It’s a very light link day in relation to the Boston Red Sox as the eyes of RSN are on Mike Lowell and where he will end up. It seems as though the only two offers on the table are from the Red Sox and our rivals to the south in the Bronx. The Yankees want Lowell to be their first baseman while obviously the Sox want him to play third. The Red Sox offer is 3-yrs $36-39 million while the Yankees are offering 4-yrs at $52 million. This makes the decision even harder I am sure for Lowell because that’s a lot of money to leave on the table. In other Red Sox free agent news, Matt Clement is drawing interest from the Padres and Diamondbacks and the Red Sox are still interested in re-signing Doug Mirabelli.

Lowell and behold, decision looms [Boston Herald]

Yankees, Red Sox Still Competing Over Lowell [Hartford Courant]

D-Backs interested in free-agent pitchers [Arizona Republic]

For more headlines and stories, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Providence Journal, and Hartford Courant websites.

This Week

The New England Patriots visit their AFC East rival Buffalo Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, NY. Kickoff is at 8:15 p.m. for the nationally televised Sunday night contest.

The Patriots are 5-0 on the road this season, 3-0 in the AFC East and 7-0 in the conference. The Bills are 3-2 at home, 3-1 in the AFC East and 5-3 in the conference.

The Patriots beat the Bills in their previous meeting this year 38-7 at “The Razor” on September 23rd.

Here are the rosters for the Patriots and Bills.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo Sports is Patriots -16. The over/under is 46.5.

My prediction is Patriots 38, Bills, 17. Give the points and take the over. I am 8-1 against the spread and have called the over/under seven out of nine times in 2007.

Tickets

The Bills 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 in the Buffalo make sure you check out the links.

Here is the current weather forecast for Buffalo from weather.com

Click for stadium directions, parking, stadium information and a Ralph Wilson Stadium seating chart. Here is some information on the Buffalo area.

If you’re going to the game and you want to show Buffalo how great Patriots fans can be here’s your chance. The Buffalo Bills will host the Annual Gift of Warmth Collection prior to the November 18th game against the New England Patriots. All donations will benefit the Salvation Army’s Buffalo Area Services.

Monetary donations and NEW warm clothing items such as hats, scarves, and gloves will be collected at all gates by volunteers from the Salvation Army’s Buffalo Area Services, M&T Bank, Buffalo Jills, Empire Vision, and Student Leaders.

If you give make sure you tell them you’re a Pats fan and you’re glad to help.

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

NBC is televising the game, it is the national Sunday Night Football Game. The play-by-play duties will be handled by Al Michaels with John Madden doing game analysis. The entire country gets the game along the NBC Network.

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 and Andy Gresch and the pregame show at 5 p.m. along the network.

The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours.

Check this out for the low down on the Patriots Rock Radio Network and stations in your area.

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 Bills radio call is available on Channel 126.

The game will also be broadcast nationally by Westwood One. Dave Sims and BobTrumpy will call the game. Find a Westwood One station near you.

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

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are shortening their name to the Tampa Bay Rays. The devil is thrilled to no longer be a part of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Wade Boggs helped the Rays unveil new uniforms and politely turned down the team’s request to pitch.

A survey shows that it costs a family of four $453.95 to attend a Lakers game. Another survey shows that there is no such thing as a family of four in Los Angeles.

A Minneapolis real estate magnate expressed a desire to buy the Minnesota Timberwolves and pursue his love of amateur athletics.

When ESPN’s Barry Melrose said the area around New Jersey’s hockey arena was unsafe, he upset the local fans so much that they mugged him.

Dallas center Mike Modano broke Phil Housley’s NHL record for career points by an American-born player. With seven. Being the best American hockey player is almost as cool as being the best Canadian baseball player.

Losing their final Orange Bowl game 48-0 was so embarrassing for the Miami Hurricanes, they have downgraded their mascot to the Tropical Storms.

Steve McNair has soreness in his non-throwing shoulder. Which could be either shoulder.

And the NFL will block 70% of U.S. households from watching the New England Patriot’s final game by restricting the broadcast to its own cable channel. Luckily for fans, Bill Belichick will be taping it.

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

The UConn Huskies used their size and athleticism to get past the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs 78-66 to move on to the finals of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic benefiting Coaches vs Cancer at Madison Square Garden.

The Huskies were led by A.J. Price who had 18 points to go along with 10 assists. Stanley Robinson also had a double-double for the Huskies as he scored 12 points and had 10 rebounds. Doug Wiggins finished off the Huskies in double figures as he scored 13 off the bench. The Runnin’ Bulldogs were led by Thomas Sanders who had a game-high 20 points and 14 rebounds. Grayson Flittner added 16 points to the cause.

It was the Price scoring show in the first half as he had 17 of his 18 points. UConn got out to a 6-0 lead before the Bulldogs would battle back to 10-9. UConn would then go on a 10-0 run to go up by 11 points before Gardner-Webb threw together a 9-0 run of their own to get back within two points. The Huskies then went on a 13-2 run and eventually went into the locker room at the half with a 14-point lead at 41-27.

Instead of scoring in the second half, Price did his best to share the wealth. UConn got it’s lead up to 56-38 when Hasheem Thabeet made a layup forcing the Runnin’ Bulldogs to call time. After the timeout, Gardner-Webb cut the lead down to 11 points before the Huskies said enough is enough. UConn went up by 24 points with 10:48 to go in the game as they put together a 13-0 run. The Huskies were able to hold on down the stretch and survive the late run by the Runnin’ Bulldogs to take the game.

