Owner: Random Thoughts URL:http://randomthoughts.ianbethune.com Join Date: Mon, 01 Jan 2007 22:15:01 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: My take on the Boston Red Sox, UCONN Huskies, other sports news and news of the weird. The site is updated every day. Site statistics:Click here
Bowl Contest Update 2007-01-02 02:51:29 This will updated live thru out New Years Day. Seven games have been affected by the spreads.
Oregon State beat Missouri 39-38 but they didn’t cover the spread (-3.5)
Texas Tech beat Minnesota 44-41 but they didn’t cover the spread (-6.5)
Boston College beat Navy 25-24 but they didn’t cover the spread (-6)
Texas beat Iowa 26-24 but they didn’t cover the spread (-11)
Miami beat Nevada 21-20 but they didn’t cover the spread (-3)
Auburn beat Nebraska 17-14. Auburn was giving 3 points. The game is a push. Will go down as a tie.
West Virginia beat Georgia Tech 38-35 but they didn’t cover the spread (-7)
1. Sue: 15-10-1
2. Mark B: 14-11-1
3. Liang: 13-12-1
4. Mel: 12-13-1
4.. Keith: 12-13-1
4.. Ladd: 12-13-1
7. Scott: 10-15-1
8. Ian: 6-19-1
8. Marc: 6-19-1
I think after this I am getting out of the predicting sports business. I wasn’t good with my baseball predictions and as you can see I am not faring well here at all. Oh well. Looks like the winn Read more:Contest
, Update
Congratulations Bob Knight 2007-01-01 20:01:10 Well it’s New Years Day and it is usually a football day for most people. Not for me right now. Thru my normal flipping of the channels, I came across the Texas Tech-New Mexico basketball game. At first Texas Tech was winning by 20 pts so I changed the channel back to football. Then I went back to the basketball game and New Mexico was winning. Anyways, I digress. As you can tell by the headline, Bob Knight
got his 880th career coaching victory passing Dean Smith as the all time winningest coach in College Basketball History. Congratulations
to Bob Knight.
Technorati: Bob Knight, Texas Tech, Dean Smith, Indiana Hoosiers
Ugliest Football Field Ever 2007-01-01 04:35:15 I know it is New Year’s Eve and everyone is probably out partying but for those of you who are watching television, don’t flip to ESPN. This is what you will see.
I actually had to turn the channel because it hurts the eyes to watch for a long period of time.
Technorati: Boise State Broncos, Broncos Stadium, Blue astro turf, University of Nevada, University of Miami (FL), MPC Computers Bowl
Read more:Football
, Field
Lady Huskies Dominate Sacred Heart; Geno Gets 600th Win 2007-01-01 03:19:22 On Sunday afternoon, the UCONN Lady Huskies
took care of business beating the Sacred Heart
Pioneers by the score of 82-40 and in the process, got their coach his 600th career victory. With the victory, Geno Auriemma became the fastest coach in women’s basketball history to get his 600th win, needed just 716 games to do it. It took Pat Summit, Tennessee’s women’s coach, 734 games to do it.
UCONN was led by freshman Kaili McClaren’s first career double-double, 14 points and 15 rebounds. Tina Charles came off the bench to add 15 points and 11 rebounds. Renee Montgomery added 14 points to the cause as well.
Notes and Observations:
In a class move by the UCONN folks, they stopped the game when Sacred Heart’s Amanda Pape took over the career scoring lead at Sacred Heart. Sacred Heart’s coach had gone over to the locker room at halftime and asked Geno Auriemma if they would stop the game when she broke the record. Geno, being the great guy that he is, sa Read more:Dominate
Former UCONN Players in the NBA Week 9 2006-12-31 06:39:46
Here is the ninth installment of the former UCONN
players in the NBA
. Read more about this after the jump.
