It’s game day for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team as they are at Madison Square Garden for the SEC/Big East Invitational. The No. 14/12 Huskies will take on the No. 4/4 Kentucky Wildcats at 9:30 p.m and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can listen to the game on the WTIC/UConn Radio Network.
| AP Top 25 | ESPN/USA Today Poll | ||||||
| 1. | Connecticut (40) | 7-0 | 1000 | 1. | Connecticut (31) | 7-0 | 775 |
| 2. | Stanford | 6-0 | 957 | 2. | Stanford | 6-0 | 742 |
| 3. | Notre Dame | 7-0 | 900 | 3. | Tennessee | 7-0 | 699 |
| 4. | Tennessee | 7-0 | 895 | 4. | Notre Dame | 7-0 | 669 |
| 5. | LSU | 6-0 | 770 | 5. | Texas A&M | 6-0 | 627 |
| 6. | Baylor | 7-1 | 724 | 6. | Baylor | 7-1 | 578 |
| 7. | Duke | 7-1 | 713 | 7. | Florida State | 8-0 | 551 |
| 8. | Xavier | 7-0 | 709 | 8. | Xavier | 7-0 | 547 |
| 9. | Ohio State | 9-1 | 693 | 9. | Ohio State | 9-1 | 543 |
| 10. | Texas A&M | 6-0 | 663 | 10. | Duke | 7-1 | 498 |
| 11. | North Carolina | 6-1 | 645 | 11. | North Carolina | 6-1 | 486 |
| 12. | Florida State | 8-0 | 603 | 12. | LSU | 6-0 | 478 |
| 13. | Georgia | 8-0 | 559 | 13. | Georgia | 8-0 | 396 |
| 14. | Arizona State | 6-1 | 468 | 14. | Arizona State | 6-1 | 380 |
| 15. | Pittsburgh | 7-0 | 377 | 15. | Pittsburgh | 7-0 | 318 |
| 16. | Oklahoma | 6-2 | 356 | 16. | Oklahoma | 6-2 | 252 |
| 17. | Texas | 5-3 | 269 | 17. | Vanderbilt | 8-1 | 221 |
| 18. | Vanderbilt | 8-1 | 258 | 18. | Maryland | 8-1 | 209 |
| 19. | Virginia | 6-2 | 254 | 19. | Virginia | 6-2 | 178 |
| 20. | Dayton | 8-1 | 175 | 20. | Dayton | 8-1 | 175 |
| 21. | Michigan State | 5-3 | 143 | 21. | Texas | 5-3 | 149 |
| 22. | California | 4-3 | 142 | 22. | California | 4-3 | 127 |
| 23. | Kansas | 5-2 | 141 | 23. | Nebraska | 8-0 | 71 |
| 24. | Nebraska | 8-0 | 131 | 24. | Michigan State | 5-3 | 69 |
| 25. | Maryland | 8-1 | 82 | 25. | Syracuse | 8-0 | 56 |
| OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES | OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES | ||||||
| Georgia Tech 81, DePaul 73, Wisconsin-Green Bay 47, James Madison 40, Hartford 19, Syracuse 18, Oklahoma State 14, West Virginia 14, Illinois 12, Gonzaga 11, St. John’s 10, Temple 7, Texas Tech 7, Miami (FL) 4, Middle Tennessee State 4, Mississippi State 4, Kentucky 2, TCU 2, Louisiana Tech 1, Louisville 1, Rutgers 1, St. Bonaventure 1, | DePaul 54, West Virginia 44, Hartford 24, Temple 24, James Madison 20, Iowa State 17, Kansas 14, Gonzaga 11, East Carolina 10, Louisville 10, Vermont 8, Wisconsin-Green Bay 8, Southern Methodist 6, St. John’s 6, Gardner-Webb 5, Kentucky 5, Georgetown 4, Miami (FL) 3, St. Bonaventure 3, San Diego State 2, Bowling Green 1, Liberty 1, Northwestern 1, | ||||||
| Dropped From Rankings | Dropped From Rankings | ||||||
| DePaul 21, Georgia Tech 23 | DePaul 23, Louisville 25 | ||||||
It’s sad day for the fans of Peter Gammons who has decided to leave ESPN after the Baseball Winter Meetings to pursue other opportunities.
