According to club sources, the Red Sox have offered Mike Lowell a 3-year guaranteed deal that should meet his expectations. Lowell had wanted a 3-year contract that was guaranteed. He has still not responded to the Red Sox latest offer.

With Lowell saying all along that he would give the Red Sox a hometown discount if he got the 3-years guaranteed, I surely expect for him to accept this deal and be a member of Red Sox Nation for the rest of his playing years. If Lowell was to hit the open market next week, it is widely believed that he could get a four year deal.

Once Lowell decides whether or not to sign with the Red Sox, expect the other teams who are in need of a third baseman to start making their moves.

Before last night’s Miami Heat/San Antonio Spurs game, Josh Beckett was presented with his own Spurs jersey by Spurs Executive Vice President, Russ Bookbinder.

to JD from SporTech Matter for the picture.

During the GM meetings today down in Orlando, the general managers decided to put a rule into place having the first and third base coaches wear some kind of protection for their heads. This comes in the wake of Rockies minor league coach Mike Coolbaugh being struck and killed with a batted ball during a Tulsa Drillers game.

The move for helmets wasn’t formally voted on but it was made clear that this is what the GM’s want done for next year. When they convene again in Nashville for the winter meetings, they will decide what type of protection will be worn by the coaches.

Rockies first base coach Glenallen Hill started to wear a helmet a few weeks after Coolbaugh was struck.

This is definitely the right move by the general managers. There have been too many close calls with MLB coaches almost being struck with batted balls. They are usually standing less than 90 feet from the plate and batted balls can come off the bats over 100 MPH. How long though until we see a first or third base coach looking like Jose Canseco down there?

Sometimes you have to go behind enemy lines to find the stories and this is one we want to hear.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman thinks that Mike Lowell’s return to the Red Sox “is inevitable” and has decided to go other ways in replacing ARod at third base.

“We’re hopeful,” Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein said yesterday at the general managers’ meetings. “We’ve had discussions since the end of Game 4. Hopefully those discussions have moved the ball forward a little bit. We’ll just have to see how it turns out.”

The two sides had differed in number of years on the contract, but it’s believed they’ve found common ground there. Lowell likely will sign a deal that guarantees him three years. “I personally believe the player’s preference would be to stay in Boston,” Cashman said. “I believe that’s probably accurate.”

If this is true, it would be great news. With the exception of Coco Crisp, the starting eight fielders should be returning for a chance to repeat as World Champions.

Things were quiet yesterday with the Mike Lowell negotiations. We learned from yesterday’s links that the Red Sox don’t want to give him a third year and he wants the third year to be guaranteed. If that happens, he would give the Sox a hometown discount. The Red Sox did meet with uber-agent Scott Boras to talk about Boras’ other clients he has with the Sox but presumably Alex Rodriguez was probably talked about a little. Also, the Red Sox are unsure about opening up the 2008 campaign in Japan. You can read about it in the links below.

Red Sox victory should be about celebration – not sexual exploitation [Maine Campus]

Paps and Kap at Spinners dinner [Boston Globe]

It’s Japan or bust [Boston Herald]

Red Sox sit down with Boras [Boston Globe]

All quiet in Lowell talks [Boston Herald]

For more headlines and stories, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Providence Journal, and Hartford Courant websites.

How did Navy celebrate their first win over Notre Dame since the Roger Staubach era? By canceling classes on Monday.The 4,400 midshipmen got to enjoy a nice day off from their daily routines at the Naval Academy.

That loss to Notre Dame on Saturday gave the Irish their 8th loss of the season, matching the school record. One more loss by the Irish will ensure their mark in history as the worst team in school history.

After his Cornhuskers’ team got spanked by Kansas on Saturday, Nebraska head coach Bill Callahan was quiet about his future at the school. Nebraska has lost 5 games in a row and when asked about his future, Callahan said he was only concentrating on getting his team prepared for this weekend’s game against Kansas State.

Texas A&M head coach Dennis Franchione was the subject of buyout rumors earlier this week but A&M officials said that they will evaluate their embattled coach after the season. Franchione has been the subject of controversy this season as he issued emails to boosters about the players. It was information that was not released to the public. Officials are also not happy that the team has slipped off the national radar.

Continue reading →

Just like in last season’s opener against Quinnipiac, UConn started slow out of the gates and had to use a late run again, this time to beat Morgan State 69-65 in the first round of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic.

Jerome Dyson led the way for the Huskies with 20 points in just 27 minutes. He only played 10 minutes in the first half due to foul trouble. Curtis Kelly chipped in 13 points and had 9 rebounds. Jeff Adrien added his first double-double of the season as he scored 12 points and pulled down 10 boards. Reggie Holmes scored 18 point in 16 minutes off the bench to lead the Golden Bears. Jamar Smith added 16 points.

