As The Santana Turns – Friday Update

As The Santana Turns @ SOX & Dawgs

In our last episode of As The Santana Turns here at SOX & Dawgs, we looked at some statements from Yankees loudmouth Hank Steinbrenner and how he wasn’t willing to go past a 5 year deal in the extension talks with Johan Santana. So as we press forward here, let’s take a look at the latest news.

I should start out by saying that while none of the news is directly Red Sox related, it does affect the Red Sox because there’s been no word that they are out of the Santana sweepstakes.

Our first news report comes from Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune on Wednesday afternoon who thinks the Mets might be the best fit for the Twins in a trade of Santana.

Ultimately, the Mets might be the best fit.

They have the greatest need. They have the money to sign Santana. And they play in the National League, where he’s less likely to haunt the Twins.

According to people with knowledge of the discussions, the Mets have offered top pitching prospect Deolis Guerra, along with center fielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Kevin Mulvey and Phil Humber.

The Twins like those players. They’ve told the Mets they’d have a done deal if New York would add prized outfield prospect Fernando Martinez

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The National Lampoons Sports Minute (Or So) – 1/11

National Lampoons Sports Minute

Written by Steve Hofstetter, Keith Alberstadt, Adam Hofstetter, Cody Marley, Ryan Murphy, Elliot Steingart, and Chris Strait

Maria Sharapova claimed that Women’s Tennis is free from corruption. However, there are financial bonuses for grunting.

The already retired Martina Hingis has been inexplicably banned for two years for testing positive for cocaine. That’ll show her. Officials learned of her cocaine problem after she snorted the service line.

New York Jets safety Kerry Rhodes is dating one of the team’s offensive lineman. I’m sorry – he’s dating Jennifer Hudson.

Grambling head coach Rod Broadway denied the rumor that he’s leaving the school. He admitted, however, that he is named after a gay porn star.

The Dolphins fired coach Cam Cameron, just 16 games too late. The Knicks have already made an offer.

81-year-old Penn State coach Joe Paterno said he planned to honor his two-year contract. Mother Nature has yet to sign the deal.

Floyd Mayweather is mulling over a move to Mixed Martial Arts, and Roy Jones worked out with the New York Knicks. The two were no longer content with boring fans to tears in just one sport.

And Former All-Star pitcher Gerry Staley has died at the age of 87. The Yankees have since offered their condolences and a two-year contract.

For more of the Sports Minute (Or So), visit minuteorso.com

Red Sox World Series Trophies Visit New Haven

Larry Lucchino speaking to the crowd - SOX & Dawgs photo

This morning at City Hall in New Haven, I had the pleasure of seeing the Red Sox 2004 and 2007 World Series Trophies. As you can see by the picture above, there was quite a crowd of people gathered in foyer of City Hall. By my estimates, there was easily at least 500 people, maybe more. When I left, the line was back all the way to just inside the doors of City Hall.

There were no players present today but Larry Lucchino, Wally the Green Monster and other Red Sox executives were on hand for the festivities. I did have the pleasure of having my picture taken with both trophies but the person who took it didn’t focus too well with my camera so y’all won’t see that one. No matter what though, the 10 minute trip to New Haven was well worth it.

World Series Trophies at New Haven City Hall - SOX & Dawgs Photo

Two more photos after the jump

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Answers To Patriots Player Quiz

Patriots logo

 Lets see how well you knew your team.  Here are your answers.

1. Which player is a certified pilot and owns his own aircraft?

  • a. Kevin Faulk
  • b. Adalius Thomas
  • c. Kyle Brady is a licensed pilot and owns a Cirrus plane.
  • d. Mike Vrabel

2. If he weren’t a football player, this Patriot would like to be an animator for Disney.

  • a. Laurence Maroney
  • b. Ben Watson
  • c. Stephen Gostkowski
  • d. Ellis Hobbs majored in art and visual communication at Iowa State.

3. One Patriots player has two brothers who are professional baseball players. The player is:

  • a. Heath Evans
  • b. Matt Cassel his older brother Jack is with the Padres and younger brother Justin is with the White Sox.
  • c. Eugene Wilson
  • d. Lonnie Paxton

4. This Patriots player will shortly be opening five Dunkin’ Donuts franchises in the south.

  • a. Donte Stallworth
  • b. Heath Evans is the lover of D&D
  • c. Vince Wilfork
  • d. Wes Welker

5. One player owns a restaurant with former Celtics star Antoine Walker. Who is he?

  • a. Randy Moss
  • b. Junior Seau
  • c. Donte Stallworth co-own’s “O” in Miami.
  • d. Troy Brown

6. One Patriots player plays the trombone. This player is:

  • a. Rodney Harrison
  • b. Logan Mankins
  • c. Ben Watson
  • d. Richard Seymour is the trombonist.  Hey you can make fun of him.