Player
Date
Opponent
Mins
Pts
Rebs
Asts
Stls
Blks
Ben Gordon Chicago Bulls
12-26
L vs Minnesota Timberwolves
28
27
3
2
1
0
12-27
W vs Miami Heat
32
40
3
5
0
0
12-29
W vs Toronto Raptors
35
22
3
6
2
0
12-30
W vs Cleveland Cavaliers
35
21
7
7
2
0
Player
Date
Opponent
Mins
Pts
Rebs
Asts
Stls
Blks
Kevin Ollie Philadelphia 76ers
12-26
L vs Golden State Warriors
24
9
5
4
1
0
12-27
L vs Sacramento Kings
12
2
0
2
0
0
12-29
W vs Portland Trailblazers
17
3
0
5
0
0
Player
Date
Opponent
Mins
Pts
Rebs
Asts
Stls
Blks
Rudy Gay Memphis Grizzlies
12-26
L vs Washington Wizards
25
4
7
2
0
0
12-27
L vs Milwaukee Bucks
17
4
2
0
2
0
12-30
W vs Toronto Raptors
26
10
2
0
1
0
Player
Date
Opponent
Mins
Pts
Rebs
Asts
Stls
Blks
Emeka Okafor Charlotte Bobcats
12-26
L vs Dallas Mavericks
36
7
7
1
1
2
12-27
L vs Washington Wizards
32
14
12
Read more:Former
, Players
UCONN Falls To West Virginia 2006-12-31 00:13:46 In the Big East opener for both teams, the West Virginia
Mountaineers defeated the UCONN
Huskies by the final score of 81-71 on Saturday afternoon in Morgantown, WV. West Virginia
was led by Frank Young’s 22 points and Da’Sean Butler’s 16 points. For UCONN, they were led by Doug Wiggins’ career best 20 pts and Marcus Johnson’s 16 points.
UCONN got out of the gates slowly today and West Virginia took advantage of that. UCONN held the lead once at 1-0 and then trailed for the entire game. This was the first time since Dec 6th versus Northeastern that they had trailed in a game. It was also the first time they had trailed at the half all season.
Notes and Observations:
The starters were Price, Dyson, Johnson, Thabeet and Adrien.
I was impressed with Doug Wiggins play today. 10 of his 20 points kept the Huskies in the game in the first half. To me, he played like an upperclassman today.
UCONN came into the game today leading the nation in blocked shots with Read more:Falls
Tiger Sinks A Putt 2006-12-30 21:36:11 In honor of Tiger Woods finding out that he will be a father, I thought I’d play for you one of my favorite Tiger ads. It is him playing Bill Murray’s character in Caddyshack. By the way, odds are Tiger’s baby will have the same smile.
Technorati: Tiger Woods, Golf, Caddyshack, Bill Murray
Read more:Sinks
UCONN Women Win Over The Hartford Hawks 2006-12-30 04:56:30 Renee Montgomery and Kalana Greene led the nation’s fifth ranked team to a 62-36 win over the University of Hartford Hawks
. For the Huskies, Montgomery had 16 points and Greene added 14 to the cause. They were the only two in double figures.
It was an ugly game in the first half for UCONN
as the Hawks led most of the way until Renee Montgomery tied the game up at 18. From that point on, the Lady Huskies never looked back. They actually scored 18 pts in a row until the Hawks scored in the second half. The win moves them to 10-0 on the season.
Notes and Observations:
UCONN was without the services of Meghan Gardler and Brittany Hunter tonight. Hunter took the night off to rest her troublesome right knee that she had reaggravated against Oakland. Meghan Gardler missed the game after she showed back up to campus after the Christmas break with her elbow in a sling. She was “rough housing” with some friends and injured her elbow. It isn’t serious and she’s exp Read more:Women
2006-2007 College Bowl Schedule & Contest 2007-01-02 02:50:29 Here is the 2006-2007 Bowl Schedule
. Go down to the comments section and get your picks in. Rules and spreads are posted in the comments section. The winner will write a guest post on anything they want.
Bowl Game
Date/Time
Site
Matchup
Network
San Diego Co. Credit Union Poinsettia
Dec. 19
8 p.m.
San Diego, CA
TCU 37
Northern Illinois 7
ESPN2
Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas
Dec. 21
8 p.m.
Las Vegas, NV.
BYU 38
Oregon 8
ESPN
R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Dec. 22
8 p.m.
New Orleans, LA
Troy State 41
Rice 17
ESPN2
New Mexico
Dec. 23
4:30 p.m.
Albuquerque, NM
San Jose State 20
New Mexico 12
ESPN
Papajohns.com Bowl
Dec. 23
1 p.m.
