Jonathan Papelbon: “They Don’t Pay Me To Think”

Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon was one of the early arrivals to spring training this year. He’s got a fat new contract of $12 million in his last arbitration contract before hitting free agency.

Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Jonathan Papelbon reacts after striking out Baltimore Orioles batter Josh Bell for the last out of the game in the ninth inning of their MLB American League baseball game in Baltimore, Maryland September 2, 2010. He’s got former Chicago White Sox closer Bobby Jenks down there in the bullpen with him. With Jenks under contract for 2012 and Daniel Bard waiting in the wings, it would appear the writing is on the wall that this could be the last season we see the outgoing closer in a Red Sox uniform.

He’s coming off a season where he was 5-7 with a 3.90 ERA and 37 saves. But he did blow eight saves last year.

But as Papelbon tells Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston, he’s not paid to think.

“They don’t pay me to think,” Papelbon said here Monday morning, one of the early arrivals in camp. “If I’m a thinker, then I’m not a closer. That’s the way I look at it, man. I don’t think, man, I just do. Sometimes that gets me into trouble.”

“I realize my situation,” he said. “I realize the possibilities that could and could not happen, and I accept them and I move on. I’ll go out and try and win a championship. When that’s all said and done, whatever happens, happens.”

This will definitely be an interesting season down in the Red Sox bullpen. With Jenks and Bard down there, you have to wonder if skipper Terry Francona will give them a chance if Paps blows one.

Hopefully with the improved offense and the other bullpen additions, Papelbon will be able to just go in and throw strikes and not have to think. It’s probably better for all of us here in Red Sox Nation if he didn’t.

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Photo credit: Reuters Pictures

J.D. Drew Still Battling Hamstring Issues

Boston Red Sox's J.D. Drew hits a two-run home run in the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Sunday, Oct. 3, 2010, in Boston

On Sunday in his weekly baseball notes, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe wrote that Boston Red Sox right fielder J.D. Drew was still battling some hamstring issues.

He had some lingering hamstring issues this offseason and may be slowed up a tad to start spring training. The Sox have Ryan Kalish ready to go as Drew’s eventual replacement in right field, as this is the last season of Drew’s five-year, $72 million contract. He gave indications last spring that this could be his last year in baseball but backed off that when he felt healthy during the season. He still appears to have something left in the tank at age 35, going into his 14th season.

On Monday night, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com caught up with Drew via the phone and confirmed what Cafardo reported. Here’s what Drew had to say about his lingering hamstring issues.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a major issue when I get to camp, but there are going to be some questions from me when I get there to make sure that thing is good,” Drew explained. “I’m kind of in the process now of doing some light running to see where I’m at. It feels better than it did, but that being said, baseball speed is a lot different workout speed.”

“I’ve had the whole offseason trying to figure out what direction we have to go to heal it up. It seems to feel a little bit better with exercise and things like that. We’ll see where it ends up when I get down to camp,” Drew said. “But that thing really bugged the heck out of me for the whole second half of the season. It was extremely painful. It wasn’t like it was blown out or anything, but it wouldn’t allow me to extend it out to run like I wanted to. I dealt with it. Day games were really brutal on it because getting out of bed and trying to get warmed up for a one o’clock game was really tough. I was able to manage most of the night games.

“I’m hoping it will be a non-issue, but that being said it is aggravating because it is one of those things that has lingered. It’s just in a spot that doesn’t get a lot of blood flow. It’s not the belly of the hamstring, but just the attachment point. It gets irritated and when it does it’s extremely painful when trying to run down fly balls and running down the line. That being said, it is a lot stronger than it was during the season, so hopefully that will help overcome some of the issue when I get into camp and we can ease into things are good and go from there.”

Let’s hope Drew is right when he says the hamstring won’t be a major issue. But as everyone who’s had a hamstring issue at some point in their life, they just don’t go away. So it is concerning that it’s still bothering him with the spring training right around the corner.

Photo credit: AP Photo

Video: Nomar Impressed With 2011 Red Sox

Former Boston Red Sox shortstop and current ESPN baseball analyst Nomar Garciaparra is very impressed with the 2011 Red Sox as evidenced by his words in the video below.

2011 NCAA Men’s Basketball Rankings – Week 14 (Feb. 7)

After going 1-1 last week, the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team has fallen four spots to No. 10 in the latest AP Poll and two spots to No. 9 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. The top five remains the same in both polls.

