The UConn Huskies spoiled the return of former long-time assistant Tom Moore to the Hartford Civic Center by giving his Quinnipiac Bobcats squad a beating, winning the game 82-49 in front of a sparse crowd due to the Nor’easter that made it’s way up the coast on Sunday.

The actual attendance at the game was about 3,500 people while the announced crowd was 11,497.

The Huskies (7-2) were led by Jerome Dyson, who scored 23 points, while Stanley Robinson added 15 points. Jeff Adrien had his fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Doug Wiggins rounded out the Huskies in double-figures with 10 points off the bench.

The Bobcats (4-5) were led by Casey Cosgrove’s 15 points. DeMario Anderson added 10 points and 8 rebounds to the cause for Quinnipiac as well.

UConn went into the half leading 46-24 and they started out the second half on a 16-4 game to put the game away. They built the big lead in the first half on the strength of a 19-3 run.

The Huskies will return to the court on Saturday when the Maine Black Bears come to the Hartford Civic Center for a 1 PM tip-off.

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Today, myself, Anthony of the Oriole Post and Jason of My Baseball Bias gave our initial thoughts to the Mitchell Report as we spoke about many of the different issues surrounding it. We only spent an hour talking about it and we had a great conversation in that hour. We will continue our thoughts about the report at our regular time on Wednesday night at 7 PM but we felt it was too great of an issue not to have the special edition show today.

You can listen to today’s show by clicking play in the blogtalk radio section on the right or you can listen to the show by clicking the link right here.

A big thanks to everyone for listening and we hope you enjoy the show.

The New England Patriots aren’t the only Boston team doing quite well this holiday season. The Boston Celtics won their ninth consecutive game Sunday and improved to a NBA best 20-2 with a 90-77 win over the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

It is the third time the Green have taken down the Raptors this year.

The Celtics were short one of the “Three Amigo’s” as Ray Allen sat out his second game in a row. That didn’t stop Paul Pierce who had 18 points and 6 rebounds, Kevin Garnett added 16 points and 8 rebounds and Rajon Rondo chipped in with 14 points, 4 assists and a pair of steals.

Toronto was led by Chris Bosh who had a double-double with 17 points and 13 boards and Jamario Moon who had 13 points.

The Celtics return to action Wednesday against the Detroit Pistons at the TD BankNorth Garden. Ray Allen is expected to be back for the game.

The Result

The New England Patriots improved to 14-0 with a 20-10 win over their arch rival New York Jets at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro on Sunday. Due to the weather conditions it was far from the blow out everyone expected and one of the Patriots least convincing wins of the year.

Snow fell before the game and steady rain and sleet fell during the game turning this into an old fashioned AFC East black and blue kind of contest. The Patriots decided in the weather to keep the ball on the ground and second year running back Laurence Maroney had 26 carries for 104 yards and scored the only offensive touchdown in the game.

The Patriots high powered offense struggled in the elements as you could tell Tom Brady and the receiving corps had a difficult time getting untracked. But when the game mattered the Patriots made the plays they needed to make on both sides of the ball. But other than Maroney it was the defense who came up big as four times the Jets went into the red zone and only came away with 3 points. They also sacked the Jets QB’s 5 times and forced them into bad decisions or made them hurry several times in key situations.

The Jets kept the game close but in the end the Patriots defense, Maroney and New York turnovers were the difference.

Scoring Plays

1^st Quarter

• NE – Wilson 5 yard interception return – kick good – Patriots 7-0

2^nd Quarter

• NE – Gostkowski 26 yard FG – Patriots 10-0
• NYJ – Bowens 26 yard blocked punt return – kick good – Patriots 10-7
• NE – Maroney 1 yard run – kick good – Patriots 17-7

3^rd Quarter

• None

4^th Quarter

• NYJ – Nugent 33 yard FG – Patriots 17-10
• NE – Gostkowski 34 yard FG – Patriots 20-10

Offensive Player of the Game

Patriots running back Laurence Maroney who had 26 carries for 104 yards and a TD.

