According to a report by Buster Olney at ESPN.com, Scott Boras and Alex Rodriguez wanted a $350 million offer just to talk. The Yankees were ready to offer a 5 year $150 million contract extension. Put that on top of the $82 million he would have received had he stayed, the Yankees would have been just a mere $120 or so million short.

Basically what that means is that any team now wanting to talk to ARod will probably have to put a similar offer of 10 years $350 million on the table. That’s just freaking insane.

Is ARod worth that much? Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t. With the way, he has performed in the regular season, of course he’s worth it. How many free agents can give you 56 homers and 156 RBIs during the regular season? None. His postseason numbers with the Yankees sucked. So is it worth it for a club to sign him and give him what he wants just to get to the postseason and watch him fold faster than me laying down the 10-3 in my hand playing Texas Hold’em.

Plus you are bringing more than ARod the ballplayer. You’re bringing his off-field issues as well. Is it really worth it? All I can say is that I hope the Red Sox stay away from the newest cancer out there, ARod. I’d warn other teams to do the same as well.

Lots of news coming out of Beantown with the Boston Red Sox so let’s jump right into it.

Yesterday, I had found an article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette saying that Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell had removed himself from the running for the Pirates managerial position. Today, Farrell released a statement confirming this:

“While I do have aspirations to manage in the major leagues in the future, my commitment to John, Tom, Larry, Theo, Tito, and the Red Sox, needs to be greater than one year for their faith in hiring me as their pitching coach. Therefore I have declined the opportunity to interview for the position of Pittsburgh Pirates manager. I look forward to contributing to and competing for another World Series title here in Boston.”

The Boston Globe emailed Curt Schilling for his thoughts on Farrell returning to the club and this is what Schilling had to say:

John Farrell is a HUGE part of the equation, not just for me either. He’s as good as anyone I’ve ever worked with and probably the most over qualified pitching coach in the world. This guy is a GM already. I think him doing what he’s doing is a testament to his love for the game more than anything.

This guy gets it on so many levels, personal and professional. While I would claim we are very close friends, he was always my coach first, which is something I desperately need at this point in my career. He’s as upfront and honest as you could ever hope someone in his position would be.

Add to that he’s as genuine and nice as anyone I’ve ever met. One of my real pleasures in life is the ability to rag him about the fact that he wears a 10 5/8 hat, or something close to it.

Good pitching coach, better person.

More from Schilling after the jump.

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This Week

The New England Patriots visit their most bitter AFC rival and defending Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts in the RCA Dome in Indianapolis IN. Kickoff is at 4:15 p.m. This is the first ever meeting in NFL history between two teams at least 7-0.

The Patriots are 4-0 on the road this season and 6-0 in the AFC. The Colts are 3-0 at home and 5-0 in the AFC.

Here are the rosters for the Patriots and Colts.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo Sports is Patriots -5. The over/under is 56.5.

My prediction is Patriots 34, Colts, 28. Give the points and take the over. I am 8-0 against the spread and have called the over/under seven out of eight times in 2007.

Tickets

The Colts 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 in the Indianapolis make sure you check out the links.

There is no weather information as the game will played indoors.

The Colts will be collecting canned foods and non-perishable food items as they team up with a local supermarket , Meijers, and Gleaners Food Bank for the second year and the “Sacking Hunger” program. Items will be collected outside the RCA Dome from 2:15 p.m. until kickoff two hours later. If you’re going to the game, show them what makes Pats fans great and donate some items.

Click for stadium directions, parking and stadium information, and a RCA Dome seating chart.

Tailgating

Here’s a little addition for this week and the rest of the season game previews. I’ve always loved this site and I’ve even tried some of the recipes.

Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgaiting America. There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack.

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 and Andy Gresch and the pregame show at 1 p.m. along the network.

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

Check this out for the low down on the Patriots Rock Radio Network and stations in your area.

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 Colts radio call is available on Channel 123.

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

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Day 5 of the offseason is upon us and Mike Lowell still hasn’t filed for free agency yet. Is this a good thing or bad thing. We can only hope that it is a good thing. The biggest news yesterday was that Doug Mirabelli filed for free agency. I think that move was just a formality as more than likely Tim Wakefield will be back next season, meaning that Mirabelli would be re-signed. So while you’re waiting for happy hour, check out these stories from the Boston Globe and Boston Herald.

Fans catch treat at Varitek home [Boston Globe]

Lucchino: Focus to be on Lowell [Boston Herald]

Is Lowell a keeper? [Boston Globe]

Historic matchup [Boston Herald]

Mirabelli files for free agency [Boston Globe]

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

The man who brings you lots of Red Sox goodies from YouTube, Dan of Red Sox Monster, has struck gold this time. He found some video of Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka throwing a no-hitter when he was just a young chap. Just 17-years old at the time, he was pitching for his school, Yokohama High School against Kyoto Seisho High School.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG5pm9hyEO4[/youtube]

to Dan for his awesomeness of being the Youtube God.