“My decision to leave ESPN and move on at this point in my life has been conflicted. I owe a great deal of my professional life to ESPN, having spent more than half of my 40 years in journalism working for the network, and the choice to move on was made with nothing but the strongest feelings for the people with whom I worked. ESPN gave me a great deal more than I gave it, and will always be a huge part of who I am.”
I’ve always been a fan of Gammons and that’s not just because he’s a Boston guy. He’s always provided valuable insight and was one of the most trusted in the business.
The MLB Network came in last year and hurt ESPN’s baseball coverage. I’m pretty sure this could kill it. Gammons will be moderating the Sports Roundtable at Fenway Park as part of the events for Hot Stove Cool Music on January 9, 2010.
Update: Gammons will be joining the MLB Network and will also be doing work for NESN and NESN.com.
After spending half a billion dollars last offseason on their way to their first World Series title in ages, it seems as though the New York Yankees aren’t content with just the one.
The Yanks have made the first big splash in the AL East as they were part of a three team deal that netted them center fielder Curtis Granderson from the Detroit Tigers. The other team in the deal is the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Here’s the breakdown:
While I wouldn’t expect a knee-jerk reaction from Boston Red Sox GM Theo Epstein, I’m sure this will ramp up their efforts to re-sign Jason Bay and maybe go after Roy Halladay. Stay tuned folks, it’s early in the Hot Stove season and it’s already hot!
The 2nd Annual David Ortiz Celebrity Golf Classic was a benefit for the David Ortiz Children’s Fund, committed to helping children in New England and the Dominican Republic get access to critical pediatric services. The DOCF is proud to partner with Massachusetts General Hospital in New England and with Heart Care Dominicana and International Hospital for Children in the Dominican Republic.
At the event, David was joined by a host of celebrities and MLB players, including Red Sox teammates Clay Buchholz, Jason Varitek, Mike Lowell, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jon Lester, Daniel Bard, and Tim Wakefield, Other MLB players Alex Rodriguez, Pedro Martinez, Robinson Cano, Ubaldo Jimenez, and Placido Polanco; MLB Network commentator Sean Casey; Red Sox Manager Terry Francona, Houston Astros manager Brad Mills, Actors Jeffrey Donovan, Rachel Dratch, Sam Page, Pop Singer Joanna “JoJo” Levesque; and sports legends Bobby Orr, Jim Rice, Luis Tiant, John Havlicek and Alonzo Mourning.
The event was held at Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic. The golf tournament took place at the Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course at Punta Espada.
The event kicked off on Thursday, December 3 with a welcome reception sponsored by Brugal, a Dominican Rum Company. The event was held at Cappricio restauraut at Sanctuary Cap Cana, where most of the guests stayed. The welcome reception was designed to introduce guests to the sights, sounds and tastes of the Dominican, including Caribbean tunes, specialty rum cocktails and Dominican hors d’oevures including black rice, orange scallops, lamp chops and much more.
In attendance at the welcome reception were Clay Buchholz and his new wife Lindsey, Daniel Bard and his fiancee Adair Sturdivant, Jon and Farrah Lester, Luis and Maria Tiant, Mike and Bertha Lowell, Rachel Dratch, Jo Jo Levesque, Red Sox manager Terry Francona, Houston Astros manager Brad Mills, Peter Sarmanian and Skip Sacks, owners of Big Papi’s Grille and of course, David and Tiffany Ortiz.
On Friday, the serious business of golf got underway, beginning with David Ortiz getting tips from Punta Espada golf pro Mark Clause. During the clinic, a few people dropped by including Tim Wakefield, Bobby Orr and Phil Morse, vice chairman of the Red Sox.
The festivities continued Friday night with the Pairings Party and Celebrity Auction, held at the Caleton Beach Club in Cap Cana, DR. At the event, guests bid on the opportunity to choose the celebrity golfer who would play with their foursome on Saturday. The first golfer chosen – for an $8,000 donation to the David Ortiz Children’s Fund – was Bobby Orr. Former Red Sox first baseman and current MLB network commentator Sean Casey served as emcee for the event. Sean Casey also scored the highest donation to the Foundation, a donation of $11,000 made by tournament sponsor JetBlue, who doubled their initial auction bid.
