Does Bronson Want To Come Back To Boston?

I came across this yesterday on the Bostonist and then Steve forwarded me a link from Red Sox Chick about Bronson Arroyo wanting to return to the Red Sox.

Arroyo performed a cover of Augustana’s “Boston” and changed the lyrics about coming back to the Red Sox.

I said
I think I’ll go to Boston
I think I need to come back
I think I need a ballpark
Where all the fans are there
I gotta get out of Cincinnati
I’m tired of the summer
I think I need the Olde Town
To fill my heart again
Ah yeah

And here is the video of his performance of the song.

[googlevideo]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6732328266441465611&hl=en[/googlevideo]

Even Peter Gammons, who also performed, got into the act writing a song about the Mitchell Report.

[googlevideo]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1008695642587328723[/googlevideo]

Hat tip to Cyn over at Red Sox Chick for the lyrics to Bronson’s song and videos.

A Krafty Owner

No one can deny that since Robert Kraft and his family took over ownership prior to the 1994 season, the New England Patriots have enjoyed incredible success both on and off the field.

In a recent article several alumni players told Paul Doyle of the Hartford Courant that Robert Kraft has been the franchise’s stabilizing influence. Kraft has turned the Patriots from a laughing stock to a model franchise that transcends the sport. Teams in other sports, as well as football, are modeling themselves after the Patriots both on and off the field, doing things “the Patriot way”.

Patriots owner Robert KraftIn the five years before the Kraft’s bought the team the Patriots were 19-61 and had no playoff appearances. Since then the team is 160-85, they’ve played in four Super Bowls winning three championships. They’ve won 8 AFC East titles and have been to the playoffs 10 times in fourteen seasons. They also have more Super Bowl titles, plyed in more playoff games and have more playoff victories than any other NFL franchise in that time span.

Since Kraft purchased the team in 1994 only MLB’s New York Yankees and the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs have won more championships than the three won by the Patriots.

But maybe the best thing about the Kraft ownership is the commitment the family gave to keep the team here in New England. And in return the fans have paid them back with 148 consecutive sellouts dating back to opening day 1994. The season ticket base went from 17,635 in 1991, which barely helped the team survive to 61,759 with 50,000 more fanatics on a waiting list. Unlike fans in other NFL cities New England fans have not been faced with a TV blackout in the last 304 games (266 under Kraft).

And with the success of this year’s team, Patriots games are the four most-watched programs of any kind in the 2007-08 television season. 34.5 million people nationwide saw the Patriots-Giants game on Dec. 29, making it the most-watched TV program of the 2007-08 television season while New England’s 24-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 4 was seen by 33.8 million people on CBS. The Dec. 9 Patriots-Steelers game was seen by 30.3 million people on CBS and the Patriots’ 48-27 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 14 was seen on CBS by 29.1 million people. The next largest audience for a TV show this television season was for the season premiere of CSI, which attracted 25.4 million people on CBS on Sept. 27. The 2007 World Series only averaged 17.5 million viewers per game.

With the Kraft family around you know the team is in good hands for years to come and for Patriots fans that’s great news.

Red Sox News & Notes – 1/9

Red Sox News & Notes @ SOX & Dawgs

As we all know by now, former Red Sox great and current NESN analyst Jim Rice was denied entry to the Baseball Hall of Fame on his 14th ballot. Rice issued a statement yesterday about being denied again.

“Today’s results are obviously a disappointment. I believe my accomplishments speak for themselves, and a majority of the voters seem to agree. It is tough to come this close, but I remain hopeful for the 2009 results. I appreciate all the kind words from so many players, including Rich Gossage, and I congratulate Goose on his well-deserved election today.”

Even Rich “Goose” Gossage, who was the writers only inductee, thinks Rice should be in the Hall of Fame.

“I think Jim Rice does belong in the Hall of Fame,” said Gossage. “I’ve said that all along. No hitter scared me, but Jim Rice came the closest. What a tremendous hitter he was, and he made that whole Boston lineup a better lineup . . . Jim came pretty close and maybe next year it’ll be his turn, hopefully.”

Sean McAdam from the Providence Journal brings up a great point:

Twenty times in the history of balloting, a player has received more than 70 percent but less than the necessary 75 percent. In each instance, the player was eventually elected to the Hall.

The most recent case in point was Rich “Goose” Gossage, the only player elected yesterday. A year ago, Gossage was named on 71.2 percent of the ballots cast.

