The Official Boston Sports Thread

Like I said, there will be one more post in last year's thread before I call it quits there, so I'd thought I'd start the 2007 (which will, hopefully, carry into 2008) thread with this note:

Former Patriots head coach Bill Parcells, who many credit for helping save the franchise, has announced his retirement after four seasons as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. If this retirement is permanent, expect the "Tuna" to be enshrined in Canton, OH, very soon.

EDIT: Wormie asked me to remove the year designation from this thread, as we only got about 400 posts in the 2006 thread. Again, use this thread for any Boston sports discussion, be it professional, semi-pro, or college.

 

A couple of items today...

The BC hoops team rebounded from Saturday's blowout loss at Clemson by getting a buzzer-beater from Sean Marshall to defeat Florida St. 85-82 @ Conte Forum. The Eagles, 6-1 and in first place in the ACC, will travel to Durham, NC Sunday to play the Duke Blue Devils @ Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Zdeno Chara, the Bruins' lone representative at the NHL All-Star Game, won the "Hardest Shot" contest in last night's Skills Competition. The All-Star Game itself will take place tonight in Dallas.

 

Red Sox news...

The Red Sox have signed catcher Kevin Cash to a minor-league contract and invited him to spring training. Cash is expected to be this year's version of Ken Huckaby (the backup to the backup).

The start time of the Patriots Day game on April 16 against the Angels has been pushed up to 10:05 AM, as the Boston Marathon's start time has been pushed up to 10 AM. The start time of the April 15th game has also been pushed up to 1:05 PM to ensure that both teams get a maximum amount of sleep before the early wake-up call.

The Red Sox announced changes to Fenway Park for the 2007 season, the major feature of which is a new deck behind the third-base grandstand, allowing more mobility for patrons on that side of the field. All of the changes have been posted in an article on RedSox.com.

 

Gordon Edes, in Boston.com's Red Sox blog, has reported that the Sox will officially announce the signing of outfielder J.D. Drew to a five-year, $70M contract tomorrow. To cover themselves, the Sox reportedly have had language inserted into the contract that if Drew goes on the DL during the third or fourth years of the deal because of problems related to the shoulder issue that the Sox reportedly found in Drew's physical, the remaining year(s) of the deal can be voided. The Sox cannot, however, void any part of the deal for problems unrelated to the shoulder issue.

 

Michael Felger's final report card for the 2006 Patriots

The defensive line continues to be the strength of the team, as Felger gave them an A. A- grades went to the secondary (who Felger said were the overachievers of the team) and the special teams. The receivers got the worst grade of the positional groupings with a C (and Felger saying, "In this case, you get what you pay for."). The coaches got an A for getting what they could out of this team.

EDIT: Brief Patriots note...DL Richard Seymour has decided to back out of this year's Pro Bowl. He was the only Patriot selected for the game.

 

Curt Schilling, in an exclusive interview on WEEI's "Dennis and Callahan" this morning, said that he plans on pitching beyond this season, and that his first choice would be to come back to the Red Sox. He cited the influence of his wife and children as a reason for coming to this decision.

 

It's interesting that Schilling said that because when he said that he wasn't coming back after this year it was becasue of his desire to spend more time with the family. I guess after learning how to speak Japanese he figured he should get his moneys worth out of it for as long as he can .

 

Not a local headline. Still, something that I have been following since May...

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/news/story?id=2747087

R.I.P. Barbaro

 

The reason Schill's family 'encouraged' him to paly after this year is that he NEVER SHUTS UP! His family probably just wants the peace and quiet.

 

Either that or because when he's around they can't get online because he soaks up all the bandwidth in the neighborhood hosting his own Everquest tournaments from home!

 

I'm not sure how many of the Sox fans here have heard this rumor yet, but it appears to be picking up steam. The rumor is a trade that would send 3B Mike Lowell and at least one high-level prospect to the Colorado Rockies for their perennial All-Star first baseman, Todd Helton. The rumored deal also has the Rockies picking up about half of the $90M left on Helton's contract. Helton's power dipped last year, but some say that that was because of a battle with a stomach illness. If his power does return, though, he'd be a perfect Fenway hitter with his ability to hit to the opposite field (which would pepper the Green Monster for doubles).

EDIT: The Rocky Mountain News reports that the Red Sox have offered Lowell and veteran reliever Julian Tavarez for Helton, but that the Rockies have given the Sox a list of five prospects (outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury and right-handed pitchers Daniel Bard, Clay Bucholtz, Craig Hansen, and Manny Delcarmen) and said that one of them would have to be included. The article said, however, that lefty starter Jon Lester could be substituted, pending medical approval.

 

That would definately be an interesting trade. A switch of Youk' back over to 3rd would help keep the corners as solid as they've been over the past few years.

 

It now appears that the Todd Helton deal is dead. The Rockies reportedly asked for both Hansen and Delcarmen, and Theo said no to that.

Only 17 days until pitchers and catchers report to Ft. Myers.

 

This is sad, but the Celtics appear on the verge of tying the club record for consecutive losses tonight against (guess who) the Lakers. Since the Paul Pierce injury (which he still has not returned from), the C's have gone from being a contender for the Atlantic Division title to having the second worst record in the NBA. If there's a bright spot to all of this, it's that if this slide continues, the C's will have a good chance of landing a top draft pick in the lottery.