Saturday was a very warm day at the Punta Espada golf tournament, which runs along the Caribbean Sea. The views are absolutely stunning, with seven holes playing right alongside the water. The tournament kicked off with a shotgun start at 10 a.m. At the tournament, David Ortiz held a press conference at 1:00 p.m. which featured approximately 35 children from Heart Care Dominicana.
Saturday night was the awards gala, held at Sanctuary, Cap Cana. The event featured a cocktail reception, followed by a dinner, the awarding of prizes from the tournament and a live and silent auction. Once again, the emcee for the evening was Sean Casey. Last year, Sean and his foursome won the golf tournament. They were unable to defend the title this year. That honor went to the foursome led by Ubaldo Jimenz, pitcher for the Colorado Rockies. Second place went to the team led by Placido Polanco, 2nd baseman for the Detroit Tigers and 3rd place went to the team lead by Amesbury, Mass native Jeffrey Donovan who plays Michael Weston on the USA Network comedy Burn Notice.
Other award winners included Jim Rice, who won the longest drive contest on Hole 11, Jon Lester who won the “Most Stylish Drive” contest sponsored by Reebok, and Jacoby Ellsbury, who had the longest drive on Hole 2.
Alex Rodriguez, who did not play in the golf tournament, attended the awards event. The highlight of the evening was a surprise appearance by Domingo Diaz De La Rosa and his grandmother and 2 brothers. Domingo had a congenital heart defect and surgery to correct it on January 20. His medical costs were covered by Heart Care Dominicana, a beneficiary of the David Ortiz Children’s Fund. David was not aware they would be in attendance at the event and when they joined David on stage, it brought him to tears.
Sponsors for the event included Reebok, Sharp, vitaminwater and JetBlue. Final amounts raised by the tournament are still being calculated. The 2008 event netted $300K and the 2009 event is expected to net around the same amount.
The Downtown Athletic Club released the list of finalists for the 2009 Heisman Trophy on Monday and we find Florida quarterback Tim Tebow heading to New York for a record third time.
Joining Tebow in the Big Apple will be Texas Longhorns quarterback Colt McCoy, Alabama Crimson Tide running back Mark Ingram, Stanford Cardinal running back Toby Gerhart and Nebraska Cornhuskers defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.
Here’s a look at the statistics of the five finalists:
The Heisman Trophy will be awarded on Saturday night at 8 p.m. on ESPN.
According to a report in the Connecticut Post, UConn Huskies head football coach Randy Edsall could meet with Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick today in New York.
UConn football coach Randy Edsall may not be the front-runner, but it’s fairly clear he is a candidate for the vacant head coaching position at Notre Dame.
Edsall could meet with Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick as early as today, a source close to the situation said Monday.
You may remember this quote from Edsall I posted yesterday when he was asked about the situation on Sunday.
“I’m not going to talk about anything. I’m coaching at UConn, I’m here at UConn.
Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Brian Kelly is also scheduled to meet with Swarbrick today and it’s quite possible Stanford Cardinal head coach Jim Harbaugh could as well.
The Connecticut Post stated that Edsall couldn’t be reached for comment on the report and his agent would only say that he was out recruiting.
Edsall’s been through a lot this year with his team but it would be nice if he could just be honest about the situation. These rumors are nothing but a distraction to the program right now.
While a list of all the bowl swag for the upcoming bowls hasn’t been released yet, here is what the UConn Huskies and South Carolina Gamecocks will get for playing in the PapaJohn’s.com Bowl. They will each receive a RCA HD Camera, Souvenir Football, Oakley Backpack and a Pro Swiss Watch.