Defensive Players of the Game

Patriots DB Eugene Wilson who had 1 tackle, 1 interception return for a touchdown and a fumble recovery and Junior Seau who had 5 tackles, 2 assists and 2 sacks.

Turning Point(s) of the Game

Kelly Washington’s blocked punt leads to Maroney’s TD 1 minute before halftime.

Adalius Thomas stripped the ball from Chris Baker in the red zone and Eugene Wilson recovered the fumble at NE 10 late in the third quarter when the Jets were threatening to score.

Patriots stop the Jets in the red zone with less than 3 minutes left forcing a 35 yard FGA that was missed.

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The Miami Dolphins just beat the Baltimore Ravens 22-16 in OT when Cleo Lemon threw a 63-yard TD pass to Greg Camarillo after the Ravens Matt Stover missed a field goal attempt.

The Ravens who nearly beat the unbeaten Patriots now lose to the previously winless Dolphins. Talk about Kharma.

The New York Mets have raised ticket prices 20% for the 2008 season.  Seems they need some extra revenue to pay for the removable of the rubble from that September collapse.

Here is a look how the former UConn players fared in last week’s play in the NBA.

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Tune in today at 3:00 PM ET for a SPECIAL EDITION of “THKC” with bloggers Anthony of the Oriole Post and Jason of My Baseball Bias as we break down the recent news surrounding the Mitchell Report.

If you’d like to call in, the phone number is 718-664-6564 or you can send us an instant message if you use AOL IM at hitskeepcoming20.

Please join us at: http://blogtalkradio.com/oriolepost

See you all today!!!

Red Sox spring training tickets went on sale yesterday in Fort Myers and also on redsox.com and from all accounts things went without a hitch. People started lining up on Thursday for the tickets and the fans down in the Fort didn’t go home disappointed. This shows you how hot Red Sox tickets are even for spring training games. With the abbreviated spring training schedule this year, you can definitely expect the Red Sox to expand on their 62-game consecutive sell-out streak during Grapefruit League games.

Brendan Donnelly spoke out about his name being in the Mitchell Report and denied using steroids.

“In 2004, I was having multiple health issues and was concerned about not getting on the field fast enough. I made a phone call to (Kirk) Radomski about a substance called Anavar. Once I learned Anavar was classified as a steroid I realized that was not an option. That was the end of it. Yes, I called him. But I did not purchase or receive anything from him and have never taken Deca or Anavar. I fully support the current drug testing program put in place by Major League Baseball and agree with their efforts to widen the testing.”

For those who don’t know, Donnelly is not a member of the MLBPA. He is barred from joining because he was a replacement player in 1995.

“The replacement players are represented by the Players Association on matters of arbitration and other grievances, and they receive pension benefits, but they are not part of the union, they are not allowed to vote on union matters and they do not get licensing money.”

So while we here in the Northeast enjoy the typical winter N’oreaster and await the Patriots-Jets game at 1 PM, let’s look at the headlines.

Red Sox fans wait, ignore rain in Fort Myers [The News-Press]

Donnelly surfaces [Boston Herald]

Replacement players [Baseball Almanac]

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said on Friday during an interview with NBCSports.com that the New York Jets did not have permission nor approval to have a second end zone camera during the team’s AFC Playoff game last January.

He was responding to the article that appeared in New York Newsday on Wednesday that a Jets camera man who was taping from the endzone and decorative light house was asked to stop taping and was removed from the mezzanine area. The camera and tape were not confiscated and no complaint was filed with the league.

The Jets claim they had permission to be there, Belichick says that wasn’t the case:

“I was never asked for permission, nor was anyone in our video department asked for permission for a second end-zone camera.”

On Wednesday afternoon Jets head coach Eric Mangini told the New York media:

“We had asked for permission, it was granted, then that changed and we respect their decision. It’s their stadium.”

Taping from the end zone is allowed by the NFL but the visiting team has to request permission for a second end zone camera from the home team. The Jets do not plan on using a second end zone camera during today’s game and never asked for permission to do so.