CLOSED!! ? The Official 2006 Sports Thread ? CLOSED!!

It was a really tough game yesterday, but the Patriots proved they can still win the tough ones. Never mind the 5 turnovers...the Bears are great at taking the ball away. My favorite play? I'm sure everyone's was when Tom Brady ran on the 3rd and 9 in the fourth quarter and faked Brian Urlacher out of his shoes to get the first down. Asante Samuel's contribution was big too, getting the big pick when the Patriots needed it...3 on the day, and the last Patriots player to do that in the regular season was Roland James in 1983. The bad news, of course, was Junior Seau: although we'll know more this week, his arm injury didn't look good and the future Hall of Famer may be lost for the season.

As per fans' fears, Patriots linebacker Junior Seau has been placed on injured reserve with a broken arm and is done for the season.

In Sox news, the latest Manny Ramirez trade rumors have him going to the San Francisco Giants. There are two obstacles: first, the Red Sox are asking for relief help (which the Giants are also looking for), a shortstop (Omar Vizquel is staying put), and prospects (which the Giants may not be willing to give up); second, Manny has said that he doesn't want to play in the National League and may use his veto power to block the move.

Also, the Herald said that if the Sox are going to sign D-Mat, there would be a huge gulf to navigate, as the Sox have offered him a deal worth around $8M/yr., roughly half of what Scott Boras is asking for.

Michael Felger's report card

The running backs and receivers each received only a C+, as they could not seem to hang on to the ball, but it was a good effort otherwise, with the rest of the grades being all As and Bs. Brady and the coaches both got As, with Felger saying about the coaches, "Hey, it?s not the coaches? fault their players couldn?t hold on to the ball. Bill Belichick and his staff drove home the turnover issue endlessly all week, and yet the players didn?t take heed." Don't know why the secondary only got an A- in view of Asante Samuel's 3-pick performance, though.

This week's power rankings:

ESPN: #4
CBS SportsLine: #4
Fox Sports: #4
Sports Illustrated: #4
Football Outsiders: #6

A few things...

I took my own "power poll" of the regulars on #Patriots on EFnet IRC (Internet Relay Chat) yesterday, and the consensus top 6 teams were Indy, the Chargers, the Ravens, the Pats, the Bears, and the Cowboys (in that order). The "experts'" opinions generally agree that these are the top 6 teams in the NFL after Thanksgiving weekend (though not necessarily in that order).

Football Outsiders ran down a list of top teams based on "Pythagorean" wins (expected wins based on points scored and points allowed) and the Patriots were #2 (with 8.7 "expected" wins). The Colts were 7th (7.3 expected wins) and may still be "the luckiest team since the AFL-NFL merger".

The above "power poll" will be plugged into the SportsNation fan power ranking (which won't be linked next year, but given...I'm sure you'll trust me. ). This week, SportsNation has the Patriots ranked 4th, which agrees w/ both the "power poll" I took and the consensus opinion of the experts.

The ESPN.com staff has a caution for the Patriots this week: "The Bears defense obviously played a big part, but you can't turn the ball over like the Patriots did Sunday (and have been doing all season) and win a Super Bowl. It's just not going to happen."

In other Patriots news, CB Asante Samuel was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his 3 interception performance against the Bears.

http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20061129&content_id=1747350&vkey=pr_bos&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos

In Red Sox news, Luis Alicea, who played for the Red Sox in 1995, has been named first base coach on the major league staff. Alicea has spent the last three years as a manager in the Red Sox minor league system, this past year for Single A Greenville.

This week's injury report:

Lions

Questionable: WR Devale Ellis (shoulder), DT Shaun Rogers (knee), OT Rex Tucker (knee)
Probable: WR Corey Bradford (illness), DT Tyoka Jackson (foot)

Ellis was the only player on the report not reported to have missed portions of team practice.

Patriots

Out: S Rodney Harrison (shoulder), LB Junior Seau (arm)
Questionable: TE Daniel Graham (ankle), CB Ellis Hobbs (wrist), LB Corey Mays (hamstring), OT Ryan O'Callaghan (neck), DB Chad Scott (groin), S Eugene Wilson (hamstring)
Probable: QB Tom Brady (right shoulder), DL Richard Seymour (elbow)

Of the players on the report, only Brady and Seymour were not reported to have missed portions of team practice. In addition, as I posted earlier, Seau has been placed on injured reserve.