Joining the Huskies from the Big East in the top 10 of both polls are the Pittsburgh Panthers (4/4), Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8/7) and the Villanova Wildcats (9/10). Also in the top 25 from the Big East are the Georgetown Hoyas (11/11), Syracuse Orange (12/13), and the Louisville Cardinals (16/15).

The West Virginia Mountaineers are ranked No. 25 in the AP Poll but are the first team receiving votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. The Cincinnati Bearcats are among the others receiving votes in the AP Poll while the Marquette Golden Eagles are among the others receiving votes in both polls.

For a full look at both polls, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

AP Top 25					ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll
RK	TEAM	REC	PTS	PREV	RK	TEAM	REC	PTS	PREV
1	Ohio State (65)	24-0	1,625	1	1	Ohio State (31)	24-0	775	1
2	Kansas	22-1	1,519	2	2	Kansas	22-1	732	2
3	Texas	20-3	1,509	3	3	Texas	20-3	721	3
4	Pittsburgh	21-2	1,438	4	4	Pittsburgh	21-2	678	4
5	Duke	21-2	1,341	5	5	Duke	21-2	642	5
6	San Diego State	23-1	1,259	7	6	San Diego State	23-1	614	6
7	Brigham Young	22-2	1,212	8	7	Notre Dame	19-4	575	8
8	Notre Dame	19-4	1,185	9	8	Brigham Young	22-2	564	9
9	Villanova	19-4	1,047	12	9	Connecticut	18-4	496	7
10	Connecticut	18-4	1,040	6	10	Villanova	19-4	495	12
11	Georgetown	18-5	1,009	13	11	Georgetown	18-5	447	14
12	Syracuse	20-4	919	17	12	Purdue	18-5	401	10
13	Wisconsin	17-5	790	19	13	Syracuse	20-4	369	17
14	Purdue	18-5	754	11	14	Wisconsin	17-5	361	18
15	Arizona	20-4	630	21	15	Louisville	18-5	350	13
16	Louisville	18-5	604	15	16	Arizona	20-4	273	22
17	Florida	18-5	534	NR	17	Utah State	22-2	257	21
18	Kentucky	16-6	519	10	18	Kentucky	16-6	246	11
19	Missouri	18-5	511	14	19	Florida	18-5	243	23
20	North Carolina	17-5	461	23	20	Missouri	18-5	234	15
21	Utah State	22-2	347	22	21	North Carolina	17-5	165	NR
22	Texas A&M	17-5	231	16	22	Texas A&M	17-5	128	16
23	Vanderbilt	16-6	128	23	23	Saint Mary’s	20-4	64	NR
24	Temple	17-5	110	NR	24	Vanderbilt	16-6	39	24
25	West Virginia	15-7	93	25	25	Minnesota	16-7	37	20
Dropped out:					Dropped out:
Minnesota 18, Washington 20					Washington 19, Illinois 24
Others receiving votes:					Others receiving votes:
Minnesota 88, Wichita State 29, Coastal Carolina 26, Cincinnati 22, Saint Mary’s 22, Alabama 21, George Mason 19, Washington 15, Marquette 12, Xavier 12, Florida State 11, Belmont 5, Illinois 5, UCLA 5, UNLV 5, Baylor 4, Colorado State 2, UTEP 2, Tennessee 2, Missouri State 1, Duquesne 1, Cleveland State 1					West Virginia 29, Temple 27, Washington 21, Coastal Carolina 15, George Mason 13, Xavier 13, Wichita State 12, UCLA 9, Alabama 8, Florida State 6, UTEP 4, Illinois 3, Virginia Commonwealth 3, Marquette 2, Valparaiso 2, UNLV 2

Moore, Dolson Sweep Big East Honors

The University of Connecticut's Stefanie Dolson, Caroline Doty and Maya Moore celebrate after a late second-half basket by Kelly Faris in their Big East game against DePaul at Gampel Pavilion. UConn cruised to the win, 89-66.

We all know how good UConn Huskies women’s basketball senior All-American Maya Moore is. And on a nightly basis, she goes out there and shows the Big East teams and the rest of the country just how great she really is.

For the seventh time this season, Moore has been honored as the Big East Player of the Week. The seven wins by Moore ties former Louisville Cardinals player Angel McCoughtry and former Husky Nykesha Sales for the most all-time. Moore has won the award 11 times in her career.

Stefanie Dolson continues to get better each and every game and for her efforts last week, Dolson was named the Big East Freshman of the Week.

In UConn’s 2-0 week, Moore averaged 31.5 points, 10 rebounds and 6.5 assists while Dolson averaged 14.5 points and nine rebounds.

