Baseball America Releases Top 100 Prospects

Red Sox prospect Lars Anderson gets his lumber ready for batting practice. (Jim Davis / Globe Staff Photo)Baseball America released it’s 20th annual Top 100 Prospects today with Baltimore Orioles catcher Matt Wieters leading the way. David Price of the Tampa  Bay Rays was second and Colby Rasmus of the St. Louis Cardinals was third.

For the Boston Red Sox, Lars Anderson was listed as the top prospect coming in at No. 17 overall. Also joining Anderson on the list were Michael Bowden (83) and Daniel Bard (98).

Baseball America Top 100 Prospects: 1-20

Baseball America Top 100 Prospects: No. 21-40

Baseball America Top 100 Prospects: No. 41-60

Baseball America Top 100 Prospects: No. 61-80

Baseball America Top 100 Prospects: No. 81-100

Paw Prints – The Daily Roundup – 2/24

Paw Prints The Daily Roundup

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team as they will play host to Harry Perretta and the Villanova Wildcats at Gampel Pavilion. Tip is scheduled for 7:30 PM and the game will be broadcast locally on CPTV with Bob Picozzi and Meghan Culmo on the call.

For those of you who missed the live “Geno Auriemma Show” last night and thought that Elena DelleDonne would be coming back, Geno put all those rumors to rest with some strong comments.

First time I’ve heard anything since August. Get over it, it’s not going to happen, it’s done.

UConn women’s basketball links

Conn seniors Williams, Kerns contribute in special ways [New Haven Register]

Williams content with time at UConn [Connecticut Post]

UConn women’s game day [Connecticut Post]

Huskies are taking lesson from victory [Norwich Bulletin]

UConn-Villanova women’s basketball preview capsule [Norwich Bulletin]

Maya Moore Named An Academic All-American [Hartford Courant]

Lengthy Test Pattern For Huskies [Hartford Courant]

Preview: Villanova At No. 1 UConn Women [Hartford Courant]

Williams has star potential [Waterbury Republican-American]

Wishing, Waiting For Heather Buck [New London Day]

Renee Montgomery is a Lieberman finalist [UCONN | Women’s Basketball]

Achievement worth honoring [Elm City To Eagleville]

UConn men’s basketball links

For hurtin’ Huskies, a conference title is no Big deal [New Haven Register]

UConn’s Thabeet to challenge Marquette [Connecticut Post]

Undersized Marquette prepping for Thabeet [Norwich Bulletin]

No Excuse For Calhoun’s Rant [New London Day]

The Huskies’ Thabeet a beast down low [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

Coombs-McDaniel to attend All-Star Challenge [Matt’s UConn Huskies men’s basketball blog]

Khalid El-Amin still going strong [UConn Huskies Basketball]

UConn hockey links

UConn men’s hockey player Sean Erickson was named Atlantic Hockey League Player of the Week [UConnHuskies.com]

Boston Red Sox News & Notes – 2/24

Boston Red Sox pitcher Brad Penny winds up for a throw during a baseball spring training workout, in Fort Myers, Fla., Monday, Feb. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

We are just one day away now before the start of spring training games for the Boston Red Sox. For those who have NESN, you’ll be able to catch the Red Sox take on the Minnesota Twins tomorrow night.

Things remain quiet in Ft. Myers as the biggest news of the day yesterday was the fact that Jonathan Papelbon and Brad Penny threw pain free live batting practice sessions yesterday. I’m sure as the games start, the news will become more plentiful especially as the battle at shortstop between Jed Lowrie and Julio Lugo starts to take shape.

Boston Red Sox loaded and young [The News-Press]

Penny for his thoughts [Boston Herald]

Backstops young and old take pride in contest [Boston Herald]

Youngsters take a major step [Boston Globe]

Drew won’t watch strikeout [Full Count]

Carter hoping to find a home with the Red Sox [Providence Journal]

Lester named chairman of Rally Against Cancer [Providence Journal]

For now, Sox will treat Masterson as a starter [Providence Journal]

Pesky sees a bright future for Ellsbury [Providence Journal]

Forget A-Rod — Teixeira may be Sox fans’ biggest target in 2009 [Projo Sox Blog]

Red Sox Reviews – JD Drew [WEEI]

Red Sox to swap McDonald’s for parking [Boston Herald]

Celtics Win Without KG Again

Boston Celtics: For the second night in a row without Kevin Garnett, the Boston Celtics had no trouble on the court as they easily took care of the Denver Nuggets 114-76. Ray Allen led the way with 26 points while Paul Pierce had 22. Leon Powe came off the bench to score 16 points and Rajon Rondo added 14 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. J.R. Smith led the Nuggets with 19 points and Carmelo Anthony added 18. The Celtics finish up their west coast swing on Wednesday night at the Staples Center when they will take on the Los Angeles Clippers. [ESPN.com]

More Pedroia Motion Capture Video For MLB 09 The Show

Dustin Pedroia

As we know, reigning AL MVP and current Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia is the cover athlete for the Sony’s MLB 09 The Show for Playstation.

He spent some time in the motion capture studios at Sony’s studios and the Los Angeles Times gives us another look it.

Video: Sony engineers capture Red Sox star Dustin Pedroia’s movements for MLB 2009 the Show [Los Angeles Times]

Red Sox Changing Week Night Game Times

Boston Red SoxThe Boston Red Sox announced tonight that they will be changing the night game times from 7:05 PM to 7:10 PM.

