Projo Sports Blog

October 2007 Archives

Journal photo / Kris Craig
Prout defender Katie Hagerty and Mount St.Charles' Eliza Foresti head for the ball during today's Division II quarterfinal. Prout won, 4-1, while Bay View defeated Smithfield, 2-1, in another quarterfinal. We'll have a photo gallery of the Prout-Mount St. Charles game Thursday on hsgametime.com.

The two big themes: the Red Sox' rolling rally through the streets of Boston, and the Patriots-Colts morality play.

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Head to the PatsBlog to listen to today's edition of projo PatsTalk with Shalise Manza Young, and to read excerpts from the conversation. The topics: Good versus evil?extra motivation on both sides; does Peyton Manning have Bill Belichick's number now? the x-factor for the Patriots; improvements to the Colts' defense; Shalise's prediction; and why the Colts don't want to lose this one.

URI fullback Joe Casey will miss the last three games of the football season as a result of a shoulder injury he suffered late in the third quarter of the Rams' 49-36 loss at New Hampshire last Saturday. Casey injured the same shoulder last year but played in all 11 games and had surgery after the season. Coach Tim Stowers said today that Casey will probably have surgery again.
"It's a severe loss to the team," Stowers said.
Casey, a junior and two-time first-team all-conference fullback, is seventh in the Colonial Athletic Association in rushing this season with 782 yards. He has scored two touchdowns. He ran 23 times for 105 yards against UNH before leaving the game with 1:14 remaining in the third quarter and the Wildcats leading, 28-24.
Casey has rushed for 2,901 yards in his career, tied for fourth with former quarterback Jayson Davis on URI's career rushing list. He is 488 yards shy of Pat Abbruzzi's record of 3,389 yards gained between 1951 and 1954.
URI, 1-7, will play 7-1 and third-ranked Massachusetts Saturday at Meade Stadium, travel to Maine next week and close the season Nov. 17 at home against Northeastern.

| Categories College Sports

Journal photo / Bill Murphy
Nevermind the weather, Bostonians are hot for the Sox, who will march through town in about an hour.

Wish you could be in Boston to see the Red Sox' World Series victory parade?

We've got the next-best thing: live, streaming video of the noontime rally that will start at Fenway Park and will travel through Back Bay to the Commons and end at City Hall Plaza.

Our media partner, WPRI-TV in Providence, is providing the live feed via Fox. The link will be posted on our homepage closer to the start of the rally.

The “rolling rally” on World War II-era amphibious duck boats will take the same route as the 2004 championship parade, except they won’t go into the Charles River, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said.

Menino said pitcher Jonathan Papelbon will dance, and the Dropkick Murphys also will play along the parade route.

“He has to do a dance,” Menino said. “He promised the people he would do a dance.”

The Red Sox swept the Colorado Rockies Sunday night with a 4-3 win in Denver.

BOSTON, Mass. -- Jonathan Papelbon will take his wacky Irish gig on the road Tuesday when the Boston Red Sox hold their World Series victory parade.

The parade will start at noon from Fenway Park and will travel through Back Bay to the Commons and end at City Hall Plaza, according to Boston.com.

The “rolling rally” on World War II-era amphibious duck boats will take the same route -- beginning at Fenway Park and ending near City Hall -- as the 2004 championship parade, except they won’t go into the Charles River, Mayor Thomas Menino said Monday.

Menino said Papelbon will dance, and the Dropkick Murphys also will play along the parade route.

“He has to do a dance,” Menino said. “He promised the people he would do a dance.”

The 2004 rally fell on a rainy day, but tomorrow's forecast is for a clear sunny day tomorrow with a high of 59 degrees and a low of 46 degrees. There will be northwet winds of 5 to 10 miles per hour, with gusts of up to 25 miles per hour around noon.

Menino acknowledged having the celebration on a week day would inconvenience some businesses and school children away, but he said players were eager to get home to their families and begin their vacation.

The Red Sox swept the Colorado Rockies Sunday night with a 4-3 win in Denver. The team was expected to arrive back in Boston about 3:30 p.m. Monday and head over to Fenway Park.

Menino also said a “rolling rally” was easier for city officials to manage, because it spread out the crowds. He estimated security would cost $500,000.

