For Those Who Blog We Salute You – 2/7

For Those Who Blog We Salute You

Here’s my look back at some of the blog posts at some of the sites I enjoyed reading during the past week.

Wedding Bells In The Owner’s Box [Center Field]

Yankeeschickography: Let’s Exploit A-Rod’s Emotional Shortcomings! [Yankees Chick]

Boston Pops release ‘The Red Sox Album’ [Red Sox Monster]

Hot Offseason Action — Boston Red Sox [UmpBump]

You Got the Job, Buddy! [Babes Love Baseball]

Fang’s Bites Musical Interlude – The Ramones [Fang’s Bites]

Player’s Dad Wants Apology From ESPNer Gottlieb [SPORTSbyBROOKS]

Saracen’s Following in the Footsteps of Many Athletes Who Have Become Involved with Cheerleaders [The Big Lead]

Eddie Vedder Sings Hotel Karaoke [Bunny With Fangs]

Another crazy Spanish language story [The ‘Ropolitans]

The Worst #1 Draft Picks in MLB History [Home Run Derby]

Derek Jeter talks about A-Rod, season … but not personal life [Extra Mustard]

TNT To Play G-E-I-C-O Instead Of H-O-R-S-E [Awful Announcing]

Dare You Take The TFB Challenge? [Townie News]

Our video goodness this week comes from our friends at Red Socks Diaries. Enjoy.

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ARod The Steroid User???

ARod - Alleged Steroid User

According to Selena Roberts and David Epstein of SI.com, current New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez allegedly tested positive for steroids while he was a member of the Texas Rangers in 2003.

In 2003, when he won the American League home run title and the AL Most Valuable Player award as a shortstop for the Texas Rangers, Alex Rodriguez tested positive for two anabolic steroids, four sources have independently told Sports Illustrated.

Rodriguez’s name appears on a list of 104 players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball’s ’03 survey testing, SI’s sources say. As part of a joint agreement with the MLB Players Association, the testing was conducted to determine if it was necessary to impose mandatory random drug testing across the major leagues in 2004.

When approached by an SI reporter on Thursday at a gym in Miami, Rodriguez declined to discuss his 2003 test results. “You’ll have to talk to the union,” said Rodriguez, the Yankees’ third baseman since his trade to New York in February 2004. When asked if there was an explanation for his positive test, he said, “I’m not saying anything.”

With no penalty for steroids in 2003, ARod wasn’t punished. But now this brings into question many things for him such as being one of the greatest hitters of all time. Plus what happens when he gets close to the home run record. You may argue that his record would be tainted as well.

It’s going to be another long season of ridicule by the fans for ARod. I can’t wait until he gets to Boston this season. Oh boy will that be fun.

Sources tell SI Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003 [SI.com]

Paw Prints – The Daily Roundup – 2/7

Paw Prints The Daily Roundup

Welcome to the basketball capital of the world where we find both the UConn Huskies men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams in action today.

The UConn men are up first at 6 PM as they will host the Michigan Wolverines at Gampel Pavilion. That game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN. By the way, the UConn men are now in first place after Marquette lost to South Florida last night.

Next up after that is the UConn women as they are in Milwaukee to take on the Marquette Golden Eagles at 8 PM. That game will be broadcast regionally on CPTV. At least the schedule people didn’t have them at the same time tonight.

Neill Ostrout of the Connecticut Post and David Borges of the New Haven Register both have notes on the UConn men’s basketball team.

The UConn men are motivated to stay on top [Hartford Courant]

Matt Stout has some info on former men’s basketball recruit Nate Miles [Matt’s UConn men’s basketball]

The UConn men go for their 11th straight victory tonight [The News-Times]

The UConn men are staying humble [Norwich Bulletin]

The UConn men are concentrating solely on Michigan [Journal Inquirer]

UConn strives to remain No. 1 [Chicago Tribune]

The break from the Big East wars is no picnic for the UConn men [Waterbury Republican-American]

Excitement is growing around the UConn men [The Register Citizen]

John Altavilla of the Hartford Courant has some notes on the UConn women’s basketball team.

