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 some of the other sports. 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.

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

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team as they will close out the regular season with a game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Gampel Pavilion. Game time is scheduled for 2 p.m. and it will be nationally-televised on ESPN. The game will also be available online at ESPN3.com. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the WTIC/UConn Radio Network.

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UConn Men’s Basketball links

Big East’s top player? Take your pick [Gavin Keefe – The Day]

Calhoun delivers a few zingers [Gavin Keefe – The Day]

Kemba Walker And Big East Player Of The Year [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]

Jim Calhoun Talking Big East, Notre Dame [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]

Mike also answered a bunch of questions in his mailbag [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]

Walker, Beverly, Okwandu ready for Senior Moment [Neill Ostrout – CT Post]

Kemba will walk, but will he leave UConn? [CT Post]

UConn Men Host Notre Dame In Home Finale [Hartford Courant]

UConn Men’s Senior Day Honorees [Hartford Courant]

Fond farewell? [Journal Inquirer]

A junior will get his senior moment today [New Haven Register]

Walker uncomfortable with ‘senior’ status [The Day]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Geno reacts to Middle Tennessee tragedy [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

It’s been a rugged road to the top for Huskies [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

USF star recalls rivalry with UConn’s Tiffany Hayes [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Busy Friday for UConn recruits [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Geno Talks About Tiffany Hayes [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Time To Talk About The Big East’s Future Venue. Will It Be XL? [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Are The Huskies Resented In The Big East? [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

UConn Freshman Were Forced To Find Home Away From Home [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Here’s an alternate ending to Senior Night [Lee Lewis – The Republican-American]

Auriemma Miffed By Chester’s Placement [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Auriemma Discusses Locker Room-Gate [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Auriemma Quick To Pass Out Credit For Success In Speech [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Learning from the locker room banishment [Roger Cleaveland – The Republican-American]

Video View: Big East Awards Press Conference Friday In Hartford [Shawn Courchesne – Hartford Courant]

Hartley: Freshman of the Year didn’t come easy [Vickie Fulkerson – The Day]

Hartley Big East’s top freshman as UConn sweeps major awards [CT Post]

‘Bird At The Buzzer’ The Definitive Women’s Basketball Tale [Hartford Courant]

Top-ranked UConn women have spring in their step [Journal Inquirer]

Maya makes it 3 with 3; UConn star named Big East’s top player [New Haven Register]

UConn takes home all of Big East’s hardware [The Day]

UConn Football links

Big East mailbag [Brian Bennett – ESPN.com]

Other UConn related links

W. Soccer. Women’s Soccer Announces 2011 Recruiting Class [UConnHuskies.com]

Softball. Softball Starts Out Strong at Buzz Classic With 9-4 Victory [UConnHuskies.com]

Softball. Softball Wins Fourth Straight With 11-6 Victory Over Alabama State [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Ice Hockey. Garcia And Evelyn Earn All-Hockey East Honors [UConnHuskies.com]

Boston Red Sox @ New York Yankees 7:10 p.m Steinbrenner Field, Tampa, FL SP: Clay Buchholz vs Bartolo Colon TV: NESN, YES, MLB Network Radio: WRKO-680 AM

Evening Red Sox News From The Fort – 3/4 [SOX & Dawgs]

While the Boston Red Sox are getting ready to play the New York Yankees tonight in Tampa, FL, it was a busy day back in Ft. Myers.

Josh Beckett took the mound for a three-inning simulated game and by all accounts, it was a success and he remains on track for his start on Tuesday.

“I felt good,” he said. “It’s a sim game. There’s just not a lot of adrenaline and stuff that goes into that. But I like it when the guys go up there and swing. [It] gives you a little bit of feedback one way or the other. It’s hard to get a lot of feedback if the guys don’t swing, just not a lot of things that correlate to a game unless you have a little bit of something going on.”

It’s good to see Beckett back out there already. This could have been a lot worse.

Here are the lineups for tonights’s game that will be broadcast on NESN in the Red Sox television market and YES in the Yankees television market. It will also be broadcast on MLB.tv.

Also scheduled to pitch for the Red Sox: RHP Brandon Duckworth, LHP Randy Williams, RHP Matt Albers, RHP Tony Pena Jr.

Also scheduled to pitch for the Yankees: LHP Pedro Feliciano, LHP Manny Banuelos, RHP Mark Prior, LHP Andy Sisco.

