Paw Prints – UConn Huskies (5-1, 1-0) @ Rutgers Scarlet Knights (1-5, 0-2) Preview

Paw Prints - UConn Football

This week:

UConn Huskies @ Rutgers Scarlet Knights

The UConn Huskies look to improve to 2-0 in the Big East and 6-1 on the season as they head to Piscataway, NJ to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at 12 Noon on Saturday. A win would make the Huskies bowl eligible for the second straight season.

Here are the rosters for the Huskies and the Scarlet Knights.

The Line/Prediction:

According to Yahoo! Sports odds, the Huskies are 1 point favorites. The over/under is 43 points.

My prediction is UConn 24 Rutgers 10.

Tickets:

As of the time of this post, there are still tickets available for the game.

Getting To The Game:

Here is a weather report for the Piscataway, NJ area. Here are directions to Rutgers stadium, parking information, a seating chart and the stadium policies.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television:

The UConn vs. Rutgers game will be televised nationally on ESPNU. Dave Armstrong is on play-by-play while former Miami (Fla.) head coach Larry Coker is the color announcer. Melissa Knowles is on the sidelines.

Radio:

For the 17th 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.

The UConn pregame show begins 90 minutes prior to kickoff and is hosted by Bob Joyce. 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.

Rutgers Radio: All Rutgers football games will be broadcast over the Rutgers Radio Network to 50,000 watt WOR 710 AM and Central Jersey’s WCTC 1450 AM.

Continue reading →

Manny Receives 2/3 Playoff Share From The Boston Red Sox

Manny Ramirez

According to Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald, the Boston Red Sox players voted to give former OF Manny Ramirez a 2/3 playoff share.

According to a source with direct knowledge of the vote, the vote was divided on Ramirez.

“Some wanted him to be paid days,” the source said referring to the number of days a player spent on the club, which in this case was equal to a two-thirds share, instead of paying Ramirez a more generous share. “It was obviously a somewhat sensitive subject with some guys, but we didn’t spend too much time on it. After the vote, we moved on.”

In 2007, a full playoff share for the Red Sox was worth $308,235.75. Manny will most likely also get at least a 1/3 playoff share from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Must be nice!!!

Paw Prints – The Daily Roundup – 10/17

Paw Prints Daily Roundup

The UConn Huskies football news is upcoming in the game preview shortly.

The UConn Student-Athletic Advisory Committee will be holding a winter coat drive at the UConn-West Virginia football game on November 1st.

If you’re going to First Night tonight at Gampel Pavilion, don’t forget to check the schedule of events.

Stanley Robinson hopes to prove himself when he returns to the Huskies in December.

The UConn Huskies men’s basketball coaching staff likes to talk strategy in their locker room.

After the First Night festivities, reality will set in for the UConn men’s team at their first practice.

The UConn men’s team has aged just fine.

The UConn men are hoping to return to the top of the basketball world this season.

David Gillett has some video of former Husky Rudy Gay.

Just about all of the pieces are there for the UConn women.

The UConn women have some unfinished business to take care of this season.

UConn freshman center Heather Buck is loving life in Storrs.

There is no drama surrounding the UConn women’s team.

Here are some quotes from the UConn women’s media day yesterday.

John Altavilla of the Hartford Courant tells us how the UConn women are like the NY Knicks.

Kalana Greene is ready for the 2008-09 season.

Shea Ralph spent time with Kalana Greene in the training room during the offseason.

Joe Perez of the Norwich Bulletin has some video of the UConn women’s media day.

Former Husky Tamika Williams Raymond talked about her new job at Kansas.

UConn men’s soccer player O’Brian White was named a Lowes Senior CLASS Award Finalist.

The UConn athletic department issued a traffic advisory for all fans attending the UConn women’s soccer game tonight.

The UConn Baseball Blue Team took Game 3 of the annual Blue/White World Series.

Boston Red Sox ALCS News & Notes – 10/17

Boston Red Sox vs Tampa Bay Rays 2008 ALCS

You’ll have to excuse me for the lateness of this post, I have a bit of a baseball hangover this morning. But you know what, it was well worth it.

As I’m watching the game last night, my thoughts are running wild. Then my emotions start up when Daisuke Matsuzaka gives up a 2-run homer before getting the first out making me a little bit worried. I can honestly say though that I NEVER gave up last night on this team. If you don’t believe me, you can check out my comments during the game at Center Field.

As the game went on and the deficit starting to become higher, I was thinking to myself all it takes is one big hit and they can get the crowd back into it. Well Dustin Pedroia came through with that big hit and got the Red Sox their first run of the night in the 7th inning. Next thing you know it’s 7-4 when Big Papi crushed his home run to right field. You could sense a momentum shift right there.

