We start off were we’ve started the last several weeks with head coach Bill Belichick’s weekly visit with the Big Show on WEEI in Boston.

With the Steelers and the mighty Dolphins battling to a scoreless tie as we neared the end of regulation last night on Monday Night Football they brought up the infamous Snow Plow game between New England and Miami in 1982. That was scoreless with 4:40 left to play.

Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork was absolutely stunned and nearly speechless when he heard the news about Washington safety Sean Taylor being shot. Wilfork and Taylor were teammates for three seasons at the University of Miami and were both first round draft picks in 2004. Taylor was the 5^th overall pick by the Redskins, while Wilfork was taken by New England 21^st overall.

The Patriots will make a decision on Troy Brown by 4 p.m. today. The options are to activate him to the 53-man roster, place him on the IR ending his season or release him. The later two would most likely end the playing career of Brown a career Patriot, with three Super Bowl rings from his 14-year career. Brown and Tedy Bruschi, who was a rookie, are the last remaining players from the team that lost to Green Bay in Super Bowl XXXI.

Continue reading →

The UConn starting bigs, Jeff Adrien and Hasheem Thabeet, led the Huskies with their second straight game of double-doubles as the Huskies beat up on Florida A&M 93-54 at the Hartford Civic Center on Monday night.

Adrien had 16 points and 15 rebounds while Thabeet had 12 points and 12 rebounds to go along with 9 blocked shots. Stanley Robinson also had 16 points, Jerome Dyson had 15 points and Craig Austrie rounded out the Huskies in double figures with 11 points.

Jermonte Bush led Florida A&M with a game-high 18 points off the bench. Leslie Robinson added 8 points to the cause for the Rattlers.

UConn started off the game with a 15-0 run and held the Rattler scoreless until the 12 minute mark. At one point in the first half, UConn head coach Jim Calhoun was so pissed at his players, he took the five guys on the floor off the court and just sat there in the timeout. Roughly 18 seconds later after poor execution, he called another timeout and took the 5 on the floor off the court again. UConn would eventually settle down after this and head into the locker room with a 43-15 lead.

The Rattlers played a lot better in the second half but their lack of size compared to UConn’s proved to be the difference in the game.

UConn is off until Saturday when they head to Boston to take on #19 Gonzaga in The Hartford Hall of Fame Showcase at the TD Banknorth Garden. Tip is set for 3:30 PM and the game will be shown on ESPN.

Continue reading →

UConn Huskies freshman sensation Maya Moore took home her second straight Big East Freshman of the Week award for her play in last week’s games.

Moore was named Paradise Jam Tournament MVP in leading the Huskies to the championship. In the three games, she averaged 13.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists. She was 16 of 29 (52.2%) from the floor during the three games against Stanford, Old Dominion and Duke.

Moore currently leads the Huskies in scoring, averaging 18.6 points a game. She’s also averaging 6.4 rebounds a game, 3.8 assists a game and 2.4 steals a game.

She is the first-ever Huskies freshman to score in double figures in her first five collegiate games.

Odds are that Coco Crisp will be traded in the coming weeks for a player or players that will help the Red Sox for the 2008 season. If that happens, odds are Bobby Kielty could return to the Red Sox as the fourth outfielder.

“I really need to play in the best situation,” Kielty said. “With Coco not there, it is a very good situation for me in terms of playing time. . . . But with Coco there, it’s not an ideal situation for me.”

I think we all know Coco is going to get moved, it’s just a matter of when and for whom. When you look at the free agent market, there isn’t a lot of talent out there for the 4th outfielder spot.

To me, Kielty fit in with the team last season. And with the main core back for next season, he would definitely fit right back in.  He accepted his role with the team when they signed him and his patience was rewarded.

He hits lefties well, can play the corners in the outfield and I’m sure could fill-in in center field if needed. He would provide the Red Sox a switch-hitting option off the bench in late-game situations.

He showed he could handle the role and now we wait to see if he ends up back in Boston, that is if Coco is traded.

The Result

The Philadelphia Eagles came in ready to play and itching to show America that they were better than 24 point underdogs even with out the All-Pro quarterback Donovan McNabb. And play they did as all night the defense blanketed Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss, put constant pressure up the middle against quarterback Tom Brady and forced him to look for targets other than Moss.

On offense they took what the Patriots gave them which was a lot of in cut routes and with back up quarterback AJ Feeley hitting those receivers in the middle of the field for many gains of 8-15 yards. It seemed like every time the Feeley needed to make a play he did. The Eagles offensive line was outstanding protecting him and allowing him to make play after play but in the end it just wasn’t enough as the Patriots were able to hold on for a 31-28 win.

No excuses the Eagles had a great game plan and nearly pulled it off as they gave the Patriots everything they could handle but New England was able to withstand it and comes away with their perfect record still in tact.

I’m sure the staff and the players are less than happy with themselves especially after a close game on their home field. Look for better execution on both sides of the ball next week and a return to better play.

