Written by Steve Hofstetter, Keith Alberstadt, Adam Hofstetter, Cody Marley, Ryan Murphy, Elliot Steingart, and Chris Strait

The New York Yankees paid a $23.5 million luxury tax, directly to the Florida Marlins. The Marlins plan on using the money to compete with the Nationals for fourth place.

Barry Bonds appeared in court this week, wearing a suit with the biggest neck hole ever.

The Michigan State Spartans benched five players from the Champs Sports Bowl, due to various violations. Among the five were defensive standouts Jonal Saint-Dic and SirDarean Adams, who were benched for having silly names.

Speaking of silly names, in tennis, Dominik Hrbaty pulled out of the Australian Open, after injuring his elbow while trying to buy a vowel.

After a 9-16 start, the Bulls fired coach Scott Skiles. Hey New York Knicks: see how easy that was? In related news, the Miami Dolphins set their coach on fire.

Golfer Lorena Ochoa was selected the AP’s female athlete of the year for the second year in a row, narrowly edging out Alex Rodriguez. Tom Brady won the AP’s male athlete of the year, after impregnating half the judges.

And for the first time in four years, Michelle Wie did not receive one of the four sponsors exemptions to play in the Sony Open. This year, the tournament decided to give the exemptions to golfers.

For more of the Sports Minute (Or So), visit minuteorso.com

Jim Calhoun wanted to get in one road game to test his young Huskies before they get ready for Big East play next week. Well, he got his test tonight as his UConn Huskies survived the late run by the Central Florida Knights to win 85-82 in front of 6,224 fans at UCF Arena in Orlando. It was the largest crowd ever to watch a UCF basketball game.

Jerome Dyson led five Huskies in double figures with 23 points. Jeff Adrien just missed a double-double as he had 16 points and 9 rebounds. A.J. Price added 13 points and 5 assists while Doug Wiggins and Hasheem Thabeet rounded out the Huskies in double figures with 10 points each.

UCF (5-6) was led by Jermaine Taylor who had a game-high 30 points. Mike O’Donnell added 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting from 3-point land. Dave Noel added 19 points for the Knights before fouling out late in the game.

It was a see-saw affair in the first half as neither team really could pull ahead by that much. UConn managed to pull ahead by seven points at 34-27 but only went into the locker room with a 2-point lead at 43-41.

UConn managed to get the lead to 11-points in the second half before UCF started to close in on the lead on the strength of their 3-point shooting. The Huskies were able to hold on at the end as they made most of their free throws and withstood the late charge.

The Huskies (9-2) were flat throughout the game at times and that might have been expected given the fact they hadn’t played in six days. Offensively they played pretty well and were able to push their style of play instead of UCF’s slow tempo game. Defensively, they weren’t at their best and were almost done in by UCF’s twelve 3-point shots made.

UConn is now off until next Thursday, January 3rd, 2008 when they head to Seton Hall at the Prudential Center in Newark in the Big East opener for both squads. The game will be shown on MyTV9 locally here in Connecticut.

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UConn men’s head basketball coach Jim Calhoun appeared on The Charlie Rose Show on December 27th to discuss his book, “A Passion to Lead: Seven Leadership Secrets for Success in Business, Sports, and Life” along with the UConn basketball program.

It was interesting to hear Calhoun talk about the differences between the programs across the nation, especially describing the differences between Duke and UNC.

Here is the interview for your enjoyment.

Here is a recap of what’s happened this week in As The Santana Turns.

On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that the Twins had lessened their demands with the Yankees and asked for Jeffery Marquez instead of Ian Kennedy.

The Yankees’ go-slow approach stems from their ambivalence over whether they want to keep Phil Hughes and a younger pitching prospect, Jeffrey Marquez, or have Santana pitch at the head of their rotation.

At one point, the Twins were said to be holding out for Hughes and Ian Kennedy, another of the Yankees’ attractive triumvirate of major league-ready young pitchers (the untouchable Joba Chamberlain being the third), but the Yankees wouldn’t give up both, so the Twins asked instead for Marquez, a 23-year-old right-hander.

Later Wednesday night, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that the Twins had talked to Mets, Yankees, and Red Sox before the holidays. Also in their discussions with the Yankees, Kei Igawa’s name had come up.

The Twins checked in with the Red Sox, Yankees and Mets just before everyone split for the holidays but nothing major appears to be heating up.

Yes, you just read the word Mets. Indications are that the Mets remain a viable destination for ace Johan Santana, and that the Twins like enough of their players that a deal could be worked out without shortstop Jose Reyes being part of the package.