UConn Football links
Video: Big East bowl winners and losers [Big East Blog – ESPN.com]
Choking on all that Notre Dame smoke [John Silver – Journal Inquirer]
PapaJohn’s Bowl TV [Neill Ostrout – Connecticut Post]
A pre-emptive olive branch to our Gamecock friends [TheUConnBlog.com]
UConn’s Edsall could meet with Notre Dame AD today [Connecticut Post]
Zach Frazer enjoying rebirth [The Sentinel Online]
| AP Top 25 | ESPN/USA Today Poll |
| 1. Kansas (62) 7-0 1,621 | 1. Kansas (31) 7-0 775 |
| 2. Texas (1) 6-0 1,514 | 2. Texas 6-0 732 |
| 3. Villanova (1) 8-0 1,460 | 3. Villanova 8-0 699 |
| 4. Kentucky 8-0 1,417 | 4. Kentucky 8-0 672 |
| 5. Purdue 7-0 1,409 | 5. Purdue 7-0 650 |
| 6. West Virginia 5-0 1,272 | 6. Syracuse 8-0 623 |
| 7. Syracuse (1) 8-0 1,270 | 8. West Virginia 5-0 600 |
| 8. Duke 7-1 1,058 | 8. Duke 7-1 542 |
| 9. Tennessee 6-1 1,047 | 9. Tennessee 6-1 483 |
| 10. Florida 8-0 1,024 | 10. North Carolina 7-2 441 |
| 11. North Carolina 7-2 985 | 11. Florida 8-0 418 |
| 12. Michigan State 6-2 876 | 12. Connecticut 6-1 413 |
| 13. Ohio State 7-1 806 | 13. Georgetown 6-0 393 |
| 14. Connecticut 6-1 787 | 14. Michigan State 6-2 386 |
| 15. Georgetown 6-0 723 | 15. Ohio State 7-1 365 |
| 16. Texas A&M 7-1 512 | 16. Washington 6-1 276 |
| 17. Washington 6-1 495 | 17. UNLV 7-0 253 |
| 18. UNLV 7-0 429 | 18. Texas A&M 7-1 216 |
| 19. Cincinnati 5-1 334 | 19. Cincinnati 5-1 177 |
| 20. Wisconsin 6-1 298 | 20. Butler 6-2 150 |
| 21. Gonzaga 6-2 279 | 21. Georgia Tech 6-1 128 |
| 22. Butler 6-2 221 | 22. Gonzaga 6-2 126 |
| 23. Texas Tech 8-0 219 | 23. Wisconsin 6-1 104 |
| 24. Georgia Tech 6-1 171 | 24. Vanderbilt 6-1 67 |
| 25. Mississippi 7-1 127 | 24. Clemson 7-2 67 |
| Others Receiving Votes | Others Receiving Votes |
| Memphis 99, Clemson 96, Vanderbilt 74, Florida State 59, Kansas State 59, Northwestern 48, Miami (FL) 46, Oklahoma State 41, Notre Dame 37, New Mexico 35, Illinois 18, Charlotte 18, Baylor 17, Richmond 17, Louisville 15, St. John’s 14, Missouri State 14, Brigham Young 13, Pittsburgh 11, Dayton 8, Seton Hall 6, California 5, Minnesota 5, North Carolina State 3, Cornell 3, Illinois State 3, Tulsa 3, William & Mary 2, UAB 1, Northern Iowa 1. | Texas Tech 49, Florida State 37, New Mexico 37, Louisville 36, Mississippi 27, Oklahoma State 17, Kansas State 16, Illinois 12, Memphis 10, California 10, St. John’s 9, Notre Dame 8, Wake Forest 7, Charlotte 7, Northwestern 6, Saint Mary’s 6, Richmond 5, Tulsa 5, Brigham Young 4, Washington State 3, William & Mary 3, Dayton 2, Seton Hall 2, Baylor 1. |
| Dropped From Rankings | Dropped From Rankings |
| Clemson 18, Louisville 20, Florida State 21 | Louisville 18, California 25 |
The Casey Kelly experiment as a shortstop and a pitcher is over as the 20-year-old has decided to pursue pitching full-time.
Maybe it was the fact that Jose Iglesias is slated to be the shortstop of the future for the Red Sox or it could be that he’s got a better chance of getting to the big leagues faster as a pitcher. Whatever it is, I’d have to think the Red Sox are pretty stoked right now.
Kelly played shortstop for the Mesa Solar Sox during the Arizona Fall League where he hit .171 with six RBIs in 11 games. He was a combined 7-5 with a 2.08 ERA pitching for the Greenville Drive and Salem Red Sox. He hit .222 with 3 home runs and 16 RBIs in 40 games for the Gulf Coast Red Sox and the Drive.