Pedroia Named To The Sporting News AL All-Star Team

Dustin Pedroia

The Sporting News announced their All-Star team for the American League late last night and the Boston Red Sox have one member of their team, Dustin Pedroia, who was named to the team.

On the season, Pedroia hit .326 with 118 runs, 54 doubles, 17 homers, 83 RBIs and had 20 stolen bases.

This is how the American League team stacks up:

C – Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins
1B – Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins
2B – Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox
SS – Derek Jeter, New York Yankees
3B – Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees
OF – Carlos Quentin, Chicago White Sox
OF – Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers
OF – Grady Sizemore, Cleveland Indians
DH – Aubrey Huff, Baltimore Orioles

SP – Cliff Lee, Cleveland Indians
RP – Francisco Rodriguez,

UConn Finishes Strong In 40-16 Win

Donald Brown's 2 touchdowns helped the Huskies to a win

A key special teams mistake by the Cincinnati Bearcats late in the 3rd quarter opened the door for the UConn Huskies and they never looked back after that as the Huskies went on to beat the Bearcats 40-16 in front of a sold-out Rentschler Field. The win for the Huskies ended a 2-game losing streak and is their 11th straight at the Rent.

The win for the Huskies improves their record to 6-2 and 2-1 in the Big East while the Bearcats fall 5-2 and 1-1 in the Big East.

UConn had just kicked a field goal to go ahead 20-16 and then Cincinnati fumbled the ensuing kickoff that was recovered by the Huskies. They settled for a field goal but would score 17 more points to break open a tight game. I will say this, the final score was not indicative of how close the game was for 3 quarters.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Cody Endres led the Huskies to a win in his 1st career start.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Cody Endres led the Huskies to a win in his 1st career start.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Cody Endres made his 1st career start for the Huskies and wasn’t bad. He may have seemed a little overexcited at first but some of the missed pass attempts he had could be blamed on the receivers just not catching the ball. Endres went 18-of-42 for 196 yards. The key stat is that he didn’t turn the ball over. The Huskies should be okay with him or Frazer under center until Tyler Lorenzen returns. Personally, I’d like to see more of Endres or maybe see Edsall rotate the QB’s.

Cincinnati’s run defense did a good job of shutting down Donald Brown in the 1st half but had no answer for him really in the 2nd half. Brown finished with 27 carries for 150 yards and 2 more touchdowns.

The key to the loss against Rutgers last week was the kicking game when Tony Ciaravino missed 3 field goals, including the potential game winner with 1:12 game. Today, there were no worries about the kicking game as redshirt freshman David Teggart was 4-for-4 on field goals and 4-for-4 on PAT’s. UConn head coach Randy Edsall even showed confidence in Teggart’s leg when he called on him for a 47 yard field attempt into the hard wind that was blowing. Teggart nailed it with room to spare.

The UConn defense was pretty strong today. They did limit the number of big plays against them and forced the two Cincinnati quarterbacks to just throw the ball away. They also held the Bearcats to 0-for-14 on third-down conversions and 0-for-2 on fourth-down conversions.

It’s a great win for the Huskies today and puts them back into the Big East race with both South Florida and Pittsburgh losing this afternoon. A tall task awaits them though when West Virginia comes to town as they have never beaten the Mountaineers. Of course, they hadn’t beat the Bearcats in 4 tries and they finally exercised that demon. Now it’s time to shake the Mountaineer monkey off their back next week.

The win also makes the Huskies bowl eligible for the second straight season. Just because they are bowl eligible doesn’t meant they automatically get a bowl bid. They need to win at least 2 of their last 4 games in my opinion to get a decent bid due to the wacky Big East this season.

Scoring:

Cincinnati Bearcats
10 3 3 0 16
UConn Huskies 10 0 10 20 40

1st quarter

CIN – Jake Rogers 29 yard field goal – Cincinnati 3 UConn 0

CON – Dave Teggart 26 yard field goal – Cincinnati 3 UConn 3

CON – Donald Brown 2 yard run (Teggart PAT) – UConn 10 Cincinnati 3

CIN – Tony Pike 27 yard pass to Marshawn Gilyard (Rogers PAT) – UConn 10 Cincinnati 10

2nd quarter

CIN – Rogers 54 yard field goal – Cincinnati 13 UConn 10

3rd quarter

CON – Jordan Todman 1 yard run (Teggart PAT) – UConn 17 Cincinnati 13

CIN – Rogers 22 yard field – UConn 17 Cincinnati 16

CON – Teggart 47 yard field goal – UConn 20 Cincinnati 16

4th quarter

CON – Teggart 32 yard field goal – UConn 23 Cincinnati 16

CON – Teggart 22 yard field goal – UConn 26 Cincinnati 16

CON – Brown 5 yard run (Teggart PAT) – UConn 33 Cincinnati 16

CON – Robert McClain 28 yard interception return (Teggart PAT) – UConn 40 Cincinnati 16

Dave Teggart was perfect on the day for the Huskies.

