Silver for Guerette; Crocker, Beisel just miss

Posted by Ted McEnroe August 16, 2008 (5 days ago) at 9:40 am

Connecticut has picked up another medal in these Olympic games. Rower Michelle Guerette will come home with a silver in the women’s single sculls, just missing gold with a final charge in the final 1000 meters of her event.

Guerette was in fifth place at the halfway point of the event, 4.5 seconds off the lead, before picking up her pace. She cut the gap in half and moved into third by 1500 meters, then charged home with the fastest time in the 500, falling just short in her effort to catch Rumyana Neykova of Bulgaria.

Meanwhile at the Cube, a primetime U.S. audience saw Ian Crocker fall .01 short of the medal stand in the 100 meter butterfly, and Elizabeth Beisel (Saunderstown, RI) finish a solid fifth in her first Olympic final in the 200 meter backstroke. Beisel, at 15, is just getting her career started. But for Crocker, it is likely the end (except for the prelims in the medley relay) of his Olympic career.

Media Movement All Over The Place

Posted by Bruce August 15, 2008 (6 days ago) at 8:30 am

Last night we learned about the changes at the Globe, which included Tony Massarotti moving over from the Herald, and Chad Finn earning himself a sweet promotion.

This morning, David Scott has more on the move, but also reports on new hires at weei.com, which include Jeff Goodman, Alex Speier and wait for it…Ron Borges.

Ron Borges? 

Seriously? Ken Powers wasn’t available? Mike Barnicle turned them down? Patricia Smith wasn’t interested?

My interest and enthusiasm in their new venture just sunk considerably. They were doing things right all the way up until that point. Michael Felger, Rob Bradford, Goodman and Speier are all relatively young guys who understand how things work in the new age of sportswriting. For the most part they have a fresh perspective on things, and don’t stir up stuff just to get noticed (well, except for Felger.)

Borges throws all that out the window. The quotes from Dennis and Callahan in Scott’s piece are just nauseating. Yeah, I’m sure Bill Belichick is shaking in his shoes at the thought of Borges back in Foxboro. That’s provided of course that he knows how to get there. He hasn’t been seen down there in a long time, even before his (wink wink) retirement from the Globe.

I had high hopes for this new weei.com. Borges just about kills it for me. You hire him, you lose your credibility. Simple as that.

Bad move, guys.

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The Red Sox hitters are surely sorry to see the Texas Rangers pitchers leave town. Boston finished off the sweep of the Rangers with a 10-0 victory at Fenway Park last night. The Red Sox scored 37 runs in 3 games off the Rangers…

Globe beat reporter Amalie Benjamin has the game story. Jeff Horrigan has the Red Sox continuing their hot hitting since the Manny Ramirez trade. Paul Kenyon has the Red Sox finishing off their roundup of the Rangers. Jeff Goldberg has Daisuke Matsuzaka once again letting the runners on, and once again not letting them score. Bob Stern has the Red Sox pounding the Rangers one more time. Garry Brown has more on the demolition at Fenway. Phil O’Neill has another big inning leading the way for Boston.

Tony Massarotti has David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis proving to be a formidable 3-3 combination. Barbara Matson has Ortiz especially sorry to see the Rangers go. Ortiz has regain his power stroke in this series, and even enjoyed an early departure last night. Still, I can’t help but remember the reaction from the media when Pedro Martinez left the ballpark early after a start. I’ve got absolutely no problem with Ortiz (or Pedro) going home early, but it’s interesting to note the difference in reaction. Steven Krasner analyzes the lack of success by the Rangers pitching in this series. Massarotti says that the Blue Jays will provide a much stiffer test for the Boston bats.

Marty Dobrow has a minor league notebook in the Globe, and examines a rash of oblique strains in the Red Sox organization. Rich Thompson’s minor league notebook has Bartolo Colon on the road back to the majors.

Benjamin’s notebook has Jon Lester trying to help out Clay Buchholz. Horrigan’s notebook has Dice-K once again walking a tightrope last night. The ProJo notebook has more on Matsuzaka. Goldberg’s notebook says that Kevin Youkilis is making a case for league MVP. Brown’s notebook has Paul Byrd getting ready for his first Red Sox start tonight. O’Neill’s notebook also makes the case for Youkilis as AL MVP.

Patriots

Over on Patriots Daily, Scott Benson examines whether the Patriots can or will carry five running backs on their roster.