Birmingham, AL
South Florida 24
East Carolina 7
ESPN2
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces
Dec. 23
8 p.m.
Fort Worth, TX
Utah 25
Tulsa 13
ESPN
Sheraton Hawaii
Dec. 24
8 p.m.
Honolulu, HI
Hawaii 41
Arizona State 24
ESPN
Motor City
Dec. 26
7:30 p.m.
Detroit, MI
Central Michigan 31
Middle Tennessee 14
ESPN
Emerald
Dec. 27
8 p.m.
San Francisco, CA
Flori Read more:Contest
, College
In Case You Missed It 2007-01-02 18:11:17 In case you didn’t stay up past midnight last night because you had to go to work today or something else like that, you missed the great ending in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl last night. Enjoy.
Technorati: Fiesta Bowl, Boise State Broncos, Oklahoma Sooners
Week 9 Men's & Women's Basketball Polls 2007-01-03 03:36:13
Here are the Rankings for the Men’s and Women
’s teams of Division 1 (Jan 1-Jan 7)
Men’s
Women’s
1. UCLA
2. North Carolina
3. Florida
4. Wisconsin
5. Duke
6. Ohio State
7. Arizona
8. Alabama
9. Kansas
10. Pittsburgh
11. Texas A&M
12. Oklahoma State
13. Butler
14. UCONN
15. Nevada
16. Air Force
17. Oregon
18. Clemson
19. LSU
20. Washington
21. Marquette
22. Notre Dame
23. Memphis
24. Michigan State
25. Tennessee
1. Maryland
2. North Carolina
3. Duke
4. Tennessee
5. UCONN
6. LSU
7. Oklahoma State
8. Ohio State
9. Baylor
10. Vanderbilt
11. Purdue
12. Stanford
13. Louisville
14. Arizona State
15. Georgia
16. George Washington
17. Texas A&M
18. Michigan State
19. Bowling Green
20. Marquette
21. California
22. Pittsburgh
23. Arkansas
24. DePaul
25. Middle Tenn. St.
Note: This is from the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Polls Read more:Basketball
Randy Johnson Set To Be Traded??? 2007-01-03 06:29:46 According to Peter Abraham of the Journal News, the deal between the New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks could be picking up majoring steam as the Diamondbacks have reportedly asked for a 72 hour negotiating window with Johnson
. The D’backs want to settle his contract status for 2008 and also work on the $40 million dollars in deferred money the D’backs already owe him from his previous stint in Arizona.
This deal could be great for Johnson because he lives about 14 miles from the ballpark. Also, he never seemed to really fit into the New York market especially with the media hounding his every move. It remains to be seen what else New York will be giving the Diamondbacks. We can only wait til this becomes official to find out.
This brings up an interesting question. What does this do to the availability of Rogers Clemens? Rumors are Randy
Johnson and him never got along. So were the Yankees getting rid of Johnson as a good faith move to show Clemens they were interes Read more:Randy Johnson
UCONN Women Get By West Virgina 2007-01-03 05:41:25 In a game they may have been overlooking, the UCONN
Lady Huskies struggled to victory over the West Virgina Mountaineers by a final score of 63-44. UCONN had 3 people in double figures led by Charde Houston’s 16 points and 9 rebounds. Kalana Greene added 15 points and 9 rebounds while Tina Charles came off the bench to score 13 points and added 12 rebounds.
The Lady Huskies may have been looking to Saturday’s annual matchup with the Tennessee Volunteers and came out slugglishly in the first half. This has been the norm the past three games. West Virginia came out strong early but struggled later on as the Huskies took control and they never got close again.
Notes and Observations:
The starting five was Montgomery, Thomas, Greene, McClaren and Houston.
Tina Charles play off the bench has been superb the past two games. It seems to me that even though this is probably the first time in her life she hasn’t started a game, she is better suited for this at the time. It gi Read more:Women
UCONN Men Subdue The Bulls 2007-01-03 05:12:53 In front of a sell-out crowd an announced crowd of 15,174 at the Hartford Civic Center, the UCONN
Huskies bounced back from their loss on Saturday to defeat the South Florida Bulls 69-50. Jeff Adrien led the way for the Huskies with yet another double-double, 16 points and 15 rebounds. Jerome Dyson also chipped in 16 points. AJ Price rounded out the Huskies in double figures with 10 points.
