Lets play a little game where you are the general manager of your favorite baseball team and at the Winter Meetings you find out that four major league teams have decided that in order to rebuild they need to put their prized lefty starter on the block. In return they are going to want a minimum of two major league ready players plus at least one top prospect, or a combination of top and mid level prospects. The major league players they want are not high dollar guys or guys about to enter free agency.  You are bidding against several teams with healthy farm systems, and established major leaguers that meet the requirements of the trading team to deal. This deal could make or break your team and your farm system for several years as well as your payroll as all four possibilities are going to command high dollars if not this season then shortly thereafter through the rules of baseball’s CBA.

You have your choice of the following four left handed starters:

Lefty A will be 29 in 2008. He averages 12 wins, 200 IP, 200 strikeouts, 75 BB, has a 3.83 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP in 33 starts a season.

Lefty B will be 29 in 2008. He averages 14 wins, 210 IP, 220 strikeouts, 58 BB, has a 3.22 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 27 starts a season.

Lefty C will be 26 in 2008. He averages 14 wins, 215 IP, 158 strikeouts, 72 BB, has a 3.78 ERA and 1.35 WHIP in 34 starts a season.

Lefty D will be 24 in 2008. He averages 12 wins, 200 IP, 215 strikeouts, 91 BB, has a 3.64 ERA and 1.39 WHIP in 33 starts a season.

Now rate them in order of preference 1-2-3-4 and state why you picked them in that order. Then tell me who from your favorite team you’d offer to try to pry the prized lefty away from his current organization. Then tell me why you think those guys will get you that pitcher.

Boston Celtics captain Paul Pierce missed a fall away jumper with 4.7 seconds and the Celtics fouled Charlotte’s Raymond Felton. But because they weren’t in the bonus the Bobcats had to inbound the ball. Boston’s Eddie House deflected Jason Richardson’s inbound pass away and into the hands of Pierce who found Ray Allen at the top of the arc and he hit nothing but net as time expired and the Celtics escaped Charlotte with a 96-95 win.

Allen who went to high school in Dalzell South Carolina hit the jumper as his mom looked on from the stands than ran down the court in jubilation and jumped into the arms of Glen “Big Baby” Davis. UConn fans remember that reaction after his runner won the 1995 Big East Championship against an Allen Iverson led Georgetown squad. It is his second game winning three this season, both on the road.

Allen said after the game ” As a shooter I know no matter how good or bad I’ve shot in a game I know to just have to stay with it”.

Pierce had 23 points for the Celtics as did Kevin Garnett who also added 11 rebounds for yet another double-double. While Allen only had 14 points on a 4 for 15 night from the field it was the one three pointer he made in six attempts that was the biggest.

Charlotte was led by Richardson who had a game high 25 points, Felton had 18 and UConn grad Emeka Okafor had 15 points and 9 boards and was under the basket when Allen’s shot went through the twine.

With the buzzer beater the Green are now 11-1 and the Bobcats drop to 6-7. The Celtics travel to Cleveland next to play the Cavaliers on Tuesday night.

The Result

UConn had no answer for Pat White and the West Virginia rushing game as the Mountaineers beat the Huskies 66-21 to win the Big East title and a berth in the BCS. The Big East title was the 4th in 5 years for the Mountaineers.

West Virginia showed UConn what big time football was all about today as they dominated the UConn defensive line as they rushed for 516 yards on the ground. 7 of West Virginia’s 9 touchdowns came on the ground.

UConn finishes the season at 9-3 overall and 5-2 in the Big East. West Virginia is 10-1 overall and 6-1 in the Big East. They have one game remaining against Pittsburgh.

Scoring Plays

1^st Quarter

• CON – Lorenzen 7-yard pass to Kanuch – kick good – UConn 7 WVU 0
• WVU – White 3-yard run – kick good – Game tied at 7
• WVU – White 14-yard pass to Reynaud – kick good – WVU 14 UConn 7

2^nd Quarter

• WVU – McAfee 46-yard field goal – WVU 17 UConn 7
• WVU – Slaton 31-yard rush – kick good – WVU 24 UConn 7
• CON – Brown 2-yard rush – kick good – WVU 24 UConn 14

3^rd Quarter

• WVU – White 24-yard rush – kick good – WVU 31 UConn 14
• WVU – Devine 25-yard rush – kick good – WVU 38 UConn 14
• WVU – Williams fumble recovery in end zone – kick good – WVU 45 UConn 14