So let’s take a look at the players who will be on the ballot for the first time in 2009.

  • Steve Avery, Jay Bell, Mike Bordick, John Burkett, David Cone, Ron Gant, Mark Grace, Rickey Henderson, Charles Nagy, Denny Neagle, Jesse Orosco, Dean Palmer, Dan Plesac, Rick Reed, Greg Vaughn, Mo Vaughn, Matt Williams, Mike Williams

In my opinion, the only player I can see be elected in his first try would be Rickey Henderson. With Rice getting 72.2% (392 votes) this year, I think Rice will get the necessary votes next year to finally get that elusive call saying that he’s been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

You can definitely bet that Pawtucket Red Sox owner Ben Mondor will keep his campaign going to get Rice into the Hall.

Buddy LeRoux; was part owner of Sox, real estate baron; dead at 77 [Boston Globe]

UConn Beats Up On St. John’s 81-65

A.J. Price’s career-high 25 points led four UConn players in double figures as the Huskies easily disposed of the St. John’s Red Storm 81-65 at Gampel Pavilion on Tuesday night.

Jerome Dyson goes for a slam - Courant PhotoPrice paced the Huskies (11-3, 2-1 Big East) with 7 assists as well. Jeff Adrien had a monster night as well racking up another double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Stanley Robinson had a bounce-back game after Saturday’s poor performance with 15 points and 8 rebounds. Jerome Dyson narrowly missed an unconventional double-double with 12 points and a career-high 9 steals.

The Red Storm (7-7, 1-2) were led in scoring by Justin Burrell with 17 points. Anthony Mason, Jr. added 14 points and 9 rebounds. Larry Wright added 11 points off the bench to round out the Red Storm in double figures.

Price started the first half with a 3-pointer. With UConn up 8-7, the Huskies went on a 6-0 run capped off with dunks by Robinson and Dyson forcing St. John’s to call a timeout. The Red Storm responded with the next five points to pull within 2. UConn then went on a 7-0 run to go up 25-14 and never looked back as they went into the locker room with a 45-32 lead.

The second half started the same way as the first half did, with a Price 3-pointer. UConn kept plugging away in the second half as at one point they held a 21 point lead over the Red Storm.

UConn will next play on Saturday when they travel to the nation’s capital to take on the #8 Georgetown Hoyas at the Verizon Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 PM and the game will be covered nationally on ESPN.

Continue reading →

Paw Prints – Gridiron News

Paw Prints @ SOX & Dawgs

UConn redshirt freshman linebacker Scott Lutrus picked up another Freshman All-American honor as he was named to the Football Writers Association of America’s Freshman All-America Team. Lutrus was one of five Big East players to make the team, the most of any conference.

Lutrus had a great season for the Huskies as he was third on the team in tackles with 107. He also had 4 interceptions and returned two of them for touchdowns. He also won back-to-back Big East Defensive Player of the Week honors during the weeks ending October 21st and 28th.

Look for Lutrus to be one of the leaders next year on the defensive side of the ball.

A full look at the team after the jump:

Continue reading →

Musings From The College Hardwood – 1/8

Musings From The Hardwood @ SOX & Dawgs

After a nice little vacation, Musings From the College Hardwood has returned.

The Rutgers women’s team has lost one of their freshman point guards, Khadijah Rushdan, to a torn ACL. She should be ready in time for the 2008-2009 season.

The North Carolina women got some bad news when Erlana Harkins broke a bone in her left hand. It is her non-shooting hand and it’s not known whether or not she will miss any time.

The LSU women have been without the services of their All-American center Sylvia Fowles for the past 10 days as she underwent knee surgery for a torn meniscus. She is expected back in the next week or two.

Central Arkansas fired women’s basketball coach Checola Seals-Horton New Years Eve after her team started the season 2-11. They rehired Ron Marvel as the interim coach. Seals-Horton had replaced Marvel two years ago.

Continue reading →

Tidbits From the College Gridiron – 1/8

Tidbits From the College Gridiron @ SOX & Dawgs

This will be the second-to-last Tidbits From the College Gridiron post until the 2008 season starts. The last one will come in February when the recruits send in their letter-of-intent to the schools they plan to call home in the fall.

If you were under a rock last night, you missed LSU rallying from a 10-0 deficit to win the BCS National Championship 38-24 over The Ohio State Buckeyes. LSU became the first team in the BCS era to take home the title two times. They are also the first school with two losses to win it.

