As always, Fitzy’s videos are NSFW.
Boston Red Sox Afternoon Halloween Delight – 10/31
With the Boston Red Sox officially bringing back Tim Wakefield this afternoon, it appears the top 4 spots in the pitching rotation for 2009 are set.
- Josh Beckett
- Jon Lester
- Daisuke Matsuzaka
- Tim Wakefield
- Clay Buchholz, Michael Bowden, Justin Masterson
The competition for the 5th spot is an interesting one. Personally I think the Red Sox would be better served having Masterson working out of the bullpen where he was outstanding in the second half of the season. Hopefully, the strong Arizona Fall League that Buchholz is having gets him back on track and he pitches to the potential that we’ve seen out of him. Throwing that no-hitter in the second start of his career may have put some undue pressure on him. And we shouldn’t count out Bowden either.
While it’s quite conceivable the Red Sox will be players in the free agent market for pitchers (C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Derek Lowe, Ben Sheets), I just don’t see them spending the money on one. The Red Sox interest may be more to drive up the price a little for our neighbors to the south who seem poised to spend the gross national product of a small country to put their team back in the playoffs.
It is quite possible that they could pursue Junichi Tazawa from Japan to fill the final spot in their rotation as well.
Where I do see the Red Sox spending money is in trying to secure Mark Teixeira if the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim can’t secure him during the exclusive 15-day window that ends sometime on November 14th. While there might not be room for him right now, you can sure as heck bet that Theo Epstein will find a way to make it work.
UConn Men Ranked No. 2 in AP Preseason Poll
The first Men’s Basketball Associated Press (AP) Poll is out and once again we see the UConn Huskies sitting No. 2 behind the North Carolina Tar Heels. The Big East is well represented here again as 7 teams are in the top 25 and 4 in the top 9 (Louisville, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame).
“It is obviously a nice honor, one that I am not sure we are quite deserving of at this point but certainly something we hope to develop into as the season moves on,” Huskies coach Jim Calhoun said today. “We have three of the top players in our league and in the nation, very accomplished and experienced players in A.J. (Price), Hasheem (Thabeet) and Jeff (Adrien), and I think that is a big reason that people see us as one of the top teams in the country at this point.”
Here is a full look at the poll.
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NCAA Division I: AP Top 25 |
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| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | PTS | PVS |
| 1 | North Carolina (72) | 0-0 | 1,800 | 1 |
| 2 | Connecticut | 0-0 | 1,661 | 16 |
| 3 | Louisville | 0-0 | 1,638 | 13 |
| 4 | UCLA | 0-0 | 1,487 | 3 |
| 5 | Pittsburgh | 0-0 | 1,319 | 17 |
| 6 | Michigan State | 0-0 | 1,311 | 18 |
| 7 | Texas | 0-0 | 1,259 | 7 |
| 8 | Duke | 0-0 | 1,250 | 9 |
| 9 | Notre Dame | 0-0 | 1,243 | 15 |
| 10 | Gonzaga | 0-0 | 1,162 | 24 |
| 11 | Purdue | 0-0 | 1,099 | 20 |
| 12 | Oklahoma | 0-0 | 987 | NR |
| 13 | Memphis | 0-0 | 977 | 2 |
| 14 | Tennessee | 0-0 | 920 | 5 |
| 15 | Arizona State | 0-0 | 645 | NR |
| 16 | Marquette | 0-0 | 592 | 25 |
| 17 | Miami (FL) | 0-0 | 570 | NR |
| 18 | USC | 0-0 | 414 | NR |
| 19 | Florida | 0-0 | 403 | NR |
| 20 | Davidson | 0-0 | 347 | 23 |
| 21 | Wake Forest | 0-0 | 312 | NR |
| 22 | Georgetown | 0-0 | 311 | 8 |
| 23 | Villanova | 0-0 | 256 | NR |
| 24 | Kansas | 0-0 | 233 | 4 |
| 25 | Wisconsin | 0-0 | 196 | 6 |
| Others Receiving Votes | ||||
| Xavier 154, UNLV 143, Baylor 128, Saint Mary’s 112, Syracuse 83, Kentucky 75, Ohio State 64, LSU 31, Texas A&M 30, Washington 19, West Virginia 17, Virginia Tech 16, Brigham Young 16, Alabama 16, Siena 13, Washington State 11, Vanderbilt 11, Clemson 11, Arizona 11, Temple 10, Virginia Commonwealth 8, Creighton 7, Butler 7, New Mexico 3, Cleveland State 2, UAB 2, Stanford 2, San Diego 1, American University 1, Cal State Northridge 1, Saint Joseph’s 1, Drake 1, Miami (OH) 1. | ||||
After the jump is the side-by-side of the AP and USA Today/Coaches Poll and how it will appear here during the season.
Kevin Youkilis Visits Rentschler Field
During last weekend’s UConn Huskies win over the Cincinnati Bearcats, Boston Red Sox 1st baseman Kevin Youkilis was on hand to watch his alma mater.
ESPN’s Quint Kessenich caught up with Youk during the game and here it is (finally) for you to enjoy.