Dave Teggart was perfect on the day for the Huskies.

Offensive Player of the Game:

Redshirt freshman kicker Dave Teggart was perfect today as he kicked 4 field goals (26, 47, 32, 22) and made all 4 of his PAT’s in the first game of his collegiate career.

Defensive Player of the Game:

Downtown Cody Brown was a monster today for the Huskies. Brown had 3 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 tackles for losses, 2 forced fumbles, 2 pass breakups and a fumble recovery.

Turning Point(s) of the Game:

After a UConn field goal late in the 3rd quarter, Cincinnati fumbled the kickoff and it was recovered by Aaron Bagsby to give the Huskies the ball at the Bearcats 18. The Huskies never looked back after that.

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A Saturday Smorgasbord

buffet line

While waiting for my lasagna to cook (yes ladies you heard that right, this man can cook) and not too much going on in the local sports here and Ian off at “The Rent”, where the UConn Huskies enjoyed a 40-16 victory over Cincinnati on Homecoming, I figured I’d give you sort of a potpourri or pot luck, maybe even a smorgasbord of stuff in the news. Now sit down, shut up and hold on because this ride is about to start.

I already told you the Huskies won today, Ian will have the recap later but did you know that:

  1. It was their first win over Cincinnati in five tries?
  2. Boston Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis was on the sidelines today cheering on his beloved Bearcats?

Looks like several NFL players failed some drug tests in the last week or so and sources are saying that three of the players are members of the New Orleans Saints. And no their names aren’t Brees or Bush.

Couple quick announcing miscues, CBS’s Gary Danielson on the Georgia-LSU game pulled a Joey Tribiani as used “supposably” in the broadcast. And Jon Congemi who did the analysis on the UConn game couldn’t stop calling Brad Kanuch (Kahn-Yoo), Brad Cain-uck. Just bad prep on Congemi’s part.

The Indianapolis Colts (or for listener’s of WEEI’s Big Show…Cults, way to go Beefy) are denying that Peyton Mannings additional procedure was due to a staph infection.

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For Those Who Blog We Salute You – 10/25

For Those Who Blog We Salute You

Back In The Day (must read for Red Sox fans) [Center Field]

Oh Yeah – We DO Have One Good Pitcher! [Yankees Chick]

The World Series taco-ization of America continues [Red Sox Monster]

You Can Never Hold Back Spring, Timmy Wakefield, or That Albino Astrophysicist Dude from Those Commercials. [Surviving Grady]

2004 World Series Ring [Depth of Field Photo]

Excerpts of MLB Walking Talking Conflict Of Interest Bud Selig on Mad Dog Unleashed [Fang’s Bites]

Rays Fans: Now Everybody Hates Them [Fenway West]

Babes Love the World Series [Babes Love Baseball]

Would-be streaker at Fenway Park – EPIC FAIL [Home Run Derby]

Florida Trade Chips Are Mediocre At Best [SporTech Matter]

Shea Stadium is naked [The ‘Ropolitans]

On the Pitch with an American Novice: The Soccer Learning Curve – The Americas Edition [CCWW]

Who The F@!K Is That Chick: The World Series [Busted Coverage]

What’s the Guess, Real or Fake? [The Big Lead]

Jay Glazer Asks For A Media Reporting Scorecard [Awful Announcing]

Red Sox Win ‘Sex Rod’ Case [SportsBiz]

Even in Defeat… [Townie News]

Fang’s Bites brings us our video goodness of the week. It’s the return of Terry Tate.

Paw Prints – The Daily Roundup – 10/25

Paw Prints - The Daily Roundup

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies football team as they kickoff at 12 Noon against the Cincinnati Bearcats at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT. If you missed my game preview, don’t forget to check it out. The game recap will be a little late this afternoon as I will be at the game today.

If you were planning on going to the UConn men’s soccer game tonight, you better change your plans. With the inclement weather coming into the area sometime this afternoon, they have moved their soccer game up from 7 PM to 2 PM at Morrone Stadium.

All signs are pointing to Cody Endres starting at QB1 for the Huskies today.

UConn football coach Randy Edsall’s toughest critic is himself.