7. This player was also drafted as a baseball player and was Josh Beckett’s teammate in Class A ball.

  • a. Kelly Washington was a Marlins draft pick and was in A ball with Beckett.
  • b. Matt Cassel
  • c. Stephen Gostkowski
  • d. Mel Mitchell

8. Speaking of baseball, this player was drafted as a catcher out of high school by the Montreal Expos but chose to go to college instead.

  • a. Matt Gutierrez
  • b. Tom Brady was chosen in 1995 in the 18th round.
  • c. Mike Vrabel
  • d. Tedy Bruschi

9. Last off season this player interned at two Providence RI restaurants in preparation for opening his own sports bar and grille.

  • a. Jarvis Green owns “The Capitol” in Donaldsonville, LA.
  • b. Ty Warren
  • c. Dan Koppen
  • d. Matt Light

10. Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky and this player are from the same hometown.

  • a. Kyle Eckel
  • b. Nick Kaczur is from Brantford ONT he is the Patriots only Canadian.
  • c. Russ Hochstein
  • d. Larry Izzo

In The Red Zone – Jaguars @ Patriots Preview – AFC Divisional Round

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This Week

Jaguars at Patriots - AFC Divisional Playoff January 12, 2008

The New England Patriots host the Jacksonville Jaguars at Gillette Stadium on Saturday at 8 p.m in an AFC Divisional Playoff game. 

The Patriots are 8-0 at the Razor this season and 12-0 against the AFC. The Jaguars, including the Wild Card game, are 6-3 on the road this year and 9-4 versus the AFC.

Here are the rosters for the Jaguars and Patriots.

The Line/Prediction

As of Tuesday the line on the game from Yahoo Sports is Patriots -13.5.  The over/under is 49.5.

My prediction is Patriots 38, Jaguars, 21. Give the points and take the over. I am 9-7 against the spread and have called the over/under twelve out of sixteen times in 2007.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out.  It is the 148th 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 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

CBS is televising the game to the nation and the play-by-play duties will be handled by Jim Nantz with Phil Simms doing game analysis. You can check here for your local CBS Station.

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, Pete Brock 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 radio call is available on Channel 123 and 181, the Jaguars radio call is available on Channel 124 and 126.

The game can be heard nationally on Westwood One. Dick Enberg has the play by play, Dennis Green will do game analysis and John Dockery is the sideline reporter for the game.

Looking for a post game report with all the angles?  Well join Comcast SportsNet New England for the complete wrap up immediately after the game (around 11:30 p.m.).  Check your local cable listings for the channel near you. 

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Did A Member of the 2004 Red Sox Team Use PED’s?

Kevin Kennedy - Boston Dirt Dogs PhotoI came across this on WasWatching.com through my Google alerts for Red Sox news.

On the drive home tonight, from work, I caught the very last minutes of The Show on X-Radio (MLB Home Plate) with Rob Dibble and Kevin Kennedy.

At that time, Kevin Kennedy was addressing a caller who had some thoughts on the Mitchell Report.

I was pretty surprised at what Kennedy had to say there. In wanting to make a point about the Mitchell Report not being the all-inclusive bible of naming PED users, Kevin Kennedy said that a current colleague of his, who was with the Boston Red Sox in 2004, told him that he (the colleague) witnessed, for a fact, a member of the ’04 Red Sox injecting himself in the buttocks with a needle full of PEDs. Kennedy said that the user is no longer a member of the Red Sox – but, he was a player on the team that won the ring in 2004. As per Kennedy, his colleague said that the “user” was giving a demo (to the “colleague”) on how to do the injection.

My best guess as to whom the colleague would be is David McCarty. He is one of the analysts on NESN for the Red Sox games. He is the only former member of the team that is currently working in the broadcasting business. Unless Kennedy is considering a Kevin Millar a colleague for the piece he did before the playoff game.

As for the former player, it could be a bunch of guys since only 8 players remain on the current Red Sox team from the 2004 squad. Does anyone have any guesses as to whom it may be?

Hat tipto Steve over at Waswatching.com.

Mirabelli Set To Return

Tim Wakefield and Doug Mirabelli - AP PhotoAccording to a report in the Clubhouse Insider from the Boston Herald, Doug Mirabelli is set to return as Jason Varitek’s backup and Tim Wakefield’s personal catcher for the Red Sox in 2008. They are reporting it is a 1-year $550,000 guaranteed contract.