Jonathan Papelbon comes back out for the 8th and sets the Rays down 1-2-3 and you could still sense something special was about to happen.

A walk to Jason Bay and a home run by J.D. Drew and it’s 7-6 in the bottom of the 8th. After an intense battle with Dan Wheeler, Coco Crisp came through with a big hit to score Mark Kotsay and this game is tied heading to the 9th.

Justin Masterson found himself in a small bit of trouble in the 9th but got a HUGE double play ball off the bat of Carlos Peña.

Things weren’t looking good in the 9th inning as J.P. Howell got the first two outs and was on his way to a third but Evan Longoria threw the ball away allowing Kevin Youkilis to reach. At this point, I knew we had won. I just had that feeling that we would finally get that monkey off our back with runners in scoring position. Next thing you know an intentional walk happens to Jason Bay and Howell falls behind Drew 3-1 meaning he’s going to get a good pitch to hit. And that he did as he drove it over the head of Gabe Gross to cap the second largest comeback in postseason history and the biggest comeback of a team facing elimination.

Now the teams head back to Tropicana Field with all the pressure in the world on the Rays. All the Red Sox need to do is just play relaxed baseball, have Josh Beckett execute his pitches and get some timely hitting to force a Game 7 on Sunday night. Can it get done? I BELIEVE!!!

Continue reading →

In The Red Zone – Broncos (4-2) at Patriots (3-2) Preview – Week 7

Game Preview Logo

This Week

Broncos at Patriots - Week 7

The New England Patriots entertain the Denver Broncos at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA on Monday at 8:30 p .m.

The Patriots are 1-1 at home, 1-1 against the AFC West and 2-2 in the AFC. The Broncos are 1-1 on the road, 0-0 against the AFC East and 2-2 in the conference.

Here are the rosters for the Broncos and the 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 -3. The over/under is 47.

My prediction is Broncos 31, Patriots, 21.  Give the points and take the over. I am 1-4 against the spread and 3 for 5 on calling the over/under in 2008.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 154th 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. Many times tickets are released in the last 48 hours prior to the game.

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.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

ESPN is televising the game to the entire country as the Monday Night Football Game and Mike Tirico will do the play-by-play while Ron Jaworski and Tony Kornheiser will handle the game analysis.  In the Boston television market the game will also be broadcast on WCVB-TV 5.  In Denver the game can be seen on KDVR-TV 31 per the NFL television contract.

The channel for Direct TV Feed of the game is 206 (Ch 73 for HD).

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 5:30 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 Channel 127, the Broncos Radio Network has Dave Logan calling the game and David Diaz-Infante  provides the game analysis. Their call is available on Channel 126.

The game will also be heard nationally along the Westwood One Radio Network with Marv Albert on play-by-play and Boomer Esiason providing analysis.

The game will also be heard nationally in Spanish on Univision Radio via ESPN Deportes.  Clemson Smith Ruiz and Roberto Abramowitz will call the game.

Continue reading →

Harold Reynolds Finally Admits He Was Out/Comfy Bean Bag Chair

If you’re like me, you’ve been sitting in your Red Sox comfy bean bag chair, enjoying the EJ’s Neat-O Stat of the Night portion of the TBS postgame show. It could actually be only exciting thing to talk about as far as the telecasts are concerned.

Lately it’s been Dennis Eckersley bearing the brunt of the jokes but early this morning it was Harold Reynolds turn to take the heat. The Neat-O Stat of the Night involved a video of HR getting nailed at the plate by an absolute laser of a throw by Bo Jackson back on June 5, 1989.

Well after some ribbing from the panel, 19 years later HR finally admitted he was out.

I don’t know about you but I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone throw the ball that far in the air to nail a runner at the plate.

Apparently Charles Barkley & Kenny Smith Were At Game 5 Of The ALCS

If you’re a regular watcher of The NBA on TNT, you will know that they usually have fun with Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith by superimposing their faces on things.

Well during the postgame last show last night after the absolutely amazing comeback by the Boston Red Sox in Game 5 of the ALCS, the producers at TBS Sports had some fun as apparently Barkley and Smith were “seen” in the stands at Fenway Park.

Do You Believe In Miracles? Red Sox Come Back To Win 8-7

The look on Youk's face says it all.

The Boston Red Sox just completed the comeback of all comebacks as they rallied from 7 runs down to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-7 when J.D. Drew knocked in Kevin Youkilis from second base to send what was left of the 38,437 fans into a frenzy at Fenway Park.

The win for the Red Sox keeps them alive as they now trail the Rays 3-2 in the best-of-7 ALCS.

A lot was said about Rays skipper Joe Maddon moving around his starters and having Scott Kazmir on the mound tonight. Well he kept the Red Sox hitters at bay for 6 innings and once he came out, the comeback started.

