WEEI has announced that former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling will be joining “The Big Show”  on a regular basis in a press release this afternoon.

Curt Schilling Gets Regular Gig on The Big Show

World Series hero joins Big O every Thursday in addition to Dennis & Callahan phone ins

BOSTON (January 21, 2009) – WEEI has announced that 6-time All-Star and World Series hero Curt Schilling will join Glenn Ordway and the crew on The Big Show on a regular basis. Schilling, who is also a regular contributor to WEEI.com, will be a guest during the show on Thursdays, beginning January 22, 2009. He’ll be in studio once each month, joining the cast for the entire four-hour show. On the other three Thursday’s, he’ll be calling into either The Big Show or the Dennis & Callahan Morning Show for a twenty to thirty minute segment.

Schilling’s new on air gig is a further expansion of his role with the WEEI Sports Radio Network. In November of 2008, he began a weekly writing stint on WEEI.com, now home of his popular blog, 38pitches.com. In addition to his writing for WEEI.com, Schilling will also participate in live game-day blogging for six Red Sox games during the 2009 season. He will contribute his thoughts and observations in the live blog with other members of WEEI.com’s editorial staff. This past October, Schilling joined WEEI.com for a live blog of Game 7 of the Red Sox ALCS series with the Tampa Bay Rays. Schilling has also had a regular call-in with WEEI’s Dennis & Callahan Morning Show since 2005.

“This is my first spring training without baseball in my life. I am looking forward to continuing my involvement in the game and the connection to Red Sox Nation by contributing to The Big Show,” said Schilling.

The Big Show, which has been hosted by Glenn Ordway since its inception in 1995, has ranked number one among men 25-54 in every ratings book but one since the spring of 2003. It has also ranked number one with adults 25-54 in every ratings book but three over the same period of time. The show airs from 2 PM – 6 PM each weekday.

“Curt has always been outspoken and very thoughtful in his comments about the Sox and baseball in general,” said Ordway. “He speaks from the heart and is extremely passionate about the game….I think he’s perfect for the format of our show, but I wish he’d gain 40 or 50 pounds so he’d look a lot more like the group.”

“When Curt talks, people listen,” said Jason Wolfe, Entercom New England’s Vice President of AM Programming. “He knows the Sox and the league inside and out and this expanded role will be a great compliment to his blog and to our overall baseball coverage.”

Schilling pitched for the Boston Red Sox from 2004-2008, helping the team win two World Series. Originally drafted by the Red Sox, Schilling made his major league debut in 1988 with the Baltimore Orioles and has also pitched with the Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks. In 2001, Schilling shared the World Series MVP Award with teammate Randy Johnson.

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team as they will host the Villanova Wildcats at the XL Center in Hartford, CT. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 PM and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.

David Borges of the New Haven Register, Matt Stout of the Norwich Bulletin, Mike Anthony of the Hartford Courant, Neill Ostrout of the Connecticut Post all have some UConn men’s pregame notes.

The UConn men are hoping to shake the Wildcats tonight.

(Forgot to include this yesterday) Jeff Adrien was named to Big East Honor Roll for his play last week.

Villanova should give the Huskies a good test tonight.

Jeff Adrien has become the leader for the UConn men’s basketball team.

It should yet another typical Big East battle tonight in Hartford.

Here are some of the thoughts from the UConn men’s team who watched President Obama’s inauguration.

The UConn men will look to keep their momentum going tonight.

Jerome Dyson could use some R & R.

Jim Calhoun enjoyed his time at the inauguration yesterday.

Rich Elliot of the Connecticut Post has some leftovers from the UConn women’s win on Monday night.

UConn women’s recruit Samarie Walker is hoping to catch the Huskies play this Saturday in Cincinnati.

The UConn women can still be better than they are.

Geno Auriemma is still concerned about UConn’s depth.

Lorin Dixon came up big in Monday’s win over North Carolina.

Geno Auriemma and the Huskies have faced adversity before.

With Joe Moorhead as the new offensive coordinators, the Huskies will be sporting a no-huddle offense next season.

