Elena Delle Donne On Outside The Lines This Sunday

During this upcoming Sunday’s Outside The Lines on ESPN at 9 AM, Mark Schwarz sits down with former UConn Huskies women’s basketball recruit Elena Delle Donne for what is supposed to be  her first television interview. Jim Fuller of the New Haven Register disagrees though saying this isn’t her first television interview.

Whether or not it is her first is irrelevant to me. What’s relevant to me is seeing what she has to say about everything that transpired. Here is a preview of the interview:

Hat tipto Ken of Fang’s Bites.

The Hits Keeping Coming…. – 12/24

The Hits Keep Coming: Anthony of the Oriole Post and I taped our weekly show this afternoon that will air tonight at 7 PM on the Fantasy Sports Channel at Blog Talk Radio. We talked about the Mark Teixeira signing and it’s impact on the game as well as gave our thoughts. Unfortunately, Jason of My Baseball Bias had other obligations today but I’m sure we would have just heard him gloat. Lenny Melnick of Melnick and Greco Fantasy Sports stopped by at the end of the show as well. You can check it out by following the link provided at the end here. [The Hits Keep Coming – 12.24]

Boston Red Sox News & Notes – Christmas Eve Edition

Boston Red SoxBy now everyone’s had time to digest the transpirings of yesterday with Mark Teixeira signing with the New York Yankees. I went through the Boston Red Sox blogosphere and gathered up some reaction along with my own as well.

While it’s time to move on, let’s see what the Boston media has to say as well as what else is making news on this Christmas Eve afternoon.

Yankees grab prize Sox pined for [Boston Globe]

Deal good for Red Sox-Yankees rivalry [Boston Herald]

Yanks outbid Sox for coveted slugger/first baseman Teixeira [Pro Jo]

Yankees Are Never Spent [Hartford Courant]

Red Sox trumped in Teixeira stakes [Boston Globe]

Red Sox say ‘So long, Tex’ [Boston Herald]

Red Sox now can concentrate on acquiring a catcher [Pro Jo]

Teixeira To Sign With Yankees [Hartford Courant]

With Teixeira signing comes a dose of reality [38 Pitches]

Bronx bombshell sends loud message [Boston Globe]

Did Yanks win … or did Sox just lose? [Tony Massarotti]

According to Adam Kilgore of the Boston Globe, Kevin Youkilis and the Red Sox won’t be signing a long-term extension this offseason.

There are 16 landowners in Lee County that offering land for the new Red Sox spring training facility.

Manny Delcarmen recently spoke with Ian Browne of MLB.com about the holidays.

Paw Prints – The Daily Roundup – Christmas Eve Edition

Paw Prints The Daily Roundup

Rob Lunn shares a story from the YMCA during his visit home over at Thoughts From A Fat White Guy.

The weak economy is hurting UConn’s ticket sales for the International Bowl.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson will be the keynote speaker at the International Bowl luncheon.

The UConn football team had 5 players on the ESPN.com All-Big East Freshman Team.

The UConn Huskies athletic department is not talking about if they’ll host the WNIT in 2010-11.

Former UConn men’s player Nate Miles had his court case continued again.

David Borges of the New Haven Register shares a story about Fairfield coach Ed Cooley.

David Gillett has some video of former Huskies Ray Allen and Rudy Gay sharing the holiday spirit.

John Henry’s Reaction To Yankees Signing of Teixeira

John Henry: “From the moment we arrived in Boston in late 2001, we saw it as a monumental challenge,” team owner John Henry said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. “We sought to reduce the financial gap and succeeded to a degree. Now with a new stadium filled with revenue opportunities, they have leaped away from us again. So we have to be even more careful in deploying our resources.” [ESPN.com]

Nothing Like Rubbing Salt In the Wound

Kevin CashJoel Sherman of the New York Post is reporting that the New York Yankees have signed former Boston Red Sox catcher Kevin Cash to a minor league deal that would be worth $700,000 if he makes the team.

New York Yankees stole another player away from the Red Sox on Tuesday, though Boston will hardly bemoan the loss of Kevin Cash as much as it did watching Mark Teixeira take, well, the Yankee cash and run to the Bronx.