Grant Balfour came in to start the 7th with the Rays up 7-0. Jed Lowrie started things off with a double. Balfour then got Jason Varitek and Mark Kotsay to fly out before a Coco Crisp single moved Lowrie over to third. Dustin Pedroia then got into a battle with Balfour and he ended up winning that battle as his single knocked in Lowrie with the first run of the night for the Red Sox. One hanging fastball later, it was 7-4 as David Ortiz absolutely crushed it into the right field seats. Dan Wheeler came in for Balfour and got Youk to fly out.

Jonathan Papelbon was back on in the 8th inning for his second inning of work and set the Rays down in order.

J.D. Drew watches his 2-run homer.

J.D. Drew watches his 2-run homer in the 8th inning.

Wheeler was back out on the mound in the bottom half and started the inning with a walk to Jason Bay. Drew followed by crushing a Wheeler fastball into the right field seats and just like that it was 7-6 Rays. Wheeler settled in as he got Lowrie to fly out and struck out pinch-hitter Sean Casey. Kotsay followed the outs with a double over the head of B.J. Upton in center. Wheeler then got into a battle with Coco and the battle ended up being won by Coco as his single scored Kotsay to tie the game up at 7. Coco ended up being thrown out at second as Carlos Peña cut the throw off and nailed Coco advancing but the damage was done.

Justin Masterson came out for the 9th inning and gave up a leadoff single to Jason Bartlett. He got Akinori Iwamura to fly out but then walked Upton. Masterson got out of the jam as he got Peña to ground into a 4-6-3 inning-ending twin killing.

J.D. Drew celebrates after knocking in the winning run.

J.D. Drew celebrates after knocking in the winning run.

J.P. Howell came on to start the 9th and got the first two outs off the bats of Pedroia and Big Papi. He then got a ground ball from Youk but a poor throw from Evan Longoria got past Peña and ended up in the stands, putting Youk in scoring position at second base. The Rays then intentionally walked Bay to face Drew. Howell fell behind 3-0 before throwing a strike to make it 3-1. Drew then drove the next pitch over the head of Gabe Gross in right that scored Youk from second and kicked off a wild celebration at the Fens.

Daisuke Matsuzka started this game for the Red Sox and wasn’t that spectacular at all. He gave up 5 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2. Three of those 5 hits were home runs. Hideki Okajima followed with 2 innings of 1-hit ball while fanning 2. Manny Delcarmen has another rough outing as he gave up 2 runs on 2 walks without recording an out. Papelbon worked 2 innings, allowing the inherited runners to score but he didn’t give up a run of his own. Masterson worked the final inning to pick up the win.

Drew paced the Red Sox with 2 hits and 3 RBI while Coco had 2 hits and an RBI. Both Kotsay and Youk added 2 hits while Big Papi along with Pedroia had a hit each with Big Papi knocking in 3 and Pedie 1.

Things really didn’t look good for the Red Sox early on as they fell behind 2-0 before even recording an out.

Continue reading →

Will Someone Drug Test Mercury Morris Please

Mercury Morris, Mayor of Jackassland

Seems that former Miami Dolphins running back Mercury Morris has told the Nashville City Paper that he hopes the 5-0 Tennessee Titans go undefeated and get the chance to join his 1972 Miami Dolphins with an undefeated season.

“I’ll be watching the Tennessee Titans, and I hope to see them go unbeaten,” Morris said. “We’d like a little company.”

WTF???  Did Morris smoke the chronic that Ricky Williams passed on during the Dolphins bye week?  

Morris is on the record from last year this is from November 15, 2007 when New England was 9-0.

“They have 10 more icebergs to go through in this Titanic trip that they’re talking about. So far, nobody has made it across except us. So we’re over, docked here, waiting on you. I respect the Patriots if they do that. But don’t call me when you’re in my town, call me when you’re on my block and I see you next door moving your furniture in.”

I really don’t get the shift on attitude.  What difference does a year make?  The Titans still have 11 more games to the season plus playoffs and a potenial Super Bowl appearance to as Morris puts it “climb that mountain”.  There’s 11 more icebergs and he’s already taking about company he just better hope that ship doesn’t hit one of them and end up like the Titanic.

The 8 Million Dollar First Pitch

Before the season, Curt Schilling signed a 1-year $8 million contract with the Boston Red Sox and then the Red Sox found out he was hurt and probably wouldn’t pitch during the season. He did try to come back but ended up having surgery.

As they have done in the past, the Red Sox have brought out a mystery guest to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. And wouldn’t you guess it, it was Schilling who threw out the pitch before Game 5.

And as it turns out, this was the only “meaningful” pitch Schilling made this season, making it an $8 million first pitch. Or should I say, a first bounce.