Jerome Dyson led three UConn Huskies in double figures as they got past a scrappy Northeastern team 69-60 in front of 9,915 at Gampel Pavilion on Thursday night.

Dyson ended up with a double-double as he scored 16 points and pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds. Hasheem Thabeet added 13 points for UConn as he continues to get better at the offensive end of the court. Stanley Robinson rounded out the Huskies in double figures with 11 points while Jeff Adrien added 9 to the cause.

Matt Janning led Northeastern with 29 points on 9 of 22 shooting, including 5 of 10 from 3-point land. Nkem Ojougboh added 14 points while Chiasson Allen added 9 points.

Northeastern (3-5) got out of the gates quickly as Janning hit a couple of early threes as the NU Huskies pulled out to a 9-2 lead. After a turnover by A.J. Price, Northeastern went up 15-11 before UConn went on a 6-0 run to take the lead. Northeastern tied it up at 17 before UConn took the lead for good in the game as they went into the locker room with a 34-28 lead.

Robinson started out the second half with a steal and a dunk to put UConn up eight points as NU called a timeout. Northeastern got the lead down to three points at 41-38 when UConn coach Jim Calhoun received the first of his two technicals on the night. UConn went on a 7-2 run to go up 48-40. Northeastern kept it close behind the shooting of Janning and pulled to within four points when Calhoun was objected for using a profanity. Janning hit both of technical free throws plus the two he had earned when he was fouled by Dyson on a layup. After Janning hit a 3-pointer to pull within three points UConn went on an 8-0 run as they hit their free throws down the stretch to earn the hard fought victory.

UConn (6-2) returns to the court on December 16th, as they break for exams, against former assistant coach Tom Moore and his Quinnipiac Bobcats squad at the Hartford Civic Center.

I would expect the Huskies to continue working on their defense over the break as Calhoun has not been happy with the play of his team on the defensive side of the court. I’d have to think he’s pleased with the play of Thabeet lately on the offensive side and Curtis Kelly played his best game since the first game of the year as he scored 8 points in just 8 minutes of play.

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

New York Giants leading rusher Derrick Ward is out with a leg injury. Ward’s leg is so weak, doctors briefly mistook it for Eli Manning’s arm.

The Lions’ Roy Williams may be out for the season. Detroit will have to replace him with one of their other 742 wide receivers.

Ricky Williams’ season ended after he tore a chest muscle. Williams will spend the next few weeks trying to convince his doctor it was due to glaucoma.

Tom Petty will play at half-time of the Super Bowl, dedicating “Don’t Come Around Here No More” to the Miami Dolphins.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been selected NASCAR’s most popular driver by internet users for the fifth straight year. Earnhardt is well liked by both NASCAR fans that own computers.

Tony La Russa pleaded guilty to driving under the influence. The Cardinal manager admitted to falling asleep at the wheel last year, and also driving under the influence.

Dick’s Sporting Goods has purchased Chick’s Sporting Goods. Yes, Dick’s bought Chick’s. Every possible domain name for their new company is already taken.

Harness driver Tim Tetrick has broken the single-season record with his 1,078th victory. Tetrick has been riding his horses so hard this year that they’re already starting to smell like glue.

For the second time, Bobby Knight has been accused of shooting someone while hunting. Next week, Knight will be announcing his candidacy for Vice President.

And the New York Knicks lost to the Celtics by 45 points, barely beating the spread.

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

While the entire baseball world and Red Sox Nation waits to find out what’s going on with the Johan Santana trade talks (nothing at the moment), there is other news that came out of the Baseball Winter Meetings in Nashville yesterday.

The biggest news of them all was that Andruw Jones has agreed to a 2-year $36.2 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The deal calls to pay Jones a $12.2 million signing bonus and salaries of $9 million in 2008 and $15 million in 2009. The deal also includes a no-trade clause. Jones’ agent Scott Boras had earlier said that there was teams willing to give Jones a longer deal. Obviously this wasn’t the case because you wouldn’t think Jones would have signed out in Tinseltown.

