haven register]

UConn men will try to avoid post-title letdown [waterbury republican-american]

Other UConn related links

Baseball. UConn Baseball Looks To Rebound With A Pair Of Midweek Games [uconn huskies]

Baseball. Bullpen A Bright Spot For UConn Baseball In 2014 [uconn huskies]

Softball. Help the Huskies Strike Out Cancer on May 3rd! [uconn huskies]

W. Lacrosse. Huskies To Face Georgetown In Semifinals Of Conference Championship [uconn huskies]

Boston fans were spoiled in 2013 because we hardly remember times when the Red Sox looked bad, so we’ve been taken aback at how they’ve played this April. But let’s take a look at the Yankees to get an objective sense of where the Red Sox stand.

New York sits atop what, right now, is a very weird AL East. They have a .600 winning percentage but, like every other team in the division, they have a negative run differential – they’re pitching and fielding has allowed more runs than their hitting has been able to score.

You don’t need to be a math geek to figure out that the Yankees can’t continue playing .600 baseball if their pitching and fielding doesn’t improve. But if you want to be a math geek about it, we’ll dive into the dark arts of Sabermetics.

Personally, I prefer to use hard statistics instead of measurements derived from algorithms with linear weights and what-not which may or may not show the bias of those calculating the measurement, but the Pythagorean expectation for the Yankees is interesting because it suggests that the Yankees are overachieving to an alarming degree.

According to Pythagorean expectation, the Yankees should have a .467 winning percentage and they’re playing like a 75 or 76 win team. Maybe you agree with that assessment or maybe you think it’s junk, so take that for what you will. But it is difficult to believe that the Yankees will continue to play .600 baseball.

How does this reflect on the rest of the AL East? It shows that everything is still up for grabs, which isn’t out of the norm for any sports league at the beginning of its season.

The Red Sox are not (yet) a .500 team, and at times it doesn’t look like they’ve come close to playing like even a .500 baseball club. But they’ve also faced harder tests than the Yankees so far this season. Outside of the division the Red Sox have played against the Brewers, Rangers, and White Sox; all of whom are .500 or above (the Brewers have a .720 winning percentage). Contrast that with the Yankees lackluster opponents: the Astros, Cubs, and Angels.

Regardless of how the Red Sox have looked in April (which hasn’t been great) or how they’ve had to face tougher opponents, they are only two games below .500 right now. With Shane Victorino and Will Middlebrooks out for most of the month, and Clay Buchholz looking like he was a breath away from winding up on the DL until this weekend, that’s not too shabby.

The Red Sox fielding a healthy lineup looks especially appealing when you consider five other things: Derek Jeter is 40, Alfonso Soriano is 38, Carlos Beltran is 37, Jacoby Ellsbury is 30 and has a sorry past with the DL; and Brian McCann is 30.

How long will the Yankees go this season without suffering an injury to a key player in their lineup? I hate to sound like a homer, but that’s a reasonable question.

Beyond the Red Sox and Yankees, Baltimore looks good but Chris Davis just went on the DL, Toronto isn’t impressing anyone with those sub-.200 hitters on the bottom of their lineup, and Tampa Bay is having trouble winning without Matt Moore. If Tampa Bay is pretty much out of the race by the end of May, I suspect they’ll shop David Price around for a prospect. By August, the AL East may be a three team race between Boston, Baltimore, and New York.

Despite what the Red Sox have been through and how they’ve played thus far, the team hasn’t dug itself into a huge hole to climb out of. So if you think the Red Sox took a crap in April, just consider it to be fertilizer for their flowering this summer.

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 the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis.

