UConn Women’s Basketball links

Gampel turns 20 [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Dolson delivers [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Practice makes perfect [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Auriemma Expresses Compassion For Michala Johnson [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Huskies Riding The Rails [Rich Elliott – Connecticut Post]

Trains … not planes or automobiles [Vickie Fulkerson – The Day]

No. 1/1 Women’s Basketball Heads To Villanova Saturday [UConnHuskies.com]

UConn women go ‘old-school,’ taking train to Philadelphia [Connecticut Post]

UConn Women Headed To Philly By Train [Hartford Courant]

With budgets tight, UConn women travel by train [The Republican-American]

UConn in a battle of ‘Cats and dogs [The Daily Campus]

GA grads Doty, Carey set for showdown [PhillyBurbs.com]

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My apologies for not posting this in the morning. I’ve had internet connection issues with my laptop all day long. I got on earlier to post the new Boston Red Sox batting hat for 2010 but then it crapped out again. It finally seems to be fixed so now we can move forward with the UConn Huskies links.

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Guess what folks, the Boston Red Sox have another hat to wear this season. Only this one will be worn during batting practice.

I kind of like it but I’m more of a traditionalist so I’ll stick with my “B” cap. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

You can see the rest of the new batting practice caps for all 30 teams by heading over to the MLB Shops.

Given the way the UConn Huskies shot the ball in the first half, it was probably a good thing head coach Jim Calhoun wasn’t around. He would have probably blown a gasket or two. But I’d have to think he would be proud of their second half effort.

A second half that saw the Huskies miss just nine shots (17-of-26) helped them to a 75-59 win over the St. John’s Red Storm in front of 14,213 at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. on Wednesday night.

The win for the Huskies (12-6, 3-3 Big East) ends a three-game losing skid while Norm Roberts’ squad falls to 12-6 (2-4).

With Calhoun shelved for the time being with an undisclosed illness, associate head coach George Blaney took the helm. It’s not the first time he’s done this as he improves to 5-3 while Calhoun is out. As a program, UConn is 18-4 without Calhoun on the bench.

Jerome Dyson led the way for the Huskies with 21 points and had six rebounds and five assists.  Stanley Robinson chipped in with 18 points and a game-high nine rebounds. He also had three blocked shots.  Point guard Kemba Walker played one of his finer games this season as he had 17 points and six assists.

D.J. Kennedy led the Red Storm with 19 points and seven rebounds. The only other member of the Johnnies in double-digits was Dwight Hardy, who came off the bench to score 12 points.

St. John’s started out quickly racing out to a 5-2 lead and were behind 13-11 early on. Trailing 21-15, the Huskies went on a 6-0 run to tie the game. Two straight three-pointers by Dyson gave the Huskies a 31-25 lead which shrunk to three points at the half (31-28).

The Huskies started out hot in the second half as they went on an 11-4 run that pushed the lead to 10 at 42-32. UConn’s defense held strong as St. John’s was never able to get any closer than seven points the rest of the way.

The difference in the coaching styles isn’t too much. Calhoun’s a yeller, Blaney isn’t. And that was evident on Wednesday night.

Although they shot the ball like crap in the first half, they looked a little more relaxed. This is more than likely due to the fact they didn’t have to look over their shoulder when they made a mistake. They ran their offense and played good defense. Had they done what they did in the second half in the first half, they would have won this game by 30 easily.

The Huskies will need to play a complete 40 minutes on Saturday when the No. 1 Texas Longhorns come to Gampel Pavilion for a nationally-televised non-conference matchup. The game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. and will be shown on CBS.

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It’s game day for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team as the St. John’s Red Storm come to the XL Center for a Big East matchup.

The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast locally here in Connecticut on My-TV9 and SNY (where available). If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can listen to the game on the WTIC/UConn Radio Network.

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As we found out earlier on Tuesday, UConn Huskies men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun has taken a temporary medical leave of absence.

And if this report from Luke Winn of SI.com is true, then the reason why Calhoun is taking a break is due to some stress-related health issues.

A program source told SI.com that Calhoun’s issue, this time, is stress-related, and that he needed time away from basketball for his health to stabilize. He’ll miss Wednesday’s game against St. John’s, with associate head coach George Blaney taking over the team and the source said it was likely, but not yet certain, that Calhoun wouldn’t be on the sidelines for Saturday’s home game against No. 1 Texas, either.

If true, this is good to hear. Hopefully this is something that will take care of itself in the coming days so that we can see Calhoun back roaming the sidelines sooner rather than later.

Something also tells me we might see a different UConn team than we have this season.

The Huskies usually are a little more relaxed when Calhoun isn’t coaching. This is probably because they know they won’t get yanked since Blaney’s coaching style is a little different than Calhoun’s.

This isn’t to say Blaney isn’t a good coach because he’s a fine coach and has the experience to lead the Huskies.

Just like Allstate, they are in good hands with Blaney.

With Boston Red Sox GM Theo Epstein having wrapped up 3 of the 4 arbitration-eligible players on the team, the lone remaining holdout is outfielder Jeremy Hermida.

According to Ed Price of Fanhouse, the two sides exchanged figures with Hermida asking for $3.850 million and the Red Sox offering $2.950 million.

The next step in the process is to have a date set for an arbitration hearing. But I honestly don’t think it will get that far. Just because the two sides didn’t reach an agreement doesn’t mean they’ll necessary go to arbitration.

They can still work out a deal and avoid Theo’s first arbitration hearing while being the GM of the Red Sox. My guess is they met somewhere in the middle.

The University of Connecticut officials announced on Tuesday afternoon that Huskies head coach Jim Calhoun will be taking a temporary medical leave effective immediately.

Here is the statement from the school:

University of Connecticut Head Men’s Basketball Coach Jim Calhoun will take a medical leave of absence from his head coach position, effective immediately, it was announced Tuesday.

The following is a statement from University of Connecticut Health Center physician Peter Schulman, M.D., Jim Calhoun’s primary care physician:

“It is my recommendation that Coach Calhoun take a medical leave from his coaching position to address some temporary medical issues, none of which involve any previous medical conditions that he has dealt with.”

The following is a statement from UConn Director of Athletics Jeffrey A. Hathaway:

“Our primary concern is Coach Calhoun’s health and his complete recovery. We will do everything possible to support Coach during this time. Jim and I both know that the men’s basketball program is in very capable hands under the leadership of Associate Head Coach George Blaney.”

Hopefully it’s nothing to serious and we’ll see Calhoun back on the sidelines quickly. Best wishes on a speedy recovery Coach Calhoun.

It looks as though Boston Red Sox GM Theo Epstein won’t be heading to arbitration with closer Jonathan Papelbon as they have come to terms on a 1 year, $9.35 million dollar deal.

Rob Bradford of WEEI.com was the first report the two sides were close to a deal while Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com was the first to report the terms.

We still haven’t heard if Jeremy Hermida, Manny Delcarmen and Ramon Ramirez have come to deals to avoid an arbitration hearing. But I would suspect that they won’t be going to arbitration and we’ll be hearing about the details in the coming hours.

Papelbon made $6.25 million last season and continues to set the bar for arbitration-eligible closers.

Update: According to Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com, the Red Sox also came to terms with Delcarmen and Ramirez. Declarmen will get $905,000 while Ramirez will get $1.15 million.