4^th Quarter

• WVU – Slaton 3-yard rush – kick good – WVU 52 UConn 14
• WVU – Sanders 1-yard rush – kick good – WVU 59 UConn 14
• WVU – Collington 1-yard rush – kick good – WVU 66 UConn 14
• CON – Brown 2-yard pass to Davis – WVU 66 UConn 21

Offensive Player of the Game

West Virginia QB Pat White was 9 of 13 for 107 yards and 1 touchdown and he rushed for 186 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Defensive Player of the Game

West Virginia LB Mortty Ivy had 11 tackles, 3 of them for a loss, 2 sacks and 1 forced fumble.

Turning Point(s) of the Game

Fumble by Jaspar Howard gives West Virginia the ball UConn’s 14 and they score on the first play.

Any chance of a comeback in the 3rd quarter was lost when the UConn center snapped the ball with a lot of velocity that hit Lorenzen and WVU recovered for a touchdown.

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Pedroia, Ellsbury should be Sox’ untouchables [Boston Herald]

In today’s Boston Herald, Steve Buckley writes about who he thinks Theo Epstein should hold onto if trading for Johan Santana from the Minnesota Twins. He would like the Boston Red Sox to keep Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury.

To make this trade happen, I would sadly part with Lester, who will always be an inspiration to us all. I would part with Buchholz, who very likely will emerge as a top pitcher down the road. As for some other very talented kids in the system – Brandon Moss and Justin Masterson, to name a couple – they, too, could be used in a deal for Santana.

Honestly, I think the Red Sox would be crazy to include Buchholz as well. Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield are nearing the end of their careers and the Sox will need to replace them in the rotation. That is if Buchholz makes the rotation this year.

Right now the Red Sox have 6 pitchers for a 5-man rotation. If you picked up Santana for either Lester or Buchholz, you have your 5-man rotation for this year but not years to come. Both Lester and Buchholz have proved that they can pitch in the big leagues so you need to hold on to one of the two.

Remember one thing folks. The Red Sox can also dangle Coco Crisp out there.

Thanks Mike Lowell [38 Pitches]

ABC Gets Creative, Has Eric Cartman Intro The Buffs Starting Lineups [Awful Announcing]

I’M THANKFUL FOR MIAMI HEAT DANCERS [You Been Blinded]

Groundbreaking study finds college students drink a lot on football game days [We Are the Postmen]

JOSH BECKETT: YOU ARE DEAD TO ME [Center Field]

Zack Thomas Cranks Soulja Boy, Induces Laughter [The Big Lead]

“Someone needs to tell the turkey, man, just be yourself.” [Ladies…]

I Want You, Tom. I Want You NOW [Kissing Suzy Kolber]

Separated at Birth #6 [Gridiron Goddess]

Top Ten Tuesdays (A Day Late, Many Dollars Short): Boooooomer [Yankees Chick]

The Over-Statisticalization of Baseball (if that’s a word) [Home Run Derby]

After tying Ty Detmer’s NCAA record with 121 career touchdown passes in a game against Fresno State two weeks ago, Hawai’i QB Colt Brennan finally passed him as his touchdown pass in the 1st quarter against Boise State gave him 122 career touchdown passes.

Brennan played two snaps in last week’s 28-26 win over Nevada due to a concussion suffered in the Fresno State game.

He finished tonight’s game with 5 touchdown passes and now has 126 in his career. He also threw for 495 yards and he rushed for 1 touchdown as the Warriors beat Boise State 39-26 for their first outright WAC Championship.

Tina Charles led four UConn Huskies in double figures with 15 points as the Huskies overcame a slow start to beat the Old Dominion Lady Monarchs 86-43 in the Paradise Jam at the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas.

Charles also added 8 rebounds. Renee Montgomery added 12 points, Kalana Greene had 10 points and freshman sensation Maya Moore rounded the Huskies in double figures with 10 points as well. Senior co-captain Mel Thomas just missed making it 5 Huskies in double figures with 9 points.

T.J. Jordan led the Lady Monarchs (4-1) with 13 points while Shahida Williams added 9 points and 6 rebounds.

If you saw the game, you wouldn’t have thought the final margin was 43 points. Both teams struggled out of the gate and had trouble getting into their offenses. Old Dominion actually was playing a lot better than UConn but they couldn’t pull away. UConn was down by a point at 14-13 before they went on a 9-0 run to go up by 8 points. The Lady Monarchs scored the next 5 points before UConn closed out the first half on a 15-1 run, led by 8 points from Charles, to go into the locker room up by 17 at 37-20.

