Two of the UConn Huskies freshman linebackers, Scott Lutrus and Lawrence Wilson, were named to the Sporting News Freshman All-American team on Friday.

Lutrus was named to the All-Freshman First Team while Wilson was on the All-Freshman Second Team.

Lutrus started all 12 games for the Huskies making 98 tackles while intercepting 4 passes. He returned 2 of those for touchdowns and was also named Big East Defensive Player of the Week 2 times in a row this season.

Wilson also started all 12 games and was second on the team with 106 tackles. He did have 1 interception which he returned for a touchdown.

With these two guys back for next year, the UConn linebacking corps are looking stronger than ever. Congratulations to them on this tremendous honor.

A full look at the Sporting News All-Freshman First Team after the jump

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With a light snow falling along the shoreline here in Connecticut what better time to look at the Red Sox spring training schedule for 2008.

Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Dec. 15 at redsox.com or by calling 617-482-4SOX. The City of Palms Park Box office will be open Dec. 15 and 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Beginning Dec. 17, the Fort Myers box office will be open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

[Extra Bases]

The Big East Conference announced on Friday afternoon that it had issued a reprimand for UConn head coach Jim Calhoun for comments he made about an official after last night’s 69-60 win over Northeastern.

On official Wally Rutecki, who called the second technical, Calhoun said: “He’s not very good. The other two guys aren’t bad. … I just think he’s incompetent.”

Calhoun’s first technical, issued by Tim Clougherty, was for laughing. Clougherty took it as an insult. Calhoun thought that was absurd — “Maybe I had gas,” he said — but he took issue with the second. Calhoun admitted using an expletive while talking to a player but said Rutecki called him for being out of the coaching box.

Jim Calhoun did offer an apology through the athletic department at UConn.

I would like to sincerely apologize for my words last night and truly understand that my comments were inappropriate. I will do everything I can to keep this from happening again in the future and, most importantly, will work to avoid putting my team, my university, the officials and the BIG EAST in this unfortunate position again with ill-advised comments.”

It definitely seems as though these new rules involving bench decorum are affecting the way Calhoun coaches.

If you do, I might have a gift for you.

The International Rhino Federation is auctioning off four pieces of Rhino poop. The proceeds of the auction will go to help the conservation efforts of the endangered species.

I don’t know what else to say about this other then the fact that it’s gross. The good news is that the poop has been dried out and comes in a case you won’t have to smell rhino poop all day along.

And on a serious note, if you’re looking for the Red Sox World Series DVD Collection head over to the A&E TV store.

Today is the 30th anniversary of Gordie Howe’s 1,000th career goal. He scored it as a member of the WHA’s New England Whalers against the Birmingham Bulls in a game played on December 7, 1977 in Birmingham Alabama off of goalie John Garrett. Garrett would later end up playing for the Whalers when the Bulls folded and ceased operations.

Howe, who played for the Detroit Red Wings, Houston Aeros and New England/Hartford Whalers, is a member of 11 Hall’s of Fame, and played several seasons professionally with his sons, Mark and Marty.

Howe who is known as Mr. Hockey won four Stanley Cups with Detroit while playing along side fellow Hockey Hall of Fame members Sid Abel and Ted Lindsay on “The Production Line” named for their scoring and as an allusion to Detroit’s auto factories.

Howe played his final NHL Game on April 6, 1980 with the Whalers and scored a goal against his former team the Detroit Red Wings.

This Week

The New England Patriots host the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium on Sunday at 4:15 p.m. The two teams have won 4 of the last 6 Super Bowls. This is the first game of a three game homestand for New England.

The Patriots are 5-0 at the Razor this season, 3-0 against the AFC North and 9-0 in the AFC. The Steelers are 2-3 on the road, 2-1 against the AFC East and 7-2 in the conference in 2007.

Here are the rosters for the Steelers and Patriots.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo Sports is Patriots -10.5. The over/under is 48.

My prediction is Patriots 31, Steelers, 24. Take the points and over. I am 9-3 against the spread and have called the over/under nine out of twelve times in 2007.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out.

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.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

CBS is televising the game, and it is cleared for nearly the entire country. The play-by-play duties will be handled by Jim Nantz with Phil Simms doing game analysis. You can check here to see if you are getting the game from CBS and look 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 1 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 122, the Steelers radio call is available on Channel 181.

The game can also be heard nationally on Westwood One. Bill Rosinski and Dan Reeves will call the game.

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Well the Winter Meetings are over and the Red Sox did a lot of talking down there but didn’t come back with Johan Santana as many might have expected. Theo Epstein did say when he left that the channels of communication are still open with the Minnesota Twins.

It does seem as though Eric Gagné *gulp* might be back next season as he may accept the Red Sox offer of arbitration. If this happens, he can’t receive a pay cut of any less that 20% from the $6 million he earned last season. I am guessing the market he thought might be out there, really isn’t. He has stated he does want to be a closer still and if he’s with the Red Sox obviously he won’t be closing out games. There’s some dude named Jonathan Papelbon at the end of the Sox bullpen.

The Red Sox did lose three players in yesterday’s Rule 5 draft as Jose Capellan was taken by the San Francisco Giants and Lincoln Holdzkom was taken by the Philadelphia Phillies in the MLB portion of the draft. Mauricio Mendez was taken by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Triple-A portion of the Rule 5 draft.

So as “As The Santana Turns” goes on hiatus, let’s take a look at the headlines from the Boston area media on this chilly morning in Red Sox Nation.

Gagne may come back [Boston Herald]

Boston content with roster, but Santana lurking [Pro Jo]

Epstein returns empty-handed [Boston Globe]

No backup plan [Boston Herald]

Boston Red Sox, David Ortiz and Jesus Alou to take part in dedication for restored youth baseball field in Haina, Dominican Republic [redsox.com]

Sox tickets on sale Saturday [Extra Bases]

Sox seeking right lefty [Boston Herald]

Every year about 5 miles from my house, All-American football players take over the city of New Haven for the Walter Camp Weekend and Annual Awards Dinner. The event will take place the weekend of January 10-12, 2008 and you can find out all the information by clicking the above link.

For those who don’t know who Walter Camp is, he is known as “the father of football”. He is the one who made the basic principles and the rules for modern day football.

Two weeks ago, the Walter Camp Football Foundation announced three of the awards they will be giving away that weekend. Frank Broyles was named as the recipient of the Distinguished American Award, Dick Butkus will receive the Man of the Year Award and Ray Guy was named as the winner of the Alumni Award. Still to be announced are the Coach of the Year and CT Player of the Year, which is given to a player from Connecticut participating in college football.

On Thursday, the Walter Camp Football Foundation announced it’s 2007 Walter Camp All-American Team and it’s Player of the Year Award.

This year, the Player of the Year went to Arkansas Razorbacks running back Darren McFadden. He rushed for 1,725 yards and 15 touchdowns on the season.

A look at the rest of the team after the jump.

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Please take a moment of your day today to remember the people who gave their lives on this day back in 1941 defending our country.

If you ever go to Hawaii, I highly advise going over to Pearl Harbor and doing the tour. It will leave you speechless.