St. Bonaventure University officials have announced that three of their students are being questioned about their involvement in the hit-and-run death of UCONN student, Carlee Wines. Wines succumbed to injuries sustained in the January 20th crash on January 22nd.

The three male students at the school are a freshman, the alleged driver of the vehicle, another freshman and a sophomore. The alleged driver has withdrawn from the school.

It is nice to see the UCONN Police and other officials working very hard to find the people responsible for this horrific accident. Just the other day, they had announced they had seized the car, they think might have been used.

If you have any information regarding the accident, you are asked to call UCONN Police at 860-486-4800.

Technorati: Carlee Wines

Courtesy of Deadspin, who first posted this video over on their site, I bring to you Daisuke Matsuzaka’s commercial for Ashai Beer.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=5gkn4bAdHx0

Technorati: Daisuke Matsuzaka, Dice K, Ashai Beer, Boston Red Sox

Here is a look at the UCONN Football Schedule for 2007. The times of the games haven’t been announced yet. UCONN will play 7 games at home again in 2007.

*Denotes Big East Game

Note: Dates Are Subject To Change As BIG EAST Television Partners Make Game Selections

Technorati: UCONN Huskies, UCONN Football

I apologize for not getting this posted this earlier today, but as is life, things come up and you have to take care of personal business. Anyways most of you have probably read the news I am about to post and if you haven’t then you can continue reading. If you have, sorry to make you read it again.

Daisuke Matsuzaka held a press conference in California yesterday after working out. He has been over here in the United States for the past few weeks getting ready for the 2007 season. Matsuzaka did offer his apologies to Japanese baseball as yesterday was the first day of Spring Training in Japan.

Matsuzaka was seen sporting some Nike digs, which his agent Scott Boras announced that Matsuzaka will be sponsored by Nike this year. Cha-Ching!!!!

Turns out Dice K had been doing some research of his own on hitters in the American League. He had bought some MLB magazines over in Japan to read about the hitters he will be facing. John Farrell, the new Red Sox Pitching Coach, has also been out to observe his new disciple and also provided Matsuzaka with some video tapes (probably DVD) of the AL East hitters he will be facing. Odds are he will face each team in the AL East at least 3 times, so getting to know the hitters might be a good thing.

The translator this time was much better than from the press conference when his signing was announced. The translator will be with him all season. Thank God!!! Because after last time and getting the real translation, we really did miss out with what he was saying. Dice K was particularly happy with the vegetables and fish that he has found to his liking in California.

“One of the things I was most worried about in coming over here was obviously the food. But to my surprise, I found the vegetables are great, the fish tastes great. So far, so good. I’ve been able to lead a comfortable few weeks here.”

Matsuzaka also said he plans to show up to Ft. Myers for Spring Training four days early. He also stated he is a little worried about adjusting from a 6 man to a 5 man rotation. Dice K, I am sure you will do just fine. There are also off days that factor in at times, so indeed you may pitch on different rest now and again.

Jon Lester has already arrived in Ft. Myers to being training for the 2007 season. This is great news as he is recovering from the cancer that was found back in September. Right now, he is at 208 lbs, only 7 lbs from his targeted goal of 215. As far as what the Red Sox will allow him to do, hasn’t really been decided yet. But whatever the club wants, I am sure he will follow.

This is just great news for Sox fans everywhere. Lester back in camp already, Dice K coming in early as well. What are the odds Manny shows up on time? 100-1 perhaps.

Technorati: Boston Red Sox, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Scott Boras, John Farrell, Jon Lester, Theo Epstein, MLB, MLB Spring Training

Draelon Burns, who scored 26 points, helped the DePaul Blue Demons survive a late UCONN run and defeat the Huskies by the final score of 66-58. Wilson Chandler added 14 points to go along with 9 rebounds while Sammy Mejia added 10 points. UCONN was led by Jerome Dyson, who scored 16 points. Jeff Adrien added yet another double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

The first half was rather ugly as both teams really couldn’t get much done offensively and had trouble keeping control the ball. UCONN led for most of the first half until DePaul went on a 9-0 run to go up by 5 points with a minute to go in the first half. Craig Austrie added a layup to cut the lead to 3 points but Burns hit a 3 point shot at the buzzer that seem to set the tone for the second half.

