While I was in a battle with technology the past few days (it won obviously), let’s recap what I missed.

The Boston Red Sox lost to the New York Yankees on Sunday night 4-1. The Red Sox announced that they had fired pitching coach Bob McClure on Monday afternoon. And later in the day, the world’s worst kept secret of Carl Crawford needing Tommy John surgery was made official.

Well, I can’t talk about the game on Sunday because I didn’t see a lick of it. I can tell you the loss pretty much kills any hope the Red Sox had. They needed to have a successful 10-game road trip. They didn’t as they went 4-6 with four of those losses coming to teams they were battling with (Baltimore Orioles and the Yankees).

The firing of McClure shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone. Besides the injuries, the Red Sox pitching, especially from the starters, hasn’t been there all season long. Yes there are bright spots in there but when you look at the overall picture, it’s been subpar.

But is McClure the real reason why the pitching has stunk? Not really.

He’s not the one out on the mound executing the pitches. He’s the one helping them make adjustments when something isn’t working right. So despite the fact he isn’t on the mound, the Red Sox needed a fall guy for the bad pitching and it was McClure.

Sure it’s not probably fair to him but coaches are usually the first one to go when something doesn’t go right.

As far as Crawford goes with the TJ surgery, I wish they hadn’t waited this long. With a potentional recovery of nine months, it’s likely Crawford could miss the first month of the season. Had they not waited, Crawford would have been ready for 2013 because yes folks that’s where we are at in regards to the 2012 season.

There are going to be some fans out there that are pissed that Crawford is going to miss the rest of the 2012 season. I am not one of them.

While I have my reasons above for wanting him to have gotten the surgery earlier, you have to admire him for trying to play through the injury. Obviously his poor 2011 season, his first with the local nine, may have factored into it a little. But he went out there and tried his best to get through things but unfortunately the injury won out.

He was able to get 31 games in this year hitting .282 with three home runs, 19 RBIs and five stolen bases. Basically, he showed us what he can do. Had he been healthy for the entire season, there’s no doubt in my mind that we would have seen the Crawford of old. We saw glimpses of it in the 31 games and remember he was playing hurt.

Obviously this isn’t the way that Crawford and the Red Sox thought how the 2012 would go. But it is what is and now we move forward.

We’ll be back later with today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. So for now, let’s take a look at the overnight links from the media.

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McClure fired by Red Sox [boston globe]

Communication gaps bedeviling Red Sox [boston globe]

Season is over for Crawford [boston globe]

Players, family give their final cheer to legend Johnny Pesky [boston herald]

Club finally facing up to grim reality [boston herald]

Red Sox GM knows bigger fixes needed [boston herald]

Carl Crawford surgery Thursday [boston herald]

Hello, Randy Niemann [boston herald]

Examining the reason the Red Sox fired their pitching coach [rob bradford – weei.com]

First pitch: End of the road for Red Sox [csn new england]

Crawford set for Tommy John surgery Thursday [csn new england]

Red Sox fire pitching coach Bob McClure [csn new england]

Schilling: Social media isn’t helping Sox [espn boston]

McClure out as pitching coach [espn boston]

Highlights from Ben Cherington’s conference call discussing Bob McClure, Carl Crawford [full count]

Deep-sixing the Red Sox [tony massarotti – boston globe]

Bob McClure Not to Blame for Red Sox’ Struggles, But Firing Pitching Coach Is Right Move [nesn.com]

Johnny Pesky’s Passing Honored One Last Time by Red Sox Family (Video) [nesn.com]

Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, Will Middlebrooks Among Red Sox With Unique Charitable Endeavors [nesn.com]

For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England,  ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

photo credit: getty images

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Football links

Preseason 2012 top 25 countdown: No. 10 Lyle McCombs [andrea adelson – espn.com]

DC answered a few questions in his mailbag [desmond conner – hartford courant]

Christen set to kick-off UConn football season [the hour]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Ann Strother Is Back In The Game [john altavilla – hartford courant]

Strother And Hartley Talk A Little 3 on 3 – USA Basketball Style [john altavilla – hartford courant]

ESPN Hoop Gurlz: Engeln To Boston College [john altavilla – hartford courant]

Why Is Diana Taurasi Not Playing In Phoenix? [john altavilla – hartford courant]

U18 Team Wins Gold at FIBA Americas Championship [uconnhuskies.com]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Recruiting Roundup: August 20 [kevin duffy – ct post]

For a mere $10 million you can name UConn’s basketball practice facility [the uconn blog]

Player Profile: Niels Giffey [uconn huskies basketball]

UConn Basketball: The Tradition Continues… [youtube.com]

Other UConn related links

W. Soccer. Skogerboe Leads UConn to 4-2 Win Against Vermont in Season Opener [uconnhuskies.com]

Softball. Alex Gray Announced As New Assistant Softball Coach [uconnhuskies.com]

Baseball. NYC’s top pitcher Zapata verbally commits to UConn [ny post]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

How often do you go to a wedding in Charlotte, NC and there has to be a television so that people are able the Boston Red Sox take on the New York Yankees? Well it happens when one half of the family involved in the wedding are Red Sox fans.

Unlike Friday night when everyone was coming to me for updates, it worked out on Saturday watching the game as Jon Lester continued his resurrection from his career-worst season as the visiting nine beat the Evil Empire 4-1.

After Adrian Gonzalez had gotten the Red Sox a 2-0 lead in the top half of the 1st with a two-run blast off of David Phelps, Lester took to the Yankee Stadium bump and got off to a rough start. He walked Derek Jeter and then allowed a single to Nick Swisher. But he recovered and struck out Robinson Cano, got Andruw Jones to ground out and then struck out Casey McGehee to end the inning.

