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UConn Football links

Checkin In With Former Husky Dan Davis [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

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

UConn Women’s Basketball links

UConn women to face Irish twice in 2010-11 season [SOX & Dawgs]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

UConn men net German recruit [CT Post]

Former UConn star Adrien to run basketball camp in Newtown [Danbury News Times]

Germany’s Giffey Commits To Huskies [Hartford Courant]

Other UConn related links

UConn baseball posts team’s best season [Mansfield Today]

Women’s Volleyball: Strauss-O’Brien Reveals 2010 Volleyball Campaign [UConnHuskies.com]

On a normal night at Fenway Park, Felix Doubront would have been the center of attention seeing how he was making his MLB debut for the Boston Red Sox against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night. But it was far from anything normal as Manny Ramirez returned to the scene of the crime so to speak.

And oh yeah by the way, another ghost of Red Sox past just happened to be in the house sitting in the Green Monster seats. Any ideas? I’ll give you a hint. He’s accused of using steroids and played in New York. Give up?? Ok, it was Roger Clemens.

Of course no one knew Clemens was coming to the Fens except for NESN’s Peter Gammons who hinted at a probable appearance by the Rocket. Anyways, enough of past. Let’s focus on the present here.

If Doubront had any nerves in his first start, he wasn’t showing them in his first two innings. He started the game with a strikeout of Matt Kemp and set down the next five batters he faced. He ran into problems in the third though.

After Ronnie Belliard started with a double, Doubront made an error fielding a throw from Youk that allowed Belliard to score. A Jamey Carroll sac bunt, Kemp triple and a Russell Martin groundout tied the game up at three. He did settle down after that allowing just a walk to Martin over the next two innings.

But a 36 minute wait after the offense got seven runs in the 5th was the downfall of Doubront as the Dodgers started with three straight hits that netted two runs to cut the deficit to five at 10-5. After a walk to Belliard, Doubront exited the field to an ovation from the Fenway Faithful.

From there, Scott Atchison was spectacular. Ironically enough, Atchison’s job was spared when Doubront was called up and he rewarded them with three perfect innings including five strikeouts. Dustin Richardson ran into a little trouble but Daniel Bard bailed him out to pick up his third save of 2010.

Offensively the Red Sox are clicking right now.

David Ortiz continues to swing a hot stick as it was his two-run homer that got offense going. It was his only hit of the night and he ended up walking three times. Oh by the way, the home run by Big Papi was the 274th of his Red Sox career which ties him with Manny for fifth all time in Red Sox history.

And Adrian Beltre added another one of his “marriage proposal” home runs off one knee. And Dustin Pedroia continues to see his average rise as he had another two hits to run his hitting streak to eight games.

The one bad thing that came from last night’s game was a hamstring suffered by J.D. Drew. He’s scheduled to undergo an MRI at some point today. He did have a home run that came after a review by the umpiring crew.

We’ll be back later with this afternoon’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups, news and any links from the day.

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

And if you must check out the enemy papers, you can head over to the LA Daily News, LA Times and Orange County Register websites.

On a night where Manny Ramirez made his return to Fenway Park, another former member of the Boston Red Sox also made his return.

During the pre-game show, NESN’s Peter Gammons had said Roger Clemens may be making an appearance at the game as his friend had left him four Green Monster seats. And wouldn’t you know it, Clemens actually showed up.

It turns out Clemens is in town to play in a celebrity golf tournament tomorrow and his friend got four tickets for the game for him to enjoy. And according to all of the Boston media members on Twitter, Clemens will not be talking to the media.

It’s a celebrity filled night at Fenway as Rhianna, who happens to be the girlfriend of Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp and Tommy Lasorda are also in attendance.

Los Angeles Dodgers @ Boston Red Sox 7:10 p.m. Fenway Park – Boston, MA SP: Carlos Monasterios vs Felix Doubront TV: NESN, MLB Network, MLB.tv Radio: Red Sox Radio Network

Afternoon Red Sox Delight – 6/18 [SOX & Dawgs]

After sweeping the Arizona Diamondbacks out of Fenway Park, the Boston Red Sox will welcome their former left fielder Manny Ramirez and the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game interleague set. This is Manny’s first trip to Fenway Park since being traded to the Dodgers in 2008.

