Rob Bradford of WEEI.com is reporting that former Boston Red Sox first baseman Sean “The Mayor” Casey is retiring from the game of baseball and will be taking a job with the MLB Network.

Casey signed with the Red Sox last year to backup Kevin Youkilis at first base and hit .322 with 17 RBIs in 69 games for the Red Sox.

He spent 12 seasons in the big leagues with the Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Tigers and the Red Sox. In his career, he hit .302 with 130 home runs and 735 RBIs. He had a career OBP of .367 and was a 3-time All-Star (1999, 2001 and 2004), all with the Reds.

While Casey gave us some of his funnier moments last  season with his blog over at WEEI.com, nothing will beat the Sean Casey Crawl back to second base against the Yankees last season.

to Texy at Center Field for the video

It’s time to close the door on the incident that transpired last weekend when Nicole Michael of Syracuse tripped UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma during the postgame handshake.

During the “Geno Auriemma Show” on CPTV tonight (taped on Thursday morning), Geno admitted that he was wrong for saying something to Michael during the handshakes.

[dailymotion width=”382″ height=”306″]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x850ah_geno-wrong_sport[/dailymotion]video courtesy of CPTV

Even though Geno did admit that he was wrong, Michael was very immature for tripping him afterward. The Big East didn’t take any action on the matter.

But it’s time to move onward and upward although the Huskies can’t go much higher than they already are.

Schilling Plays GM: The Boston Red Sox would like to announce the signing of catcher Jason Varitek to a one-year, $8 million contract that contains a performance/mutual option for the 2010 season. If Jason is healthy and performs to standards he has in years prior to 2008, he can earn a total of $10.5 million during the 2009 season. [38 Pitches]

It’s a very sad day in the world of women’s basketball as North Carolina State Hall of Fame women’s basketball coach Kay Yow has lost her long battle with cancer at the age of 66.

Yow was diagnosed with breast cancer back in 1987 and her battle with cancer came into the spotlight during the 2006-07 season when she had to leave the team to focus on her treatments. When she returned, NC State won 12 of it’s final 15 games including big wins over rivals North Carolina and Duke.

When her cancer returned this season, Yow once again had to step away from the team and just recently announced that she would not return to the bench this season to focus on her battle.

Yow was very outspoken on the subject wanting to help others out in their fight with cancer. In 2007, she started the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund in partnership with The V Foundation for Cancer Research.

“I am honored to have a Fund established in partnership with The V Foundation that bears the name of Kay Yow,” V Foundation CEO Nick Valvano said. “Her courage, faith and legacy will continue to live on in the hearts of those she helped to inspire throughout her coaching career and battle with cancer.”

Yow won 737 games in her career, coached US Olympic Women’s Basketball team to a gold medal in 1988, she won 4 ACC Championships, went to the NCAA Tournament 20 times and made it to the Final Four in 1998.

During the 2007 season, NC State dedicated “Kay Yow Court” at Reynolds Coliseum. She was elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame back in 2002.

My condolences go out to Yow’s family and friends and the NC State women’s basketball program and all of it’s fans. She will be missed.

No deal on the horizon: The Boston Red Sox and Jason Varitek are still talking about a deal but no progress has been made as of yet. “(Red Sox general manager) Theo (Epstein) and I are talking and we are exchanging offers,” said Varitek’s agent, Scott Boras. [Boston Herald]

Pioli gives Edwards the axe: New Kansas City Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, formerly of the New England Patriots, has decided to fire head coach Herm Edwards. He was 15-34 in 3 seasons with the Chiefs. The rumor is that former Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan will be named head coach in a matter of days. [ESPN.com]

SWG Says Lunn’s a bedwetter: As I walked into Rob’s Marriot hotel room on my way to breakfast the morning of the game, I noticed his bed was stripped of all the linens. A few thoughts rambled through my mind, “Maybe he had a nightmare?” “Maybe Cody Brown played a joke on him” or…”Maybe…he…wait, no he couldn’t have.” You guessed it, my last presumption was correct. I looked at Rob and didn’t even have to ask when he looked at me like any 6 year old would after wetting the bed and said in a soft tone, “I had an accident.” I understand that people may get nervous the night before the game and might lose a few hours of sleep because they’re concentrating so hard on the battle upon them, but at this age, the only excuse for soaking your sheets is a night of excessive drinking…and that certainly wasn’t the case. It’s time to grow up, Rob. [Thoughts From a Fat White Guy]

It looks as though the Tribune Company has finally found a buyer for the Chicago Cubs. They have chosen the Ricketts family bid of $900 million.

Besides the Cubs, they would get the ownership rights to Wrigley Field and a 25% stake in Comcast SportsNet Chicago.

“My family and I are Cubs fans,” Tom Ricketts, the family’s point person in the Cubs purchase, said. “We share the goal of Cubs fans everywhere to win a World Series and build the consistent championship tradition that the fans deserve.”

Once the negotiations between the Ricketts family and the Tribune Co. are done, Major League Baseball will need to approve the sale. After that, 23 of the 30 owners will need to approve the sale as well.

Officials in the Cubs organization hope to have the new owners in place by the start of the season in April.

It’s just too bad that Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, didn’t win the bidding. I would have loved to have seen what he would have done with the team and Wrigley Field.

According to John Altavilla of the Hartford Courant, UConn Huskies freshman Caroline Doty’s knee surgery was a success and she’ll begin her rehab this weekend.

“I was there with her this morning,” said UConn assistant coach Shea Ralph, who suffered five ACL tears in before the age of 22. “I made her a care package, gave her a hug. There’s really nothing to say, at this point. We just talked a lot about what a great shooter she’s going to be when she comes back.”

“Caroline will come to practice every day, she’ll rehab and go on all the trips with us once she’s allowed to travel,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma. “She’ll be no different than anyone else on the team, except she won’t be playing.”

The good news is that she should be back to full strength in time for next season.

I wish her nothing but the best of luck in her rehab. Like her, I’ve been there before.

Light will be seen dancing with Ray Lewis and Justin Tuck: New England Patriots offensive lineman Matt Light will be one of three NFL players in the SoBe’s Super Bowl Commercial this year. “When I was asked if I was interested, the first thing I thought of was the spot they did last year with Naomi Campbell and she was dancing to ‘Thriller’ with lizards and all that. So my first thought was ‘I don’t think I’m the right guy for this spot.’ “Then I was informed that I’d be wearing a leotard and dancing with Justin Tuck and Ray Lewis, with the lizards, aliens and monsters.” [Reiss’s Pieces]