Christopher L. Gasper has a look at the Patriots signing of veteran safety John Lynch. Christopher Price has more on the Lynch signing. Carolyn Thornton says that Lynch could end up being a big presence in the Patriots secondary. Eric McHugh thinks Lynch should fit well here. Jennifer Toland writes that Lynch could fill the void left by Tank Williams being placed on IR. Mark Farinella looks at this year’s carbon-dated addition to the Patriots roster.

Karen Guregian says that adding Dom Capers to the coaching staff might be the best move the Patriots made in the offseason. Thornton has rookie QB Kevin O’Connell doing all he can to learn from Tom Brady. Guregian has more on the rookie learning how to play the position in his first NFL camp. Farinella has a look at Kenny Smith, who gets a feature written about him for the second day in a row. Thompson has punter Chris Hanson secure in his role with the team.

Price tells us what to watch for during Sunday night’s game. Ian M. Clark has a Ruud family reunion on tap for Sunday night. Mike McMahon looks at former Boston Patriot Daryl Johnson going into the Morgan State Hall of Fame.

Gasper’s notebook has Jason Webster getting close to returning to action for the Patriots. Guregian’s notebook has more on the signing of Lynch. Toland’s notebook has Dean Pees talking about some of his young players on defense. McHugh’s notebook examines the impact on he safety depth chart that the Lynch signing will have.

Misc

Steve Bulpett and Marc J. Spears report on the Celtics signing first round pick J.R. Giddens.

Spears also has the United States’ men’s basketball team taking care of business with Greece yesterday.

Mark Blaudschun has a media column on NBC Sports reporter Bob Neumeier. Neumy mentions that WEEI wasn’t “fair” in their contract offer to him, which is why he left his show with Dale Arnold.  

Shawn Crable follow-up

Posted by Reiss' Pieces August 7, 2008 (2 weeks ago) at 3:10 pm

On the second day of training camp, Bill Belichick talked about how the Patriots, like other teams, had placed a higher value on certain parts of their draft board than in past years.

Players like a third cornerback, third receiver, third-down running back, and second- and third-down rusher were closer to starter-like status based on their growing importance in today's game.

At that time, I wrote that the second- and third-down pass rusher was a point of particular interest and that rookie linebacker Shawn Crable, one of the team's third-round picks, was a player who seemed targeted for that role.

Following up on that thought through 18 training camp practices, Crable has created some havoc as a rusher. Initially, he probably does project mostly in a second- and third-down rushing role.

But after watching him to this point, he should not be overlooked as a possibility to emerge as a full-time outside linebacker in the 3-4 alignment at some point. While his legs might not look the part -- and might make one question if he can set the edge in the running game against bigger tight ends and tackles -- he has other attributes (e.g. long arms) that help him in that challenging aspect of playing the position.

Crable said that element of containment has been one of his biggest adjustments coming from Michigan.

"You're the end of the defense, so you have to set the edge and can't let plays get outside," he said. "In that terms, it's a lot different because the guys here are a lot stronger than they were in college."

Theo, Tito say Bay is a great fit

Posted by NECN - Sports August 1, 2008 (3 weeks ago) at 4:22 pm

(NECN) - Red Sox Manager Terry Francona and GM Theo Epstein held a press conference to discuss the recent block buster trade that sent Manny Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers. It also sent Sox outfielder Brandon Moss and pitcher Craig Hansen to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In the three team-deal, the Red Sox acquired outfielder Jason Bay from the Pirates. Bay will be introduced Friday night against the Oakland A's. Bay will be hitting in the number 5 spot, behind Mike Lowell.

read more

Francona: Team already looking ahead after trade

Posted by NECN - Sports August 1, 2008 (3 weeks ago) at 4:09 pm

(NECN: Boston, Mass.) - Prior to introducing jason bay as the newest member of the Boston Red Sox, Theo Epstein and Terry Francona met the media, and for the first time, Frnacona acknowledged that his team had lost its focus before the trade of Manny Ramirez. But he said the team was already looking ahead in a Friday afternoon team meeting.

"We discussed how we're going to go forward," Francona said of the meeting. "I thought it was an exciting time to stand in fromt of your players and feel like that."

read more

Epstein: Now we feel like a team

Posted by NECN - Sports August 1, 2008 (3 weeks ago) at 4:07 pm

(NECN) - Red Sox Manager Terry Francona and GM Theo Epstein held a press conference to discuss the recent block buster trade that sent Manny Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers. It also sent Sox outfielder Brandon Moss and pitcher Craig Hansen to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In the three team-deal, the Red Sox acquired outfielder Jason Bay from the Pirates. Bay will be introduced Friday night against the Oakland A's. Bay will be hitting in the number 5 spot, behind Mike Lowell.

read more

Walkthrough session

Posted by Reiss' Pieces July 29, 2008 (4 weeks ago) at 10:33 am

FOXBOROUGH -- The Patriots have taken the field for their ninth practice since training camp opened last Thursday. This session, held on the upper practice fields behind Gillette Stadium, is a walkthrough, with players in shorts and T-shirts.