Jessica McCormack has returned home to have surgery on her Achilles [Hartford Courant]

A smaller lineup can help the Huskies [Hartford Courant]

Lorin Dixon needs to snap out of her funk [The News-Times]

Tina Charles needs to play more consistently [Norwich Bulletin]

The UConn women’s bench needs to show Geno Auriemma what they can contribute [Journal Inquirer]

The UConn women are still waiting for Lorin Dixon to mature [Waterbury Republican-American]

The Huskies expect a raucous crowd tonight in Milwaukee [The Register Citizen]

John Silver of the Journal Inquirer, Desmond Conner of the Hartford Courant, have some info on top football recruit Jarrell Miller returning to UConn.

UConn is near the bottom of the Big East in recruiting again [Hartford Courant]

Rob Lunn tells us why Randy Edsall wins by recruiting character [Thoughts From a Fat White Guy]

Former UConn running back Donald Brown was named the outstanding male athlete by the Connecticut Sportwriter’s Alliance [Newsday]

UConn women’s hockey goalie Brittany Wilson needs our votes to participate in the NCAA Frozen Four Skills Challenge [UConnHuskies.com]

The UConn women’s hockey team fell 3-2 to Boston University last night [UConnHuskies.com]

The UConn men’s hockey team lost 3-2 to the Air Force Academy last night [UConnHuskies.com]

UConn field hockey player Jennifer Kleinhans was named the Big East Female Scholar Athlete of the Year [UConnHuskies.com]

The UConn Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will be holding book drives next week at the men’s and women’s basketball games [UConnHuskies.com]

John Smoltz Interview With NESN’s Cole Wright

During NESN’s SportsDesk last night, one of the newest members of the Boston Red Sox, John Smoltz, called in and talked with anchor Cole Wright.

The pair discussed his first time in Ft. Myers, the shoulder, Jason Varitek and why he chose Boston among many other things.

[dailymotion]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8ac96_smoltz_sport[/dailymotion]video courtesy of NESN

I’m thinking he may have already talked to Josh Beckett as we heard him say “executing pitches.”

This was a great interview in my opinion. It was nice to get some insight into John Smoltz, especially for the Red Sox fans who don’t know alot about him.

Celtics Get Back On Track With Win Over Knicks

It’s been a busy week at Madison Square Garden where the New York Knicks saw Kobe Bryant put up 61 on them and LeBron James put up 52.

Boston Celtics' Kevin Garnett (5) goes up with the ball as he gets by New York Knicks' Al Harrington during the third quarter of an NBA basketball game Friday, Feb. 6, 2009 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Celtics beat the Knicks 110-100. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)There wasn’t any of that by anyone on the Boston Celtics tonight but the Celtics hit 14-of-18 shots in the 4th quarter to propel them to a 110-100 win. With the win the Celtics to improve to 42-10 which is good for second best in the Eastern Conference.

Paul Pierce led the way for the visiting Celtics with 26 points while former UConn Husky Ray Allen had 22 points and 6 assists.  Kevin Garnett had a good game as well with 15 points and 11 rebounds.  Leon Powe came off the bench to score 13 points and Rajon Rondo narrowly missed a triple-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists.

The Knicks were led by Al Harrington with 27 points and 5 steals. David Lee had a monster night on the glass pulling down 18 rebounds to go along with 18 points.  Chris Duhon added 15 points while Nate Robinson chipped in with 13.

The two teams exchanged baskets in the first quarter that saw the Celtics take a 1 point lead. In the second, it was more of the same that ended up with the Knicks leading by 2 at the half. The two teams exchanged the lead briefly but the Knicks pulled ahead by four at the end of the 3rd quarter.

After Danilo Gallinari put the Knicks up 80-79, Ray Allen scored the next 11 points for the Celtics who were holding a 4 point lead at 90-86. Then Eddie House pushed that lead to nine with 5 points of his own and the  Knicks would get no closer than 8 points the rest of the way.