It was a game dictated by the referees as it seemed every time down the floor they would blow their whistles. Both teams combined for 50 fouls in the game with the Runnin’ Bulldogs committing 29 of those. Most of their first half, their key guys were in foul trouble.

UConn now awaits the winner of the Oklahoma/Memphis game that is going on right now. Game time is tomorrow night at roughly 8:30 PM or 30 minutes after the finish of the consolation game and will be on ESPN2.

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From the Associated Press:

Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees have agreed to the outline of a $275 million, 10-year contract, a deal that potentially would allow him to earn millions more if he sets the career home-run record.

The amount of the guaranteed money was revealed by a person familiar with the negotiations who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because the deal hasn’t been finalized. A-Rod met Wednesday in Tampa, Fla., with the Steinbrenner brothers but the parameters of the deal were set in place last weekend.

“Yeah, I could say that,” Yankees senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner said. “The meeting was a final get-together. He wanted to make sure myself and my brother knew that he was sincere and serious.”

The Yankees still must draft the agreement with Rodriguez’s agent, Scott Boras.

The pieces are starting to fall in place for our rivals to the south. And with the report the Yankees have offered Mike Lowell a 4-year deal, the Yankees are starting to look like the favorites right now in the AL East. But it’s still early in the offseason and many things can change before the start of spring training.

From Dan Roche of WBZ in Boston:

Mike Lowell has a major decision to make.

WBZ’s Dan Roche has confirmed the free agent third baseman has drastically different offers from the Red Sox and the Yankees on the table.

Roche has learned the Red Sox have a firm offer of a three-year contract worth $36-to-$40 million.

The Yankees have offered the World Series MVP a four-year deal, worth $56-to-$60 million, according to Roche. But they would like him to play first base, if they re-sign Alex Rodriguez to play third.

Well as we have heard throughout the day today, most of the reports of the other teams giving him 4-year deals were not true. So you have to wonder how true this report really is.

If this report is true, that is a huge difference in salary, 4 years at $14-15 million or 3 years at $12-13 million. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that the Yankees deal is better. Or is this a case of the Yankees getting back at the Red Sox for driving up the price of Bernie Williams contract way back when?

Looking for the latest news on MLB betting this season? You can find it at betfair.com! Whether you are new to betting odds or a veteran, there’s sure to be something for you! You can also bet on Grand National odds if horse racing is your cup of tea!

Barry Bonds has been indicted by the federal grand jury in San Francisco on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice charges.

Barry Bonds was indicted Thursday for perjury and obstruction of justice, charged with lying when he told a federal grand jury that he did not knowingly use performance-enhancing drugs. The indictment unsealed Thursday against baseball’s home-run king culminated a four-year investigation into steroid use by elite athletes.

Barry Bonds was indicted Thursday for perjury and obstruction of justice, charged with lying when he told a federal grand jury that he did not knowingly use performance-enhancing drugs.

The indictment unsealed Thursday against baseball’s home-run king culminated a four-year investigation into steroid use by elite athletes.

“During the criminal investigation, evidence was obtained including positive tests for the presence of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing substances for Bonds and other athletes,” the indictment read.

So what does this mean for the career home run record that he broke along with any other records that he’s broken. I am sure that contract with the Washington Wild Things is looking good right about now.

Here is a copy of the indictment handed down against Bonds.

It’s a really slow sports day folks and the weather is absolutely miserable up here in Connecticut but we press forward.

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Jake Peavy was the unanimous winner of the 2007 NL Cy Young. He received all 32 first place votes and finished with 160 points. Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon Webb finished second with 94 points and Dodgers pitcher Brad Penny was third with 14 points. Reds pitcher Aaron Harang and Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano rounded out the top 5.

Peavy was the top pitcher in the National League as he won pitching’s version of the triple-crown. He led the league in wins with 19, he had an ERA of 2.54 and had 240 strikeouts.

Peavy was the first unanimous winner since Randy Johnson in 2002 and also joins Roger Clemens as the only pitchers to win the Cy Young without throwing a complete game.

The next set of awards will be announced on Monday when Alex Rodriguez will more than likely be named the AL MVP. The National League MVP will be announced on Tuesday.

Word on the street is that four teams (Yankees, Angels, Cardinals, Braves) have offered Mike Lowell 4-year contracts in the $55-60 million range. Theo Epstein says that the Sox are still in contact with the Levinson brothers, Lowell’s agents but the Levinson’s haven’t commented about anything. The Red Sox also announced their schedule yesterday and we as we all know now, they will be opening up the season in Japan against the Oakland A’s.

They may be without the services of Daisuke Matsuzaka though as his wife is due on March 25th and they haven’t decided whether or not the baby will be born in Japan or in the United States. The other big news out of Boston yesterday was that the Red Sox decided to raise their ticket prices 9% in order to help them compete with the Yankees, who will probably be re-signing Alex Rodriguez now. For a complete look at all the news, let’s check out the links below from the Boston area media.

Japan or bust [Boston Herald]

Lowell move twofold? [Boston Globe]

Sox ticket prices are taking a hike [Pro Jo]

Sox win, fans pay [Boston Herald]

Citing needs on field, Fenway, Sox raise ticket costs 9% [Boston Globe]

Complete 2008 Schedule

For more headlines and stories, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Providence Journal, and Hartford Courant websites.