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

Former UConn DB looks to build off rookie season [jim fuller – new haven register]

SEC scheduling format worthy of mention [jim fuller – new haven register]

Despite basketball glory, UConn must look to football to boost athletic business [hartford business journal]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Rakim Lubin Signs On With UConn, According To His Coach [dom amore – hartford courant]

What CEO’s Can Learn From UConn Huskies Basketball [forbes]

Other UConn related links

Baseball. UConn Drops Series Finale At Louisville, 8-2 [uconn huskies]

Softball. Scarlet Knights Use Extra-Inning Walk-off Grand Slam to Best Huskies, 7-3 [uconn huskies]

UConn Women’s Ice Hockey Virtual Tour [uconn huskies youtube]

After securing the series win yesterday, the Boston Red Sox look for the sweep this afternoon against the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:07 p.m. The game will be broadcast on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Blue Jays market, you can catch the game on Rogers SportsNet. And if you can’t catch the game on television, you can always listen on the 2014 Red Sox Radio Network.

Jon Lester looks to help the Red Sox to the sweep in his sixth start of 2014. In his previous five starts, Lester is 2-3 with a 2.67 ERA. He made six starts against the Jays in 2013 and was 4-0 with a 2.55 ERA. In 28 career starts against them, he is 15-7 with a 3.55 ERA. 16 of those starts have come at Rogers Centre where he is 7-5 with a 3.35 ERA.

R.A. Dickey is tasked with preventing the sweep in his sixth start of 2014. In his previous five starts, Dickey is 1-3 with a 5.90 ERA. He made two starts against the Red Sox in 2013 and was 0-2 with a 8.53 ERA (12 ER/12.2 IP). He’s made 11 career appearances (five starts) against the visiting nine and is 2-3 with a 5.32 ERA.

12-13		11-13
1. Dustin Pedroia	2B	1. Jose Reyes	SS
2. Grady Sizemore	LF	2. Melky Cabrera	LF
3. Mike Napoli	1B	3. Jose Bautista	CF
4. A.J. Pierzynski	DH	4. Edwin Encarnacion	1B
5. Will Middlebrooks	3B	5. Brett Lawrie	3B
6. Jonny Gomes	RF	6. Juan Francisco	CF
7. Xander Bogaerts	SS	7. Moises Sierra	RF
8. Jackie Bradley, Jr	CF	8. Josh Thole	C
9. David Ross	C	9. Jonathan Diaz	2B
Jon Lester	SP	R.A. Dickey	SP

NOTES:

Here is how the hitters have fared against the starting pitchers during the regular season over their careers.

More links will be added if/when they become available so please check back often.

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

Jackie Bradley Jr. learning April history lessons from Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz [rob bradford – weei]

Red Sox-Blue Jays preview: Sox go for the sweep [csn new england]

Red Sox call on Lester to complete sweep vs. Blue Jays [red sox]

photo credits: getty images, getty images

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 the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis.

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 Women’s Basketball links

Moseley happy at UConn, no contact from BU [carl adamec – sny uconn]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

A Look Ahead At Next Season’s UConn Men’s Basketball Team [hartford courant]

Other UConn related links

Baseball. UConn Stymied In 6-1 Loss at No. 12 Louisville [uconn huskies]

Baseball. Pair of UConn baseball stars quietly make move [waterbury republican-american]

Softball. UConn Tripped Up In Saturday Doubleheader at Rutgers [uconn huskies]

W. Lacrosse. Kacey Pippitt’s Career Day Leads UConn Past Villanova, 15-4, On Senior Day [uconn huskies]

M. Track. Huskies Wrap Up Big Weekend at UNH Wildcat Invitational II and Penn Relays [uconn huskies]

W. Track. Set, Reset; 4x200m Relay Posts Yet Another Record Time in Final Day of Penn Relays [uconn huskies]

After winning last night, the Boston Red Sox look to do it again in the middle of a three-game set with the Toronto Blue Jays this afternoon at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:07 p.m. The game will be broadcast on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Blue Jays market, you can catch the game on Rogers SportsNet. And if you can’t catch the game on television, you can always listen on the 2014 Red Sox Radio Network.