O'Callaghan is the only new name on the report from the end of last week. RB Kevin Faulk, CB Asante Samuel, and TE David Thomas have been removed from the report.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2006/11/sox_ink_okajima.html

The Red Sox have signed a Japanese pitcher, but it is not D-Mat (yet). The pitcher is free agent situational lefty Hideki Okajima, who gets a two-year deal. Okajima is a three-time Japan Series winner, twice with the Yomiuri Giants (2000, 2002) and this year with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. He is a career 34-32 w/ a 3.36 ERA and 41 saves in 439 appearances. He has never faced Yankees lefty outfielder Hideki Matsui, as the two were teammates in Japan. Okajima turns 31 on Christmas Day.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that the BC men's basketball team appears to have righted the ship after a couple of sub-par nonconference losses to Vermont (already mentioned) and Providence, doing so with a win against Rhode Island Saturday, and last night with a fairly convincing 65-58 win over the Michigan State Spartans. Jared Dudley came up big last night with a 30 point, 10 rebound performance, and the Eagles went to a trapping pressure defensive scheme that worked well. Last night was BC's debut appearance in the annual ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Boston College travels to the Mullins Center in Amherst Saturday night for the annual Commonwealth Classic game against the UMass Minutemen.

No injury report changes for the Patriots today.

The Lions placed OT Rex Tucker (knee) on injured reserve today, so he is out. DT Shaun Rogers (questionable, knee) and WR Corey Bradford (probable, illness) were reported by the Lions as having missed practice today, as well.

I missed an injury report change for the Patriots yesterday. WR Chad Jackson is now listed as questionable with a groin injury. He was reported to have missed portions of practice.

No injury report changes for the Patriots today (I'm sure this time...I checked the report on the Detroit Lions' site, which shows the day-to-day status).

The Lions have removed WR Corey Bradford, who had been probable with an unspecified illness. DT Shaun Rogers (questionable, knee) was the only player reported to have missed practice today.

Well, I guess I believe Tom Brady when he says that an ugly win is better than a pretty loss, and yesterday's win certainly was ugly. However, credit the team for getting it together in the fourth quarter.

Elsewhere, the Boston College football team will play Navy in the Meineke Car Care Bowl on Dec. 30 in Charlotte, NC. It will be the second time in three years that the Eagles have played in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, beating North Carolina in the 2004 game.

The Patriots today placed safety Eugene Wilson, who has been bothered by a hamstring injury most of the season, on injured reserve, ending his season. To fill the roster spot, the Patriots signed veteran DB Ray Mickens. Mickens is a player familiar with the Patriots' defensive system, having played the early part of his career with the New York Jets under Bill Parcells (with Bill Belichick as the defensive coordinator), and last year for the Cleveland Browns under Romeo Crennel (former Patriots defensive coordinator).

Michael Felger's report card

Not great, but not bad either...mostly Bs and Cs. The secondary got a D for letting Lions receivers get wide open practically all day. TE Ben Watson's fourth quarter fumble brought down the receivers' overall grade (C).

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2006/12/05/lester_said_to_be_making_progress/

Gordon Edes and Nick Cafardo quoted a source with direct knowledge of Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester's medical condition as saying Lester's latest CT scans were clean and that his cancer appears to be in remission. Although Lester himself could not be reached for comment, the source said Lester hopes to be ready for spring training.

According to his agent, Scott Boras, outfielder J.D. Drew has agreed to a five-year, $70M contract with the Red Sox pending a physical. Drew hit .283 with 20 HR and 100 RBI in 146 games for the Dodgers last season, but has often been on the disabled list during his nine year career, which includes time with the Cardinals and Braves.

ESPN also reported yesterday that the Red Sox have reached a preliminary agreement with shortstop Julio Lugo. The deal is for a reported four years and a total of $36M, and is also pending a physical. Lugo ended the season with the Dodgers last season, but is familiar to Red Sox fans as he has spent time with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Lugo hit .295 with 6 HR and 57 RBI in 2005, his last full season with the Rays, but is described as an average fielder at best.