Walkthroughs are light practices in which players slowly go through parts of the playbook.

It is likely that coach Bill Belichick identified a few items that he wants the team to work on tonight in full pads, in the presence of the NFL referees who are in town, and the team is touching up on those areas this morning.

Three referees are here, and they are wearing their official uniforms on the practice field this morning. Butch Hannah, a respected umpire who dons number 40, is one of the officials in town.

On a personnel note, TE David Thomas is on the field for the walkthrough. Thomas had left yesterday's practice, under his own power, with a member of the team's training staff.

Q&A with Amalie Benjamin

Posted by Extra Bases July 16, 2008 at 2:18 pm

The Globe's Amalie Benjamin checked in on her way back from New York earlier today to discuss the Red Sox at the break.

Amalie Benjamin: Hello everyone. Hope you all got at least a bit of sleep after last night's epic All-Star game. I got back to the hotel around 3 a.m. myself, and I'm traveling back to Boston at the moment (hard to drive and type at the same time...), but I'll do my best to answer your questions. Thanks all, and welcome to the chat.

theyear22: Should baseball allow a re-entry rule in the All Star game if it goes into extra innings? I don't think a pitcher, like Brandon Webb, should have to pitch when he just threw over 100 pitches two days before. A playoff caliber team could lose one of their best players from something like this and ruin their chances later on.

Amalie Benjamin: That's an interesting question, which is certainly going to get some debate, given what went on last night. I know it was difficult for Francona to put Kazmir in the game, especially with the Rays asking him specifically not to do so. Since Bud Selig was adamant that the game would have been played to its completion, there probably needs to be something done in case the game were to have gone a couple more. I would hate to have been Bud, had that been the case.

GoCaptainVaritek: Hi Amalie,,,how classy were those Yankee fans booing their own team last night? Poor Jonathan Papelbon.

Amalie Benjamin: I was not at all surprised that the Sox players and coaches got boos last night. And I'm not so sure that the same thing (with the Yankees) wouldn't have happened, had the game been played at Fenway this season. But I also didn't exactly think the Daily News headline [Papel-bum] was fair, since they acknowledged in the story that Papelbon had changed his tune, telling our own Gordon Edes that Mariano Rivera should pitch the ninth.

LSCII: How valid is the Youk and Hansen for Texiera rumors? Why would anyone in the front office trade a guy that is tied up for short dough for a Boras player looking for a huge payday?

Amalie Benjamin: They are valid in that the Braves did ask for those players in a deal for Teixeira. But I think that reports of that deal might have been a bit exaggerated. There were certainly talks, though nothing close at this point. I don't think the Sox were overly interested in that deal. (But along with Teixeira, even if he would be a rent-a-player, comes the promise of draft picks if he's not signed.)

Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Bats silent at Fenway

Posted by Projo SoxBlog June 24, 2008 at 2:31 pm

Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. The topics: whether the Red Sox are missing David Ortiz more now than a week ago, the odd situation at first base last night, and the prospects of a trade for a second starting pitcher.

Here are some excerpts from Sean's comments:

On missing Ortiz: "I think it is starting to catch up to them. They seemed to be OK for the first couple of weeks. They were certainly riding J.D. Drew for the first couple of weeks of June, as he slid into that number-three spot and for a while at least there was no dropoff. But I suppose that it's inevitable that if you take a run producer of that magnitude out of the lineup for this long, it starts showing some effects, and I think we've seen it in the last week."

On the market for starting pitching: "Last year and the year before there was virtually no quality starting pitching available [at the trade deadline]. This year it looks like there's going to be a number of guys, including a number of left-handed guys, who are usually at even more of a premium. There will be some opportunities if the Red Sox want to upgrade. It will not be cheap of course. ... There will be plenty of teams looking -- the Yankees, Philadelphia, a number of teams are going to be in the market for starting pitching, and the Red Sox have to, like every other team, weigh the cost."

This is a check, 1,…

Posted by Ted McEnroe June 7, 2008 at 5:12 pm

This is a check, 1, 2, 3. Check, 1, 2, 3 of the voice blog system by Mike Giardi. A test. 1, 2, 3. listen

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