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Friday, March 12, 2004

SOX DROP ONE TO O'S
10-8. Arroyo pitched terribly which does not bode well for the Sox long releiver or potential #5 starter. 2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, BB, K, 2 HR. Ouch. The Sox scored 5 runs in the 9th against Jorge Julio who is the O's closer so that's good.

Notable performances:
Damon: 1/2, R, 2B
Daubach: 1/2, R
Crespo: 1/2, 2 R
Millar: 1/3, RBI
McCarty: 1/2, RBI
Shoppach: 1/3, 2B, R, RBI
Malaska: IP, H, 2 K

The Sox host the Dodgers tommorrow afternoon.

Red Sox records:
Overrall: 6-4 (.600)
Grapefruit League: 4-4 (.500)
Mayor's Cup: 2-1 (.667)

BRUINS BEAT SABRES IN OT
3-2. The bruins went down 1-0 in the second in a battle of goaltending. The Bruins then eqaulised and went ahead with less then a minute left. With 24 seconds remaining, the Sabres tied it up. Early in OT, Knuble scored the game winner and was assisted by the two new acquisitions, Gonchar and Nylander. Nylander assisted in all three goals. They really have helped us out. When we get Bergeron and Samsonov back, we'll be in great shape so long as the goalies hold up. There was good news around the league as Philly lost in OT to Dallas, The Penguins beat the Maple Leafs, the Flames beat the Senators, and the Islanders lost to San Jose. This means the Bruins are the leaders of the Northeast Division with 89 points, one more than Ottawa and Toronto. We are also the 3rd seed in the Eastern Conference at the moment. However, the Sens have a game in hand.

Magic # to clinch a playoff berth: 7 points

BU UPSETS BC
The 8th seeded Terriers upended the best team in the country 3-2. BC had already beaten BU four times this season and I was thinking to myself, there's no way a team could beat BU 6 times in a year without losing. Now, after winning 3-2, all BU has to do is win another game and they advance to the semi-finals and neutral (home) ice at the Fleet Center.

UMass-Amherst beat UMass-Lowell 6-3 in Amherst
UNH beat Providence College 2-1 in Durham

These six teams play each other again tommorrow night in the same location. Also, Maine hosts Merrimack.

#9 UConn beat Notre Dame in Big East tournament play today. #17 Providence lost to Villanova as well. My Sooners beat Nebraska in the Big XII tourney.

Todd Bertuzzi got suspended for the remainder of the regular season and the playoffs. He also needs to apply for readmission into the league at the outset of the 2004-05 season. Furthermore, he and the Canucks were fined $250,000 each. I think the punishment is harsh, but not too harsh. The NHL wants to deter any future incidents such as this one. The next time a player thinks about doing something like Todd did, they might remember what happened to him. However, this does nothing to prevent a player from doing something like this when they're too angry to think.

I've just posted my first post in my new movie review blog. I did it on The Passion of the Christ. Warning: there are spoilers. If you haven't seen the movie, you might not want to read the review for the ending may be ruined. Although, most people probably already know the ending to this movie.

Thursday, March 11, 2004

BC LEADS FOR 37 SECONDS, BEATS SYRACUSE
BC Eagles 57
#23 Syracuse Orangemen 54

Huuuuuuuuge win. We definitely have an NCAA berth locked up. The Eagles will play #6 Pitt tommorrow night. That's gonna be a very tough game to win.

PC and UConn will play Villanova and Notre Dame tonight, respectively.

URI got eliminated by George Washington in the 2nd round of the A-10 tournament.

St. Joe's lost to Xavier by 20 points. Didn't someone say that St. Joe's wasn't the best team in the country by any stretch of the imagination? They don't deserve a #1 seed, in my opinion. The #1 seeds should go to Stanford, Duke, Pitt, and whoever wins the SEC (Mississippi St. or Kentucky).

REGISTER FOR RF ROOF SEATS
Story
Complicated, expensive, don't care

Sox lost to Orioles, more on that later. Bruins play Sabres tonight. Hockey East tournament starts tonight.

Post #133

Wednesday, March 10, 2004

SOX LOSE TO REDS, BEAT CARDINALS
Cincinatti 3
Boston 2

Boston 4
St. Louis 3

The highlight of the Reds game was the 1-2 punch of Martinez and schilling. Combined they threw 5.2 innings, struck out 7, and allowed two runs.

