The Big East women’s basketball weekly awards are out and UConn Huskies point guard Renee Montgomery was chosen as the Big East Player of the Week for the week-ending 11/30.

Montgomery averaged 24.5 points per game, while shooting 59.4 percent (19-of-32) from the field in Connecticut’s two wins last week at Brigham Young (97-46) on Nov. 25 and at home against No. 4/4 Oklahoma (106-78) on Nov. 30. The senior guard also averaged 7.5 assists per game and shot 64.3 percent (9-of-14) from 3-point range. Montgomery put together a career night against Oklahoma. She registered career-highs with 30 points and 13 assists. The assist total tied the single-game record in UConn history, and it was also the first double-double of her career. Montgomery dropped 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 5-of-6 from the 3-point stripe, at BYU.

The Huskies have one final game before they break for final exams as the Holy Cross Crusaders come to Gampel Pavilion on Wednesday night.

Information from the Big East press release was used in this post.

Curt Schilling Brings His 38Pitches.com Blog
to WEEI.com and the WEEI Radio Network

World Series hero will be a regular contributor to WEEI.com
and continue his on air appearances with the WEEI Radio Network

BOSTON (November 30, 2008) – WEEI.com has announced that 6-time All-Star and World Series hero Curt Schilling has joined the WEEI Radio Network to contribute content to both WEEI.com and the WEEI Radio Network. WEEI.com is the new home of Schilling’s popular blog, 38pitches.com.

Schilling will be a regular contributor to WEEI.com, writing on a regular basis each week as the exclusive new home of 38pitches.com. Schilling has already written stories for WEEI.com on his 2003 pre-trade Thanksgiving with Red Sox management and on teammate Dustin Pedroia’s MVP season.

“Looking beyond baseball I knew I would continue to blog,” Schilling said. “If this was indeed my last season, I wanted a forum that would allow me to talk about things beyond baseball, while at the same time being connected to people with a passion for the game. WEEI.com and Rob Bradford’s team afforded me that opportunity. I know Rob will stay on top of me to keep content coming as well as facilitate other avenues to communicate with fans through live game blogs and many other things. I look forward to working with the team to do just that and continue to raise awareness for both ALS and the SHADE Foundation going forward.”

In addition to his regular writing for WEEI.com, Schilling will also participate in live game-day blogging for six Red Sox games during the 2009 season. He will contribute his thoughts and observations in the live blog with other members of WEEI.com’s editorial staff. This past October, Schilling joined WEEI.com for a live blog of Game 7 of the Red Sox ALCS series with the Tampa Bay Rays.

“We are extremely excited and proud to have Curt on board,” WEEI.com web site editor Rob Bradford said. “Because of his passion, expertise, and experience, Curt has already established himself as one of the most powerful voices in the country, one which we will now be honored to host on WEEI.com and the WEEI Radio Network. It is extremely gratifying to see that Curt has recognized the potential of what is quickly becoming one of the nation’s most talked about sports media entities. It is an honor that he is joining our team.”

Along with his blogging, Schilling will increase the on air component of his relationship with the WEEI Radio Network. Schilling will continue to appear as a regular guest on WEEI Radio all year long, covering baseball and a wide range of topics. His on air role will increase with a combination of in studio and phone appearances. Schilling has had a regular call in with WEEI’s Dennis & Callahan Morning Show since 2005.

“We’ve been privileged to develop such a special relationship with Curt over the last three years since we started his once a week call ins during the baseball season,” Vice President of Programming and Operations for WEEI and WRKO Jason Wolfe said. “His insight, passion and no holds barred approach to radio is unprecedented in our industry for a current athlete, and makes him a “can’t miss” every time he’s on the air. I’m looking forward to working with him in this newly created role which is sure to be a home run for WEEI.com and the WEEI Sports Radio Network.”

Schilling pitched for the Boston Red Sox from 2004-2008, helping the team win two World Series. Originally drafted by the Red Sox, Schilling made his major league debut in 1988 with the Baltimore Orioles and has also pitched with the Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks. In 2001, Schilling shared the World Series MVP Award with teammate Randy Johnson.

For more information, log onto the new home of Curt Schilling’s blog, www.WEEI.com.

Welcome Curt [WEEI]

I meant to post this before the season started but it kind of slipped my memory but for those UConn Huskies fans who are unable to attend UConn basketball games or able to catch them on television, here’s a look at the 2008-09 UConn Huskies radio network for basketball.

Flagship station: WTIC-Hartford, (1080-AM)

WTIC-Hartford, (1080-AM)

WILI-Willimantic, (1400-AM)

WICC-Bridgeport, (600-AM) As of 2009, WICC is no longer broadcasting UConn sports

WINE-Danbury (940 AM)

WPUT-Brewster, NY (1510 AM)

Joe D’Ambrosio (play-by-play) and Wayne Norman (analyst) have the call on the men’s basketball broadcasts while Bob Joyce (play-by-play) and former Husky Kara Wolters (analyst) have the call on the women’s broadcasts.