Another middle reliever got overpaid as the Brewers signed David Riske to a 3-year $13 million deal. I guess having a career 19-18 record with a 3.40 ERA in 393 appearances warrants a $4.333 million a year contract. Odds are with their former closer Francisco Cordero signing with the Reds that Riske will be the setup guy for Derrick Turnbow, who was their closer before Cordero arrived in 2006 via a trade with the Rangers. Ironically enough Laynce Nix, who came over with Cordero from Texas, was released to make room on the 40-man roster for Riske.

The Blue Jays picked up a utility guy from the Cincinnati Reds in one Buck Coats (great name by the way). The Jays hope he can be their 25th man or give them depth in the outfield at Triple-A. I think they need to put him on the roster just because of his name.

The Jays were also waiting to find out if the Giants would accept their offer of Alex Rios for Tim Lincecum. This deal I find strange for the Jays to make because I thought they were really high on Rios, given that he was one of their better hitters last year. Yes Lincecum is a good pitcher but trading an two time All-Star for a guy who hasn’t played a one full year in the big leagues doesn’t make sense to me.

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Well the talks between the Red Sox and Minnesota Twins have gotten very quiet as it seems neither side is in a hurry to make the deal. I am definitely sure the Red Sox are content with that as it is a win-win situation for them either way. Yes, having Johan Santana in the rotation would be great, but we have our ace in Josh Beckett.

Speaking of Beckett, Rob Bradford of the Boston Herald had a chance to speak with Beckett yesterday and this is what he offered up:

“It doesn’t matter to me,” said Beckett yesterday, fresh off his first full-fledged workout of the offseason. “I make plenty of money. I’m starting Opening Day, though.”

“It doesn’t matter to me. It makes no difference,” Beckett said. “There are a lot of people who make more money than me who I had better years than. I’m happy where I’m at.”

“You know how much I care about Jon Lester, but at the same time it’s a business and we’re in the business of winning baseball games,” he said. “Jon Lester has a lot of stuff in front of him. They have to make that decision. I’m glad I don’t have to make those decisions because I’m the type of personality where I would let those emotions get in the way, and hold on to a player because I like them. We have people who make those decisions who obviously don’t have the same personality that I do.

“Everybody has to understand that this is a business and the Red Sox are in the business of winning. It doesn’t matter who it is. If they think of trading someone everybody has to understand that. I’ll still talk to Jon Lester. I’m not saying I want them to trade Jon Lester for Johan Santana, but if the Red Sox think that’s what they need to do to put themselves in the best position to win, that’s what they need to do.”

So while await of day of probably nothing with the Santana talks, let’s take a look at the headlines from the Boston area media on this cold December morning. The article from Bradford will lead off our links today.

Mine over matter [Boston Herald]

‘Johan, si?’ Johan, no….for now [Boston Globe]

On The Spot [Pro Jo]

As Red Sox Wait, Mets Enter Santana Talks [Hartford Courant]

Ace in game of hold ’em [Boston Herald]

Schillings pitch in for home’s teams [Boston Globe]

Meetings fail to heat up deals [Pro Jo]

Because of “Camera-gate”, or as I like to call it the “camera incident”, back in NFL Week 1 the New England Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick were penalized. Belichick was personally fined $500,000 by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Goodell also socked the Patriots as an organization for $250,000 and took away their first round draft pick. The Patriots were penalized because they filmed the New York Jets coaches, from the New England sideline, sending in the signals for the defense.

So what has happened since then? Well Belichick and the Patriots have destroyed 9 out of 12 opponents on their way to an 12-0 record and the Jets have floundered at 4-8.

But what is more interesting is that the Patriots, who may win the Super Bowl, still have a 1^st round pick in April courtesy of a trade with the San Francisco 49ers. The Niners have been pretty pathetic this season and are currently 3-9 with the fourth worst record in the league.