Clay Buchholz looks for his first win in his fifth start of 2014. In his previous four starts, Buchholz is 0-2 with a 7.71 ERA. He made three starts against the Blue Jays in 2013 and was 1-1 with a 1.71 ERA. He’s made 18 career appearances (17 starts) against the Jays and is 9-5 with a 2.44 ERA. 10 of those starts have come at the Rogers Centre where he is 7-2 with a 1.49 ERA.

Brandon Morrow toes the slab for the fifth time in 2014. In his previous four starts, Morrow is 1-1 with a 5.03 ERA. He picked up a no decision in his lone start against the Red Sox in 2013 after allowing three runs in five innings of work. He’s made 17 appearances (nine starts) against the visiting nine and is 1-3 with a 7.99 ERA.

11-13		11-12
1. Dustin Pedroia	2B	1. Jose Reyes	SS
2. Shane Victorino	RF	2. Melky Cabrera	LF
3. David Ortiz	DH	3. Jose Bautista	DH
4. Mike Carp	1B	4. Juan Francisco	1B
5. Grady Sizemore	LF	5. Dioner Navarro	C
6. A.J. Pierzynski	C	6. Colby Rasmus	CF
7. Will Middlebrooks	3B	7. Brett Lawrie	3B
8. Jonathan Herrera	SS	8. Moises Sierra	RF
9. Jackie Bradley, Jr	CF	9. Ryan Goins	2B
Clay Buchholz	SP	Brandon Morrow	SP

NOTES:

Here is how the hitters have fared against the starting pitchers during the regular season over their careers.

More links will be added if/when they become available so please check back often.

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

Why Jake Peavy’s importance to Red Sox might have been undersold [rob bradford – weei]

Sizemore hits bump in the road in return [clubhouse insider]

Red Sox-Blue Jays preview: Buchholz looks to rebound [csn new england]

All A.L. East teams have scored less than they’ve allowed [csn new england]

Daniel Nava’s up-and-down path brings him back to Pawtucket Red Sox [espn boston]

Days off for Bogaerts, Napoli [espn boston]

Red Sox notes: John Farrell explains lineup decisions, Grady Sizemore’s bump in the road [full count]

Pregame Notes: Red Sox stack lefties, give day off to Mike Napoli, Xander Bogaerts [providence journal]

Buchholz out to bounce back against Blue Jays [red sox]

photo credits: getty images, getty images

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 the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis.

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

UConn-Army Football General Public Tickets On Sale on 4/30 [sox & dawgs]

Be wary of online commitments [john silver – sny uconn]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Stewart, Huskies Getting Back To Work [rich elliott – ct post]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

UConn’s DeAndre Daniels Declares For NBA Draft [sox & dawgs]

UConn’s Daniels Declares For NBA Draft, Boatright To Return [sox & dawgs]

How The Huskies Could Line Up Next November … [dom amore – hartford courant]

UConn’s Boatright made the best decision [ct post]

Academic Progress: Two Smart Decisions In Storrs [hartford courant]

Andre Drummond Returns To Middlesex YMCA As An NBA Star [hartford courant]

Other UConn related links

Softball. UConn Takes On Rutgers In Weekend Conference Series [uconn huskies]

W. Lacrosse. Huskies To Host Villanova On Saturday In Regular Season Finale [uconn huskies]

Baseball. UConn Drops Series Opener At No. 12 Louisville, 2-0 [uconn huskies]

W. Track. Record Setting Day For UConn At Penn Relays; 4x200m Team Establishes New School Best [uconn huskies]

As we learned earlier, DeAndre Daniels decided to leave the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team to declare for the NBA Draft.

Here’s the official release from UConn:

STORRS, Conn. – UConn junior DeAndre Daniels (Los Angeles, Calif.) has filed paperwork with the NBA to declare himself eligible for the upcoming NBA Draft. The 6-9 forward, who started 38 games for the national champion Huskies, will forgo his senior season of college eligibility.

Junior guard Ryan Boatright (Aurora, Ill.), also an instrumental part of the national championship run, has decided to return to UConn for his senior season in 2014-15.