DePaul came out in the second half with the momentum from Burns shot to end the first half and got out to a 20 point lead. With about 11 minutes to go in the game, UCONN started to chip away at the lead and got it down to 3 points with about a minute and a half to go. But a Chandler dunk took the sails down for the Huskies. DePaul made their free throws down the stretch for the final margin of 8 points.

Notes and Observations:

• The starters were Austrie, Johnson, Robinson, Thabeet, and Adrien.
• Austrie made just his first start of the season and scored 9 points.
• Calhoun called his first timeout a minute into the game as no one rotated back to cover the break out pass. He was pissed.
• Jerome Dyson, who now looks like Michael Strahan, lost a tooth and cracked another one in half as he dove for a loose ball and hit the floor. He did return to action to lead the Huskies in scoring.
• Amazing stat of the night. UCONN was 12 of 14 (85.7%) from the foul line. It is too bad the rest of their game play sucked tonight.
• One thing I did like is that when they got down big, they went to a pressing defense. I really think that this is something that they should be doing all game.
• UCONN was 2 of 9 from 3 point land. Man do we miss Rashad Anderson.

I could sit here and totally rip the Huskies for the way they are playing. But there really is no need to. They are a young and inexperienced team. Let’s hope that they use this season as a building block for years to come as Rip Hamilton did back during the ’96-’97 season. It was a similar season to this one except we don’t have Rickey Moore and Kirkland King getting in trouble for taking airline tickets.

If the season were to end today, UCONN would not be a part of the 12 team Big East tournament. Makes me wonder if I should rename the poll in the sidebar. With the loss, UCONN falls to 13-8 (2-6 in the Big East). Next up for the Huskies is a date on Saturday versus the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers at the Hartford Civic Center. Game-time is 12:00 Noon and the game will be broadcast locally on FOX 61.

Technorati: UCONN Huskies, Jim Calhoun, DePaul Blue Demons

Here is a little more news on the happenings of the beloved Boston Red Sox on what is now a blustery cold afternoon here in New England.

Curt Schilling, who announced he will pitch in 2008, has come out and said that he would like to get an extension done with the Red Sox before the start of the season. Schilling’s agent, Schilling himself, has stated he doesn’t want a cloud of distractions surrounding him or the Red Sox because of his decision.

Theo Epstein, if you are reading this and are back from your honeymoon, please get a deal done with Schilling. If you’re hesitating to get a deal done because he only announced he would pitch in 2008, why not ask Curt if he wants to pitch after that. In all honesty, I’d rather see you pay Schilling than give Roger Clemens a fat contract for half the time. Schilling has given his heart and soul to this team and Red Sox Nation. It wouldn’t surprise me if Curt is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, that he will ask to go in with a Red Sox cap. He doesn’t even want a raise. So Theo as Larry the Cable Guy says, “Git-R-Done!”

Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe is reporting that J.D. Drew isn’t officially on the Red Sox 40 man roster because his contract isn’t improved by MLB. This is just a formality as it takes time for the paperwork to be processed. It is strange to me though that Drew signed his contract on Friday and Barry Bonds signed his on Monday yet Bond’s new contract was rejected by MLB. Bud Selig must like Bonds more than he does the Red Sox. Edes also makes an excellent point. “The Red Sox will have to remove someone from their 40 man roster.”

So the question is, who gets dumped? My guess is it will be 1 of the 25 pitchers on the 40 man roster.

On the arbitration front, the Red Sox still have one case remaining. That is with our 4th outfielder, Wily Mo Pena. The two sides are still far apart. Pena made $1.25 million last season and is asking for $2.2 million. The Red Sox are offering $1.725. Obviously the Sox are meeting Pena in the middle but he seems to think he is worth the full $2.2 million. Wily, you haven’t played a full season in the bigs yet and yet you want more money. You should be happy that the Red Sox would even give you a raise. In Epstein’s history as GM of the Red Sox, no player has ever gone to arbitration. So WMP, let’s keep it this way.

Technorati: Boston Red Sox, Boston Globe, Curt Schilling, Theo Epstein, J.D. Drew,Baseball Hall of Fame, Wily Mo Pena