Admittedly, I am about a day behind in the Boston Red Sox news here on the site. But I will use today to play catchup and get everyone updated about what’s going on.

As far as things on the free agent front, it’s pretty quiet. As Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe and Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald tell us, the Red Sox still need to fill some spots on the roster. The Red Sox still need a catcher, a 4th outfielder and some starting pitching depth.

Red Sox GM Theo Epstein and ESPN’s Peter Gammons will be busy this Saturday night as they host Hot Stove, Cool Music at the Paradise Rock Club.

Former Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez is still without a team for 2009.

Gary Marbry of WEEI.com has a nugget-style 2008 review of Hideki Okajima and Jason Bay.

The list of firms to design the proposed Red Sox spring training site in Lee County was cut down from 12 to 5 and the number of potential builders has been whittled down from 10 to 6.

Our rivals to the south held a press conference yesterday to introduce their lastest over expenditure in Mark Teixeira. During the press conference, he stated that his wife ultimately made the decision for him to play in New York but he also had decided in December, he really wanted to play in New York.

John Henry emailed Jack Curry of the New York Times (link via Extra Bases) about Leigh Teixeira’s thought process.

Henry said the Red Sox were unaware of [Teixeira’s wife] Leigh’s preference for the Yankees, but “felt all along that the Yankees were going to get the last call” from Boras. Since the Red Sox had proposed an eight-year deal for about $170 million, Henry said he found it curious they were told “that we were the low bidders and Boston wasn’t high” on Teixeira’s list.

“At one point, I asked Scott, given their feelings, why we shouldn’t pull out,” Henry said in an e-mail message. “His answer was, `Maybe you should.’ And we did.”

By leaving the negotiations, it seemed as if the Red Sox were calling Boras’ bluff and were trying to get him to prove that he had a better offer from the Los Angeles Angels, Baltimore or Washington. As Henry had expected, Boras still had the Yankees on speed dial, too.

Boras added this as well.

“As far as Boston goes, I think Boston knows they got good-faith proposals and they were given proposals, which means, if accepted, the player would have signed the proposal,” Boras said. “If teams reject them, they cannot in any way say they were strung along.”

It’s now time to put all of this behind us and focus on the 2009 season and hopefully still having Jason Varitek behind the plate.

Don’t forget, the Red Sox rookies will be holding an autograph session on Friday night.

For fans of the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team, I will have a special opportunity involving a former Husky coming up at noon today. So stay tuned!

Jim Fuller of the New Haven Register, John Altavilla of the Hartford Courant and Rich Elliott of the Connecticut Post all have notes from the UConn women’s win over USF.

The UConn women worked on their defense the past few practices and it showed in last night’s thrashing of South Florida.

Tiffany Hayes knew she wanted to play for UConn two years ago.

Gavin Keefe of the New London Day, Mike Anthony of the Hartford Courant, Neill Ostrout of the Connecticut Post, and David Borges of the New Haven Register all have some postgame notes from the UConn men’s won over WVU last night.

The UConn men ramped up the defensive pressure in the win over West Virginia last night.

It was not a pretty win for the UConn men last night.

Danbury native Larry Harrison has been with Bob Huggins for a long time.

UConn’s domination on the glass was just one of the reasons why the won last night.

Mike Anthony of the Hartford Courant has some extras from the UConn men’s win last night.

Stanley Robinson played a key role in last night’s win over West Virginia.

Jim Calhoun moved into 7th place all-time with 787 career wins.

David Gillett has his take on UConn’s win over West Virginia.

Dahna Deleston and Julius Williams have been added to the Texas vs The Nation All-Star Football Game.

Plenty of questions lie ahead for the UConn football team.

Rob Lunn gives his final thoughts about UConn’s bowl victory over at Thoughts From a Fat White Guy.

The FWG attempted ice skating yesterday as well.

The UConn men’s hockey team fell 6-1 to Sacred Heart.

No .5 UConn Huskies head coach Jim Calhoun said that he expected all 18 games in the Big East to be “wars”. So far we’ve seen 2½ wars in the Big East after tonight’s battle in Morgantown, WV with the No.22/25 West Virginia Mountaineers.

Jeff Adrien took over in the second half with 13 of his 17 points as the Huskies were able to hold on and beat the Mountaineers 61-55 in front of 13,920 at WVU Coliseum.

UConn moves to 13-1 (2-1 Big East) while West Virginia falls to 11-3 (1-1).