“I just felt like this was the right time for me,” Daniels said. “I sat down with my family and we discussed it and everyone agreed, but the final decision was still mine and it was hard. I had a great career at UConn and I wouldn’t change it for the world, and to go out on top like we did makes it even better.”

Daniels averaged 13.1 points per game this season and led the Huskies in rebounding at 6.0 per game. The versatile forward shot .469 overall and .417 from three-point range. However, Daniels played his best basketball during the Huskies’ six-game march to the fourth NCAA title in school history, averaging 16.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, and shooting .487 overall and .857 from the free throw line.

“DeAndre has made an enormous contribution to the success we have enjoyed at UConn, both on the court and in the classroom,” UConn coach Kevin Ollie said. “Besides being an outstanding basketball player, he is a quality young man. We wholeheartedly support the decision he has made and wish him nothing but success as he moves ahead with his basketball career. He will always be part of our UConn family.”

Boatright teamed with senior Shabazz Napier this season to form one of the toughest backcourts in the country. The 6-foot guard averaged 12.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game. It was on the defensive end, however, that Boatright arguably made his biggest contribution during the NCAA Tournament, continually disrupting the opposing point guard with outstanding on-ball defense, taking opposing teams out of their offensive game.

Boatright, a team tri-captain this season with Napier and Niels Giffey, will be the lone senior on the 2014-15 Huskies.

“I couldn’t be happier that Ryan will be back with us next season,” Ollie said, “not only for his terrific basketball talents, but to provide tremendous senior leadership for us, both on and off the court. The growth and maturity he has shown throughout his career has been wonderful and I expect that to continue as he works toward his degree.”

Daniels finishes his 99-game career at UConn with 953 points and 457 rebounds. He is the 16^th player in UConn history to leave school early for the NBA Draft. Of the previous 15 early entrants from UConn, 14 were selected in the first round and 13 were NBA lottery picks.

“I will always bleed blue, I will always love this program,” said Daniels, a sociology major who intends to finish his degree requirements in the summers ahead. “There have been ups and downs, but it’s been the best three years of my life. Today, when I thought about leaving, I even cried a little bit because I love this school and the friends I’ve made here to death. But I’m excited to follow the dream I’ve had since I was a little kid.

“I want to thank Coach Ollie and Coach (Jim) Calhoun for believing in me and everybody who helped me get to where I am, especially my teammates. If it weren’t for them, I certainly wouldn’t be in this position.”

Tickets for the Army vs. UConn college football game – scheduled to kick off at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 8, at Yankee Stadium – will go on sale to the general public at www.yankees.com and www.ticketmaster.com on Wednesday, April 30, at 10:00 a.m.

Yankees full- and partial-season ticket licensees, Yankees Universe members, Yankees Group Leaders and Yankees.com subscribers will have the opportunity to take part in a special pre-on-sale beginning on Tuesday, April 29, the details of which can be found at www.yankees.com/football.

The game will mark Army’s third appearance at the current Yankee Stadium, having played in the venue’s inaugural college football game on November 20, 2010 vs. Notre Dame and on November 12, 2011 vs. Rutgers. Their game vs. Notre Dame in 2010 marked the 50^th all-time meeting between the programs.

Army played 38 times at the original Yankee Stadium, compiling a combined mark of 14-19-5 against Air Force (1959), Columbia (1936), Illinois (1930, ’47), Michigan (1945, ’50), Navy (1930-31), Notre Dame (1925-29, ’31-46, ’69), Oklahoma (1961), Pittsburgh (1962), Princeton (1942), Southern California (1951), Stanford (1928, ’48) and Syracuse (1960, ’64).

While playing at the original Yankee Stadium in the 1940s, Army also won back-to-back national titles in 1944 and ’45 and produced two Heisman Trophy winners in Johnny Blanchard (1945) and Glenn Davis (1946).

This will mark the sixth game between the two schools and the first since 2006. The Huskies, who will be making their first ever appearance in the Bronx, hold a 4-1 all-time edge over the Black Knights.