John Silver of the Journal Inquirer, Joe Perez of the Norwich Bulletin have their thoughts on UConn’s new offensive coordinator.

The UConn women’s hockey team is still ranked in the Top 10 in both national polls.

Even though the Boston Red Sox and Jonathan Papelbon agreed today on a 1-year contract worth $6.25 million to avoid arbitration, the two sides are still discussing a long-term extension.

Adam Kilgore of the Boston Globe passes this along from a conference call with Jed Hoyer earlier:

“We did have some discussions along the way,” Hoyer said. “I would say, certainly, those discussions are open and we may pick them up going forward. I think both sides felt like in the interest of time and not exchanging numbers [for an arbitration hearing], the best thing to do was to agree on a one-year number today. But we are certainly open to exploring those ideas, and I think their side is, too.”

This is exactly what we want to hear as Red Sox fans. We know Papelbon wants to see what he can get on the open market in two years but if he can get that security now, I think we’ll be seeing him a Red Sox uniform for a long period of time.

For the UConn Huskies women’s basketball fans, you may remember back to Saturday when Syracuse’s Nicole Michael tried to trip Geno Auriemma after the game. If you haven’t seen it, here’s the video:

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Well the Big East has issued this statement:

Following discussion and review with both Syracuse Director of Athletics Daryl Gross as well as Connecticut Director of Athletics Jeff Hathaway, Big East Conference Commissioner Michael Tranghese has determined that there will be no action taken by the Conference office following the post-game hand shaking incident that occurred after this weekend’s women’s basketball game between Syracuse and Connecticut . “

Having been assured by both Connecticut Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway and Syracuse Athletic Director Daryl Gross that there will be no reoccurrence of the events following the Connecticut and Syracuse game — and that both are committed to our principles of sportsmanship — the Big East Conference has determined that there is no need for any formal Conference action.”

“Daryl and Jeff have also assured me that Geno and Nicole are prepared to move forward and to conclude the season without further incidents.”

Well Geno may have been wrong in yelling at one of the opposing players but he was doing what he always does in protecting his players and I can’t say I blame him at all. What Michael did was very immature and she’s very lucky in my opinion not to have been suspended.

The Boston Red Sox announced this afternoon that they have traded reliever David Aardsma to the Seattle Mariners for left-handed pitcher Fabian Williamson. Aardsma was recently designated for assignment when the Red Sox added 1B/OF Mark Kotsay to the 40-man roster.

In 77 appearances out of the bullpen last year, Aardsma was 4-2 with a 5.55 ERA. Williamson was a 20th round draft pick of the Mariners back in 2006 out of Kennedy High School in Sun Valley, CA. He was 4-3 with a 3.10 ERA in 11 starts for Class-A Pulaski and is 10-5 with a with a 3.55 ERA and 144 strikeouts in 124.1 innings.

The Boston Red Sox and closer Jonathan Papelbon have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a 1-year, $6.25 million contract. The $6.25 million is the highest contract ever for a first-year arbitration-eligible reliever.

It’s a big raise for Papelbon who made $775,000 in 2008.

Papelbon went 5-4 with a 2.34 ERA and 41 saves last season. In 202 career games (3 starts), Papelbon is 13-10 with a 1.84 ERA and 113 saves.

I do wonder that although they’ve agreed to this deal, will they still try to work out a long-term deal or will Papelbon stand behind his word and go year-to-year until he reaches free agency.

The only other arbitration-eligible player the Red Sox have, Javier Lopez, also agreed to a 1-year, $1.35 million contract. Lopez made $840,000 last year.

As we all know the Red Sox have never gone to arbitration during the Theo Epstein regime. And now that trend still continues for Theo.

Update: Rob Bradford of WEEI.com adds this as well on Papelbon’s contract as far as bonuses.

All-Star, $50,000; MVP, $100,000 (2nd, $50,000; 3rd, $25,000); Cy Young, $100,000 (2nd, $50,000; 3rd; $25,000); World Series MVP, $100,000; LCS MVP, $50,000; Rolaids Relief, $50,000.