Celtics Start A New Streak: The Boston Celtics made sure that their two-game losing streak stood at just 2 games as they pounded the Sacramento Kings 108-63 at ARCO Arena in Sacramento. Kevin Garnett led the way for the Celtics with 21 points and added 11 rebounds in just 23 minutes. Ray Allen rebounded from a poor performance on Friday night with 19 points while Eddie House came off the bench to chip in 15 points. Paul Pierce added 13 points and Kendrick Perkins added 12 rebounds to go along with 11 points. John Salmons led the Kings with 11 points. The Celtics (28-4) close out 2008 in Portland on Tuesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers. [ESPN.com]
UConn in the NBA 2008/09 – 12/28
Here is our weekly look at how the 13 former players from the UConn Huskies have fared in the NBA for the previous week.
Links to game recaps are provided as well with the stats after the jump.
Red Sox Agree To Deals With Penny, Bard
Brad Penny and Josh Bard join the Red Sox: According to Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald, the Boston Red Sox have signed Brad Penny and Josh Bard to 1 year deals. Penny’s deal is for $5 million and he can earn another $3 million in incentives if he can reach 160 innings. Bard’s deal is a non-guaranteed major league deal worth $1.6 million. Bard played 7 games for the Red Sox in 2006 before he was traded to the San Diego Padres for Doug Mirabelli. In those 7 games catching Tim Wakefield, he had 10 passed balls to earn the ticket to the Padres. Bard will probably be the backup catcher unless a starter isn’t signed. [Clubhouse Insider]
Patriots Eliminated From Playoff Contention
With wins by the Baltimore Ravens and the Miami Dolphins, the New England Patriots are now eliminated from the playoffs. Commence crying now!
Good season for the Patriots though. Considering everything they went through with all the injuries this season and having an unproven quarterback, they probably exceeded most people’s expectations when the franchise, Tom Brady, went down in Game 1.
The Patriots are the first team since 1985 (Denver Broncos) to finish the season 11-5 and not make the playoffs.
More on this in the coming days.
This is how the AFC stacks up for the playoffs.
- Tennessee Titans (BYE)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (BYE)
- Miami Dolphins
- Denver Broncos/San Diego Chargers
- Indianapolis Colts
- Baltimore Ravens
Report: Red Sox Close To Signing Brad Penny
Brad Penny: According to Ken Rosenthal, the Boston Red Sox and Brad Penny are close to signing a 1-year deal that would make Penny a member of the Red Sox rotation next season. Rosenthal says that Penny will still need to take a physical and that they are working out the language of the contract. [FOXSports.com]
UConn Women Return From Xmas Break With 29 Point Win Over Lady Gamecocks
Geno Auriemma usually tries to get a homecoming game for his players during their 4 years at UConn. There’s been times where it hasn’t happened because teams don’t want to play UConn. This year he was able to get a game for Kalana Greene in her home state of South Carolina.
Greene and the No. 1 UConn Huskies made her hometown fans proud as they easily beat the South Carolina Lady Gamecocks 79-48 in front of 5,113 at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, SC.
The win for the Huskies improves their record to 11-0 for the third straight year while the Dawn Staley-led Gamecocks fall to 6-5.
Greene only had 5 points and 5 rebounds in her return to South Carolina. After struggling the past two games, Tina Charles had a monster afternoon as she finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Maya Moore had another good all around game as she had 15 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocked shots. Renee Montgomery chipped in with 13 points and 6 assists while Tiffany Hayes rounded out the Huskies in double-digits with 11 points.
The Lady Gamecoks were led by Samone Kennedy and Lakeisha Sutton who both had 11 points. Jewel May added 8 points and 5 rebounds while Brionna Dickerson had 7 points.
The Gamecocks held tough early on exchanging the lead with UConn 3 times. With the ‘Cocks leading 7-6, the Huskies went on a 12-0 run to get the game under control. They actually outscored South Carolina 31-12 from that point to take a 37-19 lead at the half.
The first half was controlled by the play of Charles and Moore who combined for 26 of the Huskies 39 points. Charles actually had a double-double in the 1st half.
The Huskies will finally return back to Storrs are having been away for 15 days as they will prepare to take on Jen Rizzotti and her Hartford Hawks on New Years Eve afternoon. Tip-off is scheduled for 12 PM and the game will be broadcast locally on CPTV.
Patriots Take Care of Business, Await Their Fate
Result
While it was a very important game for the New England Patriots, it was a boring game watching the two teams run the ball due to the heavy wind. In the end, it was the Patriots and their running game along with the foot of Stephen Gostowski that got the job done as the Patriots took care of their business beating the Buffalo Bills 13-0 in windy Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, NY.
The Patriots now await their fate as they need the New York Jets to beat the Miami Dolphins or have the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Baltimore Ravens to make the playoffs.