Paw Prints – West Virginia Mountaineers (5-2, 2-0) @ UConn Huskies (6-2, 2-1) Preview
This week:
The UConn Huskies will be looking for revenge from last season’s ass whooping at the hands of the West Virginia Mountaineers this Saturday at 12 Noon at Rentschler Field.
Here are the rosters for the Mountaineers and the Huskies.
The Line/Prediction:
According to Yahoo! Sports odds, the Mountaineers are favored by 4 points. The over/under is 44.5 points.
My prediction is UConn 27 West Virginia 24.
Tickets:
The game is sold-out
Getting To The Game:
Here is link for the weather report. Here is all the parking info you will need for the game, this link includes directions to Rentschler Field. Here is a Rentschler Field seating chart.
The parking lots will open up 4 hours before kickoff. Here is a list of the tailgating rules at the Rent. And some alternative tailgating rules can be found here.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television:
The UConn vs. West Virginia game will be televised on the BIG EAST Network by ESPN Regional Television. It is UConn’s second-straight appearance on the package. Mike Gleason is on play-by-play while John Congemi is the color announcer. Quint Kessenich is on the sidelines. It will be shown locally in Connecticut on My-TV9 (WCTX).
Radio:
For the 16th consecutive season, WTIC 1080-AM in Hartford serves as the flagship station for the UConn Radio Network. WTIC is the state’s only 50,000 watt signal and can be heard in 23 states and parts of Canada. Veteran UConn announcers Joe D’Ambrosio (play-by-play) and Wayne Norman (color commentary) return to call the action with Kevin Nathan on the sidelines.
WTIC offers 10 hours of Husky football talk on home game Saturdays on WTIC’s powerful signal. Ray Dunaway, the popular co-host of WTIC’s morning drive show “Mornings with Ray & Diane,” and Scott Gray start things off at 5:30 a.m. live on Saturdays from Rentschler Field with “Ray at the Rent.” That tandem then yields to the duo of Arnold Dean and Kevin Nathan at 9:30 a.m. prior to the contest with “The Tailgate Show,” which runs for one hour followed by UConn Football Magazine with Bob Joyce from 10:30 a.m. until kickoff. Nathan will also serve as a features producer for “UConn Football Magazine,” the halftime show, and also play host to a post-game call-in show after home games with Joyce filling that role for road contests. UConn football games are also broadcast over the internet at WTIC.com. For a full list of stations on the WTIC/UCONN radio network, click here.
West Virginia Radio: All Mountaineer football games are available on the Mountaineers Sports Network, Sirius Radio and online at MSNsportsNET.com.
Boston Red Sox News & Notes – 10/31
If you missed the news last night, Jason Varitek, Alex Cora and David Ross have all filed for free agency.
It appears that Tim Wakefield will return to the Boston Red Sox for his 15th straight season as they plan to exercise the option on his contract today.
The Red Sox/Rays looks to be the new rivalry in town.
Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe says we should expect to hear the name Scott Boras for the entire offseason.
Rob Bradford of WEEI.com has a look at Mike Lowell’s road back from his hip surgery.
Clay Buchholz is finding his form again in the Arizona Fall League.
Charlie Zink was named the best starting pitcher in all of Triple-A.
Please take a moment to vote in our poll in the left sidebar about if you think the Boston Red Sox should re-sign Jason Varitek.
Paw Prints – The Daily Roundup – 10/31
If you’re attending the UConn/West Virginia football game on Saturday at Rentschler Field, the UConn Student-Athlete Advisory Committe (SAAC) is holding a winter coat drive.
The UConn Huskies football program was honored by the American Football Coaches Assocation for it’s graduation rate.
As usual, the rest of the football news will be located in the upcoming West Virginia/UConn game preview.
If you missed the news yesterday, the UConn women’s 1995 NCAA Championship team will be the lastest “Huskies of Honor” recipient.
And if you missed this, you’d know that the UConn women lost out on another recruit in Krista Gross.
Cassie Kerns and Tahirah Williams play a valuable supporting role for the UConn women’s team.
Amanda Kimball’s job is to get the UConn women in shape.
Lorin Dixon learned a valuable lesson after last season.
Geno Auriemma has been impressed by Heather Buck in practice so far.
The Battle in Seattle featuring the UConn men’s basketball team and Gonzaga will have the largest crowd ever to watch a game in the state of Washington.
Mike Anthony of the Hartford Courant says UConn men’s basketball recruit Durand Scott is still considering UConn.
David Gillett had a profile of former Husky Ben Gordon.
UConn men’s soccer players Dori Arad and Karl Schilling were named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team.
The UConn men’s soccer team is preparing for it’s final regular season game against the Seton Hall Pirates tonight.
The UConn Huskies baseball team officially announced their 2009 schedule yesterday.
The UConn women’s volleyball team will host the Seton Hall Pirates (tonight) and the Villanova Wildcats (Sunday) over the weekend.
The UConn men’s hockey team will take on Union College and Quinnipiac on the road this weekend. The game against Quinnipiac will be broadcast live on My-TV9 (WCTX) at 7 PM on Saturday night. Former New Haven Ravens broadcaster Bill Schweizer will have the call.
