The 2008 MLS SuperDraft was held in Baltimore, MD this afternoon and another UConn soccer player will be seen in the MLS next season. The Toronto FC drafted UConn Huskies defender Julius James with the 9th pick in the draft. James had been expected to be one of the top picks of the draft but fell into the lap of Toronto FC.

James had a brilliant career at UConn, anchoring one of the top defenses in all of Division I. During his time at UConn, James was a two-time First Team All-American (2006, 2007), 3-time All-Big East First Team (2005, 2006, 2007), 3-time NSCAA First Team All Northeast (2007, 2006, 2005) and 3-time Big East Defender of the Year (2007, 2006, 2005). James also played and started in all 87 games of his career in Storrs, scoring 8 goals and had 1 assist.

James joins former UConn Huskies Shavar Thomas (Chivas USA), Bobby Rhine (FC Dallas), Mpho Moloi (Houston Dynamo), Chris Gbandi (FC Dallas) and Willis Forko (Real Salt Lake) in MLS.

Update: Ryan Cordeiro was drafted in the 3rd round (33rd overall) by DC United.

As part of the WBCA’s “Think Pink” initiative, a global effort to raise awareness for breast cancer research on the court, on campuses and in the community, the UConn Huskies have asked fans to wear pink to the February 12th game against the Georgetown Hoyas.

The Huskies are also doing a 2-for-1 ticket promotion:

In addition, the University of Connecticut is offering a 2-for-1 ticket promotion by the following procedure:

1) Go to the UConn Online Ticket Center
2) Click on the Promotions Tab in the Left Menu
3) Enter in the Promo Code “PINK”
4) Follow Computer Prompts

UConn recruit Elena Delle Donne takes the court for the first time since her first game of the year tonight when her Ursuline Academy team takes on Christ of King in Springfield, MA. They are just one of the matchups at the Spalding Hoophall Classic at Blake Arena.

The doubleheader that was schedule for February 10th at Gampel Pavilion featuring Delle Donne and another UConn recruit, Heather Buck (Stonington High), has been rescheduled due to a CIAC rule that states teams can’t play on Sundays. So this is the updated schedule for the doubleheader:

February 9th:

• 1 PM – Ursuline Academy (Delaware) vs Manchester High School (CT)
• 20 minutes after first game – Stonington High School (CT) vs Windham High School (CT)

That’s going to make things tough for the gray haired fans as they will have to choose between watching two future UConn stars or watching the Huskies play at Seton Hall at 2 PM on CPTV that day.

According to a report in the Hartford Courant, head coach Geno Auriemma is leaning towards starting freshman point guard Lorin Dixon in Mel Thomas’ spot tomorrow. They also report that Brittany Hunter will not play in tomorrow’s game versus Cincinnati.

Update: Dixon and Charde Houston will start tomorrow for the Huskies.

My apologies for the lateness of the post today. I had hoped to have it done earlier but I’ve been a little under the weather lately and have been resting.

Last night in Boston, the Boston Baseball Writers held their annual awards presentation and some current members of the Red Sox were on hand to receive their awards.

• Mike Lowell – Thomas A. Yawkey Red Sox MVP Award, Tommy McCarthy Good Guy Award
• Terry Francona – Boston BBWAA Major League Manager of the Year Award
• Jon Lester – Tony Conigliaro Award
• Dustin Pedroia – BBWAA AL and Red Sox Rookie of the Year Awards

Other winners were:

• Josh Beckett – Red Sox Pitcher of the Year
• Jonathan Papelbon – Red Sox Fireman of the Year
• Kevin Youkilis – Jackie Jensen Award
• Clay Buchholz, Jacoby Ellsbury – Red Sox Minor League Player of the Year

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At approximately 4:15 AM (also the time of this post), the Hartford Civic Center roof collapsed as the weight of the snow proved to be too much. Just hours earlier the Civic Center, now the XL Center, was full of fans to see the UConn men take on UMass. Luckily, there was no one in the building. The New England Whalers, who played in WHA, also called the Civic Center home.

The New England Whalers ended up finishing the ’77-78 season at the Springfield Civic Center and played the ’78-79 season there as well. The Whalers jumped to the NHL for the 1979-80 season and became known as the Hartford Whalers. The Whalers ended up back at the newly rebuilt Hartford Civic Center on January 17th, 1980. The Whale played there through the 1996-97 season when the new owner, Peter Karamonos, Jr. moved the team to Raleigh, NC where they are now known as the Carolina Hurricanes.

