RIP Matt Sczesny

Red Sox scout passes away: The Boston Red Sox announced on Monday night that longtime scout Matt Sczesny has passed away at the age of 76 after a long battle with cancer. He was a scout for the Red Sox from 1971-2008 and was credited with signing former players Mo Vaughn, John Valentin and Bob Stanley. He is survived by his wife, a son and daughter-in law and two grandsons. [redsox.com]

3rd Annual SOX & Dawgs College Bowl Pick’em Contest Standings – Update No. 3

Adam and Ways1 are still your co-leaders in the 3rd annual SOX & Dawgs College Bowl Pick’em Contest with just 2 games to go.  Best I can tell is that it’s a 3-team race between the co-leaders and Ladd B. Here’s a look at the standings and their picks for the final two games.

Name Total Teams left Name Total Teams left
Adam 20 Ball State, Oklahoma Barry 16 Ball State, Florida
Ways1 20 Tulsa, Oklahoma Cash Money 16 Ball State, Oklahoma
Ladd B 19 Ball State, Florida David Lusk 16 Tulsa, Oklahoma
Carl L. 19 Ball State, Oklahoma GM 16 Ball State, Florida
Ian 18 Ball State, Florida Michael 16 Ball State, Oklahoma
Scott 18 Tulsa, Oklahoma Sam 16 Ball State, Florida
Burney 17 Ball State, Florida Under M C 16 Tulsa, Oklahoma
Keith B 17 Ball State, Florida Nick L 15 Ball State, Florida
Ken 17 Ball State, Florida SethRTR 15 Ball State, Florida
Matt 17 Ball State, Florida Boomer 14 Ball State, Oklahoma
Mr Intangibles 17 Ball State, Florida Christopher L 14 Ball State, Oklahoma
Pandyora 17 Tulsa, Oklahoma Marcus Hill 14 Ball State, Florida
Scott LV 17 Ball State, Florida Dan 13 Tulsa, Florida
Smokey Bones 17 Tulsa, Florida Sue B 13 Ball State, Florida
– Jamee Sacco 12 Ball State, Oklahoma

Jim Rice Hoping To Make Baseball Hall of Fame On Monday

Rice hoping for the Hall call: Former Boston Red Sox great Jim Rice is praying to receive a very important call on Monday, January 12th. He’s hoping that the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY will be calling him to tell him that he is part of the 2009 Hall of Fame class. His fate lies in the hands of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, people he didn’t quite get along with back in the day. This is his 15th and final season on the ballot. Last year, he received 72.2% of  the vote and 75% is required for induction. No one has not made it the next year after receiving 70% of the vote the year before. [Providence Journal]

NCAA Men’s College Basketball Polls – Week 8

The men’s college basketball polls are out and this week we have a new No. 1 team in the country. Pittsburgh has risen to the top after the North Carolina Tar Heels lost to Boston College on Sunday night. Our UConn Huskies fell to No. 5 after losing to Georgetown last week. Pittsburgh beat the Hoyas on Saturday afternoon and the Hoyas have since lost tonight to the Notre Dame Fightin’ Irish.

AP Top 25

PVS

ESPN/USA Today Poll

 PVS
1. Pittsburgh (70) 14-0 1,798 3 1. Pittsburgh (30) 14-0 774 3
2. Duke 12-1 1,660 5 2. Duke 12-1 714 5
3. North Carolina (2) 13-1 1,651 1 3. North Carolina (1) 13-1 707 1
4. Wake Forest 13-0 1,553 6 4. Wake Forest 13-0 687 6
5. Connecticut 12-1 1,474 2 5. Connecticut 12-1 630 2
6. Oklahoma 13-1 1,358 4 6. Oklahoma 13-1 593 4
7. Texas 11-2 1,348 8 7. Texas 11-2 546 7
8. Michigan State 11-2 1,269 10 7. UCLA 12-2 546 9
9. Georgetown 10-2 1,208 11 9. Syracuse 14-1 526 11
10. UCLA 12-2 1,162 12 10. Georgetown 10-2 506 8
11. Syracuse 14-1 1,113 13 11. Clemson 14-0 480 16
12. Clemson 14-0 968 20 12. Michigan State 11-2 452 15
13. Notre Dame 10-3 802 7 13. Notre Dame 10-3 277 10
14. Purdue 11-3 774 9 14. Purdue 11-3 261 11
15. Tennessee 9-3 533 14 15. Marquette 13-2 251 25
16. Xavier 11-2 483 22 16. Arizona State 12-2 238 14
17. Boston College 13-2 453 NR 17. Villanova 12-2 225 13
18. Marquette 13-2 436 NR 18. Xavier 11-2 217 22
18. Villanova 12-2 436 15 19. Minnesota 13-1 183 21
20. Arizona State 12-2 374 17 20. Butler 12-1 147 NR
21. Butler 12-1 341 25 21. Louisville 9-3 136 18
22. Minnesota 13-1 290 21 22. West Virginia 11-2 132 NR
23. Baylor 12-2 289 19 23. Baylor 12-2 98 20
23. Louisville 9-3 289 18 24. Boston College 13-2 90 NR
25. West Virginia 11-2 230 NR 25. Tennessee 9-3 85 18
Others Receiving Votes Others Receiving Votes
Michigan 153, California 122, Arkansas 109, Illinois 108, Gonzaga 86, Wisconsin 86, Memphis 67, Davidson 56, Saint Mary’s 50, UNLV 43, Illinois State 39, Kansas 37, Ohio State 28, Texas A&M 27, Maryland 25, Dayton 22, Florida 13, Florida State 13, Brigham Young 12, Miami (FL) 8, Missouri 4. Dayton 54, Illinois State 50, Michigan 49, Saint Mary’s 43, Ohio State 40, Memphis 37, Illinois 34, Brigham Young 34, California 31, Davidson 31, Arkansas 27, Gonzaga 27, Wisconsin 26, Texas A&M 22, Missouri 21, Florida 11, UNLV 11, LSU 10, Kansas 7, Stanford 5, Maryland 1, Florida State 1, Utah State 1, Washington 1.
Dropped From Rankings Dropped From Rankings
Gonzaga 16, Michigan 23, Ohio State 24. Gonzaga 17, Ohio State 23, Michigan 24.

