Today is the 30th anniversary of Gordie Howe’s 1,000th career goal. He scored it as a member of the WHA’s New England Whalers against the Birmingham Bulls in a game played on December 7, 1977 in Birmingham Alabama off of goalie John Garrett. Garrett would later end up playing for the Whalers when the Bulls folded and ceased operations.

Howe, who played for the Detroit Red Wings, Houston Aeros and New England/Hartford Whalers, is a member of 11 Hall’s of Fame, and played several seasons professionally with his sons, Mark and Marty.

Howe who is known as Mr. Hockey won four Stanley Cups with Detroit while playing along side fellow Hockey Hall of Fame members Sid Abel and Ted Lindsay on “The Production Line” named for their scoring and as an allusion to Detroit’s auto factories.

Howe played his final NHL Game on April 6, 1980 with the Whalers and scored a goal against his former team the Detroit Red Wings.

This Week

The New England Patriots host the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium on Sunday at 4:15 p.m. The two teams have won 4 of the last 6 Super Bowls. This is the first game of a three game homestand for New England.

The Patriots are 5-0 at the Razor this season, 3-0 against the AFC North and 9-0 in the AFC. The Steelers are 2-3 on the road, 2-1 against the AFC East and 7-2 in the conference in 2007.

Here are the rosters for the Steelers and Patriots.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo Sports is Patriots -10.5. The over/under is 48.

My prediction is Patriots 31, Steelers, 24. Take the points and over. I am 9-3 against the spread and have called the over/under nine out of twelve times in 2007.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out.

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 be 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.

Click for stadium directions, parking information, parking map, specific MBTA train times for this game and a Gillette Stadium seating chart.

Tailgating

Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgaiting America. There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack. I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re very good and for good measure here is one of my own.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

CBS is televising the game, and it is cleared for nearly the entire country. The play-by-play duties will be handled by Jim Nantz with Phil Simms doing game analysis. You can check here to see if you are getting the game from CBS and look for your local CBS Station.

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 1 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 122, the Steelers radio call is available on Channel 181.

The game can also be heard nationally on Westwood One. Bill Rosinski and Dan Reeves will call the game.

Continue reading →

Well the Winter Meetings are over and the Red Sox did a lot of talking down there but didn’t come back with Johan Santana as many might have expected. Theo Epstein did say when he left that the channels of communication are still open with the Minnesota Twins.

It does seem as though Eric Gagné *gulp* might be back next season as he may accept the Red Sox offer of arbitration. If this happens, he can’t receive a pay cut of any less that 20% from the $6 million he earned last season. I am guessing the market he thought might be out there, really isn’t. He has stated he does want to be a closer still and if he’s with the Red Sox obviously he won’t be closing out games. There’s some dude named Jonathan Papelbon at the end of the Sox bullpen.

The Red Sox did lose three players in yesterday’s Rule 5 draft as Jose Capellan was taken by the San Francisco Giants and Lincoln Holdzkom was taken by the Philadelphia Phillies in the MLB portion of the draft. Mauricio Mendez was taken by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Triple-A portion of the Rule 5 draft.

So as “As The Santana Turns” goes on hiatus, let’s take a look at the headlines from the Boston area media on this chilly morning in Red Sox Nation.

Gagne may come back [Boston Herald]

Boston content with roster, but Santana lurking [Pro Jo]

Epstein returns empty-handed [Boston Globe]

No backup plan [Boston Herald]

Boston Red Sox, David Ortiz and Jesus Alou to take part in dedication for restored youth baseball field in Haina, Dominican Republic [redsox.com]

Sox tickets on sale Saturday [Extra Bases]

Sox seeking right lefty [Boston Herald]

Every year about 5 miles from my house, All-American football players take over the city of New Haven for the Walter Camp Weekend and Annual Awards Dinner. The event will take place the weekend of January 10-12, 2008 and you can find out all the information by clicking the above link.

For those who don’t know who Walter Camp is, he is known as “the father of football”. He is the one who made the basic principles and the rules for modern day football.

Two weeks ago, the Walter Camp Football Foundation announced three of the awards they will be giving away that weekend. Frank Broyles was named as the recipient of the Distinguished American Award, Dick Butkus will receive the Man of the Year Award and Ray Guy was named as the winner of the Alumni Award. Still to be announced are the Coach of the Year and CT Player of the Year, which is given to a player from Connecticut participating in college football.

On Thursday, the Walter Camp Football Foundation announced it’s 2007 Walter Camp All-American Team and it’s Player of the Year Award.

This year, the Player of the Year went to Arkansas Razorbacks running back Darren McFadden. He rushed for 1,725 yards and 15 touchdowns on the season.

A look at the rest of the team after the jump.

Continue reading →

Please take a moment of your day today to remember the people who gave their lives on this day back in 1941 defending our country.