For the record, at the end of the video he says that he can’t wait to pitch for the Boston Red Sox when he comes to America.*

*Not true at all 

Ben Gordon and Emeka Okafor will become restricted free agents at the end of the 2007-08 season as they didn’t accept the offered contracts by their respective teams, the Chicago Bulls and Charlotte Bobcats.

Okafor, who was the first draft pick by the Bobcats, didn’t really have to say much about not reaching an extension.

“The Bobcats made a fair offer”

It was obviously not the maximum extension that he could have received otherwise you would think that Okafor would have signed the deal.

For Gordon, it was much of the same thing. He obviously wasn’t offered what he wanted. The offer Gordon received was 5 years $50 million.

“It was never really a negotiation,. It was kind of like, take it or leave it. I didn’t sign it, so I guess it’s safe to say I never considered taking it.”

The Bulls and Bobcats can’t negotiate with Gordon and Okafor until July 1st, 2008. Both teams will have the opportunity to match the qualifying offers from potential suitors.

In an interview that aired last night with Jim Grey on MSNBC’s Countdown With Keith Olbermann, Barry Bonds said that he would not go to the Hall of Fame if they accept and display the ball that he hit for his 756th homerun. It was a very candid interview and very surprising to say the least. Here is the video of the interview broken down into two parts.

Part 1

Part 2 after the jump.

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The Toledo Mud Hens, the favorite team of Cpl. Max Klinger, will make a play to acquire free agent third baseman Alex Rodriguez.

The Mud Hens playfully offered the soon to be three-time Most Valuable Player a contract with bonuses for hitting 75 home runs and leading Toldeo to 10 consecutive International League titles.

When Rodriguez opted out of his contract on Sunday night it prompted Hank Steinbrenner, son of the New York Yankees owner, to quip “Does he want to go into the Hall of Fame as a Yankee or as a Mud Hen”?

The Mud Hens the Triple A team of the Detroit Tigers decided to get involved and drew up a letter to Rodriguez’ agent, reknowned media whore Scott Boras,  that included a Hall of Fame plaque with him wearing a Toledo hat and asking if his client would be willing to play another position because they have the leagues MVP, Mike Hessman, currently playing third.

Division II Assumption College gave UConn all they could handle in the first half but A.J. Price decided to take over the Huskies as they went to defeat them 90-75 in the exhibition opener for both teams. Price had 22 points in the game with 12 of them coming in the first half. Jerome Dyson chipped in with 18 for the Huskies.

Jeff Adrien was a monster on the glass as he registered a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds. 11 of his rebounds were on the offensive glass as he was easily able to get rebounds over the shorter Assumption team. Price also had 9 rebounds along with a game-high 7 assists.

The one newcomer to the team this year, Donnell Beverly, only saw 2 minutes of action and didn’t score.

A different look to the Huskies as they started Dyson, Craig Austrie, Hasheem Thabeet, Adrien and Stanley Robinson. According to Calhoun before the game, Price hadn’t earned back his starting spot. With the way he played tonight, he may have earned that spot back.

I am pretty sure that Calhoun won’t be too happy that Assumption shot 40% from the field. The team defense will need to improve before they open up play next Wednesday against Morgan State in the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic. They will have one more exhibition game this Sunday against Bryant College to work on their defense and their offense. Their up-tempo game they wanted to play this year struggled as they had trouble executing.

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

A Colorado Rockies fan offered 25 years worth of Playboy magazines for two World Series tickets. Two tickets? We find it hard to believe that someone with that many adult magazines actually has someone he can take to the game.

The Yankees heard of A-Rod’s decision to opt out of his contract when agent Scott Boras sent a text message to Brian Cashman. This means A-Rod will most likely leave the Bronx, and Boras and Cashman are no longer BFF. And in case you didn’t think Boras was a big enough jerk already, he signed the text message with a sideways winky face.

Retiring Houston Astro Craig Biggio was given the Roberto Clemente Award. Not for his community service, but for ending his career in a tailspin.

Pacman Jones is on his way to San Diego, hopefully to make it rain.

The Tour de France is expected to have a whole new look for 2008. In order to accommodate cyclists who aren’t on HGH, the event’s is now half a mile.

Kobe Bryant is angry with Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak, whom he believes is blocking a potential trade with unreasonable demands. It must be so frustrating when someone else’s unreasonable demands get in the way of your own.

The Heat have traded perpetually out of shape forward Antoine Walker to the Timberwolves. Now that he’s in Minnesota, he won’t seem as fat.

And an ambulance crew who picked up a dying runner during the Chicago Marathon got lost on the way to a hospital. As if that weren’t bad enough, the extra driving added an additional half hour to the runner’s overall time. The crew was immediately fired and replaced by Kenyans with rickshaws.

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