 

It was widely reported this morning that Red Sox GM Theo Epstein was married this weekend at Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Stand on Coney Island. WFNX, however, had the real story from someone in Theo's family: the couple was granted use of John Henry's personal yacht and they were married off the coast of Florida. The Nathan's story was circulated by Theo's dad to dupe the press. Congrats to the Epsteins.

 

In a bit of sad news, former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson admitted today that he has been battling severe depression and an addiction to amphetamines that he says was bought on by the multiple concussions that he suffered during his playing days. We can only hope Teddy can find the strength to get his life back together...we're praying for you.

 

If anyone wants the opening round Beanpot matchups today, Northeastern plays BU @ 5:00 PM and Harvard faces off against BC at around 8:00 PM (after the first game).

 

In BC basketball news, senior forward Jared Dudley won ACC Player of the Week honors with a 21 point performance in a blowout win over Hartford last Wednesday and a 30 point performance in a blowout win Saturday against #16 Virginia Tech.

 

BU blanked Northeastern 4-0 and BC skated to a 3-1 win over Harvard, setting up yet another BU/BC Beanpot final next Monday night. BU senior goaltender John Curry stopped 27 Husky shots for his nation-leading 6th shutout in the Terriers' win.

In a bit of bad news for the Red Sox, Julian Tavarez left the game with a sore right ankle after pitching into the 6th inning in the Dominican Republic's 7-1 win over Venezuela in the Carribean Series. It is not known yet how much time Tavarez will miss, if at all.

 

Saw Curt Schilling today at the Shaw's in Sudbury while at lunch. He was doing a photo-op promoting his K-ALS foundation. Wish I had my Sox hat and a pen with me.

 

In a setback for Celtics captain Paul Pierce, he has been sent home from Detroit with a high fever and swelling in the left elbow that he had offseason surgery on, indicating an infection. Pierce had returned to practice last weekend and was hoping to return to action by this weekend. Also in Celtics news, it was announced that Gerald Green will participate in the slam dunk contest on All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas.

In Patriots news, OT Matt Light has been named to the AFC Pro Bowl roster for this weekend, replacing Jonathan Ogden of the Baltimore Ravens.

 

Just a day after his release from a hospital stay during which an infection in his left elbow was treated, Celtics captain Paul Pierce was seen working out today during the usual gameday shootaround. He could play in tonight's game at the Garden against the New Jersey Nets, but if he does, expect him to see only limited action.

In happy news, and close to a harbinger of spring (thank the maker, it's been pretty cold here in the Boston area recently), the reporting date for Red Sox pitchers and catchers to spring training in Ft. Myers, FL is just one week away.

In a Sox-related story, NESN has announced that they have come to terms with play-by-play announcer Don Orsillo on a multi-year extension. Orsillo, I think, has done a very good job in the NESN broadcast booth, and deserves to continue to be the TV voice of the Red Sox.

 

A few of late items...

Red Sox principal owner John Henry has purchased 50% interest in Roush Racing, one of the best-known teams on the NASCAR circuit. Conceivably, this means we could see a Boston Red Sox paint job on one of the Roush cars down the line, though I think they may only do it for a race at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Mike Reiss reports in his Boston.com Patriots blog that the Patriots will open up the preseason on August 2 with a trip to Seattle to play the Seahawks, then follow that up on August 9 in Beijing for the China Bowl against the same Seahawks. The team will fly directly to China from Seattle that week instead of returning home. Although the opening day for training camp has not been officially announced yet, it will likely be in mid-July because of the early start to the preseason schedule. The Patriots will also play in 5 preseason games instead of the normal 4 for the first time since 2000.

Also in Patriots news, it was announced that they will receive a 6th round draft pick from the Arizona Cardinals to complete the trade of OT Brandon Gorin prior to the start of last season. The draft pick was previously conditional.

 

Paul Pierce played 20 minutes and scored 9 points last night, but that couldn't stop the C's skid, as they lost to the Nets 92-78. The C's now have more consecutive losses (17) than championships (16), and also now hold the worst record in the NBA (12-37). Here's a stat that should prove very interesting...in each of the last 6 years, the team that had the longest losing streak of the season won the lottery for the #1 pick in the draft.

EDIT: BTW, for those wondering, the NBA record for consecutive losses is held by two teams, with the Vancouver (now Memphis) Grizzlies accomplishing the dubious feat first with 23 consecutive losses from 2/16/96-4/2/96, and was repeated by the Denver Nuggets from 12/19/97-1/23/98. The Cleveland Cavaliers had a 24 game losing streak, but that spanned two seasons (3/19/82-11/5/82, comprised of the last 19 games of the 1981-82 season and the first 5 games of the 1982-83 season).

 

For those of you who care, the AFC won the Pro Bowl in Hawaii last night over the NFC by a score of 31-28 on a last-second field goal by the Chargers' Nate Kaeding. Bill Belichick was the winning coach. The lone Patriots player in the game, OT Matt Light, did not have a clean game, however, as he was flagged for a false start in the second quarter.