Fans began celebrating immediately after the Red Sox won their second World Series title in four years.

Police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said 37 arrests were made early Monday in the city, mostly for disorderly conduct. No serious injuries were reported.

Thirteen people were arrested after they refused to leave the Kenmore Square area near Fenway Park, police said. After police told a large crowd of people to disperse, several officers were struck by rocks and bottles. Sixteen cars parked along Newbury Street were vandalized, with broken side view mirrors and windows, or damaged windshield wipers.

The police department had announced it would have more than 50 cameras trained on the city to record any vandalism. Boston authorities cracked down on rowdy sports celebrations after an Emerson College student was struck and killed when police fired a pepper pellet into an unruly crowd celebrating the Red Sox’ 2004 victory over the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series.

-- The Associated Press and projo.com staff reports

Head to the SoxBlog to listen to today's version of projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam, and read excerpts from the conversation. The topics: putting the Red Sox' latest triumph in perspective; many players deserving of MVP honors; keeping the nucleus of the 2007 team together; the feel-good story of Mike Lowell; Alex Rodriguez's big announcement; why you shouldn't expect the Sox to try to hard to land A-Rod; and how the 2004 Sox would match up with the 2007 Red Sox (hint: They'd do better than the Rockies).

It's one to keep, celebrating the Red Sox' second world championship in four years.

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Get all the details on projo.com's Red Sox page.

After opening the season with second consecutive lopsided wins, the Patriots handed out their worst beating yet today at Gillette Stadium. And with a 52-7 win -- the second-largest margin of victory in franchise history -- the team made yet another emphatic statement to set up what is sure to be the most hyped regular-season game in memory.

Next week, they head to Indianapolis to take on the defending Super Bowl champion Colts, the only other undefeated team in the league. The Colts shook off a slow start today to rout the Carolina Panthers, 31-7, in Charlotte.

Tom Brady continued was 29 of 38 for 306 yards, three touchdowns (to Mike Vrabel, Randy Moss and Wes Welker) and no interceptions. He also scrambled for two short touchdowns. Rosevelt Colvin scored a touchdown after recovering a fumble by Washington quarterback Jason Campbell, and backup quarterback Matt Cassel capped New England's scoring with a 15-yard scoring scamper.

Laurence Maroney had a productive game, carrying the ball 14 times for 75 yards and catching two passes for 37 yards.

The 45-point margin of victory was second in Patriots history only to the team's 56-3 win over the Jets on Sept. 9, 1979.

We'll have complete coverage of the game throughout the night on projo.com's Patriots page, including all of our game stories as they are filed and a photo gallery. For now, we invite you to post your predictions for next week's Patriots-Colts game.

It's all about the Red Sox' win in a suspenseful World Series Game Two.

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Go to the SoxBlog to listen to today's edition of projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam, and to read excerpts from the conversation. The topics: dominating bullpen performances by Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon; Mike Lowell's heads-up base-running; Ubaldo Jimenez's "effective wildness"; the weather forecast for Denver; the Ortiz-Youkilis-Lowell debate; and the National League's home-field advantage in interleague games.

PROVIDENCE -- The Celtics will hold an exhibition game in Providence next fall for the first time in more than a decade, according to Lawrence J. Lepore, the executive director of the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

The arena managers are reserving several dates in October for the Celtics, Lepore said in an interview this morning. "It'd be great," he said said. "We'd sell out."

The exhibition games are typically held in Worcester at the DCU Center. But last Friday, a game between the Celtics and New Jersey Nets was canceled at halftime because of condensation on the floor.

That decision left some of the 10,625 fans in attendance booing and cursing, according to The Boston Globe. The next day, Leopore said, the Celtics called the Dunkin' Donuts Center to schedule a game for next year.

--Journal staff writer Benjamin N. Gedan

The days of URI hoops being an also-ran in the Atlantic 10 could be over. The Rams were picked second in the A-10 at today's media day in Atlantic City, NJ. Rhody received five first place votes to finish behind clear favorite Xavier.
Will Daniels was an A-10's first-team pick in the vote by the league's coaches and selected media members. The league does not pick a pre-season Player of the Year but Daniels, a senior forward, is a leading contender for that award.