Before I get into my notes and observations I would like to say this. I watched the game on television and noticed a lot of empty seats at the game. At one point they panned into the 300 level of the Hartford Civic Center and most of it was empty. So for UCONN to announce a crowd of 15,174 when there was easily at least 2 to 3 thousand empty seats in the place. It brings me back to my minor league baseball days when I would attend the New Britain Rockcats games that had the 2,000 fans and the GM would announce a sell-out.
Notes and observations:
The starters were the usual five: Price, Dyson, John
Saban To Alabama 2007-01-03 17:29:15
Thirteen days ago, Nick Saban
announced there was no way that he was going to the University of Alabama
to coach. Well today is January 3rd and Nick Saban is leaving the Miami Dolphins to coach said University of Alabama.
To me, he is yesterday’s Jimmy Johnson, who left the University of Miami in the middle of the night to go coach the Dallas Cowboys. Although to me if someone offered me $35 million dollars guaranteed, I’d probably go take the job too.
Saban had been a successful college coach before going to Miami. In Miami, he was unable to lead the team to the playoffs. This could be one of the many reasons why he departed Miami for the green Crimson of Alabama.
Technorati: Nick Saban, Alabama Crimson Tide, Miami Dolphins
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Red Sox Set to Sign Piñeiro 2007-01-03 23:35:18 Former New Haven Raven Joel Piñeiro is set to sign a 1 year deal with the Boston Red Sox
. The deal is for 1 year with a guaranteed $4 million dollars plus incentives.
The signing of Piñeiro gives the Red Sox 7 potential starters for next season (Schilling, Matsuzaka, Beckett, Wakefield, Papelbon and Lester). If I had to venture a guess, Piñeiro will probably pitch out of the bullpen. Still though, $4 million dollars for a season is awfully high for a guy who will pitch in middle relief. I am sure Piñeiro isn’t happy because his buddy, Gil Meche, signed a 5 yr, $55 million dollar deal. Difference being, Meche had a better season last year as Piñeiro was 8-13 with a 6.36 ERA.
Maybe, just maybe Piñeiro will emerge during spring training as a pitcher who’d be better off starting and the Sox could move Papelbon back to the bullpen.
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Schilling's Thoughts On Joel Piñeiro 2007-01-04 07:09:41 Courtesy of the Sons of Sam Horn Message Board, Curt Schilling
, who goes by the handle of Gehrig38 there, gives his thoughts on the signing of Joel Piñeiro:
The only thing I know is that two years ago I thought this guy had as lively stuff as anyone I had seen in a long time.
He certainly did seem to tail off last year but during some of his games he showed the mid 90s electric stuff he had all the time a few years back.
I thought, from the first day I saw him, that he was built to be a reliever with an incredible arm on a Gordon sized body.
He’ll gain a decent amount of velocity heading to the pen, if he can make the mental transition this guys a serious power arm on the back end.
His curveball, when he’s fresh, is a strikeout pitch, his fastball certainly is as well, but it was his changeup that wow’d everyone. Tremendous arm action, ball died without looking like it was slowing down.
This, to me anyway, is a no lose signing. This kid gets in the right mix and envi
RJ Traded; Former Sox 1B Signs With Yankees 2007-01-04 23:05:43 I just saw this flash on the bottom of the screen on ESPN. The Diamondbacks and Randy Johnson have agreed on a contract extension that runs through the 2008 season. Also, the Fan, WFAN, is reporting that the trade is official. The trade is Randy Johnson to the Diamondbacks for 4 four players (P Luis Vizcaino, P Russ Ohlendorf, P Stephen Jackson, and SS Alberto Gonzalez). Vizcaino was a reliever for the D’backs last year and the other 3 are prospects in the D’backs minor league system. It will be interesting to see how the posturing goes for the Roger Clemens annual sweepstakes now that RJ has been traded.
Also in Evil Empire news, the Yankees
have agreed to a deal with former Red Sox, Mets, Twins, Royals 1B Doug Mientkiewicz on a deal. No word on the length or terms of the deal. Mientkiewicz is best known in the Sox Nation as the man who caught the final out in the 2004 World Series.