In the St. Louis game, Kim gave up some runs but so did Matt Morriss.

Notable performances:
Damon: 1/2. 2 Rs
Youkilus: 1/1
Daubach: 1/3, 2B, RBI
Ortiz: 1/2, HR, R, 2 RBI
McCarty: 2/4
Mirabelli: 1/3, R

Here are the records for the Sox this spring:
Overrall: 6-3 (.667)
Grapefruit League: 4-3 (.571)
Mayor's Cup: 2-1 (.667)

The Sox take on Baltimore tommorrow afternoon.

NIXON REMAINS OUT
This back problem is looking worse every day Trot isn't in the lineup. Francona insists he'll be healthy for the season opener, but without spring training, he'll be a month behind everyone else. There is no reason to panic, however, for the Sox have depth. Kapler is having a very good spring and could play RF. He's fast and has some offensive pop. We can also move Manny to right (it is his natural position after all) and play Burks or Millar in left. I'd really like to see what Burks does with a good number of ABs.

SHEFFIELD HURT, BUT NOT AS BAD AS WE THOUGHT
Originally the diagnosis was that Gary Steroid would be out for a few months. Something changed and he might be out for only a few days. Oh well, his testicles are still shrunken.

CELTICS BEAT KNICKS, WIN 6TH STRAIGHT
I was at this game. We paid $50 for tickets in the last row in the right hand corner when you're watching on TV. However, we spent a quarter in $200 seats behind the net. We spent the next quarter in $100 seats just a few rows behind where the hockey boards are. We left at half time because we wanted to go back to Fairfield and get drunk. Mission accomplished. The game was pretty good. Pierce shot a game winner and then Marburry missed a potential game winner. Pierce is the man.

When we were waiting for the gate to open, we overheard a Knicks fan saying that this used to be a rivalry but now the Celtics weren't that good. Typical New Yorker, making himself seem more important than he truly is. Umm, lets see, here's a few numbers for Knicks fans to suck on:

56-57
58-59
59-60
60-61
61-62
62-63
63-64
64-65
67-68
68-69
73-74
75-76
80-81
83-84
85-86
1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 31, 32, 33, 35, 00, 18 (not a typo)

Eat it, New York!

CELTICS STREAK STOPPED BY LAKERS
I didn't see alot of this game, but I did see some shitty calls and Shaq standing in the paint for 11 seconds. Such bullshit. I fucking hate LA!

NEW ENGLAND NCAA ROUNDUP

This is my favorite part of the NCAA BBall season: Conference tournament time.

Big East
Georgetown Hoyas 57
BC Eagles 68

A-10
La Salle Explorers 42
URI Rams 55

Duquesne Dukes 79
UMass Minutemen 76

C-USA
Central Conn 55
Monmouth 67

So BC and URI advance. BC is a lock for the NCAA (knock on wood) and URI will make the NIT unless they win the A-10 tourney which would be fucking awsome!

BRUINS BEAT PREDS
3-2. Thornton scored two and had an assist. There was some controversy, however, as it appeared that Murray may have set an illegal defensive pick on both of Joe's goals. Nevertheless, this team will not do anything in the playoffs unless Thornton gets points and he is getting alot right now. Buffalo won tonight so the Bruins magic # is 10 points to make the playoffs. The Bruins are a mere point behind Toronto and Ottawa for the top spot in the division. However, Ottawa has a game in hand and the first tie-breaker is wins, of which both Toronto and Ottawa have more.

Speaking of hockey, Todd Bertuzzi is in big trouble for a sucker punch on a Colorodo Avalanche player. Ironically, Bertuzzi demanded full justice when Marty McSorley hit Donald Brasheer with his stick. I don't think that charges should be pressed, however. I really didn't think that the hit was that big of a deal. However, the player who got hit has a fractured vertebrae. This reminds me of the McLaren/Zednick incident in which the apparent seriousness of the injury determined the punishment. I'm sure Bertuzzi didn't mean to hurt the guy as much as he did so I don't think he should be suspended much more than the remainder of the regular season which is 13 games. Perhaps a 15 game suspension would be adequate as the Canucks remaining regular season games aren't nearly as important as the playoff games.

