Rob Lunn breaks down the loss to Pittsburgh over at Thoughts From a Fat White Guy.

Mike DiMauro of the New London Day gives his thoughts about a bowl game being played in Toronto.

Penn State coach Coquese Washington is excited to face the UConn women’s basketball team on Sunday.

The UConn women are putting up numbers that could break records by the time the season is over.

The UConn women hope to stay sharp during the break.

Hasheem Thabeet was named to the Big East Men’s Basketball Honor Roll for the games from last week.

What does Jim Calhoun want for Christmas?

Day 1 of the Baseball Winter Meetings in Las Vegas is just about over and of course as you would expect, there’s some news that involves the Boston Red Sox.

As I thought yesterday with the trade of Gerald Laird to the Detroit Tigers from the Texas Rangers, the rest of the Rangers catchers are more than likely off the market. It will probably take a knock your socks off offer from the Red Sox to grab either Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Taylor Teagarden. One that would most likely have to include Clay Buchholz and/or Justin Masterson plus some other prospects. Rob Bradford of WEEI.com says that Clay Buchholz apparently is untouchable so this could complicate things.

Earlier I had written about the Red Sox talking with the Mets about a trade for Brian Schneider only to find out that it would probably not happen. Now it appears that it could be Plan B for the Red Sox. Jon Heyman still thinks the Red Sox will work out a deal to keep Jason Varitek in a Red Sox uniform.

Scott Boras thinks the trade of Laird actually will help Varitek.

Dan Roche doesn’t understand why Jason Varitek wouldn’t accept arbitration.

The Red Sox could also talk the Angels about Jeff Mathis or Mike Napoli.

Alex Speier of WEEI.com takes a look at the catching market and what’s out there for the Red Sox.

Earlier on Monday, it appeared that free agent pitcher A.J. Burnett was going to sign with the Atlanta Braves. As the day went on, the Yankees became more involved with Burnett and now it appears the Red Sox are in the mix for Burnett as well.

Red Sox GM Theo Epstein met with one free agent pitcher during the day on Monday and everyone is wondering whether or not it was C.C. Sabathia. Jon Heyman thinks the Red Sox may have made an offer to him.

Theo also doesn’t expect the Red Sox to close anything while they are in Vegas. Epstein also added that the recoveries of Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell and Julio Lugo are on track.

Apparently the Red Sox also have some interest in former Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte.

Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe has 5 recommendations for the Red Sox.

Buster Olney said he’d be shocked if the Red Sox don’t sign Rocco Baldelli.

Could the Red Sox go after Kerry Wood to setup for Jonathan Papelbon? Gordon Edes thinks so.

With Tigers signing Adam Everett yesterday, it appears any chance of Julio Lugo going to Detroit is off the table.

Luis Tiant was not selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veteran’s Committee.

Terry Francona is confident the Red Sox will have a championship caliber team next year.

The broadcaster everyone hates,  Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, apparently has a raging hard-on about Dustin Pedroia.

In other news, the Red Sox sold out all of their spring training games once again.

According to Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post, the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets are talking about a trade that would send catcher Brian Schneider to Boston.

It was unclear what players the Red Sox would send to Queens in a deal for Schneider, but the Mets are known to need starting pitching, and the Red Sox could have a surplus, even if they fail to sign a top target such as Derek Lowe.

Schneider has one year left on his contract at $4.9 million and could provide the Red Sox with a stop gap until their catching prospects are ready.

In 110 games in 2008, Schneider hit .257 with 9 home runs and 38 RBIs.

UPDATE: Joel Sherman of the NY Post is reporting that these talks are off now.

According to Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald, the Boston Red Sox will be unveiling a new logo and a new uniform on Thursday.

Purists, beware: Thursday, the Red Sox have plans to unveil “changes to the ballclub’s logos” and “select uniforms.” Manny Delcarmen, Jim Rice, Jerry Remy and other club officials will be on hand for the announcement/unveiling.

It’s likely the team will reveal a new “alternate uniform,” to either replace or supplement the red tops the team often wears for Sunday home games.

There%

Let’s take a look back at what I wrote in late August about the 2008 UConn Huskies football season.

The following was written on August 26th.

In looking at the Huskies schedule, I fully expect them to start the season 4-0 with wins over Hofstra, Temple, Virgina and Baylor. They will get their first test in the Big East Conference against Louisville in Louisville. To me that game can go either way but I’d expect to the Huskies to lose a close one.

The week after, the Huskies will travel to Chapel Hill to take on Butch Davis and UNC Tar Heels. This is another game, I think could go either way but I see the Huskies pulling this one out. While UConn beat Rutgers last season, I just don’t see that this year unless Rutgers has trouble replacing Ray Rice.

With the Huskies at 5-2, the Cincinnati Bearcats come to town for homecoming weekend and will give the Huskies a battle. The Bearcats have the potential to be one of more improved teams but the Huskies win this one in front of the hometown crowd to become bowl eligible. A big matchup follows the week after against West Virginia and the only shot the Huskies have at winning is to beat the Mountaineers, a feat I don’t see happening.

After whooping up on Syracuse, the Huskies will have two big games against South Florida and Pittsburgh. I see the Huskies losing both games as the home team in the USF series has won each time. While the Huskies have beaten Pittsburgh the past two seasons, the Panthers are the most improved team in the Big East and even though it’s a home game for the Huskies, I see a Pittsburgh upset.

The Huskies finish the season at 7-5 (3-4 Big East). The great thing about predictions like this is that I suck at them because I had the Huskies going 6-6 last season and they finished 9-4. My bowl prediction for the Huskies is either The St. Petersburg Bowl or the International Bowl, giving them their 3rd bowl bid in 5 years.

Ironically enough, UConn finshed up at 7-5 (3-4 Big East) and I got the pick of the International Bowl correct as well. The only differences in the predictions and the season was that UConn beat Louisville and lost to UNC. I even predicted that UConn would become bowl eligible in a win over Cincinnati which is exactly what happened.

It’s not too often that I’m good at predictions so I’ll take it.

I expect the news for the UConn Huskies to be light this week as everyone is starting to take their final exams on the Storrs campus. Still though, I will bring you whatever news I can for the week.

Rob Lunn checks in over at Thoughts From a Fat White Guy.

Chip Malafronte of the New Haven Register, Neill Ostrout of the Connecticut Post, John Silver of the Journal Inquirer and Desmond Conner of the Hartford Courant all have notes from Randy Edsall’s teleconference yesterday.

The UConn Huskies are going international.

There are mixed signals about UConn heading to a bowl game.

Brian Bennett of ESPN.com has a look at UConn’s matchup with Buffalo in the International Bowl.

Jim Fuller of the New Haven Register has some thoughts about the UConn women’s next opponent, Penn State.

As the UConn Huskies football program continues to grow, the talent of the players continues to get better. And as that gets better, the more recognition players are getting.

This is the case for the 2008 Huskies as three members of the team have been invited to college all-star games. Defensive end Cody Brown, cornerback Darius Butler and offensive tackle Will Beatty have all been invited to participate in some of the all-star games.

Brown has been invited to participate in the Senior Bowl, East-West Shrine Game, and the Texas vs The Nation Game while Butler was invited to the East-West Shrine Game and the Senior Bowl. Beatty was asked to participate in the Texas vs The Nation Game.

The East-West Shrine Game will take place on January 17th in Houston, TX while the Senior Bowl is on January 24th in Mobile, AL. The Texas vs The Nation Game takes place on January 31st in El Paso, TX.