Lester was strong after that though. The one big mistake he made was when he left a pitch out over the plate that Curtis Granderson blasted out of the park to cut the lead in half at 2-1.

He was tested once again in his final inning of work when Granderson doubled to lead off the 7th. Russell Martin grounded out to move Granderson up 90 feet but Lester got Nix to fly out to short right field keeping Granderson at third. He got out of any further trouble when Ichiro Suzuki grounded out.

The Yankees had another chance in the 8th when Nick Swisher singled off of Andrew Bailey. But Craig Breslow came in and got Cano to ground into a double play to end the inning. Alfredo Aceves worked around a leadoff single by Eric Chavez to preserve the win for Lester and pick up his 25th save in the process.

Before we talk about anything else, here’s an interesting tidbit for you. It had been 125 years since two members of the Yale Bulldogs made up the battery in an MLB game. Well it happened yesterday when Breslow and Ryan Lavarnway made up the Red Sox battery in the 8th inning.

We have to be realistic here. The Red Sox are a longshot to make the playoffs. There’s no doubts about that. Given how the races have gone in year’s past, you can’t rule out anyone within 10 games. The Red Sox are still 6.5 games out of the second wild card but aren’t dead in the water.

They’ll need to play good baseball over the final 41 games of the season. If they do, you can’t rule anything out. A win tonight against the first place team in the division would could go a long way. And it’s up to Josh Beckett to do just that.

We are going dark until tomorrow night since I’ll be in area today and most of tomorrow where there’s no cell service or internet until I fly back tomorrow night. So for now, let’s take a look at the overnight links from the media.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

Sox find some cheer in the Bronx [boston globe]

Farrell not one to discuss speculation [boston globe]

Crawford wants surgery [boston globe]

It’s always sunny side up for Marrero [boston globe]

Ciriaco keeps up clip [boston globe]

By looking better, Lester improves image [boston globe]

Jon Lester all aces as Red Sox win in NY [boston herald]

The need for speed [boston herald]

Report: Shoppach sent text [boston herald]

Red Sox’ Yale contingent helps Jon Lester break through [boston herald]

Daniel Bard battling to return to majors [boston herald]

Red Sox plenty Lucky to have him [boston herald]

Bobby Valentine says he’s not doing a good job [boston herald]

For starters, Sox’ finish not reliant on Carl Crawford [boston herald]

Agent says Carl Crawford will follow club doctor’s orders [boston herald]

Yanks have done it better than Sox [boston herald]

Scary start for Brian Johnson [boston herald]

Pitching woes have ‘X’ in spotlight [boston herald]

Resurgent Lester leads Sox past Yankees, 4-1 [csn new england]

Amid losses and dysfunction, Ross wants to come back to Sox [csn new england]

Red Sox notes: Valentine, Doubront, Johnson, Ortiz [csn new england]

Where was this in the first half from Lester, Gonzo? [csn new england]

Ciricaco (4-for-4) solidifies reputation as Yankee-killer [csn new england]

Report: Shoppach sent text on Gonzalez’s phone [csn new england]

Rapid Reaction: Red Sox 4, Yankees 1 [espn boston]

Sox supportive if Crawford picks surgery [espn boston]

Cherington ‘not itching’ for more trades [espn boston]

Cherington: Sox will recall Bard this season [espn boston]

Ciriaco makes good with bad (pitches) [espn boston]

Results starting to show for Lester [espn boston]

Yale Bulldogs alumni Craig Breslow and Ryan Lavarnway induce key double play as Boston Red Sox beat New York Yankees [espn boston]

Closing Time: Jon Lester dominates, Pedro Ciriaco unstoppable as Red Sox beat Yankees [full count]

David Ortiz Backs Bobby Valentine, Claims Outside Controversy Affecting Red Sox [nesn.com]

Carl Crawford Could Shut Himself Down Soon to Undergo Tommy John Surgery [nesn.com]

Jon Lester Paves the Way for Complete Effort From Red Sox Pitching Staff [nesn.com]

Faith, Hope and Pixie Dust May Not Be Enough to Save Red Sox’ Season [nesn.com]

How Pedro Ciriaco (with an assist from Robinson Cano) became an unlikely Yankees killer [alex speier – weei.com]

For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England,  ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.

And if you must check out the enemy news, head over to the ESPN New York, New York Daily News, New York Post, New York Times and The Journal News websites. You can also check out our Bloguin brother, NYY Stadium Insider.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

photo credit: reuters pictures

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Football links

Mike Osiecki glad to be back at UConn; St.Louis leaving [jim fuller – new haven register]

It didn’t take Osiecki long to return to UConn football [ct post]

Safety Stlouis To Leave UConn, Pasqualoni Says [hartford courant]

Brief respite does world of good for Mike Osiecki [new haven register]

Sea alum McCombs to lead UConn in sophomore season [ny post]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Ann Strother named the U.S. 3×3 squad [jim fuller – new haven register]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Lamb, Drummond Learning About The NBA Life, On and Off The Court [dom amore – hartford courant]

Other UConn related links

M. Soccer. No. 4 Men’s Soccer Ends Preseason With 0-0 Draw Against Stony Brook [uconnhuskies.com]

Now as good a time as ever to end UConn-Boston College cold war [new haven register]

M. Ice Hockey. Participation In NHL Camps Likely To Boost UConn Hockey [hartford courant]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.