The Yankees did not announce any signing, but they did come to terms with Cash on a minor league contract that will pay him $700,000 if he plays in the majors, The Post has learned.

Obviously this isn’t bad news for the Red Sox but it does present a problem in that Tim Wakefield will have to break in another catcher year.

It really wouldn’t surprise me at all if tomorrow they announced they had signed Manny Ramirez too.

Celtics Move to 27-2 With Win Over 76ers

19 Straight: Behind 18 points from Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo, the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 110-91 to give them a franchise best 19 straight wins. The win also gives them the best mark in NBA history for a 2 loss team. Ray Allen added 16 points, Leon Powe 15 and Eddie House had 13 points. Next up for the Celtics is a Christmas Day matchup with their opponent in last year’s NBA Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center. [ESPN.com]

Reaction To The Yankees Signing Teixeira

Yuck The Fankees

Now that everyone has had some time to digest the  New York Yankees signing Mark Teixeira to an 8 year, $180 million deal, let’s take a look at what people are saying after I give my opinion.

Personally, I don’t see why people are so upset about this. Teixeira was a luxury for the Boston Red Sox. They didn’t need him for this year, they needed him down the road. Does it hurt yes? But is it really the end of the world? By all means, no it isn’t. Remember the Red Sox were 1 game away from the World Series, a year after winning it all and we have most of last year’s team returning.

So should we write off the Red Sox in ’09? Heck no! I left this in a comment in the previous post. The Red Sox have two things the Yankees don’t right now. And that’s heart and chemistry. Those are what you need to win. All the Yankees have is a bunch of overpaid players that haven’t won anything (yes I understand there are a few Yanks that have). What have  C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira won in their careers? Nothing other than a CY Young for C.C. But what happened to him in the playoffs. The Red Sox dominated him.

Center Field: Bonus fun: anything less than a World Series victory will guarantee the Steiny brothers and Cashman an EPIC FAIL.

A Red Sox Fan in Pinstripe Territory: So ol’ Tex decides to join Hitler Youth. Can’t wait to see that fuckstick at Fenway next year. In the meantime, we’ll see how their attempt to “buy second place” goes. This makes their lineup better, but it’s still not better than ours. The whole key is their pitching–if those two new dudes become some kind of co-ace, they’ll be tough to beat, but I’m not too worried about those third place losers

Fenway West: The Yankees acquisition of Mark Teixeira is bad news for the Red Sox. As a switch hitter Teixeira can take advantage of the short porch at Yankee Stadium and of the Green Monster when he comes to Fenway. With A-Rod and Teix signed to long term deals the Yankees should have solid offense for some time. By signing Teixeira the Yankees took away the one good power hitting free agent on the market for Boston. But things will only be bad if Mike Lowell and Ortiz do not bounce back this season. If they are both healthy the Red Sox should have no problem competing with the Yankees (and the Rays).

The Joy of Sox: (After this off-season, will the Yankees continue begging New York City for more millions to finish the new stadium?)

Red Sox Monster: Dan hasn’t posted his reaction yet but did have this to offer. Bang head on table now.

Sox and Pinstripes: The negative of Teixeira signing with the Yankees is that he signifantly upgrades a lineup that would have missed Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi. The positive about Big Tex becoming a Yankee is that the Red Sox are not tied to a costly long-term deal; they can give extensions to Kevin Youkilis and Jason Bay; and the door is open for Lars Anderson, the minor league phenom who will either serve as Boston’s next first baseman or DH.

Surviving Grady: The happiest guy in the world right now has gotta be A-Rod. Finally, there’s someone who’ll be booed more mercilessly than him at Fenway Park.

Wicked Good Sports Red Sox Blog: The thing is, do the Red Sox regret how things played out with A-Rod and Damon? Certainly not. Will they regret how things played out with the Teixeira negotiations? Time will tell. Still, he didn’t makes sense in Boston, not when the team would have to then trade Mike Lowell. If the Red Sox were like the Yankees, they would have overpaid for a player they didn’t need — simply to spite their rival.

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