With the regular season having ended for the UConn Huskies and all of the major college football teams, it’s that time of the year known as award season.

UConn running back Donald Brown

On Wednesday morning, the Big East Conference announced that UConn running back Donald Brown was named the Big East Offensive Player of the Year.

He is the first member of the Huskies to win a major award from the Big East. Brown is also the first running back to win the award since  Willis McGahee did it for the Miami Hurricanes back in 2002 while they were still part of the Big East.

Brown finished the season as the nation’s leading rusher with 1,822 yards and also added 17 touchdowns.

In addition to the award, Brown was also named to the All-Big East Offensive First Team along with offensive tackle Will Beatty. Darius Butler and Cody Brown were named to the All-Big East Defensive First Team.  Donald Brown and Cody Brown were unianimous choices.

Linebacker Scott Lutrus and safety Robert Vaughn were named to the second team.

A full look at all of the awards and all conference teams after the jump.

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During the Dennis and Callahan Show on WEEI this morning, Boston Red Sox president and CEO Larry Lucchino confirmed that there will be changes to the road uniforms as well as the logo.

Jon Meterparel: Big announcement tomorrow night. A new uniform? Is that correct?

Larry Lucchino: Well there’s an adjustment to the road uniforms that will touch upon Red Sox tradition. It’s a little back to the future kind of thing and there will be some adjustments to the logo as well so both items are going to be announced tomorrow (Thursday, December 11).

Here’s another mock up of the Red Sox road uniform. The previous one can be seen here.

It’s also possible that this is going to be new alternate logo.

We will know once and for all tomorrow night what the changes will be. Until then it’s all speculation and  guesses. If we waited 86 years for a championship, we can wait until tomorrow night right? Right? Yeah, I didn’t think so either.

to Texy at Center Field for the road uniform mockup.

The UConn men will face some big challenges when they return from final exams.

Via Mike Anthony of the Hartford Courant comes this update about Ater Majok.

David Borges of the New Haven Register takes a look at A.J. Price.

David Gillett gives out his grades for the first 8 games for the UConn men’s players.

Where could Renee Montgomery end up in the WNBA? Could it be Atlanta or Washington?

John Silver of the Journal Inquirer wants to know if you’re going to Toronto to watch the UConn Huskies take on the Buffalo Bulls in the International Bowl.

UConn women’s hockey player Dominque Thibault has selected to play on Team Canada’s Under-22 Team that will be competing at the 2009 MLP Cup in Ravensburg, Germany on Jan. 2-6, 2009.

While the night is young in Las Vegas, midnight is almost upon here on the east coast. This means it’s time to recap the happenings and rumors of the Boston Red Sox. I think I’ll just let Red Sox GM Theo Epstein recap it for us.

“I actually think I have less to tell you than yesterday.”

The news though wasn’t exactly quiet though. Earlier in the day, Texas Rangers president Nolan Ryan talked about his man crush on Clay Buchholz. Apparently, Ryan was only joking about what he said.It was thought that he was untouchable but he’s been the talk of the winter meetings as many teams are inquiring about his availability.

If the Red Sox are able to pick up Mark Teixeira through free agency, they would have a tough time trading David Ortiz should they go that route. It appears that Big Papi earned his 10/5 rights meaning that he can veto any trade. For those who don’t understand the 10/5 rule, essentially Big Papi has spent 10 years in the big leagues and 5 with the Red Sox meaning that he has earned the right to veto any trade.

The catching market or Plan B as it appears to be called for the Red Sox took another hit today when the Cincinnati Reds traded Ryan Freel to the Baltimore Orioles for Ramon Hernandez. He was one of the Plan B catchers the Red Sox could have gone after. Alex Speier of WEEI.com gives us the update on the catching market. It’s also quite possible that if the Red Sox don’t re-sign Jason Varitek, they could use Dusty Brown or George Kottaras.

Speaking of non-available catchers, the Arizona Diamondbacks stated that they were not going to trade Chris Snyder or Miguel Montero. But late in the day, the Red Sox were offered a deal from the D’Backs that was Montero straight up for Michael Bowden. Of course the Red Sox said no to that one.

The Red Sox are still talking with A.J. Burnett’s agent Darek Braunecker about a deal. The biggest criteria Burnett has is joining a winning team.