To continue reading, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

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Merloni is finally a lineup regular [Boston Globe]

Beckett throws, A-Gon hits, everyone A-OK [Boston Herald]

Prospects good for SS [Boston Herald]

What do A-Gon, ‘04 Red Sox pitcher have in common? [Clubhouse Insider]

Red Sox, Lee County building a home [Clubhouse Insider]

Gonzalez takes 80 swings, faces live pitching [CSNNE.com]

Beckett: ‘I’m pretty much back to normal’ [CSNNE.com]

Beckett ‘felt good’ throwing simulated game [Extra Bases]

Lester lined up for Opening Day [Extra Bases]

Cashman: Aceves could not get healthy [Extra Bases]

Red Sox break ground on new spring stadium and complex [Extra Bases]

Minor Details Ep. 10: Peter Gammons on Red Sox prospects [Full Count]

Carl Crawford on the Yankees: ‘I don’t think they were really interested’ [Full Count]

Adrian Gonzalez takes another step forward [Full Count]

Josh Beckett ‘pretty much back to normal’ [Full Count]

Send Jerry Remy a Question to Be Answered During Red Sox-Yankees Spring Training Game [NESN.com]

Curt Young Believes Red Sox Rotation Can ‘Match Up With Anybody,’ Including the Phillies [NESN.com]

Gary Tuck Receives High Praise for His Contributions to Red Sox [NESN.com]

Mark Wagner looking to bounce back from lost year [Projo Sox Blog]

Report: Sox, Rays discussed Martinez for Crawford trade [Projo Sox Blog]

Josh Beckett threw 40 simulated pitches, on track to start Tuesday [Projo Sox Blog]

Red Sox-Yankees rivalry picks up for 2011 [RedSox.com]

A head’s up about concussions [RedSox.com]

Gonzalez takes first BP with Red Sox [RedSox.com]

Beckett encouraged by simulated game [RedSox.com]

Red Sox break ground on new spring home [RedSox.com]

HARTFORD, Conn. – The No. 1 University of Connecticut women’s basketball team was well represented when the 2011 Major Awards were announced by the BIG EAST at a press conference on Friday afternoon at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. Geno Auriemma was named Coach of the Year, Maya Moore was honored as the Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Bria Hartley earned Freshman of the Year honors.

Auriemma led the Huskies (29-1, 16-0) to their ninth undefeated conference season and the 19th BIG EAST Regular Season Championship in the last 23 years. Auriemma takes home the award for the fourth-consecutive year and the 10th time overall. Auriemma, who is in his 26th season at UConn, enters BIG EAST Tournament play with a 764-123 overall record and a 58-9 mark during the BIG EAST Tournament. Connecticut has won 16 Tournament titles since 1989.

Moore wins the BIG EAST Player of the Year award for a record-tying third time in her career. She was the first freshman in the history of the league to earn the award and also took home the honor during her sophomore season. A Husky has now earned BIG EAST Player of the Year in each of the last four seasons and 17 times in the last 23 years. Moore joins former Husky star Kerry Bascom (1989, 1990, 1991) and former Villanova standout Shelly Pennefather (1985, 1986, 1987) as the only players to earn the prestigious award three times.

Her second-consecutive BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year nod is equally impressive as Moore will receive a $2,000 scholarship as the women’s basketball winner and an additional $2,000 as the female scholar-athlete, making her total award $4,000. She will join Rebecca Lobo as the only two-time winners of the women’s basketball award and she will be just the third player to win both the basketball and female awards in the same year (Leigh Curl of UConn in 1985 and Ruth Riley of Notre Dame in 2001).

Moore was recently named the Capital One University Division All-American of the Year by the College Sports Information Directors of America for the second-consecutive year as well. The Lawrenceville, Ga. native who sports a 3.7 GPA in an individualized major of sports media promotion, is a three-time Academic All-America pick.

Hartley becomes the 11th Husky to be named BIG EAST Rookie of the Year. The Rookie of the Year has worn a Connecticut uniform in four of the last six years. Hartley was named BIG EAST Rookie of the Week six times this season and she the only freshman to make the All-BIG EAST Second Team. She and classmate Stefanie Dolson were unanimous All-Rookie Team picks.

2010-11 Big East Women’s Basketball Regular Season Awards

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 some of the other sports. 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.

