Manuel Aristides Ramírez Onelcida: Could former Boston Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez be terrorizing his former team by wearing the New York Yankees pinstripes in 2009. According to Mark Feinsand, Manny thinks it could happen.
According to a source, Ramirez has told friends that he is confident the Yankees will offer him a contract of at least three years, one year longer than most team officials have said they would want to go.
Could the whole Mark Teixeira saga be coming to an end in the next few days?
According to Lyle Spencer and Bill Ladsen of MLB.com, Texieria could be making a decision on his future in the coming days.
Decision day could be right around the corner for Mark Teixeira, according to a Major League source familiar with the negotiations. The source anticipates the free-agent first baseman’s highly anticipated announcement within the next few days.
The source believes the Red Sox remain in the lead for Teixeira’s services in spite of the statement by principal owner John Henry on Thursday night.
“This is going to end the old-fashioned way,” the source said, maintaining that money will not be the decisive factor. “He wants to be on the East Coast, and his wife wants to be there. I believe the decision will be based on family and geography.”
The source places the Nationals second in the Teixeira derby. It is believed the organization has been pitching Teixeira, known for his intelligence at the plate and diligence off the field, on the notion that the club has the potential to follow in the Rays’ golden path.
At the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas, the Nationals extended an eight-year, $160 million offer for Teixeira. The source believes the Red Sox offered fewer years, but that the dollars and the exciting lure of The Nation might be enough to land Teixeira.
“If it’s based on long term,” the source said, “Teixeira will take the Nationals.”
If we are to believe the source , it sounds like it’s down to the Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals. So it’s a matter of whether he wants to win now or win in the future if that will even happen.
Let’s hope this ends in the Red Sox favor and we’re having a pre-Christmas press conference announcing the newest member of Red Sox Nation.
Dan Roche of WBZ-TV in Boston also offers some thoughts as well regarding the whole Teixeira saga.
One of these days, the No. 2/2 UConn Huskies are going to figure out how to play against a zone defense. But until they do, we are going to see them play like they did today, which wasn’t exactly pretty at times. They’re also going to need to figure out how to play when Hasheem Thabeet gets into foul trouble like he did this afternoon.
But after leading by 11 points in the first half and then trailing by 11 points in the second, A.J. Price hit a 3 pointer with 7.8 seconds remaining to tie the game and force overtime. In overtime, it was all Huskies as they survived to pick up an 88-83 win over the No. 8/7 Gonzaga Bulldogs in the Battle of Seattle at a sold-out Key Arena.
With the Huskies (10-0) trailing by 11 at 57-46 with 11:52 to go, UConn started it’s comeback behind Price and Jerome Dyson. In just 3 minutes, a 9-2 run by the Huskies cut the Zags lead to 59-55. A Steven Gray layup put the Zags back up 6 but Price drained a three pointer to cut the lead back to 3. After Josh Heytvelt hit two free throws, Price nailed another 3 to cut the lead down to 2 points at 63-61.
The two teams exchanged baskets and then a Stanley Robinson layup cut the lead to 1 point with 3:30 to go in the game. Micah Downs gave the Zags a 4 point lead with a 3 pointer and then two free throws from Gavin Edwards cut it back to 2 and then the Zags Austin Daye made it 4 points again. Two free throws by Jeff Adrien and 1 from Price brought the lead down to 1 point with 33 seconds remaining. UConn went for the steal but Gonzaga called timeout.
After the timeout, they went for the steal again but couldn’t get so they fouled Matt Bouldin who drained both free throws to give Gonzaga a 3 point lead. Craig Austrie had the first chance to the tie game but he missed his 3. Dyson got the rebound and got the ball to Price who made the heroic three pointer to force overtime.
UConn got the first basket of overtime on Thabeet dunk. After the dunk when he was going back up the floor, he was called for a very questionable technical foul for taunting which gave him his 5th foul of the evening. The Zags were only able to convert one of the free throws and held off the Zags on the ensuing possession. Edwards and Jeremy Pargo exchanged baskets and then the Huskies went on a 6-0 run to put the game away as they held off the Zags down the stretch to pick up a hard fought win in front of a pro-Gonzaga crowd even though this was technically a neutral court game.
Price led all scorers in the game with 24 points while adding 10 assists. Dyson scored 6 of his 21 points in overtime and also had 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Edwards probably had one of his best, if not the best, games in a Husky uniform as he had 14 points and 12 rebounds filling in for Thabeet who spent most of the game in foul trouble. The foul trouble made a Thabeet a non-factor in the game as he scored 9 points but only pulled down 2 rebounds mainly because Gonzaga pulled him away from the basket on the defensive end. Jeff Adrien had 8 points and 8 rebounds as well.
Gray paced the Zags (8-2) with 23 points and also had 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Pargo had 16 points while Heytvelt had 15 points and stayed away from the mushrooms. Daye had 13 points and Downs had 9 points and 8 rebounds before fouling out.
UConn got out of the gates quickly taking a 13-2 lead before Gonzaga started to comeback just a little. They got UConn’s lead down to 8 but really made a push when they switched to a zone defense and when Thabeet picked up his second foul with 8:30 to go in the first half. Trailing by 9 at that point, they were able to battle back and take a 1 point lead before Price hit two free throws to give UConn a 38-37 lead at the half.