“During the week approximately 60 percent of our fans enter the ballpark after 6:30 p.m. Moving the starts by even a few minutes will give them a little more time to make it to Fenway Park from work or home, take advantage of pregame festivities and ballpark amenities, and reach their seats before the first pitch. And if fans are enjoying the game broadcast, they will have more opportunity to listen to the expanded pregame show on WRKO/WEEI or catch the first pitch on NESN,” said Larry Lucchino, Red Sox President/CEO.

I don’t buy the reasoning from Lucchino. Most Red Sox games seem to take forever and that 5 minutes at the start shouldn’t make a difference. It seems to me that this is more of a revenue thing for NESN being able to run some more ads before the game starts.

And since they are changing game times, why not start the Yankees home games that are at night at 6:05 PM. Those games usually take a least 4 hours as is.

Boston Red Sox 2009 regular season game times to move from 7:05 p.m. to 7:10 p.m. [redsox.com]

Orlovsky To Test The Free Agent Waters

Dan Orlovsky - AP

Rather than sign a contract to play backup to Dante Culpepper, former UConn Huskies and Detroit Lions quarterback Dan Orlovsky plans to see what’s out there on the free agent market.

“They made an offer, but I’m going to test the market and see what’s out there for me,” Orlovsky said Monday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “I’m pretty confident that I’m going to get a better offer.”

“You question how come he just got given the job,” Orlovsky said in a phone interview. “I mean, you’re not going to restructure somebody’s deal and say, ‘Oh, it’s a competition.’ So it’s tough.

“I think looking at the film and watching Sundays and looking at the statistics, it doesn’t make sense why the move was made to me, from my end.”

“I want to be back in Detroit, but this is an important decision and I want to make sure I make the right decision.”

You can’t blame Orlovsky for wanting a chance to start. Even though he was part of the worst team in NFL history, he was the best quarterback they had all season.

Orlovsky threw for 1,616 yards last season with 8 touchdowns and 8 interceptions in 10 games (7 starts).

Lions’ Orlovsky picking free agency over backup role [Detroit Free Press]

What is Lions QB Dan Orlovsky waiting for? [MLive.com]

Cody Brown Also Has Impressive NFL Combine

Cincinnati's quarterback Tony Pike, left, looks for a receiver as UConn's Cody Brown closes in on him. - AP/Bob Child

The way the numbers are rolling in for the four members of the UConn Huskies football team participating in the NFL Combine, I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t see them all go on Day 1 of the NFL Draft in April.

Just like his teammates, Cody Brown put together some great numbers this afternoon at the Combine as he finished as a top performer in 5 of the 7 categories.

40-yard dash Vertical Jump Broad Jump
Name Time Name Height Name Distance
Sidbury Jr., Lawrence 4.64 Barwin, Connor 40.5 Barwin, Connor 10’8″
Barwin, Connor 4.66 Orakpo, Brian 39.5 Johnson, Michael 10’8″
Orakpo, Brian 4.70 Johnson, Michael 38.5 Maybin, Aaron 10’4″
Brown, Everette 4.73 Maybin, Aaron 38 Sidbury Jr., Lawrence 10’0″
Johnson, Michael 4.75 Walker, Derek 37.5 Brown, Cody 10’0″
Sulak, Stryker 4.77 Brown, Cody 36.5 Gilbert, Jarron 9’11”
Brown, Cody 4.84 English, Larry 36 Egboh, Pannel 9’8″
Butler, Victor 4.84 Baker, Chris 35.5 Davis, Will 9’7″
Veikune, David 4.87 Gilbert, Jarron 35.5 Walker, Derek 9’7″
Gilbert, Jarron 4.87 Sidbury Jr., Lawrence 35 Brown, Everette 9’6″
–
3-cone drill 20-yard shuttle –
Name Time Name

Time
Barwin, Connor 6.87 Barwin, Connor 4.18
Campbell, Ian 6.93 Campbell, Ian 4.28
Brown, Cody 7.10 Johnson, Michael 4.37
Veikune, David 7.20 English, Larry 4.38
Butler, Victor 7.21 Maybin, Aaron 4.38
Williams, Brandon 7.23 Egboh, Pannel 4.40
Egboh, Pannel 7.24 Brown, Cody 4.40
English, Larry 7.26 Butler, Victor 4.40
Sulak, Stryker 7.31 Walker, Derek 4.41
Walker, Derek 7.31 Sidbury Jr., Lawrence 4.43

Brown also worked out during the linebacker portion as he’s considered a hybrid defensive player that can either play the defensive line or linebacker.

Darius Butler will get his chance to shine tomorrow when he takes part in the drills with all of the defensive backs.

Cody Brown NFL Combine Profile

Tiffany Hayes Named Big East Freshman of the Week Again

Tiffany Hayes, left, congratulates teammate Maya Moore after a basket against Georgetown - LUIS ALVAREZ/ AP

For the third straight week, UConn Huskies freshman guard Tiffany Hayes has been named the Big East Freshman of the Week.

Hayes averaged 12.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in the wins over Providence and Notre Dame last week. She had 15 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists in win against Providence and 10 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in yesterday’s win over Notre Dame.

She has now had double-digit outputs in the last four games for the Huskies.

Maya Moore was also named the weekly Big East Honor Roll. She averaged 17.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in the two wins.

Hayes, Moore and the rest of the No. 1 Huskies will be back in action tomorrow night when they host the Villanova Wildcats at Gampel Pavilion.