Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

BY DANIEL BARBARISI
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- The Red Sox have made a request with Major League Baseball to host the All-Star Game in 2012, which will be the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park.

Read the complete story here.

The New England Patriots announced moments ago that Tom Brady will be placed on the injured-reserve list and will miss the rest of the 2008 season.

The statement:

"After extensive tests this morning, it was revealed that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's left knee, which was injured in the first quarter of yesterday's game, will require surgery. He will be placed on injured reserve and will miss the remainder of the 2008 season."

"That's really about all we have at this point," coach Bill Belichick said at his press conference. "We feel badly for Tom about the injury; you hate to see anyone go down."

Neither the Patriots nor Belichick said exactly what was wrong with Brady.

"I don't have a lot of medical details," he said.

Belichick also said that, contrary to reports that the Pats had worked out veteran NFL quarterbacks Chris Simms and Tim Rattay in Foxboro, the team has not brought in any other QBs at this point.

"We haven't worked out any quarterbacks, or given any physicals. It's simply not true," he said. "I'm not saying it can't happen, but we have not worked out a [new] quarterback.

"We'll do what we feel like is best for our football team, as always. We'll evaluate our options and do what what we think is best."

Belichick said Matt Cassel would start at quarterback Sunday at New York against the Jets.

"I have a lot of confidence in Matt," said Belichick.

The Boston Celtics, who won their 17th NBA championship in June, will play in Rhode Island for the first time since 1999 this fall when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers in an exhibition game at the Dunkin' Donuts Center.

The Celtics beat the Cavaliers -- who are led by superstar LeBron James -- in seven games in the quarterfinal round of last year's playoffs. The game will be played on Friday, October 10 at 7:30 p.m.

More information is available on the Projo Sports Blog.

BOSTON -- Coco Crisp was suspended for seven games, Jon Lester for five games and Sean Casey for three games for their roles in Thursday night's on-field fight between the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays.

The Red Sox were informed of the penalties earlier this hour.

For more details, see projo.com's Red Sox page.

-- Sean McAdam, Journal sports writer

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, speaking at the moment to the media, said Matt Walsh brought no new information on the Spygate scandal to their meeting today and that Walsh did not tell him anything that the Patriots hadn't already been punished for.

He also made clear that Walsh did not tape the Rams' walkthrough prior to Super Bowl XXXVI, and that Walsh had no knowledge that anyone taped it.

"As I stand before you today . . . I don't know where else I would turn [for more information],'' Goodell said, when asked if Spygate was over.

Keep up with Spygate reports today via projo.com's PatsBlog ...

Travis Ford, the head basketball coach at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, is in Providence today meeting with Providence College officials about the school's vacant head coaching position. Ford and his wife just finished a tour of the Dunkin' Donuts Center.

Read the complete story here.

-- Kevin McNamara

Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach
Red Sox players wave goodbye to the fans at the Tokyo Dome after the game. The team will get on a charter and fly back to the United States tonight.

A quick list of all Journal sportswriterSean McAdam's stories from today's 5-1 Red Sox loss to the A's, as the teams met for the second time in Tokyo to kick off their seasons:

-- Game story: Rich Harden was the difference as the A's won, earning a split of the two games in Japan.

-- The trip is complete and, all in all, the Red Sox say they enjoyed their time in Japan.

-- Coco Crisp replaced Jacoby Ellsbury in center field for the second game of the series, but Terry Francona says he can't tell Crisp exactly how he'll be used this year because he doesn't yet know himself.

-- J.D. Drew missed his second straight game because of back spasms . . .

-- . . . which means Brandon Moss played again. But after the game, he was shipped to Pawtucket.

-- David Aardsma did his part to avoid joining Moss on the Fenway-to-McCoy shuffle by pitching 1 2/3 scoreless innings Wednesday.

-- Bartolo Colon's scheduled to pitch Friday night in Los Angeles and other notes.

-- And finally, the A's felt like they were treated as the Red Sox' poor cousins during their time in Tokyo.

Journal Photo/Bob Breidenbach

Red Sox 3rd baseman Mike Lowell (right) talks with manager Terry Francona (left) before the game this afternoon. The players and coaches were concerned about the Red Sox coaches not being compensated for their trip to Japan.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- A resolution has been reached between the Red Sox players, Major League Baseball and MLBPA in regards to the compensation for the coaching staff. As a result the team will travel to Japan. Red Sox player rep Kevin Youkilis will address the situation later this afternoon and we'll have more as it becomes available.

-- JOE McDONALD

The Providence Journal's Joe McDonald has been named Rhode Island Sports Writer of the Year for the second time by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.

The announcement was made today by the NSSA, which names a sports writer and sportscaster of the year for each of the 50 states. Steve Hyder, play-by-play announcer for the Pawtucket Red Sox, was named Rhode Island Sportscaster of the Year.

McDonald also won the award in 2004. Other Providence Journal winners currently on staff include Bill Reynolds, Sean McAdam and Carolyn Thornton.

Jim Nantz of CBS Sports and Bob Ryan of The Boston Globe were the national winners. All the award winners will be honored at a dinner at association headquarters in Salisbury, N.C., on May 3-5.

See a list of McDonald's most recent stories here.

The Boston Herald and Boston Globe, both citing unnamed sources, are reporting that Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling is suffering from a shoulder injury that may sideline him for the entire season.

In addition, both news organizations reported the Red Sox looked into the possibility of voiding the one-year, $8 million contract Schilling signed with the team last November.

The Herald said Schilling has ''a significant shoulder injury that could end the veteran’s season and is causing tension and friction between the player and the team.'' The Globe -- which had broken the story a bit earlier in the afternoon with a report that said Schilling would miss the beginning of spring training and might not be ready for the beginning of the season -- updated its report, saying the sides disagree on whether or not Schilling needs surgery and that surgery would probably sideline him for the season.

The Globe said the injury is not related to the shoulder woes that sidelined Schilling from late June to mid-August last year.

Schilling has his own Web site, 38pitches.com, which he frequently updates. As of mid-afternoon, he had not addressed the issue on his site.