Here is the A-10's official release..
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - For the second consecutive year, Xavier is the overwhelming choice as the team to beat in the Atlantic 10 men's basketball race, according to a poll of the Atlantic 10's head coaches and media released at today's Media Day at Boardwalk Hall, the site of the 2008 A-10 Championship.

The Musketeers received 42 of the 59 first-place votes cast by the panel of coaches and media members. Xavier (25-9/13-3) returns three starters from last year's team which shared the regular season title with Massachusetts and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Leading XU will be senior guards Drew Lavender (11.2 ppg., 4.8 apg.) and Stanley Burrell (12.4 ppg., 2.4 apg.), who were named to the preseason All-Conference first- and second-teams, respectively. The Musketeers have won 20 or more games in ten of the last 11 seasons and have advanced to the NCAA Tournament in six of the past season years.

Rhode Island garnered five first-place votes and placed second in the preseason poll. The Rams (19-14/10-6) welcome back four starters and 95.5 percent of the team's scoring from a year ago, including first-team preseason All-Conference pick Will Daniels (17.4 ppg., 5.6 rpg.) and junior guard Jimmy Baron (14.6 ppg., 2.2 rpg.), who led the A-10 with 97 three-point field goals a year ago.

Saint Joseph's (18-14/9-7) was tabbed third and will be led by preseason first-team selection Ahmad Nivins (16.6 ppg., 7.6 rpg.), who led the Conference in field goal percentage (.631) last season. Fordham (18-12/10-6) earned a pair of first-place votes and was chosen fourth, the highest the Rams have been selected in the preseason since joining the Conference in 1995-96.

Led by first-year head coach Rick Majerus, Saint Louis (20-13/8-8) was selected fifth in the poll, while Dayton (19-12/8-8) garnered a pair of first-place votes and was tabbed for seventh. Defending A-10 champion George Washington (23-9/11-5) was picked seventh, while 2007 regular season co-champion Massachusetts (24-9/13-3) received a first-place vote and was selected eighth, followed by Temple (12-18/6-10), Charlotte (14-16/7-9), Duquesne (10-19/6-10), Richmond (8-22/4-12), La Salle (10-20/3-13) and St. Bonaventure (7-22/4-12).

In that same poll, the coaches and media selected the preseason All-Conference teams. The first-team is comprised of Daniels, Lavender, Nivins, Fordham's Bryant Dunston and Brian Roberts of Dayton. The second-team consists of Burrell, Temple's Dionte Christmas, the 2007 recipient of the Chris Daniels Most Improved Player Award and the league's leading scorer (20.0 ppg.), Maureece Rice of George Washington and teammates Tommie Liddell and Kevin Lisch of Saint Louis. On the third team are Pat Calathes of Saint Joseph's, Massachusetts' Gary Forbes, Leemire Goldwire of Charlotte, Stout and Temple's Mark Tyndale.

The preseason All-Defensive team consists of Lisch, Dunston, Stout and teammates Kieron Achara and Shawn James of Duquesne. The All-Rookie team is comprised of George Washington's Xavier Alexander, Lavoy Allen of Temple, Dante' Jackson of Xavier, Charlotte's Phil Jones and Chris Wright of Dayton.

Click here to listen to today's edition of projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam. The topics: the Rockies' poor showing in Game One; Pedroia and Youkilis jump-starting the lineup; Curt Schilling taking the hill tonight; Ubaldo Jimenez's big chance; and Josh Beckett proving his doubters wrong (again).

Head to the PatsBlog to listen to today's edition of projo PatsTalk with Shalise Manza Young, and read excerpts from the conversation. The topics: Randy Moss' latest receiving exhibition; is Matt Cassel still the backup quarterback? Washington's outstanding secondary; the state of the running game; and the endless buildup to the Colts game.

See a position-by-position comparison of the Red Sox and Rockies on today's sports section front.

Download a copy of the page in PDF format

Go to the SoxBlog to listen to today's edition of projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam, and read excerpts from the conversation. The topics: the Rockies' past success against Josh Beckett; how to tell if the Rockies are rusty; what to expect from Jeff Francis; surprises on the Sox' postseason roster; the disappointing finish to Tim Wakefield's season; and how the Red Sox are preparing Jon Lester to return to the starting rotation.