Jerome Dyson hit three free throws to start a 7-0 run to give the Huskies the lead for good at 52-47. After an Alex Ruoff basket, Kemba Walker put the lead back at 5 points with a layup. Ruoff made two free throws and then Adrien added a layup to keep the lead at 5 points before a 4-0 run by West Virginia cut the Huskies lead to 1 point at 56-55.  Walker then made a free throw and Dyson scored final 4 points to give UConn the win.

Besides Adrien’s 17 points and 7 rebounds, Hasheem Thabeet had his 7th double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds and added 3 blocks. Dyson added 11 points and Walker had 10 points and 8 rebounds. Stanley Robinson’s good play since returning to the team continued as he had 7 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocked shots.

Da’Sean Butler and Ruoff paced the Mountaineers with 13 points each with Ruoff pulling down 7 boards. Daryl Bryant added 11 points and 7 assists while Wellington Smith had 9 points and 8 rebounds for coach Bob Huggins.

The road trip continues for the Huskies as they are back in action on Saturday afternoon when they will take on the Cincinnati Bearcats at 4:30 PM. The game will be broadcast locally on My-TV9 here in Connecticut.

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The No.1 UConn Huskies women’s team is supposed to have an easy time during Big East play this season. South Florida was supposed to be much improved from last year as they were the highest scoring team in the land at 89.9 points a game.

It was just another easy game for the Huskies as they spanked the Bulls 83-37 in front of 4,290 at the Sun Dome in Tampa, FL. UConn moves to 14-0 (1-0 Big East) while South Florida drops to 13-3 (0-2).

Maya Moore led the Huskies with 24 points and added 8 rebounds. Tina Charles had 17 points and 12 rebounds while Kalana Greene chipped in with 13 points and 7 rebounds. Renee Montgomery had 9 points and Kaili McLaren added a team-high 4 assists.

Porche Grace came off the bench to lead the Bulls with 10 points. Shantia Grace had 8 points and Brittany Denson had 6 points and 12 rebounds. USF’s second leading scorer, Jazmine Sepulveda, was 0-for-8 from the floor and finished with no points.

UConn got out to a quick lead behind Moore’s two 3-point and USF tried to stay close but couldn’t. Moore had 15 points with UConn leading 30-16 and they eventually got out to a  19 point lead (45-26) at the half. USF had just 10 field goals in the 1st half.

The second half was just brutal for the Bulls as they made only 5 shots, scoring just 11 points as UConn kept pouring it on.

The Huskies stay on the road as they head to beautiful Morgantown, West Virginia to take on the Mountaineers this Saturday night at 7 PM. The game will be broadcast locally on CPTV.

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It’s game day for both the UConn Huskies men’s and women’s basketball teams as the men will take on West Virginia at 7 PM on ESPNU. The women will take on South Florida, also at 7 PM on CPTV.

Unfortunately for us, the next two games on CPTV won’t have Bob Picozzi and Meghan Culmo calling the action.

Renee Montgomery was named to the Big East Women’s Honor Roll for her play in last week’s games.

The UConn women open up Big East play tonight against South Florida.

South Florida is prepared for the Huskies to come to town tonight.

It’s somewhat of a homecoming for Tiffany Hayes who is from Winter Haven, Florida.

The Bulls have designated tonight’s game against UConn a “White Out” game.

Tiffany Hayes has been providing a spark for the Huskies off the bench.

The UConn women are still top dog in the Big East.

The UConn women head back out on the road yet again.

Maya Moore’s family in Illinois was unable to watch the game on Saturday due to CBS’ regional coverage of the game.

Mechelle Voepel of ESPN.com takes a humorous look at what might happen in the 2009 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

LSU coach Van Chancellor was just the latest coach to heap praise on the UConn women.

David Borges of the New Haven Register, Neill Ostrout of the Connecticut Post, Matt Stout of the Norwich Bulletin and Gavin Keefe of the New London Day all have notes from yesterday’s men’s basketball practice.

Hasheem Thabeet will be the center of attention for West Virginia tonight.

The Mountaineers are looking for some respect with a win over UConn tonight.

Former Husky Nate Miles had his court case continued so he can receive counseling.

The UConn men hope to bring solid defense to the table tonight.

David Gillett has some video of former Husky Richard Hamilton talking about Michael Jordan.

Desmond Conner of the Hartford Courant spoke to Randy Edsall who is out on the road recruiting. One of the things Edsall told him is that Tyler Lorenzen badly re-injured his foot and played through it.

Brian Bennett of ESPN.com takes a look back at the Big East bowl season and has honors for Donald Brown and Robert McClain.

Donald Brown was one of the most important players in UConn football history.

It took 5 years but Dahna Deleston reached the end zone one last time.

UConn women’s hockey player Michelle Binning was named the TPS Hockey East Player of the Week.