If you ever go to Hawaii, I highly advise going over to Pearl Harbor and doing the tour. It will leave you speechless.

Jerome Dyson led three UConn Huskies in double figures as they got past a scrappy Northeastern team 69-60 in front of 9,915 at Gampel Pavilion on Thursday night.

Dyson ended up with a double-double as he scored 16 points and pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds. Hasheem Thabeet added 13 points for UConn as he continues to get better at the offensive end of the court. Stanley Robinson rounded out the Huskies in double figures with 11 points while Jeff Adrien added 9 to the cause.

Matt Janning led Northeastern with 29 points on 9 of 22 shooting, including 5 of 10 from 3-point land. Nkem Ojougboh added 14 points while Chiasson Allen added 9 points.

Northeastern (3-5) got out of the gates quickly as Janning hit a couple of early threes as the NU Huskies pulled out to a 9-2 lead. After a turnover by A.J. Price, Northeastern went up 15-11 before UConn went on a 6-0 run to take the lead. Northeastern tied it up at 17 before UConn took the lead for good in the game as they went into the locker room with a 34-28 lead.

Robinson started out the second half with a steal and a dunk to put UConn up eight points as NU called a timeout. Northeastern got the lead down to three points at 41-38 when UConn coach Jim Calhoun received the first of his two technicals on the night. UConn went on a 7-2 run to go up 48-40. Northeastern kept it close behind the shooting of Janning and pulled to within four points when Calhoun was objected for using a profanity. Janning hit both of technical free throws plus the two he had earned when he was fouled by Dyson on a layup. After Janning hit a 3-pointer to pull within three points UConn went on an 8-0 run as they hit their free throws down the stretch to earn the hard fought victory.

UConn (6-2) returns to the court on December 16th, as they break for exams, against former assistant coach Tom Moore and his Quinnipiac Bobcats squad at the Hartford Civic Center.

I would expect the Huskies to continue working on their defense over the break as Calhoun has not been happy with the play of his team on the defensive side of the court. I’d have to think he’s pleased with the play of Thabeet lately on the offensive side and Curtis Kelly played his best game since the first game of the year as he scored 8 points in just 8 minutes of play.

Continue reading →

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

New York Giants leading rusher Derrick Ward is out with a leg injury. Ward’s leg is so weak, doctors briefly mistook it for Eli Manning’s arm.

The Lions’ Roy Williams may be out for the season. Detroit will have to replace him with one of their other 742 wide receivers.

Ricky Williams’ season ended after he tore a chest muscle. Williams will spend the next few weeks trying to convince his doctor it was due to glaucoma.

Tom Petty will play at half-time of the Super Bowl, dedicating “Don’t Come Around Here No More” to the Miami Dolphins.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been selected NASCAR’s most popular driver by internet users for the fifth straight year. Earnhardt is well liked by both NASCAR fans that own computers.

Tony La Russa pleaded guilty to driving under the influence. The Cardinal manager admitted to falling asleep at the wheel last year, and also driving under the influence.

Dick’s Sporting Goods has purchased Chick’s Sporting Goods. Yes, Dick’s bought Chick’s. Every possible domain name for their new company is already taken.

Harness driver Tim Tetrick has broken the single-season record with his 1,078th victory. Tetrick has been riding his horses so hard this year that they’re already starting to smell like glue.

For the second time, Bobby Knight has been accused of shooting someone while hunting. Next week, Knight will be announcing his candidacy for Vice President.

And the New York Knicks lost to the Celtics by 45 points, barely beating the spread.

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

While the entire baseball world and Red Sox Nation waits to find out what’s going on with the Johan Santana trade talks (nothing at the moment), there is other news that came out of the Baseball Winter Meetings in Nashville yesterday.

The biggest news of them all was that Andruw Jones has agreed to a 2-year $36.2 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The deal calls to pay Jones a $12.2 million signing bonus and salaries of $9 million in 2008 and $15 million in 2009. The deal also includes a no-trade clause. Jones’ agent Scott Boras had earlier said that there was teams willing to give Jones a longer deal. Obviously this wasn’t the case because you wouldn’t think Jones would have signed out in Tinseltown.

Another middle reliever got overpaid as the Brewers signed David Riske to a 3-year $13 million deal. I guess having a career 19-18 record with a 3.40 ERA in 393 appearances warrants a $4.333 million a year contract. Odds are with their former closer Francisco Cordero signing with the Reds that Riske will be the setup guy for Derrick Turnbow, who was their closer before Cordero arrived in 2006 via a trade with the Rangers. Ironically enough Laynce Nix, who came over with Cordero from Texas, was released to make room on the 40-man roster for Riske.

The Blue Jays picked up a utility guy from the Cincinnati Reds in one Buck Coats (great name by the way). The Jays hope he can be their 25th man or give them depth in the outfield at Triple-A. I think they need to put him on the roster just because of his name.