A good win for the Huskies who were able to survive the tough test. There are still questions though as they WILL need to figure out how to play against a zone and when Thabeet gets into foul trouble. Edwards showed that he can be a capable replacement if Thabeet gets into foul trouble but we’ll have to see if this was just a one game thing. For the first time all season, Kemba Walker looked a little out of his element as he only played 12 minutes and didn’t score.
Nonetheless, a good test and a good win in a hostile setting on a “neutral court.” The Huskies are now off for 6 days and will return to action on Friday night when the Fairfield Stags come to the XL Center in Hartford, CT. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 PM and the game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
As always, Fitzy’s videos are NSFW.
When ‘Pink Sox’ go too far [Red Sox Monster]
UFL Yet to be Discussed by CT Sports Advisory Board [Connecticut Sports Law]
Source: Sox Set To Re-Sign Manny [Surviving Grady]
MLB Network Presents…. [Fang’s Bites]
2012 (A Short Story) [Fenway West]
Pedroia Salsa: Delicious, But So Pasty [UmpBump]
THEY HAVE A WIKIPEDIA: VAN EARL WRIGHT [Zoner Sports]
We Hardly Knew Ye: Terrence Cody’s Facebook says he’s rumbling to the NFL (UPDATED: Or his lady has an odd sense of humor) [Dr. Saturday]
Matt Vasgersian Thinks Covering The Rams Is Like “Polishing A Turd” [Awful Announcing]
A New Found Respect For Scott Boras… [Oriole Post]
As if Mike Pelfrey needed any more bad omens [The ‘Ropolitans]
TEBOW QUESTIONS KIPER [College Football Talk]
The Subtle Art of Bragging [The Big Lead]
Our video goodness this week comes from our friends at Awful Announcing. And be sure to duck!
While most of New England digs out from the snowstorm that passed through on Friday, all of Red Sox Nation and the baseball world is still wondering what is going on with the Mark Teixeira saga.
The general consenus from around all of baseball is that the Boston Red Sox are still in the hunt and probably are still considered the front runners. Most are calling John Henry’s statement from Thursday night a bluff to Scott Boras’ demands. For me, I’m wasn’t so sure at first. I really thought the Red Sox were done.
But like I said above, the more and more I read from around the blogosphere and media, the Red Sox and Boras are playing high stakes poker. And as many have pointed out, this isn’t the first hand that the Red Sox and Boras have played. And we know it won’t be the last.
I’ve never said my opinion was right about this because until the ink is dry on a contract somewhere else, the Red Sox aren’t going anywhere. And as I said, I’d be the first to admit I was wrong when I said the Red Sox were out of it. So there you go. I’ve reversed course now and say the Red Sox are still players for Teixeira. Honestly though, I’d just wish he’d sign and get over this long saga. It’s getting old at this point.
So let’s move forward and get to some links including ones I missed yesterday.
John Henry and the Red Sox can teach Wall Street a thing or two with the way they handled things on Thursday night.
Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald says the Red Sox better have a Plan B should Teixeira sign elsewhere.
Kevin Youkilis said on Thursday night that he wouldn’t mind shifting back to third base should the Red Sox get Teixeira.
Theo Epstein and Terry Francona offered no comments about what transpired Thursday night.
Teddy Ballgame offers up an unpopular position on Mark Teixeira.
Alex Speier of WEEI.com would like to remind us that the Red Sox still need a starting catcher for 2009.
Fred Lynn was tabbed by the Salem Red Sox as the keynote speaker at their hot stove banquet on my birthday, January 29th.
JetBlue is now the official airline of the Boston Red Sox.
There are more than 100 companies interested in building the new Red Sox spring training site in Lee County, FL.
12 architectural firms applied to design the new spring training site.
In case you missed it, Jon Lester won a TYIB award for his no-hitter back on May 19th against the Royals.
That’s all for now. Updates as warranted. Thank you for making SOX & Dawgs a part of your day.
It’s game day for the No. 2/2 UConn Huskies men’s basketball team as they will take on the No. 7/8 Gonzaga Bulldogs in the Battle of Seattle at Key Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 PM and the game will be broadcast nationally on CBS.
The UConn men welcome the challenge Gonzaga will give them.
Gonzaga fears the size of UConn.
Jim Calhoun will have a good grasp of where his team stands after today’s game.
It’s now time for the UConn men to try harder.
A Watertown, CT umpire is Gonzaga’s biggest fan in Connecticut.
Here are 3 things you should know about today’s game against Gonzaga.
Jim Calhoun is no stranger to the state of Washington.
Former UConn Husky center Jake Voskuhl is back in the NBA with the Toronto Raptors bringing the number of former Huskies in the NBA to 13.
Renee Montgomery, Tina Charles and Maya Moore were all named to “Early Season Watch List” for the Naismith Award.
John Altavilla of the Hartford Courant has some extras from last night’s win over Northern Colorado.