So with that said lets take a look at ten current college players who may end up with New England. There appears to be one guy a lot of places have listed and continue to list at the #1 overall pick and because of that we will put him in the #1 slot. After that there is no real consensus on slotting or even who is in the top ten and based on talent and need, I’m going to do my best to mock a top ten draft. These are the teams in the slots as listed by ESPN.com as of NFL Week 12. The players listed include some members of the junior class who may come out a year early. I included these players to try to keep it more realistic but as we know some players may choose to stay in school for their senior season and obviously fortunes change during Bowl season and at the combines and team interviews. So this is far from scientific.

1. Miami Dolphins DT Glen Dorsey, LSU
2. Atlanta Falcons QB Brian Brohm, Louisville
3. St. Louis Rams DE Chris Long, Virginia
4. San Francisco 49ers RB Darren McFadden, Arkansas
5. New York Jets DE Calais Campbell, Miami
6. Kansas City Chiefs OT Jake Long, Michigan
7. Cincinnati Bengals LB James Laurinaitis, Ohio State
8. Oakland Raiders WR DeShaun Jackson, Cal
9. Baltimore Ravens DT Pat Sims, Auburn
10. Chicago Bears DE Vernon Gholston, Ohio State

It is very possible that if the Pats pick fourth they could go after McFadden if he comes out early. Other than that you have Laurinaitis or possibly safety Kenny Phillips from Miami. Belichick usually doesn’t pick linebackers or secondary guys in the first round. I’d say after watching McFadden run this year if he’s there they need to take the guy and make him and Maroney a scary 1-2 punch from the backfield.

You can follow along on a weekly basis by checking out Niner Watch over at Patriots Daily.

After seeing the clause in Curt Schilling’s contract that if he got a vote in the Cy Young voting, the BBWAA (Baseball Writers’ Association of America) has passed a new rule, the “Schilling Rule”, stating that players with those type of bonus clauses within their contracts will be banned from receiving awards.

The rule will start up in 2013 giving agents and players time to adjust their contracts for the future. There isn’t that many players under contract for 2013 right now so it won’t be that big of a deal.

“When we first started giving out these awards it was just to honor somebody. You got a trophy, there was no monetary reward that went with it,” BBWAA secretary-treasurer Jack O’Connell said. “I honestly don’t think people vote with that in mind. But the attachment of a bonus to these awards creates a perception that we’re trying to make these guys rich.”

As you would expect, Schilling has already responded to the new rule over on his blog, 38 Pitches.

Give me a break. Don’t get me wrong, 100k, 500k, 1 million dollars is a huge sum of money. But to think that these guys ever approached this as anything other than them being touted as the ‘experts’ on who wins what is crap. Add to that I seriously doubt anyone ever looked at this from a perception standpoint and thought wow, they are making this guy rich. I would disagree.

The only step that hasn’t happened yet is to stop them from voting on awards altogether. They shouldn’t do it. Anytime someone is allowed to vote on this, on the Hall of Fame ballot, and that person injects personal bias into their vote, they should lose the privilege.

I have to agree with him that sometimes, the voters do let personal things influence their decisions. Imagine if CHB had a vote in the Hall of Fame voting when Schilling’s name comes up on the ballot. We all know that CHB wouldn’t vote for him.

Philadelphia fired President and General Manager Billy King on Monday and replaced him with Ed Stefanski the next day but the off the court change didn’t lead to a different on the court result as the Sixers dropped to 5-13 with a 113-103 loss to the Boston Celtics in front of 15,779 at the Wachovia Center on Wednesday night.

The Green, who are now 15-2, got a double-double out of captain Paul Pierce who had 19 points and 12 assists. Yea I said assists, 12 of ’em. Kevin Garnet chipped in 22 points and James Posey had 17 points off the bench.

The Sixers were led by the two Andre’s, Miller who had a double-double with 26 points and 12 assists and Iguodala who had 24 points. Louis Williams had 18 points off the bench as Philadelphia played inspired ball but were no match for the more talented visitor’s from Boston.

Both teams wore throw back uni’s for the game.

