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Pedro Martinez sidelined 4-6 weeks

Pedro Martinez will be sidelined 4-to-6 weeks with what the New York Mets said was a mild strain of his left hamstring.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner was placed on the 15-day disabled list before the Mets’ game against the Florida Marlins on Wednesday night.

Martinez was injured Tuesday night, returned to New York and was examined by Dr. David Altchek at the Hospital for Special Surgery.

“It doesn’t look good,” manager Willie Randolph said before the diagnosis was announced by Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz.

“He said he heard a pop, and that is not a good thing,” Randolph said. “Usually, when something like that happens, you are put on the DL right away, but we’ll just wait and see what the results are. It could have just been a combination of a real bad cramp or a strain. Any time a pitcher pulls a hamstring, that is usually automatic DL.”

Martinez allowed four runs in 3 1-3 innings during a 5-4, 10-inning defeat, limping off the mound after injuring himself during a pitch.

“He’s an unfortunate loss,” pitcher John Maine said. “Everyone knows what Pedro can do.’

The Mets filled Martinez’s roster spot by purchasing the contract of pitcher Nelson Figueroa from Triple-A New Orleans.

They could move up Oliver Perez in the rotation to start Tuesday’s home opener against Philadelphia. Jorge Sosa is a longshot possibility for the rotation.

“I think we will keep him where he is right now, but he is also an option,” Randolph said.
Orlando Hernandez started the season on the disabled list.

“We’ve been doing this the last couple of years and that means me, Oliver (Perez), and (Mike) Pelfrey have to step up a little more,” Maine said.

--AP

Posted by Corey Bourassa  at 7:23 PM to Pro Baseball | Permalink | Comments 0

URI spring football: The Rhody Shuffle

University of Rhode Island football coach Darren Rizzi, implementing a new scheme on offense and defense, is moving players like chess pieces as he nears the end of the first week of spring football practice.

"Everything is constant evaluation, every minute of practice. Even after four days we're switching the depth chart around. We're trying to create as much competition as we can," the new head coach said Wednesday.

Rhody fans will be thrilled to learn that Rizzi is installing a wide open attack that will feature a variety of formations, some with five receivers, others with two tight ends. He is looking at three quarterbacks on the current roster: senior Derek Cassidy, the incumbent starter; junior D.J. Stefkowich, a highly regarded high-school QB who has played in spots for the Rams, and Kurt Wicks, a redshirt sophomore. They worked on the short passing game during the first three practices and Wednesday started throwing the ball downfield. He plans to give incoming freshmen Kyle Elliot and Marc Lucarini ample opportunity in training camp because they ran Rizzi's offense in high school in New Jersey.

Rizzi shifted backup QB John Butler, a junior, to linebacker and redshirt-freshman Terry Glenn to cornerback with the comment that Glenn "is going to be outstanding."

Work on the offensive line is interesting because every returning lineman has to learn new blocking techniques based on the new offense. Rizzi wants his linemen to keep their feet, not to cut block as they did under the old scheme.

Rizzi plans a scrimmage on Saturday and hopes his lineup will begin to take shape. The spring game is scheduled for April 26.

Bryant University, preparing for its first season of Division I football, is also practicing. Its spring game will be April 12.

Brown will start spring practice on Friday and conclude with a spring game on April 26 on the new Berylson Family Fields, which will be dedicated at that time.

-- MIKE SZOSTAK

Posted by Mike Szostak  at 5:25 PM to College Sports | Permalink | Comments 0

Larranaga Gets 3-year extension

Not a shock. Jim Larranaga has reached agreement on a 3-year extension to his contract at George Mason.
Assistant Vice President/Director of Athletics Tom O'Connor announced today that Larranaga has signed a three-year extension at George Mason. Larranaga is now signed through the 2014-15 season.
"Jim (Larranaga) is a terrific ambassador for George Mason University,"
O'Connor said. "Obviously with the 2006 run to the Final Four, our basketball program and the University have garnered a lot of national attention. On top of that he is a tremendous basketball coach, he's our coach and I'm proud to say that he will continue to be our coach for the next seven years."
"I've made it clear over the years that my family and I have loved it here at George Mason," Larranaga said. "I feel very fortunate to work under the great leadership of President Merten and Tom O'Connor. I feel very connected to both the George Mason and the greater Fairfax County communities. We have enjoyed their great support and it continues to grow. I've said before that I hope to retire here at George Mason and this contract extension allows me to do just that."