The UConn women’s team will play host to the WBCA Classic next Thanksgiving at either Gampel Pavilion or the XL Center.
John Altavilla of the Hartford Courant almost missed the UConn women’s game yesterday due to a mini golf game.
Don’t forget tickets for the Big East Women’s Basketball Tournament at the XL Center are on sale.
Former UConn Husky Paige Sauer is happy out west with Northern Colorado.
Rich Elliot of the Connecticut Post has his report card from yesterday’s win over Northern Colorado.
Maya Moore says her game is still a work in progress.
UConn punter Desi Cullen underwent an appendectomy but should be fine for the International Bowl.
Darius Butler was ranked as the second best defensive back and Robert Vaughn the 8th best in the Big East by Brian Bennett of ESPN.com.
Scott Lutrus was named the 4th best linebacker in the Big East by Brian Bennett of ESPN.com.
Rob Lunn checks in again over at Thoughts From A Fat White Guy with the Jim Boeheim microphone incident.
This Week
The New England Patriots welcome the Arizona Cardinals to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA on Sunday at 1 p .m. It is the Patriots home finale.
The Patriots are 4-3 at the Razor and 3-0 against the NFC. The Cardinals are 3-4 on the road and 2-1 against the AFC.
Here are the rosters for the Cardinals and Patriots.
Here are the projected starting lineups for the game.
The Line
As of Wednesday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports is Patriots -8. The over/under is 44½.
Tickets
The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 159th consecutive sellout dating back to the 1994 season opener. The record includes preseason, regular season and playoff games.
Tickets to the game, if available, may be purchased through Ticketmaster. You can check the availability here.
Getting To The Game
If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game at the Razor make sure you check out the links.
Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from The Weather Channel.
Click for stadium directions, parking information, parking map, specific MBTA train times for this game and a Gillette Stadium seating chart.
Tailgating
Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgaiting America. There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack. I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re very good and for good measure here is one of my own.
And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages. With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks. You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or by theme.
Whether it’s at the game, a bar or someone’s house moderation is always the key to a great time. Please don’t drink and drive and designate a sober driver. Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television
FOX is televising the game regionally and Kenny Albert will do the play-by-play while Daryl Johnstonwill handle the game analysis with Tony Siragusa on the sidelines. Check for your local FOX affiliate and see if you are getting the game.
Direct TV NFL Sunday Ticket has the game on Channel 708.
For those of you overseas here is some general information on NFL Broadcasts for the 2008 season.
Patriots All-Access airs Saturday at 7 p.m. on WCVB TV 5 in Boston. It will also be simulcast on the team website at the same time. Make sure you check out the Patriots Football Network for information on when you can see Patriots All-Access in your market.
Radio
The Patriots Rock Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBCN-FM 104.1 in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color.
It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Scott Zolak and Andy Gresh and the pregame show at 10 a.m. along the network.
The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours.
If you are outside of the broadcast area of the stations on the Patriots Rock Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass which allows you to listen to any NFL game live. You can also pick which teams broadcasters you want to listen to.
All NFL games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio. The Patriots Rock Radio Network call is available on Channel 130, the Cardinals Radio Network call with Dave Pasch doing play-by-play and former Cardinal Ron Wolfley with analysis is available on Channel 121.
Since the satellite merger XM Satellite Radio also carries all the NFL games and in most cases has just the radio call of the home team. This game can be heard on XM Channel 106.
17 Straight: The Boston Celtics got 27 points from Ray Allen and a career-high 25 points from Kendrick Perkins to help them beat the Chicago Bulls 126-108 to pick up their 17th straight win. Kevin Garnett added 17 points, Paul Pierce 16 points and Rajon Rondo had 15 assists. Former UConn Husky Ben Gordon had 10 points for the Bulls. The Celtics will look to tie the team record of 18 consecutive wins on Sunday against the New York Knicks. [ESPN.com]
It seems as though paradise has always been kind to the No. 1 UConn Huskies women’s basketball team. They had great success in the US Virgin Islands last season in the 2007 Paradise Jam and now they are enjoying their time in Cancun, Mexico.
It was another easy night for the Huskies as they rolled to an 85-40 win over the Northern Colorado Bears in the Caribbean Classic at the Moon Palace Resort in Cancun.
The Huskies (9-0) were led by Maya Moore’s 19 points. She also added 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Renee Montgomery was the only other Husky in double figures with 15 points to go along with 3 assists. Tiffany Hayes came off the bench to pull down 9 rebounds and scoring 9 points while Kaili McLaren added 8 points and 10 rebounds. All 10 Huskies who played in the game scored.
Jaime Schroeder led the way for the Bears (4-6) with 17 points and 5 rebounds. Whitley Cox chipped in with 10 points and Lizzie Cooper added 6 points.
The Bears actually held leads early on at 2-0, 5-3 and 7-6 before a 14-2 run by the Huskies gave them a firm grasp on the game. They continued to build upon that lead over the course of the game and made off with another easy victory.
The Huskies will get a day off on Saturday to enjoy the sights and sounds of Cancun before returning to action on Sunday afternoon against the Florida State Seminoles. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 PM and the game will once again be broadcast on CPTV.