It is the 11th straight time the Patriots have beaten the Bill and the 15th time in the last 16 games.
Honestly, it was a boring game watching both teams run the ball. Given the wind conditions though, you can’t fault the coaches for running the ball. The Patriots tandem of Sammy Morris and LaMont Jordan combined for 149 yards with Matt Cassel rushing for 19 yards, including two big rushes on 4th down.
Passing was at a premium in the game as Cassel attempted just 8 passes hitting on 6 of them for 78 yards while Trent Edwards was 14-of-25 for 128 yards. Most of Edwards passes came in the 4th quarter into the wind that had died down.
Even the field goal kickers had fun as one of Stephen Gostowski’s field goal attempts looked like it was going in only to have it blown sideways out of the end zone just in front of the goal posts. Rian Lindell’s field goal attempt was way wide right when the wind pushed. Honestly it was just really ugly for the kickers. How Gostowski made those 2 field goals is beyond me. Gostowski’s PAT attempt in the 3rd quarter barely got across the goal posts as the wind blew it back.
Now all the Patriots can do is watch the Jets/Dolphins game and the Ravens/Jags game to find out what they will be doing this week. Will it be practice for a playoff game or will they be the second team since 1985 (Denver Broncos) to be 11-5 and miss the playoffs. We should have that answer in about 3 hours.
Scoring Plays
| PATRIOTS | 3 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 13 |
| BILLS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1st Quarter
- NE – Stephen Gostowski 33 yard field goal
2nd Quarter
none
3rd Quarter
NE – LaMont Jordan 2 yard run (Gostowski PAT)
4th Quarter
- NE – Gostowski 23 yard field goal
Offensive Player of the Game
Stephen Gostowski was 2-0f-3 on field goals, hitting from 23 yards and 33 yards. Considering the havoc, the win played, his two field goals were key in the victory.
Defensive Players of the Game
Junior Seau had 9 tackles and Jarvis Green filled in admirably for Richard Seymour with 5 tackles and 2 sacks and a forced fumble.
Turning Point(s) of the Game
- The Patriots winning the coin toss and electing to take the wind in the 1st quarter.
- At the end of the 2nd quarter, Fred Jackson was stopped at the Patriots 9 and a mini-fight broke out. The officials never stopped the clock and the Bills were unable to get on to the field to kick the field goal which possibly could have tied the game at 3 going into the half.
Report: Brady Behind Schedule In Rehab
Tom Brady’s rehab behind schedule: According to Tom Curran, injured New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is behind in his rehab and it may force the Patriots to think about keeping Matt Cassel after this season. [NBCSports.com]
For The Love Of The Game – Elena Delle Donne on OTL
Here is a look from ESPN’s Outside the Lines at former UConn Huskies recruit Elena Delle Donne and her decision to quit basketball and then decide to play volleyball at Delaware.
Patriots Tailgating Tidbits – Week 17
It’s do, get some help or die for the New England Patriots in the final game of the regular season against the Buffalo Bills. The Patriots need to win and hope the New York Jets beat the Miami Dolphins or have the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Baltimore Ravens.
If the Patriots and Jets win, the Patriots are the AFC East Champions and would receive the 3rd seed in the AFC and host a divisional matchup next weekend. If the Patriots and Dolphins win, the Patriots need Jacksonville to win so they can secure the final wild card spot in the AFC and go on the road in the playoffs.
If the Patriots win their game, they will have to wait until around 7 PM or so to find out their fate as the NFL moved the Jets/Dolphins and Ravens/Jaguars games to 4:15 PM. Nonetheless, it should be an interesting day.
If you missed the official SOX & Dawgs Patriots vs Bills Game Preview, don’t forget to check it out.
The Patriots will be without Richard Seymour this afternoon as he was officially ruled out yesterday.
The Patriots are only focused at the task at hand and not worried about anything else right now.
Gary Marbry of WEEI.com has some Patriots/Bills nuggets for us to chew on before the game.
Lamont Jordan already has one special ring.
Mike Reiss of the Boston Globe has a look at what the Patriots will miss with Ray Ventrone being out after undergoing surgery on his jaw.
Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com has his take on today’s game.
Mike Reiss of the Boston Globe has some nuggets for us as well.
Ty Warren helped out a Warwick, RI family after he found out they had lost their home in a fire recently.
Reserves Mike Wright and Le Kevin Smith are happy to be helping their teammates out.
Mike Reiss of the Boston Globe spends a few minutes with Dan Koppen.
Former Patriots player Danny Villa was arrested yesterday on rape charges.
Wes Welker doesn’t care much for breaking records.
Here’s a look at how the Patriots have fared in games played in the wind this season.
Will this be the last time we see Matt Cassel in a Patriots uniform during the regular season?