The Celtics get the day off tomorrow after back-to-back games but will be back on the court Sunday afternoon at 1 PM when the San Antonio Spurs come to the TD BankNorth Garden.

Boston Celtics @ New York Knicks 2.6.09 box score

Lee County Commissioner Can Vote For Her Boyfriend

New Red Sox Spring Training Site: If you’ve been following the whole Boston Red Sox spring training site saga, you’ll know that Lee County Commissioner Tammy Hall had been asked to get an ethics ruling on whether or not she could vote for her boyfriend’s company. The Florida State Ethics commission ruled and said she can vote. “In light of the statutory definition of ‘relative’ it is my view that you would not have a prohibited voting conflict of interest,” wrote commission deputy executive director Virlindia Doss. [Naples Daily News]

Thabeet, Adrien Among 30 Being Considered For Wooden Award

John Wooden AwardThe Los Angeles Athletic Club’s John R. Wooden Award Committee has announced the top 30 midseason candidates for the John R. Wooden Award and the UConn Huskies are represented by two players, senior Jeff Adrien and junior Hasheem Thabeet. Senior A.J. Price, who was on the original list, is not among the 30.

Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation’s best player at an institution of higher education who has proven to his or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA.

Approximately 20 players will be selected for the ballot in March.

Here is the complete list of the 30 players.

First Last Ht. P Cl. University
A.J. Abrams 5-11 G Sr. Texas
Jeff Adrien 6-7 F Sr. Connecticut
DeJuan Blair 6-7 F So. Pittsburgh
Jon Brockman 6-7 F Sr. Washington
Nick Calathes 6-6 G/F So. Florida
Sherron Collins 5-11 G Jr. Kansas
Darren Collison 6-0 G Sr. UCLA
Stephen Curry 6-3 G Jr. Davidson
Jonny Flynn 6-0 G So. Syracuse
Taj Gibson 6-9 F Jr. USC
Blake Griffin 6-10 F So. Oklahoma
Tyler Hansbrough 6-9 F Sr. North Carolina
Luke Harangody 6-8 F Jr. Notre Dame
James Harden 6-4 G So. Arizona State
Manny Harris 6-5 G So. Michigan
Gerald Henderson 6-4 G/F Jr. Duke
Jordan Hill 6-10 F Jr. Arizona
Matt Howard 6-7 F So. Butler
Ty Lawson 5-11 G Jr. North Carolina
Kalin Lucas 6-0 F So. Michigan State
Wesley Matthews 6-5 G Sr. Marquette
Jerel McNeal 6-3 G Sr. Marquette
Jodie Meeks 6-4 G Jr. Kentucky
Greg Monroe 6-11 C Fr. Georgetown
Kyle Singler 6-8 F So. Duke
Tyler Smith 6-7 F Jr. Tennessee
Jeff Teague 6-2 G So. Wake Forest
Hasheem Thabeet 7-3 C Jr. Connecticut
Terrence Williams 6-6 F Sr. Louisville
Sam Young 6-6 F Jr. Pittsburgh

The Captain Is Officially Back

Jason Varitek #33 of the Boston Red Sox warms up during batting practice before game five of the American League Championship Series against the Tampa Bay Rays during the 2008 MLB playoffs at Fenway Park on October 16, 2008 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)The Boston Red Sox made the Jason Varitek deal official today when they announced that had signed him to a 1 year, $5 million deal with dual options for 2010.

As we found out last week, the options for Varitek are a club option of  $5 million for 2010 or a player option for $3 million with another $2 million in incentives for games played. He’d receive $400,000 each for starts 80, 90, 100, 110, and 120, for a maximum of $2 million if the player option is exercised.

1B/OF Jeff Bailey was outrighted to Pawtucket and he refused the assignment making him a free agent. He then re-signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox with an invitation to big league spring training.

The Red Sox will now head to camp with Varitek as the starting catcher. Josh Bard, Dusty Brown and George Kottaras will compete to be his backup. It’s also quite conceivable that the Red Sox could still try to acquire another catcher in the likes of Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Miguel Montero.