Cody Brown Placed On Injured Reserve By Cardinals

Arizona Cardinals rookie linebacker Cody Brown runs drills during NFL football training camp Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009, in Flagstaff, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)In a move that was expected, the Arizona Cardinals have placed former UConn Huskies DE/LB Cody Brown on injured reserve after he dislocated his wrist in a preseason game against the San Diego Chargers on August 22nd.

Here is what his agent, Nate Haber had to say about the injury on his Twitter account:

It appears to be a devastating, rare injury that will sideline him for his rookie season. He is staying strong in this tough time and will do everything he can to return stronger than before.

Brown was drafted by the Cardinals in the 2nd round, 63rd overall, in the 2009 NFL Draft. The Cardinals signed him to a 4-year, $3.067 million contract and gave him a signing bonus of $956,00.

He was third on the depth chart at outside linebacker behind starter Clark Haggans and Victor Hobson. He was also expected to contribute on special teams.

Brown is expected to have surgery on his wrist to repair tendon damage and will have a recovery period of 4-6 months once he does. He should be back in time for spring mini-camps.

Boston Red Sox @ Tampa Bay Rays Pitching Matchups: 9/1-9/3

Boston Red Sox @ Tampa Bay Rays pitching matchups

Tuesday, September 1st @ 7:08 PM

Jon Lester, LHP (10-7, 3.60) vs Andy Sonnanstine, RHP (6-7, 6.61)

TV: NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Wednesday, September 2nd @ 7:08 PM

Josh Beckett, RHP (14-5, 3.80) vs Matt Garza, RHP (7-9, 3.95)

TV: NESN, ESPN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Thursday, September 3rd @ 7:08 PM

Clay Buchholz, RHP (3-3, 4.38) vs David Price, LHP (7-6, 4.63)

TV: NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Boston Red Sox News & Notes – 8/31

Paul Byrd gave up no runs in six innings of work Sunday. - Globe Staff Photo/Barry Chin

When the Boston Red Sox opened up the 2009 season, they were presumed to have the most pitching depth of any team. They had Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield and Brad Penny in the big leagues with Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden in the minors. They also had John Smoltz rehabbing his way back to health to help in the second half.

Since then, Dice-K and Wake went down with injuries while Smoltz and Penny were released. Buchholz has come up and done a tremendous job while Bowden has filled in twice this season. They’ve even had young Japanese righty Junichi Tazawa help out.

Enter Paul Byrd.

At the end of the 2008 season, Byrd decided that he wanted to pitch only half a season so that he could spend more time with his family. When he was ready to pitch, no one wanted him so he began to face facts that he may never pitch again in the big leagues.  He said he was okay with that and then the Red Sox came calling and it was too good to pass up.

Byrd had been throwing batting practice and coaching his sons’ baseball team and by doing so that allowed him to keep his arm in shape. So when he took the mound at Fenway Park, no one knew what to expect.

I don’t honestly think anyone would have thought that Byrd would go out and throw six scoreless innings against the Blue Jays but he did just that. Byrd did what the Red Sox had hoped for when they signed Smoltz. They wanted a veteran pitcher who could go out and throw 5-7 innings, keeping them in the ballgame and then letting the best bullpen in baseball do its job.

Well it only took until August 30th for Theo Epstein to find someone to do that job. And it came from an unlikely source in Byrd.

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Paw Prints – The Daily Roundup – 8/31

Paw Prints The Daily Roundup

UConn Football links

UConn Football Releases 2009 Depth Chart [SOX & Dawgs]

So, What’d you Think? [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Quick hits [John Silver – Journal Inquirer]

No long bomb(shell)s [Neill Ostrout – Connecticut Post]

Football Preview Weekish: The linebackers [TheUConnBlog.com]

Football Preview Weekish: Pittsburgh [TheUConnBlog.com]

UConn football preview: Offense [Connecticut Post]

UConn football preview: Defense [Connecticut Post]

Difton boosts UConn receiver corps [Connecticut Post]

Few surprises on UConn football’s depth chart [Connecticut Post]

Junior Starting For Huskies At Strong Safety [Hartford Courant]

Tracking UConn Football [Hartford Courant]

Huskies name starters for season opener [Norwich Bulletin]

Huskies will count on some younger players [New Haven Register]

UConn pins big expectations on QB Frazer [Waterbury Republican-American]

Rookies Will Play Role For UConn [New London Day]

The Leader of The Huskies: Captain Scott Lutrus Is Ready [Bleacher Report]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Classes starting [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]

Other UConn related links

Women’s Volleyball: Volleyball Suffers Three-Set Loss to No. 5 California [UConnHuskies.com]

No. 5 Field Hockey Blasts Fairfield 8-1 [UConnHuskies.com]

Breaking News: Bruschi To Announce Retirement Tomorrow

MIAMI - NOVEMBER 23: Linebacker Tedy Bruschi #54 of the New England Patriots looks up to the scoreboard while taking on the Miami Dolphins at Dolphin Stadium on November 23, 2008 in Miami, Florida. The Patriots defeated the Dolphins 48-28. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images)

On Monday morning the New England Patriots will lose the heart and soul of their team as LB Tedy Bruschi will announce his retirement according to Al Michaels of NBC Sports.

No other details are known at this time.

Bruschi was drafted by the Patriots back in the third round in the 1996 NFL Draft out of Arizona. He’s played in thirteen seasons with the Pats and has won three Super Bowls. He was the last remaining player from the Bill Parcells era.

He missed part of the 2005 season after suffering a stroke on February 16, 2005 just after he played in his only Pro Bowl. He did return that year on October 29th and finished up the season. He ended up being named the 2005 NFL Comeback Player of the Year, an award he shared with Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers.