This week's power rankings:

ESPN: #5
CBS SportsLine: #4
Fox Sports: #3
Sports Illustrated: #3
Football Outsiders: #7

Dr. Z at Sports Illustrated thinks he may have spotted something with the Patriots, as he says at the end of his comment, "From my vast experience, when I see a good team on an extended blah streak at this stage of the season, it means one thing to me. It's tired."

This week's injury report:

Patriots

Out: S Rodney Harrison (shoulder)
Questionable: LB Eric Alexander (shoulder), LB Don Davis (knee), TE Daniel Graham (ankle), CB Ellis Hobbs (wrist), WR Chad Jackson (groin), RB Laurence Maroney (back), OT Ryan O'Callaghan (neck)
Probable: QB Tom Brady (right shoulder), LB Corey Mays (hamstring), DL Richard Seymour (elbow)

Brady, Mays, and Seymour were the only players not reported to have missed portions of team practice.

Dolphins

Out: RB Ronnie Brown (hand), QB Daunte Culpepper (knee), G Jeno James (knee)
Probable: CB Will Allen (groin), RB Sammy Morris (ankle), DE Jason Taylor (forearm), DT Keith Traylor (knee), WR Wes Welker (shoulder)

Brown, Culpepper, and James were the only players reported to have missed portions of team practice.

Alexander, Davis, and Maroney are the new names on the Patriots' report from last week. Mays has been upgraded to probable after being listed as questionable last week. DB Chad Scott has been removed from the report. DB Eugene Wilson was also on last week's report, but has since been placed on injured reserve.

This may draw cheers in some quarters, but New England Cable News reported last night that Boston College head football coach Tom O'Brien is about to leave BC to become the head football coach at North Carolina State. It was not known if O'Brien would remain on to coach the Eagles in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

The Red Sox, in the annual Rule 5 draft, selected 23 year old RHP Nick DeBarr from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization in the major league phase of the draft. DeBarr finished with a 2.74 ERA and a 61/17 K/BB ratio in 69 innings for Single-A Visalia last season; however, some scouts feel that he doesn't have enough upside to be worthy of a spot in the Red Sox bullpen.

The Patriots made one change to their injury report today, listing S Rashad Baker as probable with a thigh injury. He was not, however, reported as having missed portions of team practice.

No changes to the injury report were made by the Miami Dolphins today.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/12/08/news/newsmakers/brady_yahoo/index.htm?eref=rss_topstories

Tom Brady has filed a lawsuit against Yahoo, the online service, contending that they used an image of Brady in an ad, which appeared in the football preview issue of Sports Illustrated as well as on the Internet, without his permission. The ad was for Yahoo's fantasy football service, which also included shots of Steve Smith of the Panthers, Larry Johnson of the Chiefs, Jeremy Shockey of the Giants, LaDanian Tomlinson of the Chargers, and Randy Moss of the Raiders. A spokesperson for Yahoo would not comment on the litigation, which was filed on November 20.

A couple of college football items...

Tom O'Brien's departure from Boston College was made official yesterday. Athletic director Gene DiFilippo announced that O'Brien would not coach in the Meineke Car Care Bowl and that defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani will serve as the interim head coach for the game.

This isn't really Boston area news, but since there's no board for the western part of the state, and it is the state university for the area, I thought I'd mention that the UMass Minutemen will play this coming Friday night in Chattanooga, TN for the Division 1-AA national championship after a 19-17 win last night at Montana. UMass' opponent will be the winner of today's game between Youngstown St. and Appalachian St.

Boston College shelled #23 Maryland 73-62 in the ACC basketball opener for both clubs yesterday. Tyrese Rice had 12 first-half points, and Sean Williams was solid all game defensively.

The Pats' performance yesterday speaks for itself, unfortunately. I expect Lord Moby to post his gloating here in the next few days.

Michael Felger's report card

No grade higher than a B (that to the running backs); receivers and offensive line flunked. 'Nuff said!