Outfield prospects Carlos Gomez and Fernando Martinez have been mentioned in other reports as possible targets. Pitchers Mike Pelfrey, Kevin Mulvey and Phil Humber are considered good prospects but it’s unclear how much the Twins like them. And, it’s unknown if there are any established players the Mets are willing to part with (Reyes and David Wright seem untouchable).

Also heard that, in some trade scenarios discussed with the Yankees, that lefthander Kei Igawa’s name has popped up. Igawa, 28, was 2-3 with a 6.25 ERA last season. There’s a belief that he needs to get out of New York to establish himself. And, of course, Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson isn’t afraid of such a project. It’s still believed that Phillip Hughes and Melky Cabrera would lead any package from the Yankees.

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Former Yankees World Series hero Jim Leyritz was arrested early Friday morning for DUI and vehicular homicide. He had been involved in a car crash in Ft. Lauderdale.

From the Miami Herald:

The jail website indicated Leyritz was charged with two counts of drunken driving, including DUI that causes death to a human. He had not posted an $11,000 bond as of Friday afternoon, records show.

A call to Fort Lauderdale police was not immediately returned. WPLG-ABC 10 reported a passenger in the car Leyritz allegedly hit was ejected from the car and died at the scene. The former baseball pro refused a sobriety test, the station reported, citing police.

This Week

The New England Patriots visit the New York Giants Saturday evening at 8:15 p.m. at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands of East Rutherford, NJ. It is the final game of the regular season and the Patriots are looking to become the first NFL team in 35 years to finish the regular season undefeated.

The Patriots are 7-0 on the road this season, 3-0 against the NFC East and 3-0 in interconference games. The Giants are 3-4 at home, 3-0 against the AFC East and 3-0 against the AFC.

Here are the rosters for the Patriots and the Giants.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo Sports is Patriots -13.5. The over/under is 46.5.

My prediction is Patriots 35, Giants, 14 . Give the points and take the over. I am 9-6 against the spread and have called the over/under eleven out of fifteen times in 2007.

Tickets

The Giants are reporting the game as a sell out, although many Giants fans are selling off their tickets.

Tickets to the game, if available, may be purchased through Ticketmaster. You can check the availability here. Many times tickets are released in the last 48 hours prior to the game.

Getting To The Game

If you’re lucky enough to have tickets and you are going to the game make sure you check out the links.

Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from The Weather Channel.

Due to construction on a new Meadowlands Stadium, unless you have a premium parking pass there is no parking available at the Meadowlands facilities. You must park in the satellite lots and take the shuttles to the game.

There is NO TAILGATING IN THE SATELLITE LOTS.

Here is all the parking info you will need for the game, this link includes directions to Giants Stadium as well as prohibited items. Here is a Giants Stadium seating chart.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

The NFL Network holds the broadcast rights to the game but is simulcasting it to the nation along both the CBS and NBC television networks as the Patriots try to become the first undefeated NFL team in 35 years. The play-by-play duties will be handled by Bryant Gumbel with Cris Collinsworth doing game analysis.

It is the first time a NFL game has been broadcast on three major networks simultaneously. Super Bowl I on January 15, 1966 between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Green Bay Packers was broadcast by both NBC and CBS as both held rights to the game through their separate leagues prior to the merger.

Radio

The Patriots Rock Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBCN-FM 104.1 in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color.

It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Scott Zolak, Pete Brock and Andy Gresh and the pregame show at 5 p.m. along the network.

The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours.

If you are outside of the broadcast area of the stations on the Patriots Rock Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass which allows you to listen to any NFL game live. You can also pick which teams broadcasters you want to listen to.

All NFL games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio. The Patriots radio call is available on Channel 126, the Giants radio call is available on Channel 123.

The game can be heard nationally on Westwood One. Don Criqui and John Dockery will call the game.

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With 2007 calender year coming to a close and it being winter, there’s not a lot of news coming out of Boston from the Red Sox. Don’t worry though, things will start to heat up soon as the Theo and his crew put the finishing touches on the 2008 roster. Plus pitchers and catchers report in just 48 days.

Back in November, the Red Sox brought in some of their pitchers to see where they were at physically.

“We felt it was our responsibility to bring guys in for a check up, no more than that,” said Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell. “We just want to make sure progress is being made towards the individual program that’s been laid out for them from a physical standpoint. This provided the opportunity to do that in one setting rather than others flying around the country to check up on people.”

Clay Buchholz was a big concern for Farrell and the staff due to him being shutdown back in September.