According to sources, Mirabelli is close to accepting a one-year deal from the team that will pay him in the range of a guaranteed $550,000 to serve as backup to Jason Varitek. The guaranteed portion of the deal is down from the $750,000 Mirabelli earned last season, but incentives allow the catcher to reach an approximate $1 million ceiling that he had last year.

With the Red Sox re-signing Mirabelli, Kevin Cash will probably start the season in Triple-A with Pawtucket. We all know that Cash is capable of catching Wakefield should Mirabelli suffer an injury during the 2008 season.

This addresses one of the Red Sox needs for the upcoming season. They still need to find someone who can backup Kevin Youkilis at first base. It is quite possible that Brandon Moss could fill that role plus being the 5th outfielder with Coco Crisp still on the roster.

Patriots Player Quiz

Patriots logo

 In order to help cure some of your downtime between now and the game I thought I’d issue a little Patriots Player Quiz. Let’s see how well you, the Patriots fan know your team.

1. Which player is a certified pilot and owns his own aircraft?

  • a. Kevin Faulk
  • b. Adalius Thomas
  • c. Kyle Brady
  • d. Mike Vrabel

2. If he weren’t a football player, this Patriot would like to be an animator for Disney.

  • a. Laurence Maroney
  • b. Ben Watson
  • c. Stephen Gostkowski
  • d. Ellis Hobbs

3. One Patriots player has two brothers who are professional baseball players. The player is:

  • a. Heath Evans
  • b. Matt Cassel
  • c. Eugene Wilson
  • d. Lonnie Paxton

4. This Patriots player will shortly be opening five Dunkin’ Donuts franchises in the south.

  • a. Donte Stallworth
  • b. Heath Evans
  • c. Vince Wilfork
  • d. Wes Welker

5. One player owns a restaurant with former Celtics star Antoine Walker. Who is he?

  • a. Randy Moss
  • b. Junior Seau
  • c. Donte Stallworth
  • d. Troy Brown

6. One Patriots player plays the trombone. This player is:

  • a. Rodney Harrison
  • b. Logan Mankins
  • c. Ben Watson
  • d. Richard Seymour

7. This player was also drafted as a baseball player and was Josh Beckett’s teammate in Class A ball.

  • a. Kelly Washington
  • b. Matt Cassel
  • c. Stephen Gostkowski
  • d. Mel Mitchell

8. Speaking of baseball, this player was drafted as a catcher out of high school by the Montreal Expos but chose to go to college instead.

  • a. Matt Gutierrez
  • b. Tom Brady
  • c. Mike Vrabel
  • d. Tedy Bruschi

9. Last off season this player interned at two Providence RI restaurants in preparation for opening his own sports bar and grille.

  • a. Jarvis Green
  • b. Ty Warren
  • c. Dan Koppen
  • d. Matt Light

10. Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky and this player are from the same hometown.

  • a. Kyle Eckel
  • b. Nick Kaczur
  • c. Russ Hochstein
  • d. Larry Izzo

Put your answers in the comment section, the answers will post in 24 hours.

Divide What? – It’s Our Divisional Game Predictions

NFL Playoff Logo

The NFL playoffs start back up on Saturday with a pair of games and then another pair on Sunday.  It’s the Divisional Round Weekend!!!  Patriots fans don’t have to sit around this weekend our team is back at it, Giants fans hope their team never plays in the Meadowlands again because they haven’t lost on the road since September.  Jets fans, well they’ll be drunk again, still bitching about Herm Edwards time management and what if Doug Brien had made one of those field goals three years after the fact.

So here’s the breakdown:

Saturday’s Games

Seattle at Green Bay (-8) at 4:30 P.M. on FOX.  Announcers: Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa

  • Ian: Seahawks 24, Packers, 21
  • Steve: Packers 27, Seahawks, 21 (OT)

Jacksonville at New England (-13.5) at 8 P.M. on CBS.  Announcers: Jim Nantz, Phil Simms

  • Ian: Patriots 34, Jaguars, 24
  • Steve: Patriots 38, Jaguars, 21

Sunday’s Games

San Diego at Indianapolis (-8.5) at 1 P.M. on CBS.  Announcers: Greg Gumbel, Dan Dierdorf

  • Ian: Colts 21, Chargers, 17
  • Steve: Colts 34, Chargers, 20

New York Giants at Dallas (-7.5) at 4:30 P.M. on FOX.  Announcers: Joe Buck, Troy Aikman

  • Ian: Cowboys 38, Giants, 31
  • Steve: Cowboys 24, Giants, 16

Announcing teams courtesy of our friend, Awful Announcing.