As my brother said in a previous comment, the Hawai’i Warriors will be looking for a new coach next season as June Jones has decided to comeback to the mainland to coach the SMU Mustangs. He was offered a 5-year deal that is worth $10 million. The main reason for Jones leaving due to the poor facilities at Hawai’i and the lack of a big recruiting budget. Most of their recruiting is done by word-of-mouth and the players actually coming to visit them. Hawai’i did make a last ditch effort to keep Jones and even offered him a contract that would have doubled his salary to $1.6 million. In the end, Jones wanted a new challenge and settled on the SMU job and hopes to bring them back to the national scene.

Continue reading →

Bill Gates Parody Video

We are going to take a quick break from the sports that we normally write about here at SOX & Dawgs to take a look at a video which premiered at the International CES (Consumer Electronics Show) this past week.

As many of you know, Bill Gates will be stepping away from his everyday role at Microsoft in July and focusing his efforts on his foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He will remain as chairman at Microsoft.

He is normally one of the keynote speakers at CES given his role with Microsoft. This year, Bill decided to have a little fun with this parody video about his life on his last day at Microsoft..

http://youtube.com/watch?v=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip_DEUuuy5M[/youtube]

I’ll Have the Goose, Hold the Rice

The Goose is in the HallThe National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY announced today that Rich “Goose” Gossage has been elected to the Hall of Fame after receiving 85.8% (466) of the 543 BBWAA votes. He will be inducted into the Hall on July 27th.

Goosage will be joined by Dick Wiliams, who was elected by the Veterans Committee. The Veterans Committee also picked Walter O’Malley, Barney Dreyfuss, Bowie Kuhn and Billy Southworth, all of whom have passed away. The late Boston Globe writer Larry Whiteside will be honored with J.G. Taylor Spink Award for baseball writing.

With 543 ballots cast, a player needed 408 votes (75%) to gain election to the Hall. Former Red Sox great Jim Rice fell just short with 392 (72.2%). Rice will have one more year to be elected by the writers as he will be on his 15th and final ballot. If he’s not elected next year, he will be eligible to be voted in by the Veteran’s Committee. Any player who has gotten over 70% has been voted into the Hall of Fame so this bodes well for Rice.

Here is a look at the vote totals:

Rich “Goose” Gossage 466 (85.8%), Jim Rice 392 (72.2%), Andre Dawson 358 (65.9%), Bert Blyleven 336 (61.9%), Lee Smith 235 (43.3%), Jack Morris 233 (42.9%), Tommy John 158 (29.1%), Tim Raines 132 (24.3%), Mark McGwire 128 (23.6%), Alan Trammell 99 (18.2%), Dave Concepcion 88 (16.2%), Don Mattingly 86 (15.8%), Dave Parker 82 (15.1%), Dale Murphy 75 (13.8%), Harold Baines 28 (5.2%), Rod Beck 2 (0.4%), Travis Fryman 2 (0.4%), Robb Nen 2 (0.4%), Shawon Dunston 1 (0.2%), Chuck Finley 1 (0.2%), David Justice 1 (0.2%), Chuck Knoblauch 1 (0.2%), Todd Stottlemyre 1 (0.2%), Brady Anderson 0, Jose Rijo 0.

Of the 11 newcomers on the ballot, only Tim Raines received over 5% of the ballots to stay on the ballot. Dave Concepcion was in his 15th ballot this year and will be taken off the ballot for next year.

It’s Easy As 1-2-3

Brady - Sox & Dawgs file photoWell you can add another trophy to the case. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady won the AP Offensive Player of the Year Award this afternoon. It’s the third award for a Patriots player or coach in the last week as Brady won the NFL MVP and head coach Bill Belichick won the NFL Coach of the Year.

I’m not going to rehash the story of Tom Terrific’s year (sorry Mr. Seaver but I think you’ve been supplanted for that name) as we’ve all heard it before.

Brady accumulated 35 1/2 votes of the 50 cast. Teammate Randy Moss got 12 1/2 votes and finished second, another Patriot WR Wes Welker got one vote as did Green Bay QB Brett Favre. He is the first Patriot to win he award and the fourth winner in a row to win the both the Offensive Player of the Year and the MVP in the same season joining LaDainian Tomlinson, Shawn Alexander and Peyton Manning.

Brady, Moss and Welker are the first teammates to finish 1-2-3 in the voting.