Tonight’s game will start at 7:10 p.m. and will be shown on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Dodgers television market, you can catch the game on FSN Prime Ticket. The game will also be on the MLB Network but only if you live in the Chicago White Sox or Washington Nationals television market.  If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2010 Red Sox radio network.

On any other night, the MLB debut of Felix Doubront would be a big story. But with Manny in the house for the first time, Doubront comes in under the radar just a little bit. Doubront started the season with the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs where he was 4-0 with a 2.51 ERA in eight starts. Since his promotion on May 20th to the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox, he is 2-1 with a 1.08 ERA in four starts.

Carlos Monasterios is a Rule 5 draft pick by the New York Mets from the Philadelphia Phillies who was then traded to the Dodgers who kept him on the roster. He’s made 16 appearances (five starts) for Joe Torre this season and is 3-1 with a 2.98 ERA. He’s never faced the Red Sox in his career.

Keep reading for lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and pregame links.

No one on either team has faced Doubront or Monasterios.

With Doubront being called up, a roster move had to be made. The causulty of the Doubront’s promotion was Boof Bonser, who was designated for assignment.

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Video: Manny being Manny Top 10 [SOX & Dawgs]

Video: Manny “pets” Julian Tavarez [SOX & Dawgs]

Video: Manny being Manny [SOX & Dawgs]

Five things about Felix Doubront [Boston Globe]

Take a bow, Manny Ramirez, and then go away [Boston Herald]

Meet Felix Doubront [Clubhouse Insider]

Pregame notes: Manny, Dice-K update, Boof out [Clubhouse Insider]

Sox talk: Terry Francona [CSN New England]

Run Prevention U leads majors in runs [ESPN Boston]

Welcome back to baseball [Extra Bases]

Bonser off roster [Extra Bases]

Torre happy to be back at Fenway [Extra Bases]

Number Crunch: Hitting Vs Closers [Full Count]

Does Red Sox Nation Miss Manny Ramirez? [NESN.com]

Red Sox Ready to Finish What Celtics and Bruins Started [NESN.com]

The Four Reasons for the Red Sox’ Recent Resurgence [NESN.com]

Jonathan Papelbon Shuts Down Diamondbacks, Earns Amica Pitcher of the Week Honors [NESN.com]

Dodgers Fans Think Boston Should Show Appreciation of Manny Ramirez [NESN.com]

Bubba Bell Beats Josh Reddick in Game of Topps Attax (Video) [NESN.com]

Daniel Nava Trying to Stay on an Even Keel Despite Hot Start [NESN.com]

Bonser to be DFA’ed to make room for Doubront [Projo Sox Blog]

Hermida still making slow progress [Projo Sox Blog]

Matsuzaka on schedule to be activated next week [Projo Sox Blog]

Just like they did during the 2009-10 season, the two-time defending national champion UConn Huskies women’s basketball team will face the Notre Dame Fightin’ Irish twice during the upcoming 2010-11 season. In previous years, the Huskies had faced Rutgers twice.

The Big East also released the home/away opponents for the 2010-11 women’s basketball season and here’s how it breaks down for the UConn women:

Home – Notre Dame, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, Syracuse, Villanova

Away – Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Georgetown, Providence, Rutgers, St. John’s, USF, West Virginia.

If you’d like to see how the rest of the league breaks down, head over to the Big East Women’s Basketball website.

I would expect the full 2010-11 UConn Huskies women’s basketball schedule to be released in late August or early September.

Are you wondering if you’re going to be getting the Los Angeles Dodgers vs Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park on Saturday afternoon?

Well if you are, here’s the breakdown regionally for Saturday’s MLB on FOX Games:

Los Angeles Dodgers at Boston Red Sox – 72%
Announcers: Joe Buck, Tim McCarver & Ken Rosenthal

MARKETS INCLUDE: Albuquerque, Austin, Birmingham, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Dayton, Denver, Fort Myers, Greensboro, Greenville, Hartford, Houston, Jacksonville, Knoxville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Providence, Raleigh, Richmond, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, Tulsa, West Palm Beach

Minnesota Twins at Philadelphia Phillies – 19%
Announcers: Kenny Albert & Eric Karros

MARKETS INCLUDE: Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Philadelphia

Chicago White Sox at Washington Nationals – 8%
Announcers: Dick Stockton & Bert Blyleven

MARKETS INCLUDE: Chicago, Indianapolis, Washington

A special thanks to Ken of Fang’s Bites for passing along the press release to me.