ARSENAL ADVANCE TO QUARTERFINALS OF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Arsenal 2-0 Celta Vigo

Arsenal wins on aggregate of 5 goals to 2.

Manchester United tied Porto so they're eliminated.

Here are the other teams that moved on:
Chelsea (England)
Deportivo La Coruna (Spain)
Lyon (France)
Porto (Portugal)
AC Milan (Italy)
Monaco (France)
Real Madrid (Spain)

Arsenal play the Blackburn Rovers Saturday morning. Then they host Bolton Wanderers and Manchester United.

Tuesday, March 09, 2004

ORGANIZATIONAL REPORT

Here it is

The most interesting parts:

Five prospects whose names you should know:

Hanley Ramirez, SS
Ramirez's first taste of full-season ball didn't go quite as well as his previous seasons in the organization, but the Sox were pleased with how Ramirez handled himself following a 10-day suspension. He spent the winter with Licey in the Dominican League, and though he only picked up 22 at-bats, it was a good experience for this raw talent. Ramirez is one of those players who relied on his tremendous natural ability when he first began playing, but is now learning the importance of personal preparation as he moves up the ladder. If he can control that aspect of his game, the sky is the limit for this five-tool talent. He'll likely start the season with Sarasota (High-A) as a 20-year-old regular, with a trip to Double-A Portland not completely out of the question.

Kevin Youkilis, 3B
Dubbed the "Greek God of walks" in the book, "Moneyball," Youkilis' best skill is his ability to control the strike zone. He got on base in a record 71 straight games this past season, and finished third in the minors with a .441 OBP. His numbers dropped once he was promoted to Triple-A (.165 AVG in 109 at-bats), but Youkilis is a smart hitter who should be able to adjust. His at-bats in the International League playoffs were much better, a sign Youkilis -- whom the Sox feel will hit for a little more power as he matures as a hitter -- was already making the necessary changes to succeed at a higher level. He'll head back to Pawtucket in 2004 to show that those lessons carried over.
Kelly Shoppach, C
Shoppach, the Sox's first pick in the 2001 draft, will spend the year with Pawtucket as he prepares to possibly replace Jason Varitek in Boston. The Baylor product came back strong from a shoulder injury, with no signs of trouble once he returned behind the plate late last April. He's got a very good idea of what to do behind the plate, with a quick release and a firm grasp of game-calling. He's no slouch at bat, either, with raw power and the willingness to hit deep in the count. His leadership skills and take-charge nature leave little doubt about his ability to handle the responsibility of catching in a market like Boston. That means the organization will likely have little difficulty in letting Varitek go following the 2004 season.

David Murphy, OF
For a guy entering his first full pro season, Murphy already has an advanced approach to the game. He hit .346 with a .453 OBP for Lowell in the NY-Penn League before cooling down a bit against Florida State League pitching. From a development standpoint, there's not a whole lot the Sox want Murphy to do differently. They love his even-keeled demeanor and the amount of work he puts into self-preparation. He's even better than expected defensively, to the point where the Red Sox believe he can stay in center field. He'll likely patrol that terrain back in Sarasota, but Murphy is the kind of college player who could advance quickly through the system.

Chad Spann, 3B
Heading into Spring Training last year, the Sox didn't have any idea where their fifth-round pick of the 2002 draft would begin the season. So Spann took it upon himself to force the organization's hand, and proved he belonged in full-season ball. As a 19-year-old in the South Atlantic League, Spann finished an impressive sixth with a .312 average. He has a clear understanding of what to do at the plate, and sticks to his game plan like a seasoned veteran. He's also an extremely hard worker who improved defensively at third base over the course of the season. Spann will likely start the year in Sarasota, and the Sox are very interested to see how he responds to that challenge.

Others to watch: Abe Alvarez, LHP; Juan Cedeno, LHP; Manny Delcarmen, RHP; Jon Lester, LHP; Matt Murton, OF


and

Looking ahead: Needs for the 2004 draft

Under Theo Epstein, it's been pretty well-documented that the Red Sox lean toward college players in the draft. Over the first 20 rounds of the 2003 draft (22 picks), Boston selected just three high school players. Expect that trend to continue into 2004, though the scouting department will continue to look at players from all levels. To be sure, there are high schoolers who fit the profile of the kind of player the Sox are looking for, as was the case with Mickey Hall last year. If the right guy is on the board at the right spot, the Red Sox will not hesitate to stray from the college route.


