There is a little bit of news out of Red Sox Nation on this cold, wintry day here in New England.

Daisuke Matsuzaka is currently working out in Southern California and will be holding a press conference at 5:30 EST. If I find anything after the press conference is held, I will be sure to update everyone.

Theo Epstein pulled another fast one on the media of Boston. Seems our beloved General Manager is a married man. A few years back, he snuck out of the Red Sox offices in a gorilla suit. Well this time, he managed to keep his marriage to Marie Whitney a secret. It was first reported that Epstein and Whitney got married on Coney Island at the original Nathan’s Famous hot dog stand. This report was not true. Epstein’s father, Leslie, confirmed the nuptials to the Boston Globe. He also kept the details of his honeymoon a secret and this could have been the reason for the long delay in getting J.D. Drew deal done.

Manny Delcarmen, whose name recently came up in trade talks again, had this to say about playing for his hometown Red Sox:

“I love playing for the Red Sox. The Red Sox are my hometown team. They’re the team I rooted for growing up, but it doesn’t bother me that other teams are interested in me. I think it would be worse if you found out that there are teams that don’t have interest in you.”

Technorati: Boston Red Sox, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Theo Epstein, Manny Delcarmen

@ DePaul at 9:00 PM. The game will be broadcast locally on CW 20

In a great turn of events, UCONN Police have seized a gray Nissan Armada that had front-end damage consistent with what the police were expecting. Police haven’t said whether or not this is the vehicle used that caused Carlee Wines death nor have they released who the owner of the vehicle is.

Carlee Wines passed away last Monday from the injuries she suffered in the hit and run accident. Wines was laid to rest in New Jersey yesterday.

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

In Mel Thomas’ homecoming, UCONN held on in the end to win against the Cincinnati Bearcats 70-60. The Huskies were led by reigning Big East Player of the Week, Kalana Greene, who had 20 points and 7 rebounds. Thomas didn’t disappoint her friends and family by adding 14 points, including a perfect 5 for 5 from the free throw line. The Bearcats were led by Emy Ogide and Carla Jacobs, who both scored 12 points. Michelle Jones,a teammate of Thomas in high school, added 11 points for the Bearcats.

UCONN fell behind 6-0 but then they went on a 19-0 run to take the lead in the first half. Thomas had 2 three pointers to lead the Huskies with 9 points at the half as they led by 12 at the break. Both teams took care of the ball well in the first half with UCONN committing only 5 turnovers and the Bearcats committed 7.

The second half was a different story as Cincinnati fought and clawed to stay close to the Huskies. UCONN went cold and couldn’t make any shots and Cincinnati was. Cincinnati actually took the lead 56-55 with 6:17 to go. UCONN kept it close and regained the lead on a Renee Montgomery 3 point shot with 4 minutes to go and never looked back. They held the Bearcats scoreless for the last 5 minutes of the game.

• The starters were Montgomery, Thomas, Greene, Charles, and Houston.
• Kalana Greene was named the Big East Player of the Week for games played 1/22 to 1/28. She is the first UCONN player to win that award this season.
• Charde Houston only played 4 minutes in the game. It is not known why she played so little but I can only venture a guess that Coach Geno Auriemma wasn’t happy with her effort. It even may have been a carry-over from practice this week. But as I said, right now only Geno and staff know why Charde played so little.
• Brittany Hunter did not play in the game tonight. It was the first time in 6 games that she didn’t play.
• Mel Thomas’ parents bought around 130 tickets for the game. Mel probably had around 200 people there tonight watching her including her former high school team. Of course they might have been there to watch Michelle Jones too.
• Tina Charles injured her shoulder in the first half but returned to action. She was in foul trouble most of the game and fouled out with 6 minutes left.
• Because of Charles’ foul trouble, Kaili McLaren had to play more minutes and she didn’t disappoint. She had 8 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks.
• Renee Montgomery had 14 points in the game, including the game clinching 3 pointer. She also had a sweet block in the second half.
• UCONN’s free throw shooting percentage was an astounding 88% in the game. They were 15 of 17 from the line. The only misses were by Tina Charles.
• UCONN was actually out-rebounded in the game by 2 rebounds. Cincinnati is one of the better rebounding teams in the Big East and the country and it showed during the game.
• The win was the 700th in the history of UCONN’s Women’s basketball.

A gritty win by the Huskies. They showed that if they are in trouble on the road, they indeed can recover and win. I am sure Thomas had some nerves but she really didn’t show it. Unfortunately for Mel, this will be the only time she plays in her hometown unless Geno Auriemma has a game scheduled against Xavier next season.

With the win, the Huskies move to 19-2 (9-0 in the Big East) on the season. Next up for the Huskies is another road game as they travel to Marquette on Saturday to take on the Golden Eagles. Game time is 8 PM and as usual the game is on CPTV here in Connecticut.

Technorati: UCONN Huskies, Geno Auriemma, Mel Thomas, Big East, Cincinnati Bearcats, women’s basketball

The talks between the Colorado Rockies and the Boston Red Sox involving Todd Helton are officially dead. The reason, the Red Sox will not give up Manny Delcarmen or Craig Hansen along with Mike Lowell and Julian Tavarez. This reluctance caused the Rockies to pull out of negotiations.

The Sox would have been willing to give up one of the prospects had Colorado “shown them the money.” A source close to the Red Sox front office said that the Rockies offer of paying upwards of $40 million dollars wasn’t “anywhere near as much as is being reported.”

Rockies Owner Charlie Monfret had this to say:

“This is not a trade that we were anxious to complete, but we are always exploring ways to improve our team. Discussions like these regarding a player of Todd’s talent and character are never easy, and it’s not surprising we were not able to reach an agreement. Todd has been and will continue to be an important part of our franchise, and we can’t wait to see him with the rest of the Rockies in Tucson.”

As I had stated before, I had mixed feelings about this trade rumor. I would have been willing to give up Delcarmen had the price been right. But with the offer not being anywhere close to what the Red Sox would have wanted, I am glad they didn’t pull the trigger.

Hopefully this is the last of the trade rumors, unless the rumor involves the Red Sox getting a closer, before spring training starts in a few weeks. Of course then we will have to deal with the annual Manny Ramirez “I want to be traded” speech that he gives annually at spring training.

Technorati: Todd Helton, Colorado Rockies, Theo Epstein, Boston Red Sox