For the second night in a row, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma lit a fire under his Huskies as they came out firing on all cylinders. A 9-0 run put the Huskies up 48-24. The Huskies continued to pull away as Auriemma emptied out his bench in latter part of the second half.

UConn (4-0) will enjoy a day off on Saturday and then will play in the championship game on Sunday where they will face Brittany Hunter’s old school, the Duke Blue Devils at 8:30 PM. The game will be televised on CPTV here in Huskyland.

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The Boston Celtics won their second game in a row and 10^th in 11 tries as they beat the Los Angeles Lakers 107-94 at the sold out TD BankNorth Garden in Boston on Friday night.

Kevin Garnett had, yep you guessed it, a double-double with 21 points and a game high 11 boards, Kendrick Perkins also had 21 points and added 9 rebounds for the Celtics. Paul Pierce had 20 points, Ray Allen had 18 points and James Posey had 10 points as 5 members of the Green were in double figures.

Kobe Bryant had a game high 28 points and Vladimir Radmanovich had 18 points while the man who should have gone to UConn, Andrew Bynum led the Lakers with 9 rebounds.

With the loss the Lakers are now 7-5 on the season.

The Celtics left after the game for Charlotte where they will face former Husky Emeka Okafor and the Bobcats on the back half of a back-to-back. It’s the start of a two-game road trip that also will take them to Cleveland to play Lebron James and the defending Eastern Conference champion Cavaliers.

Actor’s Donnie Wahlberg and Robert Wuhl, Patriots wide receiver Troy Brown as well as actress Ellen Pompeo and her new husband, music producer Chris Ivery were all at the game tonight.

Want to try your hand at NBA gambling? It can be a lot of fun to place bets with friends, but if you want to have some fun in other sports why not try your luck with Cheltenham betting. Or perhaps checking the grand national runners is more your speed. Just be sure it’s betting for fun!

With the Minnesota Twins saying F you to Johan Santana by offering him a 4-year $80 million extension and Santana wanting at least a 6-year extension, you can expect many teams to get in on the bidding for his services. My initial guesses of teams that will be interested in him are in no particular order, the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and maybe the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Basically, the best offer to the Twins is going to get Santana. The Yankees and Red Sox have the best pieces to offer as far as major league ready talent, which of course the Twins are going to want.

The Twins would probably want Jacoby Ellsbury, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz for Santana. That’s something as a Red Sox fan, you don’t want to happen. The Red Sox do have Coco Crisp they can dangle out there to the Twins as well, especially with Torii Hunter bolting out of Minneapolis faster than stripper grabbing a dollar bill from you. Now if I was Theo Epstein, I would offer the Twins,  Lester, Crisp, and two prospects. The Sox do have some good young talent in the minors in Justin Masterson, Jed Lowrie, Craig Hansen and Michael Bowden.

The Yankees have a plethora of young arms in Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy and Phillip Hughes they can give up for Santana although I’d think the Twins would also want either Robinson Cano or Melky Cabrera to be included.

Two things are going to happen here. The Red Sox don’t want Santana going to the Yankees so they are going to do their best to let that from happening. The Yankees will do the same. So either Santana ends up with one of these teams or another team woes the Twins with an offer better than the Red Sox and Yankees can offer. The Twins won’t wait to move Santana when he might be at his highest value right now. If they don’t trade him, they run the risk of losing him without any compensation other than a draft pick at the end of the 2008 season.

Since I am equal opportunity here, if you were Theo or Yankees GM Brian Cashman, what would you give up for Santana, if anything at all.

Major League pitcher Joe Kennedy has passed away today at the age of 28 at his in-laws home in Florida. The cause of death is not known at this time.

Kennedy had spent the 2007 season with the Oakland A’s, Toronto Blue Jays and Arizona Diamondbacks. He was a free agent this winter. He has also pitched for the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays and Colorado Rockies in his 7 season career.

He made his debut for the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays on May 6, 2001.

My condolences go out to his family and friends.

Update: His agent Damon Lupa released a brief statement:

“The cause of death is unknown at this time,” Lapa said. “The best guess at this point is either a heart attack or a brain aneurysm. The way he died was sudden. There is no reasonable explanation for what happened.”