Prior to the game Pierce popped his cork at a pair of unnamed teammates who were playing the music a little too loud and having a little too much pre-game fun as he shouted out “We’re trying to play a game”. The players quieted down. You have to say the man is all business this year and it shows in his game and in the team.

Tina Charles led three UConn Huskies in double figures as they easily dispatched of the Virginia Lady Cavaliers 75-45 at the Hartford Civic Center. Charles scored 18 points on 8 of 9 shooting and pulled down 6 rebounds for the Huskies.

Brittany Hunter scored 14 points in just 14 minutes and Maya Moore rounded out the Huskies in double figures with 12 points. Mel Thomas added 7 points and scored her 1,000th point of her illustrious career when she hit a foul line jumper with 17:17 to go in the second half. She is the 29th person in UConn history to score 1,000 points in their careers.

Aisha Mohammed scored 13 points and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds to lead the Lady Cavaliers. Monica Wright added 10 points as well.

UConn (7-0) started out the first half on a 16-4 run with Charles and Hunter leading the way for the Huskies with 6 points each. They continued that run as they went into the locker room with a 44-22 lead.

More of the same in the second half as the Lady Cavaliers (6-4) couldn’t keep up with the Huskies. Obviously the highlight of the second half was when Thomas scored her 1,000th point. She received a standing ovation from the crowd when there was a break in the action.

The game featured a matchup of Geno Auriemma versus his mentor, Deb Ryan. Auriemma was an assistant under Ryan from 1981-85 at Virginia before he took the UConn job.

The Huskies are now off for 11 days as they break for final exams. They return to the Gampel Pavilion court on December 17th to face South Carolina.

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Well if you believe what Tim Brown from Yahoo! Sports is writing, then yes the talks are back on.

The Boston Red Sox reaffirmed their status as the favorites to acquire Johan Santana as the team’s top executives Wednesday evening warmed to the idea of trading for the Minnesota Twins ace mere hours questioning the merits of the deal, a source close to the situation said.

Red Sox executives, and particularly general manager Theo Epstein, had blanched at giving up four players and paying Santana more than of $20 million a year, the type of contract he will demand to waive his no-trade clause. With the New York Yankees claiming they had dropped out of the Santana sweepstakes, the Red Sox also considered whether it was prudent to give up pitcher Jon Lester or center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, the proposed centerpieces of the deal.

Internal discussion has affirmed that it is, though there is no timetable on the talks, and they could well last past baseball’s winter meetings, which end following the Rule 5 draft Thursday morning.

The parameters of the trade have not changed, according to the source, with Lester heading a package that also would include center fielder Coco Crisp and minor-league pitcher Justin Masterson and infielder Jed Lowrie.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, have weighed the implications of Santana’s salary demands and seem ready to move forward.

As I said on our radio show tonight, the baseball winter meetings have been one big rumor mill. With this being the only source to confirm this news, I am inclined not to believe it just yet. But yet, here I am letting y’all know what’s going on.

I also said this in a comment before that I just wish this deal or any deal for Santana would get done. I would think the Red Sox want a resolution to this soon as well because there are some pieces of the puzzle that need to be put in place. If Ellsbury isn’t traded, then you need to move Coco Crisp plus find a backup catcher, backup first baseman and backup outfielder although Brandon Moss could fill the combo 1B/OF role. Plus the Red Sox still have interest in Bobby Kielty returning if Coco isn’t back.

Boston Red Sox rookie outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury spent some time on the air with WEEI’s Big Show this afternoon. In his 20-minute interview he touched on what it’s like being part of the Johan Santana trade rumors and how he has no control over it. It’s interesting to listen to it from a young players perspective and how his family and friends keep asking him what’s going on.

Jacoby spends some time talking about how comfortable he is in Boston with the Red Sox and how the veteran players like Mike Lowell, Coco Crisp, Jason Varitek and Alex Cora helped him fit in when he came up. He also talked about how he played, the Red Sox 8-DVD set and his new agent Scott Boras.