And one more little piece of Evil Empire news, Johnny Damon and his stripper wife, Michelle Read more:Former
Bill Cowher Set To Resign 2007-01-05 02:30:28 The Pittsburgh Steelers have announced a press conference for 3 PM on Friday afternoon to announce the resignation of their head coach, Bill Cowher
. Cowher has been the Steelers head coach for the past 15 seasons.
Since 1969, the Steelers have had the most stable coaching position in the NFL having had only two coaches, Chuck Knoll (1969-1991) and Bill Cowher
(1992-2007). Cowher’s career record was 161-99-1 in his fifteen seasons. He won last years Super Bowl in Detroit with the Steelers.
Most media outlets are speculating the reason for Cowher leaving the game is to spend more time with his family. He had a built a house in Raleigh, NC and his wife and daughter have been living there for the season. Cowher is supposed to be working this weekend for one of the networks during the playoffs. This was something he had set up before announcing his decision. Cowher will not be able to coach in the NFL next season as he retires with one year left on his contract. I don’t think he Read more:Resign
My Work Featured on SIoncampus.com 2007-01-05 00:00:15 Only a handful of people knew that I had been working on something for SIoncampus.com but recently an editor there came across a feature I had written on my blog about former UCONN players not in the NBA who were playing overseas. He had approached me about using the information to do a feature on the website about former players. After his research came up empty on finding out about other blogs having the same thing for other teams, I asked him if I could write about the teams he wanted. He gave me a list of teams and then said I could add a couple on. He said I didn’t have to do teams i hated (DUKE) but i did them anyway. SO if you click on the link below, you will find the first of 10 features.
SIONCAMPUS.COM
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Need Some Bacon? 2007-01-06 02:35:15 If you like bacon, you may want to give the William Coursey of Georgia a call.He has the great fortune of shooting an 1,100 lb wild boar. Yes 1,100 lbs. The boar is supposed to be bigger than the famed “Hogzilla” who was also shot in Georgia back in 1994.
All I know is that is one big ass wild pig. I highly recommend to him to get some Lipitor because he’s gonna need it after having all that bacon.
Technorati: 1100 lb wild boar, William Coursey, hunting
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Read more:Bacon
NFL Playoff Predictions and More 2007-01-06 04:38:11 Well it’s January and besides it being College Bowl Season, it is also the start of the second season of the NFL. It’s time for the 1st round of the 2007 NFL Playoffs. You make it all the way to the Super Bowl and you have a date in Miami in February.
Before I make my predictions, I would like to add a disclaimer. I have sucked at doing predictions on here so I would highly advise not to bet on the games using my advice. Now onto the 1st round predictions.
Saturday’s games
AFC: Indianapolis vs Kansas City. Peyton and the offense will be too much for Kansas City. Larry Johnson will rush for over 150 yards but that won’t be enough to get the job done. I’ll take Indianapolis in this one.
NFC: Seattle vs Dallas. Seattle’s top receiver, Darrell Jackson and most of the offensive line probably will not play in the game. For Dallas, the game will go as Tony Romo plays. I think Romo bounces back and throws for 300 yards and 3 touchdowns. 2 of them to Terrell Read more:Predictions
UCONN-Tennessee Notes 2007-01-06 22:13:40 Tennessee’s first shot was an air ball.
Kaili McClaren started the game instead of Tina Charles
Tennessee’s second possession was a turnover.
Nice hustle by Mel Thomas on an errant pass from UT to get a layup for McClaren
Candace Parker has 2 blocked shots so far and 1 shot
1st media time out-UCONN
6 Tenn 3
Nice backdoor pass from Montgomery to Greene for a UCONN basket
Good move by Candace Parker for a basket and was fouled.
Mel Thomas is actually on the bench in the first half as she was replaced by Ketia Swanier
Tina Charles is 1 of 4 from the foul line
2nd media time out-Tenn 12 UCONN 11
UCONN is struggling offensively right now having trouble with UT’s defensive pressure
CP is unstoppable down in the paint even being double teamed
McClaren broke the drought for UCONN with a offensive rebound put back
nice pass from Montgomery to Houston for a UCONN layup
Tina Charles just got stuffed by CP for a jump ball.
Nice move by Charles to tie the game at 17 then Spencer Read more:Notes
, Tennessee
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