Scoring Plays

1^st Quarter

• NE Samuel 40 yard interception return – kick good – Patriots 7-0
• PHI Westbrook 1 yard run – kick good – Game tied 7-7
• NE Evans 3 yard run – kick good – Patriots 14-7

2^nd Quarter

• PHI Feeley 28 yard pass to Lewis – kick good – Game tied 14-14
• NE Gostkowski 23 yard FG – Patriots 17-14
• PHI Feeley 18 yard pass to Lewis – kick good – Eagles 21-17
• NE Brady 19 yard pass to Gaffney – kick good – Patriots 24-21

3^rd Quarter

• PHI Feeley 8 yard pass to Brown – kick good – Eagles 28-24

4^th Quarter

• NE Maroney 4 yard run – kick good – Patriots 31-28

Offensive Player of the Game

Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker had 13 catches for 149 yards.

Defensive Player(s) of the Game

Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel had two INT’s one for a touchdown, 3 tackles and 1 pass defensed.

Eagles defense for the job they did covering Randy Moss and putting pressure on Tom Brady.

Turning Point(s) of the Game

The Patriots connect on several passes of 10+ yards during Laurence Maroney’s 4^th quarter scoring drive including a 3^rd and 9 and a 2^nd and 10 both to Welker.

Asante Samuel’s second INT of the game in the end zone kills a go ahead scoring drive by Philadelphia with 3:52 left to play.

Continue reading →

A balanced scoring attack by the Huskies, who had four players in double figures, helped them take home the Paradise Jam Championship 74-48 over the Duke Blue Devils on Sunday night at the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas.

UConn (5-0) was led in scoring tonight by Tina Charles 13 points and 8 rebounds. Tournament MVP Maya Moore had 12 points, and both Kalana Greene and Renee Montgomery had 10 points for the Huskies. Montgomery also added 6 assists.

Duke (5-1) was led by Chante Black who had a game-high 16 points. She was the only Blue Devil in double figures. Careem Gay added 6 points to the cause as well.

The Blue Devils pulled ahead quickly 4-0 before UConn went on a 13-0 run to take the lead led by Montgomery’s two 3-point shots. The Huskies would never look back again as they took advantage of 11 Duke turnovers in the first half, scoring 16 points off of them. UConn went into the locker room up 16 points at 40-24.

More of the same in the second half, as both teams decided to play a game if you score, we can score too. The Huskies continued to pull away from the Blue Devils as they added 12 points off of 11 second half turnovers by the Dukies.

The Huskies now return to the mainland and will probably enjoy a day off before returning to the court for practice on Tuesday. UConn will face BYU on Thursday night at 7:00 PM at the Hartford Civic Center.

Continue reading →

When the Red Sox return from Japan, they are scheduled to play the Dodgers from March 28-30 in three exhibition games in Los Angeles. Well on Sunday, the Dodgers announced that the game on March 29th will be played at the famed Los Angeles Coliseum as part of their 50th anniversary of playing in Los Angeles.

The Dodgers moved to the City of Angels back in 1958 and played their games at the Coliseum until Dodger Stadium was ready for play in 1962.

It will be interesting to see how they configure the field because the dimensions back in 1958 weren’t exactly up to par with today’s stadiums.

• LF foul line: 251 ft.
• LF power alley: 320 ft.
• Center Field: 425 ft.
• RF power alley: 380 ft.
• RF foul line: 300 ft.

Because of the short porch in left field at the Coliseum, MLB changed rule 1.04 stating that any ballpark built after June 1, 1958 had to be a minimum of 325 feet down the lines. They did put up a screen back then that was 42 feet high to prevent routine fly balls from becoming home runs.

If the same dimensions are used, Big Papi will probably wish he hit right-handed.

Here is a look how the former UConn players fared in last week’s play in the NBA.

Continue reading →

There’s only so much we can write about the different possibilities and scenarios in trading for Johan Santana from the Twins. So I will avoid that today as much as possible.

The Red Sox front office will be busy over the week leading up to the Winter Meetings next week as they field offers for Coco Crisp, plus talk about what they might give up for Santana. There is other business to discuss though. They have been talking to the agents of Mike Timlin, Doug Mirabelli and Bobby Kielty. The Sox still need a bullpen arm, backup first basemen, backup catcher and backup outfielder should Coco be traded.

Odds are that Brandon Moss could fill the backup first baseman/outfielder spot that Eric Hinske had last season as he has been working on his first base skills in the Dominican Winter League playing for Aguilas Cibaenas, where he is hitting .322 right now with 6 RBIs. The Red Sox are high on Kielty as well and hopefully he will return as well. Timlin has been offered a 1-year deal but hasn’t responded back to the Sox.

As far as the backup catcher spot goes, the Red Sox have been in contact with the Texas Rangers about the availability of their two catchers and could dangle Coco to them if he doesn’t get traded beforehand.

Gordon Edes has a great article about Jacoby Ellsbury’s return home and that leads off your links on this brisk Sunday morning.

Man of the peoples [Boston Globe]

Give Santana a look [Boston Herald]

Sox tickets sell like hotcakes – as yet unissued [Boston Globe]

Be sure to play Steve’s trade game as well.