The reason for the collapse was determined to be a design flaw when the Civic Center was built, the original design was not followed. The roof was doomed to fail from the moment it was put up. From reading the report of the collapse, the building could have collapsed at any time. If you’d like to check out the report, click here.

Ironically enough on the 30th anniversary of the collapse, it is snowing in Hartford right now.

According to a report in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Twins officials expect Johan Santana to be traded before the start of spring training.

Still, Twins officials privately say they think Santana will be traded before spring training opens next month.

For now, the Twins and the three most interested Santana suitors — the Mets, Yankees and Red Sox — are regrouping, trying to decide how far beyond their comfort zones they will go to close this deal. The end result might leave some Twins fans gasping for breath.

It’s possible the Twins will trade Santana without landing one player who is universally recognized as a big help in 2008.

Lately, the Twins have seemed most intrigued with the Mets’ offer.

Like the second part of the title of this post says, I’ll believe it when I see it (the trade).

The Providence Friars came out firing on all cylinders in the second half as they advantage of UConn’s poor second half shooting to beat the Huskies 77-65 in front of 13,179 at the XL Center in Hartford on Thursday night.

UConn (11-5, 2-3 Big East) shot 24.2% (8-33) in the second half while Providence made 8-of-12 (66.7%) from 3-point land in the second half. The Huskies missed 21 of their first 24 shots in the second half as well. UConn was able to stay close in the second half based on their free throw shooting. They made 13-of-16 (81.3%) to keep themselves around in the game.

Jim Calhoun was back on the bench for the Huskies after missing the last 1 1/2 games. He tried to stay calm for most of the first half but was pretty pissed off with the UConn’s play overall in the second half.

Dwain Williams came off the bench to lead Providence (12-5, 3-2) with 23 points, including 6-of-9 from 3-point land. Brian McKenzie added 20 point and was a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point land. Geoff McDermott had a double-double for the Friars with 12 points and 11 rebounds. He also had 6 assists and 4 steals. Jeff Xavier chipped in with 11 points for the victors.

The Huskies were led by Jeff Adrien who had double-double of his own with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Adrien’s double-double was his 8th of the season. Doug Wiggins came off the bench to score 15 for UConn. A.J. Price added 12 points, all in the first half. Hasheem Thabeet put in 10 points for the Huskies, getting 6 of them (6-7) from the charity stripe.

The first half was a game of runs by both teams. Providence started out the game by taking a 7-2 lead. UConn then went on a 11-0 run before Providence bounced back with a 14-0 run of their own. UConn responded back with a 8-0 run to tie the game up at 21. The teams exchanged baskets for the most part before the half with the Huskies taking a 34-32 lead into the locker room.

The Huskies will look to end their two game losing streak on Sunday when Marquette, who lost by 20 to Louisville tonight, comes to Gampel Pavilion. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 PM and the game will be covered locally on My-TV9 and FSN-NY.

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It’s going to be strange when the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team takes the court at the XL Center on Saturday and we don’t see the familiar #25 of Mel Thomas. Usually we think like this at the beginning of the season when the new and returning faces during the court.

We probably won’t see Thomas behind the bench on Saturday either as she is having her knee surgery Friday at the UConn Health Center. The best bet for her to return to the bench will probably be on Monday night against North Carolina as she will be honored before the game for scoring 1,000 points in her career.

The Huskies had already lost one starter this season, Kalana Greene, with a torn ACL. Now with Thomas out, other Huskies will have to step up their games, primarily Lorin Dixon and Meghan Gardler. I’d have to think Ketia Swanier will move into the starting lineup now to replace Thomas just as Maya Moore stepped in for Greene.

Greene unlike Thomas will be able to play again next season. Thomas, a senior, has used all her of eligibility up and has played in too many games this season to be considered for a medical redshirt.

Given what we’ve heard about the work habits of Thomas, you know she’s going to work hard at coming back 100% to play, whether it be in the WNBA or overseas if she so chooses. Hopefully, the younger girls on the team have seen how hard Mel worked to get where she was at UConn and work just as hard.

I know we will as miss the quick release of Mel as she sticks a 3 or gives her all to hustle back on defense or gives her body diving for a loose ball or her tenacious defensive prowess.

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