In The Red Zone – Patriots (5-2) at Colts (3-4) Preview – Week 9
This Week
The New England Patriots visit the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis IN on Sunday at 8:15 p .m.
The Patriots (5-2), who are tied for 1st in the AFC East, are 2-1 on the road and 3-2 against the AFC. The Colts (3-4), who are in a three way tie for second place in the AFC South, are 1-2 at home and 2-2 in the conference.
Here are the rosters for the Patriots and the Colts.
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 +6. The over/under is 43.5.
My prediction is Patriots 24, Colts, 20. Take the points (Patriots) and take the over. I am 1-5-1 against the spread and 4 for 7 on calling the over/under in 2008.
Tickets
The Colts have listed the game as a sell out.
Tickets to the game, if available, may be purchased through Colts ticket reseller, Ticketmaster. You can check the availability here.
Getting To The Game
If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game at the Oil Drum make sure you check out the links.
Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from The Weather Channel. Weather should not be a factor as the stadium has a retractable roof.
Click for stadium directions, parking information and area map and a Lucas Oil 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
NBC is televising the game to a national audience, look for your local affiliate. Al Michaels will call the play-by-play while John Madden will provide the analysis and Andrea Kramer will have the sideline reports.
There is no Direct TV feed of the game.
For those of you overseas here is some general information on NFL Broadcasts for the 2008 season.
Patriots All-Access airs tonight 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 5 p.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 Sirius Channel 126, the Colts Radio Network has Bob Lamey calling the game while former Colts head coach Ted Marchibroda and former NFL QB Mark Herrmann provide the game analysis. Their call is available on Sirius Channel 127.
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, 107 and 108.
This week’s game will be broadcast to a national audience by Westwood One. Dave Sims has the play-by-play and former NFL head coach Jim Fassel provides the analysis.
Varitek, Cora And Ross File For Free Agency
Will we be seeing this again in 2009? Or will Jason Varitek be moving on?
With the end of the World Series finally upon us, it now starts the period of time where players can file for free agency. The Boston Red Sox have 8 players who can file for free agency and today 3 of them have done so.
Jason Varitek, Alex Cora and David Ross all filed for free agency today. The Red Sox now have 15 days to exclusively negotiate with the trio. If they don’t come to an agreement in the 15 days, the Red Sox lose the exclusive right and they are all free negotiate with the other teams.
Sean Casey, Mark Kotsay, Paul Byrd, Curt Schilling and Mike Timlin are the remaining players from the Red Sox who can file for free agency. I would expect all of them to do so in the coming days. Schilling and Timlin are both undecided as to their plans for 2009.
Cora and Casey have stated a desire to return to the Red Sox in 2009 while it’s unlikely the Red Sox will re-sign Kotsay, Byrd, Schilling and Timlin.
With the market thin at catcher and the Red Sox not really having any MLB ready options at catcher, they may be forced to re-sign Varitek and hope that the catchers in the minor leagues develop some more next year. The Red Sox could also make a trade for a catcher if Varitek chooses not to come back to Boston.
Yes I know Varitek is 36 years old but what choice do the Red Sox really have here. I’m expecting Scott Boras to ask for a 4 year deal while the Red Sox offer 2 years.
I think in the end Varitek ends up back with the Red Sox on a 2-year $24 million deal with an option for a 3rd year.
While his bat leaves something to be desired, the job he does behind the plate is nothing short of spectacular.
And to me, the Red Sox wouldn’t be the Red Sox without the Captain behind the plate.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments and please take a moment to vote in the poll in the sidebar to the left here.
You Know How I Know You’re Gay?…
For anyone who has seen the movie “The 40 Year Old Virgin” everyone remembers the scene between Cal (Seth Rogen) and David (Paul Rudd) playing video games and verbally sparring about each other’s manhood. That scene brought out some of the funniest responses to that question.
Answers like:
- “Because you macramed yourself a pair of jean shorts”.
- “You just told me you’re not sleeping with women any more”.
- “You like Coldplay”.
Now it looks like we can add “because you pulled your pants down attempting to motivate a locker room full of men”.
Far be it from me though to question someone like Mike Singletary but this dude is off his rocker. Not only did he flip out after the game with the media but now it has come out that at halftime he pulled his pants down in front of the team.
A team spokesman Thursday confirmed a report by Arizona radio station XTRA’s Mike Jurecki that Singletary dropped his pants in front of his team at halftime.
Singletary is not available to the media until Monday, but he did issue this statement: “I used my pants to illustrate that we were getting our tails whipped on Sunday and how humiliating that should feel for all of us. I needed to do something to dramatize my point; there were other ways I could have done it but I think this got the message across.”
Singletary’s stunt didn’t work so well as the Niners who were trailing at halftime 20-3 lost 34-13 to Seattle. I guess the players couldn’t get over the nightmare fuel of their coach dropping his draws for motivation. I guess the players should just be thankful that it wasn’t Norv Turner pulling that stunt.
I have just one thought of wisdom for Singletary. Mike don’t forget you are in San Francisco.