He played in 189 career games, starting 139 of them. He made 735 career tackles, had 30.5 sacks and 12 interceptions. He returned four of them for touchdowns.

He was nicknamed “Little Bill” by his teammates as tribute for him being an extension of Bill Belichick on the field. His leadership will be sorely missed by his teammates and he will forever be loved by the fans.

UPDATE: Christopher Price of WEEI.com confirms that Bruschi will retire tomorrow. The Patriots have scheduled a 10:45 AM press conference for the announcement.

Editor’s note: Steve contributed information to this post

UConn Football Releases 2009 Depth Chart

EXPECTATIONS for UConn are low this season, with the Huskies picked to finish sixth in the Big East preseason poll, but fans at practice on Friday think Randy Edsall's team will do fairly well. - JOHN WOIKE / HARTFORD COURANT

On Sunday afternoon, UConn Huskies football coach Randy Edsall released his two-deep depth chart for the first game of the season against the Ohio Bobcats next Saturday night.

OFFENSE
WR: 3 Brad Kanuch (Sr., 6-1, 192))
1 Dwayne Difton (Fr., 5-11, 170)

WR: 80 Michael Smith (So., 6-0, 192) OR
82 Kashif Moore (RSo., 5-9, 182)
83 Isiah Moore (RSo, 6-1, 185)

LT: 73 Dan Ryan (RSr., 6-8, 316)
63 Adam Masters (RFr., 6-4, 281)

LG: 66 Mathieu Olivier (RJr., 6-6, 286)
60 Erik Kuraczea (RFr., 6-2, 333)

C: 57 Moe Petrus (RSo., 6-2, 288)
70 Gary Bardzak (RSo., 6-3, 293)

RG: 78 Zach Hurd (RJr., 6-7, 315)
74 Alex LaMagdelaine (RSr., 6-3, 310)

RT: 79 Mike Hicks (RSr., 6-6, 323)
71 Mike Ryan (RSo., 6-5, 324)

TE: 94 Ryan Griffin (RFr., 6-5, 240)
89 John Delahunt (RFr., 6-3, 243)

QB: 10 Zach Frazer (RJr., 6-4, 225)
12 Cody Endres (RSo., 6-4, 223)

TB: 23 Jordan Todman (So., 5-9, 189)
2 Andre Dixon (RSr., 6-1, 202)

FB: 49 Anthony Sherman (Jr., 5-11, 230)
47 Anthony Davis (RJr, 5-10, 243)

Defensive and special teams depth chart after the jump.

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Byrd Flies North To Chase Blue Jays With A Broom

Boston Red Sox pitcher Paul Byrd pumps his fist after getting Toronto Blue Jays' Jose Bautista to fly out with the bases loaded to end the fourth inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

For two-thirds of the 2009 season, Paul Byrd was sitting at home in semi-retirement enjoying life and his family. On August 5th when the Boston Red Sox came calling, Byrd decided to end that retirement and play baseball again. He made four rehab starts before being asked to start on Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park.

Byrd was outstanding on Sunday afternoon as he threw six scoreless innings to help the Red Sox to a 7-0 win and 3-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays in front of 37,560 at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox move to 22-games above .500 at 76-54 and will at least maintain their 2.5 game lead over the Texas Rangers in the wild card standings pending the outcome of their game against the Minnesota Twins. The Tampa Bay Rays lost to the Detroit Tigers and fall 5.5 games behind the Red Sox in the wild card. The New York Yankees won on Sunday so the Red Sox remain six games behind them for the lead in the AL East.

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Paul Byrd winds up to deliver against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)Byrd doesn’t throw that hard at all but he was able to use all four of his pitches and command them during his six innings of work. He allowed three hits and walked three and struck out one on 83 pitches to pick up the win in his 2009 debut.

Manny Delcarmen worked around a leadoff walk in the 7th to set the side down. Billy Wagner made his Red Sox debut and was nasty as he struck three of the four batters he faced. The other, Adam Lind, reached on a 1-out double. Takashi Saito swept up in the 9th by striking out two and then working around a walk and a double to preserve the shutout.

Roy Halladay’s struggles continued for him as he allowed four runs on seven hits and a walk with six strikeouts in six innings of work.

Shawn Camp had a rough inning of work as his throwing error led to two runs for the Red Sox. He ended up allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits and also recorded a strikeout. Jesse Carlson struck out two of the three batters he faced.

Kevin Youkilis led the Red Sox offense with two hits and three RBI. Alex Gonzalez added two hits and an RBI while Rocco Baldelli’s only hit of the afternoon was good enough for a monster solo home run off the Sports Authority sign above the Green Monster. The only member of the starting nine without a hit on Sunday was Jason Varitek.

The Red Sox are off on Monday and will return to action on Tuesday night when they head to Tropicana Field for a 3-game set with the Rays. Jon Lester will make the start and he’ll be opposed by Andy Sonnanstine, who’ll be recalled from Triple-A Durham to make the start after the trade of Scott Kazmir to the Angels.

Former UConn Husky Fincher Cut By Redskins

WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 03: Alfred Fincher #51 of the Washington Redskins celebrates an onsides kick recovery with Khary Campbell #50 against the Pittsburgh Steelers on the opening kickoff of their game on November 3, 2008 at Fedex Field in Washington, DC. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)The Washington Redskins announced today that they have cut former UConn Huskies linebacker Alfred Fincher.

Fincher was originally drafted by the New Orleans Saints back in the 3rd round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played in twenty-three games over the course of three season with the Saints, recording 20 tackles. During the 2007 season, he was placed on injured-reserve on November 4th after suffering a concussion and was released about three weeks later.

He then signed with the Detroit Lions before the 2008 season and was released before training camp. He latched on with the Redskins and was primarily a special teams player for them in 2008. He made six tackles.