Restraining Order On Moss

As first reported by WDBO Radio in central Florida a temporary restraining order has been issued against New England Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss after an alleged incident earlier this month in Florida. 

Randy Moss - Sox & Dawgs file photoRachel Washington, of Ft. Lauderdale FL alleges that Moss hit her and prevented her from seeking medical treatment on January 6th.  The incident would have happened during the Patriots bye week, Washington alleges the incident occurred in her home.

According to the order, Moss has to remain 500 feet from her, her car and her home.  A hearing has been scheduled for January 28th. 

Moss addressed the allegation this morning at Gillette Stadium:

“First of all, you all probably heard about these allegations. All I want to say is that they are false allegations. It’s something I’ve been battling for the last couple days, threats of going public if I didn’t pay X amount of dollars. Before people rush quick to judgment, I think you need to find out the facts about really what is really going on.”

Mike Reiss of the Boston Globe has the morning responses from Moss outlined in his Reiss’ Pieces Blog.  Moss made an initial statement and then decided he would answer some questions from the media.

Update: second part of Moss questions.

Sparano Named Head Of The Fish Family

New Dolphins head coach Tony SparanoFormer University of New Haven Chargers head football coach and current Dallas Cowboys assistant Tony Sparano has been named head coach of the Miami Dolphins by general manager Jeff Ireland on Wednesday morning.

Sparano was chosen over three other candidates and was given a $10 million four year contract to turn the 1-15 team around. This is Sparano’s first NFL head coaching job, he lead UNH from 1994-98 before moving onto Cleveland, Washington, Jacksonville and Dallas as an assistant.

Sparano is expected to take some of his former Dallas co-workers with him to South Beach as many of the Cowboys coaches contracts have expired.

Red Sox News & Notes – 1/16

Red Sox News & Notes @ SOX & Dawgs

Hideki Okajima at a press conference for opening day in Japan - AP PhotoHideki Okajima was on hand Wednesday in Japan for the announcement of the sale of tickets for Major League’s Ricoh Japan Opening Series 2008 featuring the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics. Okajima talked about winning the World Series and how John Buck from the Kansas City Royals inducted him into MLB.

“I never really watched much major league baseball while growing up but to become the world’s best, or to reach the summit of baseball, was amazing,”

“To win that ring was a very proud moment for me.”

“When he hit that pitch out of the ground everything went blank before my eyes,” Okajima said with a sheepish grin.

“I thought ‘Uh oh!’ I studied the tapes that night — something I’d never done in Japan. It made me realize that the majors were even tougher than I’d thought.”

He also talks about adjusting to life in America.

“I think I had better numbers than I ever did in Japan,” smiled the former Yomiuri Giants reliever. “Maybe my stock has risen but it was a long and hard season.

“The traveling was tough but that’s part of the job. I think I adjusted to that. My English is poor and the food doesn’t agree with me always so there are still things to work on.”

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Make A Donation Get AFC Championship Tickets

If you have some extra money that’s burning a hole in your pocket and you’ve been dying to freeze your ass off in Foxboro on Sunday afternoon you can get yourself a pair of lower level sideline tickets courtesy of the Kraft family.

All you have to do is donate $2,900 to high school athletics through the Patriots Charitable Foundation and you get a pair of seats to the AFC Championship game between the New England Patriots and the San Diego Chargers. $2,542 of the donation is tax deductible and 100% of the donation is split between the six high school athletics associations in New England.

The tickets will be sent to you via FED EX at the address you provide.

Huskies Almost Get Squeezed By The Orange

Maya Moore putting up 2 of her 13 points - Courant PhotoAfter trailing for a good portion of the game, the #1 UConn Huskies went on a 23-8 run to propel themselves to a 65-59 win over the Syracuse Orange in front of a women’s basketball record 4,221 fans at the Carrier Dome. For the Huskies, it was their 29th straight regular season victory dating back to exactly one year ago and their 11th straight Big East road victory.

Mel Thomas led the Huskies (16-0, 4-0 Big East) in scoring with 15 points before missing the final two minutes of the game with a right knee injury (at the time of this post, the severity of Thomas’ injury is not known). Renee Montgomery added 14 points, including two big free throws down the stretch. After being held scoreless in the first half, Maya Moore scored 13 points and pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds.

Syracuse (14-3, 2-2) was paced by Chandrea Jones who scored a game-high 18 points. Nicole Michael added 13 points while Erica Morrow chipped in 8 points for the Orange.

It was a see-saw affair in the early parts of the first half as Syracuse got their crowd into the game by scoring the first four points of the game. UConn eventually got a lead at 7-6 on a Thomas 3-pointer. The two teams exchanged baskets and with 10:59 left in the first half, the score was tied at 15. The Orange then grabbed hold of the lead with a 5-0 run. Syracuse eventually go up 9 points at 32-23, their biggest lead of the game. The Huskies cut into the lead on the strength of two Kaili McLaren layups and 5 points from Thomas to go into the locker room trailing 36-32. This was the first time in 15 games this season that the Huskies had trailed at halftime.

The Orange came out of the break and forced a UConn turnover off the inbounds pass. Syracuse scored the first five points to go back up by 9 points. Then the game turned into the Moore show as she finally woke up offensively and led the Huskies on that 23-8 run to retake the lead for good. This game came down the to end as the Orange were able to stay close enough. Ketia Swanier missed two big free throws down the stretch (what do I preach here) but Syracuse was unable to take advantage and Montgomery iced the game with two free throws.

I am not going to speculate on the severity of Thomas’ knee injury but if there was a positive to it, she was right back on the bench and walking, albeit with a limp during the postgame handshakes.

This was by far the worst game, the Huskies have played this season. I fully expect Geno Auriemma to work the girls hard at practice the next few days as they get ready for the Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday. Tip-off is schedule for 12 noon and the game will be televised locally on CPTV.