Phillies Reliever J.C. Romero Suspended 50 Games

Did Phillies get a little supplemental help to win World Series? Philadelphia Phillies reliever J.C. Romero has been suspended 50 games by MLB for testing positive for a banned supplement. Romero says he spoke with the MLBPA and they had said there was no problem with the supplement he purchased at GNC. It does appear that Romero may have been misled by the MLBPA and was offered a reduced sentence if he admitted guilt. He didn’t do that as he maintains his innocence. He will lose $1.25 million of his $4 million salary for 2009. [ESPN.com]

Red Sox Rookies To Conduct Autograph Signing

Boston Red SoxAs part of the Boston Red Sox Rookie Development Program, the Red Sox rookies will be conducting an autograph session on Friday, January 9th from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM at the Official Red Sox Team Store on Yawkey Way.

For a $20 dollar donation to the Red Sox Foundation, you will be able to get the autographs of pitchers Daniel Bard, Dewon Day, Felix Doubront, Kris Johnson, Richie Lentz, Wes Littleton, Adam Mills, and Dustin Richardson; catcher Mark Wagner; infielders Lars Anderson and Argenis Diaz; and outfielders Zach Daeges and Josh Reddick.

The newest Red Sox Japanese import Junichi Tazawa will not be participating.

Paw Prints – The Daily Roundup – 1/5

Paw Prints The Daily Roundup

Someone in the Big East office should be shot for scheduling the UConn Huskies men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams to play at the same time on the same day. They are both scheduled to play on Tuesday at 7 PM.

Let’s get things started today with some highlights of UConn’s 38-20 win over the Buffalo Bulls in the International Bowl courtesy of Santini.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boHi_X-vZdU[/youtube]

UConn found there pride in time during Saturday’s International Bowl.

Rob Lunn has another International Bowl Diary up at ESPN.com.

Donald Brown is the best football player UConn has ever had.

UConn’s special teams were hardly special this year.

Jim Calhoun was back at practice yesterday and is expected to fly with the team to West Virginia today.

The UConn men need Stanley Robinson to assert himself more.

The UConn men got back to running on Saturday night in the win over Rutgers.

The UConn men looked more complete with Stanley Robinson back in the starting lineup.

The UConn men hit the road for their next 3 games.

Former Husky Nate Miles turned himself into UConn police yesterday and will appear in court today.

Stanley Robinson doesn’t want to step on anyone’s toes.

Kalana Greene showed her old form in the win over LSU on Saturday afternoon and is hoping to continue finding that form.

The Big East women’s basketball tournament has begun a new marketing push.

The UConn women are on track to break some records.

Maya Moore needs to keep moving on the court.

The UConn women’s hockey team beat Vermont 3-1.

Are Red Sox Working On 2-Year Deal With Jason Varitek?

Jason VaritekAccording to Daniel Barbarisi of the Providence Journal, the Boston Red Sox and Jason Varitek could be working on a 2-year deal. Barbarisi also says the Red Sox don’t like to sign aging veterans, something we’ve known for a long time.

As we know, Scott Boras is trying to get his client a 4-year deal similar to what Jorge Posada received last year. We all know that the Yankees overpaid Posada so getting a long-term big money contract is probably out of the question for Varitek especially given the very light demand for his services during free agency.

What, then, is Varitek worth? By the numbers, veteran players producing at his level were generally paid between $2 million to $5 million by their teams in 2008, with the exception of the Yankees’ Rodriguez.

If Varitek’s price were to drop that low, the Red Sox would probably be happy to bring him back for at least two more years. But if Varitek and Boras stick to their initial demands, the Red Sox will probably go another way, and end up with the same production for half the cost.

Being that baseball is business, we all expect the Red Sox to make the right decision. As a fan, I do hope Varitek is back with the Red Sox because of all that he does for the team. To me, he’s invaluable to the Red Sox but I’m not John Henry or Theo Epstein. I’m merely a fan who wants the best for his team.

Slumping Celtics Fall To Knicks

Celtics Suffer 4th loss in last 6 games: Things aren’t going well for the Boston Celtics right now as Wilson Chandler’s 31 points and Al Harrington’s 30 points helped the New York Knicks past the Green at Madison Square Garden. Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 31 points and Ray Allen was the only other Celtic in double digits with 16 points. The win for the Knicks ended an 8 game losing streak while the Celtics have now dropped 4 of their last 6 games. [ESPN.com]