Big East coaches predict that Georgetown and Louisville will compete for the conference's top spot, and Providence will finish right in the middle of the pack, in the just-released preseason coaches poll. Here are the coaches' full rankings:

1. Georgetown/Louisville (tie)
3. Marquette
4. Pittsburgh
5. Syracuse
6. Connecticut
7. Villanova
8. Providence
9. Notre Dame
10. West Virginia
11. DePaul
12. Cincinnati
13. Seton Hall
14. St. John's
15. Rutgers
16. South Florida

-KEVIN McNAMARA

| Categories PC basketball

Red Sox starting pitcher Tim Wakefield announced today at Fenway Park that he will not be on the team's roster for the World Series due to recurring shoulder problems. For much more, go to the SoxBlog.

Go to the SoxBlog to listen to today's edition of projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam, and read excerpts from the conversation. The topics: Game Seven on Sunday night, the resurgence of Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis; whether the Red Sox or the Rockies have more momentum entering the Fall Classic; how the young Rockies will handle the Fenway pressure cooker; unfamiliar faces on the Colorado staff; overall edge to the Red Sox; and the workout schedule today.

Get in on the Red Sox celebrations, an overview of this year's postseason play and look ahead to the World Series.

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Get the details on projo.com's college basketball blog.

Get the details on projo.com's Sox Blog.

Several have been posted so far. Here they are, as of about 4 p.m.

Go to the Interscholastic League Web site for an updated list later today.

Rogers at La Salle (rescheduled tomorrow, 2 p.m.)
West Warwick at Tolman (tomorrow, 4 p.m.)
East Greenwich at Hendricken (tomorrow, 6 p.m.)
Toll Gate at Shea (tomorrow, 6 p.m.)
Woonsocket at Mt. Hope (tomorrow, 7 p.m.)

Head to the SoxBlog to listen to today's edition of projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam, and read excerpts from the conversation. The topics: Josh Beckett's magnificent playoff run; how he's succeeded this postseason while other big-name pitchers have failed; the Kenny Lofton argument; Manny Ramirez, locked in for the first time all year; Manny's near home run and the case for instant replay; and why Coco Crisp may still get the call in center field on Saturday.

Click here to see live video coverage from the AP of Joe Torre's news conference, which is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. Torre will speak on the day after rejecting a one-year contract offer to return to manage the New York Yankees.

The Red Sox' Game Five triumph over Cleveland is detailed on today's sports cover page.

Download a copy of the page in .pdf format.

By KEVIN McNAMARA

SMITHFIELD - Bryant University's athletics department has been accepted as the newest member of the Northeast Conference. The Bulldogs will become a full-fledged member and make the jump from Division II to Division I by the fall of 2012.

The Northeast Conference's presidents voted to accept Bryant at a meeting Wednesday, according to NEC commissioner Brenda Weare. A formal annoucement of the move is expected later today.

The NEC was founded in 1981 by charter members Fairleigh Dickinson, Long Island University, Robert Morris, St. Francis (NY), Saint Francis (PA) and Wagner. They are currently joined by Monmouth College, Mount St. Mary’s, Central Connecticut State, Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart.

The NEC currently offers 21 sports for men and women. Bryant is expected to compete is every sport, including football. The Bulldogs currently compete in the Northeast 10 Conference, one of the premier D-II leagues in the East.

Bryant will continue as a Northeast-10 member this year and then begin an NCAA-mandated `transition period' of five years where its teams will play both D-1 and D-II opponents.

``We have extended and offer and bryant has accepted, pending the five-year transition process,'' said the NEC's Weare. ``We're very excited to have Bryant in our league. We hope the next five years go very quickly.''

| Categories College Sports

FOXBOROUGH, Mass (AP) - The New England Revolution have signed contract extensions with midfielder Shalrie Joseph and defender Jay Heaps.

Terms of the deals were not disclosed.

Joseph, 29, has scored 15 goals and added 16 assists since joining the Revolution in 2003 and is a four-time All-Star. He was drafted by the Revolution in the second round in the 2002 SuperDraft, having previously played in Europe and for the New York Freedoms of the D3 Pro League.

Heaps, 31, is New England's all-time leader in career games, games started and minutes played. The Longmeadow, Mass., native joined the Revolution through a trade with Miami in 2001.