The Red Sox could once again tap into the Japanese market as it’s been reported that they are highly interested in pitcher Kenshin Kawakami.

Apparently the Red Sox are showing interest in free agent pitchers Carl Pavano and Brad Penny. If you can remember back four years, the Red Sox were one of the teams looking to sign Pavano. All I can say is thank God we didn’t.

The Red Sox were thought to be interested in Andy Pettitte earlier in the day but there’s no way that he would ever pitch for the Red Sox.

While the Red Sox have shown interest in free agent Rocco Baldelli, they are leary that he can handle the outfield for long stretches of time.

It seems as though the Red Sox may have made an offer to C.C. Sabathia.

Alex Speier of WEEI.com takes a look at the Red Sox shortstop situation.

The Red Sox have no interest in signing Jay Payton or anyone his agent represents as well as So Taguchi. They do have interest in Josh Bard or Ronny Paulino should the need arrive.

In other news, performance enhancement counselor Don Kalkstein has left the Red Sox. They have also hired Steve Peck as a pro scout away from the Mariners.

The deal for the Red Sox staying in Ft. Myers for another 30 years became official today.

Gary Marbry of WEEI.com has reviews on Jeff Bailey, Brandon Moss and Mark Kotsay.

It’s quite possible the NY Times could have to sell it’s share of the Red Sox with it’s parent company filing for bankruptcy.

And last but not least, is this the new logo of the Red Sox?

If anything breaks before I head to bed, I’ll pass it along. And of course, I’ll be monitoring the feeds again tomorrow.

Thanks for making SOX & Dawgs part of your day.

Could Clay Buchholz be heading home to Texas?

While yesterday it appeared that Boston Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz was untouchable, do these comments from Texas Rangers president Nolan Ryan mean they are talking trade?

“There has been some contact over the last month,” he said. “Where it is today, I can’t tell you because I have to get an update to see where things have developed this morning.”

“We feel like, with our organization, we have the opportunity to make some trades with other organizations where we might try to get pitching back,” Ryan told the Journal. “We feel like we’ll have an opportunity to do something in the next couple of days.”

When asked if he’s had a chance to scout Red Sox pitching prospect and Texas native Clay Buchholz, Ryan quickly answered: “Oh, yeah. I think he’s a real talent. Obviously being a Texas kid we think he’ll look really good in a Texas uniform.”

If the Red Sox are in fact discussing a trade with the Rangers, the obvious targets would be Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Taylor Teagarden. Many scouts feel that the Rangers other prospect catcher, Max Ramirez, will eventually end up at first base.

Could this be another Plan B scenario if the Red Sox fail to re-sign Jason Varitek? Only time will tell us the answer to that question.

As we found out yesterday, the Boston Red Sox will be making “changes to the ballclub’s logos” and “select uniforms.”

Could this be the new alternate logo?

If this is the new alternate logo, I’m going to have to say I like it. Let me know your thoughts in the comments and take a moment to vote in the poll in the sidebar on the left.

to the Uni Watch blog.

Could Teixeira end up in Beantown?

We all know of the Boston Red Sox desire to sign free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira to a contract. We also know that it’s going to take Brinks truck to do it. But just how serious are the Red Sox about the sweet swinging switch-hitter are the Red Sox.

Gordon Edes of Yahoo! Sports offers up these opinions from some unnamed baseball people.

“I think he’ll sign with the Red Sox,” the official said. “They want him. They have a good relationship with [agent Scott] Boras, and in the end, they have the dollars to make it happen.”

“He is a perfect fit for the Red Sox and Boston,” said another club official. “A guy who plays every day, doesn’t need to be the center of attention, is a good teammate, and can hit like he does, I can’t see the Red Sox letting him get away.”

Of course if the Red Sox do sign Teixeira, it could spell the end of Mike Lowell’s time in Boston. But when you have a chance to get a 30 homer, 100 RBI, Gold Glove first baseman, you have to take the risks.

Moving Lowell wouldn’t be an easy proposition for the Red Sox. They would most certainly face questions about his health, which by the way it appears he’ll be ready for spring training. And of course there’s the contract he signed last year as he still owed $24 million over the next two seasons.

I think we’d all hate to see Lowell go but of course right now, it’s just pure speculation. Anything can happen!