Catch all the games in the best quality on dish cable! Sign up on dish network now and get the first three months free!

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Musings From The College Hardwood – 1/15

Musings From the College Hardwood @ SOX & Dawgs

As the teams work their way towards March Madness, you will hear from the national pundits and scribes about a particular school’s RPI rating. For those who don’t know what the RPI rating means, here is the definition and formula used to compute it:

RPI or Ratings Percentage Index means a measure of strength of schedule and how a team does against that schedule. The basic RPI formula is 1/4*(Winning Percentage) + 1/2*(Opponents’ Average Winning Percentage) + 1/4*(Opponents’ Opponents’ Winning Percentage).

The NCAA Tournament committees look at a school’s RPI rating when making their selections to get into the NCAA Tournament. Your school’s RPI rating could make or break it’s chances of getting into the tournament if they have secured an automatic bid. So if you’re interested in seeing where your favorite men’s or women’s college basketball teams stand in the RPI, click here for the men’s RPI and here for the women’s RPI.

For those who have missed Dick Vitale calling games on ESPN, mark down February 6th on your calendars. He has been cleared by his doctor after surgery on his vocal cords to return to broadcasting. February 6th just happens to be the day the UNC Tarheels and Duke Blue Devils square off at the Dean Dome in Chapel Hill.

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As The Santana Turns – The Puzzle Pieces

As The Santana Turns @ SOX & Dawgs

Most of the news that’s been coming out of the Johan Santana sweepstakes has been mostly hogwash. The Yanks aren’t in, the Yanks are in, blah blah blah blah. What we do know is that there are three teams involved with the Minnesota Twins in the talks. They are the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and New York Yankees.

Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald examines the players that those three teams are offering the Twinkees.

Red Sox

Package: Pitcher Jon Lester, outfielder Coco Crisp, minor league infielder Jed Lowrie, minor league pitcher Justin Masterson

OR

Outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, Masterson, Lowrie, possible fourth prospect

What Twins want added: Pitcher Clay Buchholz; or Lester with Ellsbury

Skinny: Lester is a solid middle-of-the-rotation bet while Ellsbury has All-Star potential. There’s a question of how much the Twins believe in Lowrie. Also, Twins question the lack of a majors-caliber pitcher in the Ellsbury deal.

Yankees:

Package: Pitcher Phil Hughes, outfielder Melky Cabrera, pitcher Jeff Marquez

What Twins want added: Pitcher Ian Kennedy

Skinny: Hughes is the top talent of any deal out there, but without (and maybe even with) Kennedy, the package is lightweight. Cabrera is nothing special.

Mets

Package: Minor league outfielder Carlos Gomez, and minor league pitchers Kevin Mulvey, Phil Humber and Deolis Guerra.

What Twins want added: Minor league outfielder Fernando Martinez

Skinny: Risky package, filled with blue-chippers, but way younger than the Yanks’ and Red Sox’ deals. Martinez might become an offensive stud, but he’s not a sure bet.

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In The Red Zone – 1/15

In The Red Zone logo by Sox & Dawgs

We start with head coach Bill Belichick’s weekly visit with the Big Show on WEEI in Boston.  This week the coach talks to the usual suspects and discusses the win over Jacksonville, the upcoming game with San Diego and what the toughest part about being a coach is.  This seems to be the one time a week when Belichick kind of opens up and you get to have some insight into the mind of a maniac. 

Also just a side note if you have Comcast Sports Net/New England on your cable or satellite system make sure you check out the “Road to Perfection” starting Wednesday night and each night until the game as well as before and after the game on Sunday.  They had some great guests last week and it will continue this week with former Patriot TE Christian Fauria and others joining host Michael Felger.  You’ll also notice that Sox & Dawgs is one of the featured bloggers on their site providing Patriots content during the playoff run.

The San Diego Chargers lost both star running back LaDainian Tomlinson and quarterback Philip Rivers to injuries during Sunday’s game at Indianapolis to knee injuries.

Tomlinson was injured on a second quarter run and limped off the field after being tackled on an eight-yard gain. He had fumbled on the play but the Chargers were able to recover the ball. Tomlinson went to the sideline and was examined and even jogged in front of the bench and rode the stationary bike hoping for a return that never came.

Rivers basically pulled a “Gramatica” when he leaped throwing the ball to Darren Sprowles who went 56 yards for a touchdown. He landed awkwardly apparently hyper-extending his knee. He was examined on the trainer’s table on the sideline and then walked to the locker room. He later returned to the bench but never came back into the game and was seen limping at game’s end.

Both players are listed as questionable for Sunday’s AFC Championship game in Foxboro against the Patriots.

You can probably put tight end Antonio Gates in the same category as he saw limited action with dislocated toes.

The initial forecast for Sunday’s 3pm tilt at Gillette Stadium is for high temperature in the mid-teen’s.

Now that the Colts have been dispatched with a “one and done” does head coach Tony Dungy comeback or walk away?

Since Week 12 the Chargers and Patriots are a combined 15-0.

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Tickets For Chargers-Patriots

 Is another one in the future? - Sox & Dawgs file photo

The New England Patriots announced late Monday that tickets for AFC Championship game against the San Diego Chargers will be placed on sale Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. via Ticketmaster.  No tickets will be sold at the Patriots box office at Gillette Stadium.

On Tuesday, January 15, over 55,000 fans on the Patriots season ticket wait list will have an opportunity to purchase those tickets through an advanced private sale. Any remaining tickets, plus a limited number of pre-held individual ones, will be made available to the public on Wednesday January 16 via online sales at Ticketmaster’s website or by phone at 617.931.2222 or 508.931.2222. 

Visa is the only form of payment that will be accepted.Â