The Sarasota Sox should have a good amount of talent this upcoming season. Also, look for the Portland Seadogs to have some talent coming up from the south late in the season. I'd like to go to some Seadogs games this season.

By the way, I forgot to mention that the Celtics had a huge win in Minnesota Sunday night. I'm going to try to get tickets for the Celtics/Knicks game tommorrow night. It should be an interesting evening.

Off the topic, I was thinking of starting a non-sports related blog with my own personal reviews of movies. I really like films and consider myself an amateur critic. More to come.

Post #132

Monday, March 08, 2004

SOX WIN TWO
Boston RS 5
Philly 3

Twinkies 4
Boston RS 9

In the Phillies game, all our runs were given up by Bierbrodt who probably won't make the team. We scored runs off Bud Smith and Tim Worrell who have a good shot at making the Phillies.

The full account of the Twins game is still not on redsox.com

Here are some notable performances by the Sox against Philly:

Reese: 1/3, R
Mueller: 1/2, R, RBI
Daubach: 1/4, 2B, 2 RBI
Timlin: IP, 0 ER, 0 BB, H, K
McCarty: 0.2 IP, 2 H

More on the Twins game when it comes in.

Red Sox spring training records:
overall: 5-2 (.714)
Grapefruit League: 3-2 (.600)
Mayor's Cup: 2-1 (.667)

Post #131

Sunday, March 07, 2004

SOX LOSE TO SCUM
NY Scum 11
Boston RS 7

All the scum down in NYC is probably patting themselves on their collective hairy back. All the New York suck ups at ESPN and Fox will probably claim that the Y*nkees won round one. All the dumb talking heads on CNN and MSNBC will claim the same thing. The fact of the matter is this, the Y*nkees scored all but one of their runs off Jason Shiell and Ed Yarnell. They only scored 1 run against a pitcher who might make the team. We scored our runs off of Contreras. Nuf Said.

Notable performances:
Kapler: 1/3, R
Mueller: 1/2, R, RBI
Burks: 2/3, R
Daubach: 1/2, R
Millar: 1/2, 2B, 2 RBI
Reese: 1/2, HR, R, RBI
Crespo: 2/2, R, RBI
Arroyo: 3.0 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, K

This game was intense for the fans. A scalper was arrested trying to seel standing room tickets for $80 a pop. A ticket auction vfor charity sold a pair of tickets for over $400. There was a fight between two young women in the parking lot. The press box was packed with national media. But it is March 7th. It is going to be a long year.

SOX LOSE TO TWINS IN SECOND MAYOR'S CUP GAME
Twinkies 6
Boston RS 2

Once again, we lost because of releivers who have no shot at making this team. Colton Bean gave up 5.

Notable performances:
Ortiz: 2/3, 2B, HR, 2 R, RBI
Kapler: 2/2, 2B, RBI,
Kim: 2 IP, BB, 0 ER, K
Bierbrodt: IP, H, 0 ER

Here are the Sox records this spring:
Overall: 3-2
Grapefruit League: 1-2
Mayor's Cup: 1-1

Split squad games tommorow, one at Philly's complex and one against Minnesota in our complex.

BRUINS TIE THRASHERS
2-2. Goals by Gonchar and Knuble.

Magic Number: 12 points

Next game is Tuesday @ Nashville.

ARSENAL CRUSH PORTSMOUTH IN FA CUP PLAY
For the 4th year in a row, Arsenal are in the FA Cup semi-finals. They beat Portsmouth 5-1 Saturday. Thierry Henry had 2 goals as did Freddie Ljunberg. They play Celta Vigo Wednesday in Champions League play. All they need to do is tie against Celta Vigo, or lose by a score of 3-2, 2-1, or 1-0. Obviously, a victory would also allow us to advance to the next round of eliminations.

HOCKEY EAST TOURNAMENT
The best conference in hockey is having its annual tournament starting Thursday night. Here are the matchups:

#8 BU is at #1 BC
#7 Merrimack is at #2 Maine
#6 UMass-Lowell is at #3 UMass-Amherst
#5 Providence is at #4 New Hampshire

Post #130

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