“There have been gains from a physical standpoint,” said Farrell. “In retrospect, it was certainly the right decision to deactivate him at the time. He is making progress, but he still has some work to do, particularly since we project 180 to 185 innings for him next year. There’s still some work to be done to build that foundation to endure that load.”

“We do have some mechanisms and structure in place that will prepare him best for the start of spring training.”

Within the article, which you can read by clicking the first link below, Farrell also talks about the possibility of a six-man rotation. There’s also an article about Jed Lowrie and Justin Masterson and their rise through the Red Sox minor league system.

I, for one, am looking forward to Valentine’s Day because it’s the day pitchers and catchers report to Ft. Myers.

For Red Sox pitchers, there’s no such thing as an offseason [Pro Jo]

Lowrie and Masterson working hard as they climb Red Sox’ ladder [Pro Jo]

Celtics captain Paul Pierce stole the show during Ray Allen’s return to Seattle as he scored 26 of his 37points in the second half as Boston downed the Sonics, 104-96 in front of 17,072 at Key Arena on Thursday night.

Allen, who played four and a half seasons with Seattle was honored prior to the game for this commitment to the Seattle community, was given two standing ovation during introductions and a pregame presentation.

But while it was Allen’s night to be remembered by his former team and fans it was Pierce’s night on the court. In addition to the 37 points he had 6 rebounds and 4 assists shot 5 of 7 from 3 and was 10 of 11 from the line. Kevin Garnett had a double-double with 23 points and 14 rebounds and Allen, the final member of the Boston Three Party, chipped in 10 points while reserve guard Eddie House gave the Green 13 points off the bench.

The Sonics were led by rookie Kevin Durant who had 25 points, former Celtics Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak had 19 and 14 points respectively, off the bench.

The win, was the Celtics 24th on the season matching their total from all of last year, came on the back end of a back-to-back. It was the first wins on consecutive days in the pacific time zone for the Celtics since 1991.

Former UConn and current Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird took in the game along with NBA Hall of Famer George Gervin and Seattle Seahawks players Nate Burleson, Seneca Wallace, Julian Peterson and Rocky Bernard.

Now that the NFL has caved in and will simulcast the Patriots-Giants game on the NFL Network with CBS and NBC other networks out there are pretty pissed they weren’t let in on it as well. Several other cable networks have petitioned Commissioner Goodell to allow them to get in on the simulcast but with their own announcing teams.

Below is a list of networks and their announce teams.

• The Oxygen Network – Oprah Winfrey, Gayle King with select book club members doing the sideline reports.
• PBS – James Lipton and Norm, from this Old House.
• TBS – Chip Caray, Tony Gwynn and Bob Brenly.
• Discovery – Mythbusters Adam Savage, Jamie Hyneman and Kari Byron
• CNN – Larry King and Anderson Cooper.
• The Weather Channel – Abrams and Bettes.
• MTV – Bam and Missy Margera with Ryan Dunn, Phil and April Margera.
• Food Network – Iron Chef Morimoto, Bobby Flay and Rachel Ray.
• Lifetime – Carson Kressley and the cast of Will and Grace.
• Disney – Hannah Montana, Zack and Cody
• Nickelodeon – Drake and Josh, iCarly
• Fox News – Bill O’Reilly with Hannity and Colmes.
• E! – The Girls Next Door
• CMT – Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, Larry the Cable Guy and Ron White
• Travel Channel – Mark DeCarlo and John Ratzenberger

The first game of a four game western road trip turned out to be a rout as the Boston Celtics crowned the Sacramento Kings 89-69 at the ARCO Arena Thursday night to improve their record to 23-3.

After a slow start in which the Green only scored 18 first quarter points they turned it up in the second quarter and took a 53-29 lead into the locker room at half time. They would need that big lead as the Kings made a run themselves later in the game and got to within five before an Eddie House and James Posey hit back-to-back three’s that silenced the crown and turned the game back in the Celtics favor.

Ray Allen who had 17 points and 3 steals, led five Celtics in double figures as Paul Pierce had 16 points and 6 assists, Kevin Garnett had 14 points and 10 rebounds, Rajon Rondo had 13 points, 4 boards, 4 steals and 3 assists and James Posey chipped in 11 points and 6 rebounds off the bench.

Sacramento was led by Ron Artest who had 15 points, John Salmons had 13 and Brad Miller had 7 points and 11 rebounds.

The Celtics play tonight in Seattle as Ray Allen returns to face his former team.

AL Rookie of the Year Dustin Pedroia watched from courtside and was given a Kings jersey with his name. Pedroia, who grew up in nearby Woodland but plays for the Boston Red Sox, did not wear the jersey.