Heaps has scored 16 career goals and added 29 career assists.

| Categories Revolution

Today's sports cover page details what the Red Sox need to do to revisit history and earn their way to the World Series.

Download a copy of the page in .pdf format.

Head to the SoxBlog to listen to today's edition of projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam, and read excerpts from the conversation. The topics: the weather forecast in Cleveland; whether the Sox are more likely to win three straight because they have done it before; the mysterious disappearance of the Boston offense; Cleveland's MVPs; Josh Beckett's ability to pitch deep into tonight's game; Manny Ramirez's post-home-run posing and interesting comments to the media; and the back story to the Yankees' continued dance with Alex Rodriguez.

Head to the PatsBlog to listen to projo PatsTalk with Shalise Manza Young, and read excerpts from the conversation. The topics: Could we have seen this offensive juggernaut coming? If the blitz doesn't work, how do you defense Brady? Can Miami's defense have any of the success they've had in the past against New England? Should we be concerned about the health of the running attack? How does the team feel about the way the defense has played?

Go to the SoxBlog to listen to today's edition of projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam, and to read excerpts from the conversation. The topics: the starters' failure to get out of the fifth inning; Wakefield's misplay of Asdrubal Cabrera's ground ball up the middle; Cleveland's ability to create big innings; the likelihood of lineup changes in Game Five; how fatigued is Beckett? and how are the younger players coping with their struggles.

Today's sports cover page is all about the Red Sox' Game Four loss in Cleveland.

Download a copy of the page in .pdf format.

Head to the SoxBlog to listen to today's edition of projo SoxTalk, and read excerpts from the conversation. The topics: letting Jake Westbrook off the hook; lack of production at the top and the bottom of the order; don't expect J.D. Drew to come out of the lineup; Daisuke Matsuzaka's postgame dejection; sticking with Tim Wakefield; and facing Paul Byrd.

The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-2, tonight at Jacobs Field to take a two-games-to-one lead in the American League Championship Series. Go to our Red Sox page for complete coverage.

Head over to the SoxBlog to listen to today's edition of projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam, and read excerpts from the conversation. The topics: how the players dealt with the long layoff; the Beckett-Sabathia matchup; how Sabathia has made this season his best ever; why winning tonight is very important for Boston; the mismatch at the closer position; Eric Wedge; and will the Colorado Rockies ever lose again?

Get all the news from the world of baseball on projo.com's Sox Blog.

Get all the news from the world of baseball on projo.com's Sox Blog.

Head to the SoxBlog to listen to today's edition of projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam, and read excerpts from the conversation. Today's topics: how the Red Sox' and Indians' destinies have been linked; Cleveland's youth movement; the biggest reason that the Indians are better now than they were back then; Bobby Kielty getting the start in right field; Curt Schilling promoted to Game 2 starter; Tim Wakefield's status for Game 4.

Get all the news from the world of baseball on projo.com's Sox Blog.

Head to the SoxBlog to listen to today's edition of projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam, and read excerpts from the conversation. The topics: why the Indians will be a tougher foe than the Angels; Cleveland's ability to drive up pitch counts, and what that means for Dice-K; why Schilling should get the start in Game 2; why the Red Sox' 5-2 record against Cleveland this year means little to nothing; the extra rest for both teams and how that might affect things; and who will stay with the Yankees, and who will go.

Get all the news from the world of baseball on projo.com's Sox Blog.

Sharaud Curry, the leading returning scorer at Providence College, broke his foot in a team workout last week. He'll miss at least six weeks and may not be ready for the team's first game Nov. 15 against Temple in Puerto Rico.
Without Curry, coach Tim Welsh will have to dig into his deep stable of backcourt talent to run the team. Sophomore Dwain Williams will no doubt get the first crack at the starting job but also look for Welsh to play Weyinmi Efejuku, transfer Jeff Xavier and freshman Marshon Brooks at the point spot in Curry's absence.
More on the Curry injury in Tuesday's Journal.

KEVIN McNAMARA

| Categories PC basketball

The Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 9-1, today to earn a berth in the American League Championship Series. For full coverage tonight, go to our Red Sox page.

Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach
Asante Samuel had one of three New England interceptions as the Patriots went to 5-0 by beating the Cleveland Browns, 34-17, today at Gillette Stadium. For complete coverage, go to our Patriots page.