There’s a lot of uncertainty around the UConn football team today.

The Bearcats wore out the Huskies last season.

After two weeks of bad special teams play, Randy Edsall still isn’t worried about them today.

Do you want to have dinner with women’s basketball head coach Geno Auriemma?

Geno Auriemma was a little perturbed about the fact Renee Montgomery wasn’t a unanimous selection to the preseason first team.

UConn women’s basketball recruit Kelly Ferris was ranked as the second best prospect in the state of Indiana.

The UConn women’s soccer team beat Syracuse 2-0 to qualify for the Big East Tournament for the 16th straight season.

The UConn men’s hockey team beat Army 4-3 Friday night at Freitas Ice Forum on campus.  It was the teams first win of the season and first Atlantic Conference win as well.  They are now 1-2 on the season and are back in action against Army tonight at Freitas at 7:05 p.m.

The UConn women’s ice hockey team shut out Princeton Friday night 3-0 on the road as Brittany Wilson stopped 23 shots.  They are now 5-2-2 and play at Princeton again Saturday.  They return home to Freitas on November 8th when they face Maine in a Hockey East Conference game.

The women’s volleyball team was also victorious on Friday winning 3-1 over the Pitt Panthers.

The UConn field hockey team hosts Rutgers today at 1 p.m. on campus at the George J. Sherman Family Sports Complex behind the Greer Field House.

If you hold season tickets for either of the basketball teams games at Gampel Pavilion those tickets have been shipped this week so if you haven’t gotten them you will in the next day or two.

You can now download the schedules of the men’s and women’s basketball teams into Outlook.

Ed. Note: Steve also contributed to this report.

That’s A Lot of Benjamins

Manny Ramirez 100 dollar bill

Or should I say that’s a lot of Ramirez’s.

According to the New York Post, the Los Angeles Dodgers have offered Manny Ramirez a 2-year $60 million dollar contract. That offer isn’t likely to get the job done though as I’m sure Manny and his agent, Scott Boras, will be looking for at least 4-year deal in the neighborhood of $120 million.

I can tell you one team that probably won’t be interested in Manny’s services, the Boston Red Sox.

Paw Prints – Cincinnati Bearcats (5-1, 1-0) @ UConn Huskies (5-2, 1-1) Preview

Paw Prints - UConn Football

This week:

Cincinnati Bearcats @ UConn Huskies

The UConn Huskies will be looking to end a 2-game losing streak when the Cincinnati Bearcats come to Rentschler Field on Saturday afternoon. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 noon.

Here are the rosters for the Bearcats and the Huskies.

The Line/Prediction:

According to Yahoo! Sports odds, Cincinnati is favored by 1.5 points. The over/under is 45 points.

My prediction is UConn 20 Cincinnati 17.

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. Cincinnati game will be televised on the BIG EAST Network by ESPN Regional Television. Mike Gleason is on play-by-play while John Congemi is the color announcer. Quint Kessenich is on the sidelines. The game will be shown on ESPN360.com.

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.

Cincinnati Radio: Radio: 700 WLW & XM Channel 173. Games are also streamed at GoBearcats.com.

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Boston Red Sox News & Notes – 10/24

A little something to brighten your morning

I have been asked if we will follow the Boston Red Sox news during the offseason or if we will just be focusing solely on the UConn Huskies and New England Patriots. The answer to the question is yes we will still be following the daily transgressions of the Red Sox as well as our normal UConn and Patriots posts.

It just wouldn’t be SOX & Dawgs if we didn’t have any Red Sox news since they are after all half of the blog title.

Things will be slow for news out of the Fenway Park offices until the World Series is over. While we know who some free agents are going to be on the Red Sox and across the leagues, there are others out there who could opt for free agency and could be a person of interest to the Red Sox. We’ll just have to wait and find out. Once the World Series is over, expect to see more Red Sox news but until then we’ll bring you what’s out there.

Sarasota will be voting on Wednesday on whether or not to increase their tourist tax. This passing is vital to Sarasota’s hopes of bringing the Red Sox spring training there.

Meanwhile in Lee County where the Red Sox hold spring training, the county is asking for proposals to keep the Red Sox there from private land owners.

The Red Sox will wait until after the World Series to make Theo Epstein’s new deal official.

Red Sox PR man John Blake has left the team and will be working with the Texas Rangers, a club he once worked for.

What do music and the Red Sox have in common?

Don’t expect the Red Sox to make too many changes in 2009.

The price for a Derek Lowe return to Boston is probably too high for the Red Sox.

For more slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Hartford Courant and Providence Journal websites.