For those unable to pick up any of the signals, the games are streamed live on the internet at UConnHuskies.com or WTIC.com.

It’s game day for the No. 2 UConn Huskies men’s basketball team as they will take on the Delaware State Hornets at 7:30 PM at Gampel Pavilion. The game will be shown locally on My-TV9 and will also be broadcast on SNY.

The UConn men are having a ball sharing.

The Huskies will look to speed up Delaware State tonight who plays a slow, methodical game.

There’s no time to rest for the UConn men.

The UConn men will look improve their shortcomings tonight against the Hornets.

Delaware State comes into the game as an overmatched opponent.

David Gillett has a look at the month of the November in pictures for the UConn men.

The UConn women showed they’re up to speed in their win over Oklahoma last night.

Rich Elliott of the Connecticut Post has a look at what worked and what didn’t for the Huskies last night against Oklahoma.

UConn and Oklahoma will continue this series for as long as Sheri Coale and Geno Auriemma are coaching.

Renee Montgomery continues to evolve into an elite player.

Caroline Doty is a can’t miss freshman.

Renee Montgomery’s big night was just one of the reasons why UConn won big last night.

Heather Buck was cleared by the doctors to return to the Huskies.

Would Tina Charles still have to UConn if Courtney Paris had chosen the Huskies?

The Big East Women’s Basketball Tournament tickets go on sale at 10 AM today.

Geno Auriemma gave some insight into his relationship with Sheri Coale during his postgame press conference.

Here’s a look at what else Auriemma and Coale had to say after the game.

Courtney Paris definitely didn’t play like an All-American in the first half last night.

The UConn women got an unexpected boost from the bench last night.

The No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners were supposed to provide a test for the No. 1 UConn Huskies tonight at Gampel Pavilion. The Sooners did give them a test at times but in the end it was the Huskies who showed why they are the favorites to win the national championship in April in St. Louis.

It was a team effort once again for the Huskies as they cracked 100 points for the first time this season in an 106-78 over the Sooners at Gampel and a national television audience on ESPN.

With the win UConn improve to 5-0 on the young season while Oklahoma falls to 4-2.

Renee Montgomery had her first career double-double with a career high of 30 points and 13 assists (ties UConn school record) and also pulled down 6 rebounds. Two other UConn players had double-doubles as well as Maya Moore had 27 points and 12 rebounds while Tina Charles had 18 points and 10 rebounds to go along with 4 blocked shots. Caroline Doty had a big game as well as she had 18 points on 6-of-6 shooting from 3-point land.

The Sooners had 5 players in double digits led by Danielle Robinson’s 19 points. The Paris sisters both had double-doubles with Ashley scoring 17 points and pulling down 13 rebounds while Courtney had 14 and 14. Whitney Hand chipped in with 13 points and Amanda Thompson added 11 points.

Oklahoma got out to a 5-2 lead before a Doty trey tied the game up at 5 and the Huskies never looked back from there. That’s not to say the Sooners didn’t try to make a game of it because they did.

They held strong trailing by just 5 points with 12:04 to go in the 1st half before UConn used a 16-5 run to take a 38-22 lead with 6:19 left. The Huskies got the lead up to 22 points on another Doty trey before the Sooners closed out the half on a 13-2 run to cut the UConn lead to 50-39 at the half.

The Sooners tried to come back in the 2nd half but they kept on being matched by UConn. They got as close as 8 points in the 2nd half but the Huskies gradually pulled away with a strong second half defensively and a 24-10 run.

Next up for the Huskies is their final game before they break for final exams when the Holy Cross Crusaders come to Gampel Pavilion on Wednesday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 PM and the game will be televised locally on CPTV.

Continue reading →

According to Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe, the Boston Red Sox and Junichi Tazawa have a deal in place that will become official later in the week pending the outcome of a physical.

According to the same source, the 22-year-old Tazawa is due in Boston during the early or middle part of this week to undergo a physical that is seen largely as a formality. Official announcement of Tazawa’s signing will likely come as late as this week, depending on the pitcher’s precise travel schedule and the progress of his physical exam.

According to the same source, Tazawa’s deal is a major league contract worth an estimated $3 million over three years, though Tazawa would not become a free agent at the end of the contract. By agreement between the player and team, Tazawa would become eligible for arbitration after he accrues three years of service time (as is the case with any player) and would not be eligible for free agency until he has six years of service (ion this case, no earlier than the fall of 2014).

Expect spring training to be a Japanese media circus when Tazawa reports to camp in Ft. Myers. Tazawa is expected to open up the season in Double-A with the Portland Sea Dogs.

With the signing of Tazawa, the Red Sox now have 38 players on their 40-man roster.