In the 87-51 win over the Duke Blue Devils, Moore had 29 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. In that game Dolson added eight points, 12 rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots. In the 89-66 win over the DePaul Blue Demons, Moore had 34 points, 11 rebounds and six assists while Dolson had a career-high 21 points to go along with six rebounds.

Moore, Dolson and the rest of the UConn women are back in action on Tuesday night when they head to Morgantown, WV to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be nationally-televised on CBS College Sports.

Photo credit: Cloe Poisson – Hartford Courant (No. 11)

Walker Named Top-10 Finalist For Bob Cousy Award

Springfield, Mass. – The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts announced today that UConn junior guard Kemba Walker (Bronx, N.Y.) has been named one of the final-ten candidates in consideration for the 2011 Bob Cousy Award.

Walker leads the team with 4.2 assists per game. This annual award is given to college basketball’s top point guard and is named after Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic great Bob Cousy. An original list of 70-plus candidates made up of players from around the country was trimmed by a Hall of Fame appointed, nationally based committee to 20 and has now narrowed that list to a final ten.

“This final list of ten players represents the best of the best in college basketball at the point guard position,” said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Basketball Hall of Fame. “We look forward to recognizing the nation’s top college basketball point guard and wish all the candidates best of luck.”

“We have many excellent candidates for the 2011 award that share Mr. Cousy’s vision of a point guard. We look forward to following each of these players as the season heads to the final weeks and recognize the top player in college basketball at the point guard position at the Final Four,” said Ken Kaufman, Chair of the 2011 Bob Cousy Award.

Walker has led Connecticut to a No. 6/7 national ranking and an 18-4 record. UConn currently sits at 6-4 in the BIG EAST. Walker ranks second in the BIG EAST and sixth in the nation at 23.2 points per game. On the season, he’s averaging 5.3 rebounds and 4.2 assists. Walker also ranks second in the BIG EAST with 2.0 steals per game.

Beginning February 8, via the Bob Cousy Award’s website – www.cousyaward.com – fans will be able to vote for the top point guard. The player that receives the most fan votes will receive one vote toward the final committee vote. Fan voting will run one month – beginning February 8 and will conclude March 8.

For a full look at the finalists, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

The current listing of ten finalists for the 2011 Bob Cousy Award will be narrowed down to five players by March 10th. The final five players in contention for the award will be presented to Mr. Cousy and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee. These Hall of Fame committees are made up of top college basketball personnel including media members, head coaches, Sports Information Directors and Hall of Famers. The winner of the 2011 Bob Cousy Award will be awarded at the Hall of Fame’s Class Announcement on Monday April 4th in Houston, Texas as part of NCAA Final Four weekend.

2011 Bob Cousy Award Finalists

Norris Cole Cleveland State
Corey Fisher Villanova
Jimmer Fredette BYU
DJ Gay San Diego State
Brandon Knight Kentucky
Demetri McCamey Illinois
Mickey McConnell St. Mary's
Nolan Smith Duke
Isaiah Thomas Washington
Kemba Walker Connecticut

Lamb Earns Second Straight Rookie of the Week Honors

UConn Head Coach Jim Calhoun lectures Jeremy Lamb as the UConn men's basketball team squeaked by Seton Hall 61-59.

While Kemba Walker has been struggling for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team, freshman guard Jeremy Lamb has continue to step up his game. And for his efforts last week, Lamb was named the Big East Rookie of the Week for the second straight week.

Lamb averaged 16 points and 5.5 rebounds during UConn’s 1-1 week.

In the 66-58 loss to the Syracuse Orange, Lamb led the Huskies with 22 points and had four rebounds and five steals. In Saturday night’s 61-59 come-from-behind win over the Seton Hall Pirates, Lamb contributed 10 points and pulled down seven rebounds.

Lamb and UConn men will be back in action on Thursday night when they head to the Big Apple to take on the St. John’s Red Storm at Madison Square Garden. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be nationally-televised on ESPN.

Photo credit: Bettina Hansen – Hartford Courant

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Paw Prints – The Daily UConn Roundup – 2/7

Paw Prints The Daily Roundup

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

Fairfield vs. UConn: It Will Happen [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Kids These Days: Geno Auriemma On The Rigors Of Recruiting [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Moore, Dolson Lead Huskes; Geno Likes Where They Are [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Geno Talks AAU Trips to McDonald’s and Recruiting [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Auriemma pleased with progress [New Haven Register]

Huskies hitting stride at right time [Norwich Bulletin]

UConn women surging at right time [The Republican-American]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Jim Calhoun Asks, Huskies Answer [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]