Sox and Rangers Play Let’s Make A Deal

Wes LittletonThe Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers hooked up today for a trade but it didn’t solve any of the Sox catching issues instead they added yet another arm to the bullpen by acquiring 26-year old sidearming right hander Wes Littleton for future considerations.  The return to Texas isn’t considered to be a sizable one as Littleton is out of options.

Littleton, who spent most of 2008 in Triple A, is 5-3, 3 saves, 3.69 ERA and 55 K’s in 102.1 innings at the major league level.

With the acquisition of Littleton, Boston now has 38 players on it’s 40-man roster for 2009.

Red Sox Name Bogar 1st Base Coach

The Boston Red Sox formally announced the appointment of former major league short stop and minor league manager Tim Bogar as their new first base coach at Fenway Park today.

Tim BogarBogar replaces Luis Alicea who was not renewed for 2009 and has since been hired by the New York Mets.

Bogar, who played parts of nine big league seasons with the Mets, Astros and Dodgers, spent the last season with the Tampa Bay Rays as an assistant coach helping with infield play and base running instruction.  He also provided advance series preparation.

Before joining the Rays he managed for two seasons each in the Houston and Cleveland organizations and was named the Eastern League Manager of the Year in 2006.

In The Red Zone – Steelers (8-3) at Patriots (7-4) Preview – Week 13

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This Week

Steelers at Patriots - Week 13

The New England Patriots welcome the Pittsburgh Steelers to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA on Sunday at 4:15 p .m.

The Patriots are 4-2 at the Razor and 5-4 against the AFC. The Steelers 4-1 on the road and 7-1 against the AFC.

Here are the rosters for the Steelers and Patriots.

Here are the projected starting lineups for the game.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports is Patriots -1. The over/under is 39.5.

My prediction is Patriots 23, Steelers, 21. Give the points (Patriots) and take the over.  I am 5-5-1 against the spread and 6 of 11 on calling the over/under in 2008.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 158th 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.

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Paw Prints – The Daily Roundup – 11/27

Paw Prints The Daily Roundup

Light day for the linkage as you might expect on Thanksgiving day but here’s what’s making news involving the UConn Huskies.

Heather Buck will visit the doctors on Friday to hopefully be cleared to do some light running.

Buck has improved a great deal since being diagnosed with mononucleosis.

There are lots of similiarities betweeen the 2008-09 men’s basketball team and the 2005-06 team.

The UConn men’s soccer team will face the Creighton Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon in the third round of the Men’s College Cup.

Rob Lunn shares his thoughts about being home for Thanksgiving over at Thoughts From a Fat White Guy.

Celtics Rally For Win Over Warriors

Rajon Rondo lays it in the basket against the Golden State Warriors during the game at the TD Banknorth Garden. Getty/NBAE Photo. The Boston Celtics tipped off a full Thanksgiving weekend of sports by hosting the Golden State Warriors and for a while it didn’t look like this was going to be a fun start to the long holiday weekend.  But they were able to rally and regain control and take down the Warriors 119-111 at TD Banknorth Garden on Wednesday night.

After jumping out to 35-28 lead after a high scoring first quarter the Celtics built the lead to 40-30 early in the second and then the wheels came off as the Warriors went on a 28-8 run and took a 67-54 lead at the half as the Green went cold making only five shots in the quarter.  The performance or maybe lack there of drew the ire of head coach Doc Rivers who took it out on the officials and got a technical late in the half.

But the home team put it together back in the third quarter led by Rajon Rondo who made 6 of 9 shots in the quarter and was 4 for 4 at the line as the Celtics took a 86-83 lead into the final 12 minutes.  It was the final quarter where Golden State kind of fell apart as the Celtics played a solid quarter and locked up the win.

Boston (14-2) was led by Ray Allen who had 25 points, Rondo had 22 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and two steals and was definitely the player of the game for the Green.  Kevin Garnett had a double-double with 21 points and 13 points and Paul Pierce asdded 21 points as well.

Golden State (5-10) dropped it’s fourth straight game and was paced by Corey Maggette who had a game high 32 points, Stephen Jackson had 30 points and Jamal Crawford, who made his Warriors debut added 18 in the loss.

The Celtics host the 76ers Friday night at the Garden at 7:30 p.m.

Brady’s Knee Doing Just Fine

Brady (r), Bundchen (center) and I think that's Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester in the background with the Goodwill hat on. Globe Photo.

New England Patriots QB Tom Brady made a surprise appearance today at Goodwill headquarters in Roxbury to help serve Thanksgiving dinners along with his girlfriend Gisele Bundchen and many other local celebrities.

According to WCVB TV Brady walked with no noticable limp and told the TV Station:

“I am doing well. It’s good to be out here today and serve all these wonderful people and sign some autographs. I am thankful to be here in Boston. It’s my favorite holiday.”

While I admire what Matt Cassel has done in Brady’s absence, let’s face it the man is no Tom Brady and I can’t wait to see him on the field again next season.

Breaking News: Light Avoids Suspension

Miami Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder, right, and New England Patriots tackle Matt Light fight during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game in Miami. Both were ejected from the game and the Patriots defeated the Dolphins 48-28. ALAN DIAZ / AP Photo.

New England Patriots OL Matt Light has avoided a suspension for his participation in a fight with Miami Dolphins LB Channing Crowder during last Sundays 48-28 win in Miami.  The NFL has fined both players $15,000 for their activities which the league determined was instigated by Crowder with extreme verbal abuse as reported by the game officials.

The incident occurred in the fourth quarter on a Stephen Gostkowski field goal attempt when a tussel began amongst some players on the field where Crowder lost his helmet and Light was seen holding him by the dreadlocks and punching him repeatedly.  Both players were ejected.

This is extremely good news for the Patriots who need Light on Sunday as they will try to protect QB Matt Cassel from the league’s top rated defense of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Cassel Named AFC Offensive Player of the Week

Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel (16) fires a pass during New England's game against the Miami Dolphins at Dolphin Stadium. Patriots.com Photo.

For the second time this season New England Patriots QB Matt Cassel has been named AFC Offensive Player of the Week by the NFL.

Cassel earned the award for his Week 12 performance against the Miami Dolphins when he threw for 415 yards and 3 TDs plus ran for another.  That gave Cassel back-to-back 400+ yard performances and in doing so became only the fifth post merger QB to hold that distinction.  Cassel also won the award for Week 7 this season and he Peyton Manning are the only players to win the award twice this season.

Cassel, who is currently keeping the field warm for injured MVP Tom Brady, will be a free agent at the end of the season.

You can still vote for Cassel for the FedEx Air Player of the Week Award at nfl.com/fedex until 11 a.m. on Friday.  How many of these things are there?