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 Women’s Basketball links

Hartley and fellow frosh learned a tough lesson [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Geno on the incoming freshmen [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Mailbag: What [Else] Do Miss Maya And Diana Taurasi Have In Common? [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Freshmen Respond After Being Kicked Out Of Locker Room [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Auriemma Chats Up the Incoming Players [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Video View: Geno Auriemma After Practice Thursday [Shawn Courchesne – Hartford Courant]

Video View: Maya Moore And Tiffany Hayes After Practice Thursday [Shawn Courchesne – Hartford Courant]

Hayes, Moore named to all-Big East women’s first team [CT Post]

Moore, Hayes On Big East First Team [Hartford Courant]

Hayes joins Moore as first team All-Big East selection [New Haven Register]

Hayes rises to meet great expectations for UConn [The Day]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Boatright in Houston [David Borges – New Haven Register]

Walker, Beverly, Okwandu and Rich To Be Honored [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]

Oriakhi’s free throw adventure at West Virginia [Neill Ostrout – CT Post]

Here are your end-of-the-season Big East scenarios [The UConn Blog]

Notre Dame hopes to remain hot against UConn Saturday [CT Post]

UConn Men Don’t Want To Say Bye To A Bye [Hartford Courant]

UConn men’s notes: Kemba piling up the minutes [The Day]

UConn Football links

DC answered a few questions in his mailbag [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Other UConn related links

Softball. Softball Hits The Road at Georgia Tech Buzz Classic [UConnHuskies.com]

I got an email from Brad Clemens about a new unofficial anthem for Red Sox Nation. It’s entitled “I am Red Sox Nation” and features the music of Brad Clemens, Jeff Clemens and Jabe Beyer.

Take a listen and let me know what you think. You can also leave a comment for them on their site as well.

{mp3remote}http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16799954/RED%20SOX%20NATION%20mix6.mp3{/mp3remote}

Photo credit: Banging Away Music Blog

While the Boston Red Sox didn’t end up with a win in their Grapefruit League game against the Philadelphia Phillies, they did get some good news before the game.

That good news is the fact that Josh Beckett has been cleared medically to resume baseball activities. He’ll throw a three-inning simulated game in the bullpen on Friday and should be okay to make his next start on Tuesday. He also showed a little sense of humor this morning when he presented Ino Guerrero with a crossing guard vest.

In the game, the Red Sox couldn’t get anything going against the Phillies pitchers who made the trip from Clearwater, FL. They mustered just one hit off of four Phillies pitchers. Mike Cameron had the only hit of the afternoon and it came against Cole Hamels who looks like he’s ready to start the 2011 season.

The Red Sox used eight pitchers and the only one to allow a run was Stolmy Pimentel who gave up two runs on three hits and a walk with a strikeout.  Dan Wheeler allowed two hits in his inning of work while Andrew Miller gave up one hit with a strikeout.

Bobby Jenks made his Red Sox spring debut and allowed just a hit. Jason Rice walked one but had two strikeouts with Rich Hill throwing a perfect inning.  Michael Bowden, who is out of options, walked two and struck out one. Blake Maxwell rounded out the Red Sox pitchers by striking out one in his inning of work.

The Red Sox will make a trip north on Friday night as they had to Tampa to take on the New York Yankees. Clay Buchholz is expected to make the start and he’ll be caught by Jason Varitek. Jed Lowrie, Darnell McDonald, Jose Iglesias, Lars Anderson and Ryan Kalish will also make the trip. The Yankees will counter with one-time Red Sox pitcher Bartolo Colon.

And you’re in luck if you live in the Red Sox or Yankees television markets or subscribe to MLB.tv as the game will be broadcast on NESN in the Red Sox television market. YES will carry the game in the Yankees television market.

If all goes according to plan tomorrow, I do plan to do a gameday thread.

To continue reading, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

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Phillies GM Amaro believes Red Sox are “the best team in baseball’ [Clubhouse Insider]

Jenks: ‘It actually went a little better than I expected’ [Clubhouse Insider]

Red Sox-Phils: Prelude to October? [CSNNE.com]

Jenks satisfied with Red Sox debut [CSNNE.com]

Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz admits he’s curious about what it’d be like to play for the New York Yankees [ESPN Boston]

Jenks makes spring debut [ESPN Boston]

Big news from the Fort . . . [Extra Bases]

Red Sox cut ticket prices for March 8 game [Extra Bases]

Reyes ready to take the mound [Extra Bases]

Ruben Amaro believes the Red Sox are the team to beat [Full Count]

David Ortiz: ‘I enjoy baseball now. What a difference.’ [Full Count]

Bobby Jenks Feels Better Than Expected After Red Sox Debut Against Phillies [NESN.com]

Amaro impressed with rebuilt Red Sox [RedSox.com]

Beckett to simulate outing on Friday [RedSox.com]

Yankees Put Rivalry Aside When Tragedy Struck the Red Sox [Wall Street Journal]

For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSNNE,  ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal and WEEI websites.

Photo credit: AP Photo