The Jays were also waiting to find out if the Giants would accept their offer of Alex Rios for Tim Lincecum. This deal I find strange for the Jays to make because I thought they were really high on Rios, given that he was one of their better hitters last year. Yes Lincecum is a good pitcher but trading an two time All-Star for a guy who hasn’t played a one full year in the big leagues doesn’t make sense to me.

Continue reading →

Well the talks between the Red Sox and Minnesota Twins have gotten very quiet as it seems neither side is in a hurry to make the deal. I am definitely sure the Red Sox are content with that as it is a win-win situation for them either way. Yes, having Johan Santana in the rotation would be great, but we have our ace in Josh Beckett.

Speaking of Beckett, Rob Bradford of the Boston Herald had a chance to speak with Beckett yesterday and this is what he offered up:

“It doesn’t matter to me,” said Beckett yesterday, fresh off his first full-fledged workout of the offseason. “I make plenty of money. I’m starting Opening Day, though.”

“It doesn’t matter to me. It makes no difference,” Beckett said. “There are a lot of people who make more money than me who I had better years than. I’m happy where I’m at.”

“You know how much I care about Jon Lester, but at the same time it’s a business and we’re in the business of winning baseball games,” he said. “Jon Lester has a lot of stuff in front of him. They have to make that decision. I’m glad I don’t have to make those decisions because I’m the type of personality where I would let those emotions get in the way, and hold on to a player because I like them. We have people who make those decisions who obviously don’t have the same personality that I do.

“Everybody has to understand that this is a business and the Red Sox are in the business of winning. It doesn’t matter who it is. If they think of trading someone everybody has to understand that. I’ll still talk to Jon Lester. I’m not saying I want them to trade Jon Lester for Johan Santana, but if the Red Sox think that’s what they need to do to put themselves in the best position to win, that’s what they need to do.”

So while await of day of probably nothing with the Santana talks, let’s take a look at the headlines from the Boston area media on this cold December morning. The article from Bradford will lead off our links today.

Mine over matter [Boston Herald]

‘Johan, si?’ Johan, no….for now [Boston Globe]

On The Spot [Pro Jo]

As Red Sox Wait, Mets Enter Santana Talks [Hartford Courant]

Ace in game of hold ’em [Boston Herald]

Schillings pitch in for home’s teams [Boston Globe]

Meetings fail to heat up deals [Pro Jo]

Because of “Camera-gate”, or as I like to call it the “camera incident”, back in NFL Week 1 the New England Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick were penalized. Belichick was personally fined $500,000 by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Goodell also socked the Patriots as an organization for $250,000 and took away their first round draft pick. The Patriots were penalized because they filmed the New York Jets coaches, from the New England sideline, sending in the signals for the defense.

So what has happened since then? Well Belichick and the Patriots have destroyed 9 out of 12 opponents on their way to an 12-0 record and the Jets have floundered at 4-8.

But what is more interesting is that the Patriots, who may win the Super Bowl, still have a 1^st round pick in April courtesy of a trade with the San Francisco 49ers. The Niners have been pretty pathetic this season and are currently 3-9 with the fourth worst record in the league.

So with that said lets take a look at ten current college players who may end up with New England. There appears to be one guy a lot of places have listed and continue to list at the #1 overall pick and because of that we will put him in the #1 slot. After that there is no real consensus on slotting or even who is in the top ten and based on talent and need, I’m going to do my best to mock a top ten draft. These are the teams in the slots as listed by ESPN.com as of NFL Week 12. The players listed include some members of the junior class who may come out a year early. I included these players to try to keep it more realistic but as we know some players may choose to stay in school for their senior season and obviously fortunes change during Bowl season and at the combines and team interviews. So this is far from scientific.

1. Miami Dolphins DT Glen Dorsey, LSU
2. Atlanta Falcons QB Brian Brohm, Louisville
3. St. Louis Rams DE Chris Long, Virginia
4. San Francisco 49ers RB Darren McFadden, Arkansas
5. New York Jets DE Calais Campbell, Miami
6. Kansas City Chiefs OT Jake Long, Michigan
7. Cincinnati Bengals LB James Laurinaitis, Ohio State
8. Oakland Raiders WR DeShaun Jackson, Cal
9. Baltimore Ravens DT Pat Sims, Auburn
10. Chicago Bears DE Vernon Gholston, Ohio State

It is very possible that if the Pats pick fourth they could go after McFadden if he comes out early. Other than that you have Laurinaitis or possibly safety Kenny Phillips from Miami. Belichick usually doesn’t pick linebackers or secondary guys in the first round. I’d say after watching McFadden run this year if he’s there they need to take the guy and make him and Maroney a scary 1-2 punch from the backfield.

You can follow along on a weekly basis by checking out Niner Watch over at Patriots Daily.