UConn came out cold in the first half as they made only 3 of their first 14 shots to go down 5 points. The Huskies went on an 18-4 run to close out the half to take a 37-28 into the locker rooms at Gampel Pavilion. UConn and Morgan State combined for 20 fouls and 18 turnovers in the first half.

Morgan State was held scoreless for the first 4 or so minutes in the first half as the Huskies opened up a 16 point lead. The Golden Bears then went on a 14-2 run of their own to cut the lead to 5. They would eventually tie the game up on back-to-back three pointers by Smith. Dyson and Doug Wiggins scored consecutive threes and they would never look back.

The Huskies now advance to the 2nd round of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic where they will face Buffalo, 89-82 winners over Div II Ohio Valley. The game will tip-off at 9 PM and will be on ESPNU.

Continue reading →

The Boston Celtics routed the Denver Nuggets, 119-93 Wednesday night at the TD BankNorth Garden in front of 18,624 fans including Red Sox Gold Glove first baseman Kevin Youkilis and Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork.

The Celtics led by 39 points at the half on the strength of good defense, great sets and a dangerous transition game that I’m sure brought tears to the eyes of Tommy Heinsohn and Bob Cousy. The 77 first half points though were not a team record that belongs to the 1982 team who hung 82 on the Nuggets.

The Celtics shot nearly 65% from the floor while holding Denver to 46% shooting.

Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 26 points, 5 boards, 5 steals and 5 assists while Kevin Garnett had a double-double with 23 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals and 1 block and Ray Allen dropped in 22 points to go along with 6 assists and 2 steals.

The Nuggets were led by Allen Iverson who had 22 points and Hartford, CT native Marcus Camby had 17 points and 8 boards.

Tune in tonight as bloggers Anthony of the Oriole Post and Jason of My Baseball Bias join me for our hour long baseball show called, “The Hits Keep Coming” on Blog Talk Radio and on MVN Radio. Every week at 7PM Eastern Time (6PM Central/ 5PM Mountain/ 4PM Western/Pacific) we chat, analyze and comment about the world of Major League Baseball.

This week begins our Hot Stove Reports with a look at the American League!

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 either: http://blogtalkradio.com/oriolepost or http://mvn.com/radio/ – 7PM Eastern Time tonight!

Topics to be discussed this evening:

• American League Hot Stove
• Joe Torre is a Dodger
• GM meetings are going on in Orlando
• A-Rod update
• Is Scott Boras scum?
• What will the Mitchell report tell us and when?

You can listen to last week’s show by going over to the sidebar on the left and looking for the Blog Talk Radio section.

See you all tonight!!!

2006-07 Record : 17-14, 6-10 in the Big East, missed out on the Big Dance for the first time in 20 years.

Returning Players: Jeff Adrien, Craig Austrie, Jerome Dyson, Gavin Edwards, Curtis Kelly, Jonathan Mandeldove, A.J. Price, Stanley Robinson, Hasheem Thabeet, Doug Wiggins

Who’s gone: Associate head coach Tom Moore (Quinnipiac), Marcus Johnson (decided to transfer on 11/5), Ben Eaves (transferred), Rob Garrison (transferred)

New faces: Donnell Beverly, Beau Archibald (Director of Basketball Operations)

Last season: The Huskies started out strong last year as they opened up their season with 11 straight wins, all at home. They then went to West Virginia and looked a little bit lost as it was their first road game. Their play was marred by a lot of turnovers as expected when most of your team is freshman and sophomores. Their scoring was streaky as well as you would expect with the turnovers. Thabeet was non-existent in the paint on offense. The team defense was strong again last year as they led the nations in blocks and scoring defense.

Looking forward to: Having a year under their belt, last year’s freshman should help the team improve. Head coach Jim Calhoun has said the team will press a lot more and play more of an up-tempo game. The Huskies will need to improve upon their awful free throw shooting to win those close games in the Big East this year.

Key Player(s): There are two. A.J. Price and Hasheem Thabeet. With a year under his belt after missing the past two, Price needs to show Calhoun why he recruited him and be that leader. Thabeet needs to show improvement on the offensive end to help the Huskies out. While he won’t be the go-to guy on the offensive side, it would be nice to see Thabeet attempt a few shows let alone make them.

Prediction: 5th in the Big East, lose in the semifinals of the Big East tournament and receive an 8 seed in the NCAA tournament

2007-08 Schedule