Posted by Kevin  at 4:48 PM to PC basketball | Permalink | Comments 0

PC renews search for coach

PC athletic director Bob Driscoll just issued a press release. Here's what it says:

"Over the last several days it became public knowledge that we were in discussions with George mason head coach Jim Larranaga about becoming our men's basketball coach. We offered him a very substantial package but he was too comfortable in his current situation and opted to stay at George mason. As a result, I will continue to have ongoing discussions with the other finalists in this search. I remain very optimistic that we will find a head coach who will embrace the rich tradition of Friar basketball and move the program forward."

Who's next for the Friars? Certainly not clear at this point but they're likely to look at Davidson's Bob McKillop (who won't be interested), Brown's Craig Robinson, UMass' Travis Ford, Arizona's Kevin O'Neill and Ohio U's Tim O'Shea. But this race is now wide open.

-- KEVIN McNAMARA

Posted by Kevin  at 3:08 PM to PC basketball | Permalink | Comments 0

Larranaga says no to Providence

Jim Larranaga has decided to remain as coach at George Mason and not accept an offer to come to Providence College, according to PC associate athletic director Arthur Parks. A release from athletic director Bob Driscoll is due at any moment.

-- KEVIN McNAMARA

Posted by Kevin  at 3:05 PM to PC basketball | Permalink | Comments 0

Goodell still hopes to hear what Walsh has to say about Spygate

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Roger Goodell is getting impatient with the stalemate between the NFL and Matt Walsh, the former New England Patriots employee who implies he has tapes he made of opposing teams that the league has yet to see.

"If it's just taping team's signals, we know about that," the NFL commissioner said Wednesday as he wrapped up the league meetings. "At some point I will run out of patience."

Lawyers for the league and the Patriots have been negotiating with Walsh's attorney to get him to tell them what he knows. Walsh, now a golf pro in Hawaii, is seeking protection from any action the league or the Patriots might take once he reveals his information about the team's taping of opponents.

Walsh's name first surfaced two days before the Patriots lost to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl. He suggested he had tapes in addition to the ones confiscated from a New England employee during the opening game of the season against the New York Jets. New England coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000 by Goodell, the team was fined $250,000, and the Patriots forfeited their first-round choice in this month's draft after the tapes of the Jets' defensive signals were determined to be against NFL rules.

The league subsequently destroyed the tapes.

It wasn't until after the Super Bowl, when Goodell met with Sen. Arlen Specter, R.-Pa., to discuss the matter, that the league acknowledged the tapes went back to 2000, when Walsh still worked for the Patriots. League officials acknowledged they erred in not disclosing that Belichick admitted taping opponents since he became New England's coach in 2000.

The main question is whether there are tapes of the St. Louis Rams' final walkthrough practice before the 2002 Super Bowl, as has been suggested in published reports. The Patriots, underdogs by two touchdowns, beat the Rams 20-17 in that game.

Jeff Pash, the NFL's chief lawyer, said after Goodell's statement that the league is continuing to negotiate with Michael Levy, Walsh's lawyer.

"We're having a good dialogue," Pash said. "We're making progress. He [Walsh] feels he's in uncharted waters and wants to feel comfortable when he comes forward."

Your Turn: Will Matt Walsh produce the smoking gun in the Spygate investigation?

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 1:36 PM to Patriots | Permalink | Comments 0

Multimedia: Projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam, from Oakland

Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. He discusses Daisuke Matsuzaka, Kevin Youkilis' errorless streak, Jason Varitek, and the latest injury to former Sox ace Pedro Martinez.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 1:29 PM to Red Sox | Permalink | Comments 0

Court tennis showdown in Newport tonight

If court tennis is your game, you might want to check out the showdown between second-ranked Steve Virgona of Australia and third-ranked Camden Riviere of Newport in the Final Eliminator Round of the World Championship. The match is scheduled for 6:30 tonight at the National Tennis Club at that International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport. The winner will play the defending world champion, Robert Fahey, next month in France for the 2008 title.
Riviere, 20, is originally from Aiken, S.C., but resides in Newport and is training with Josh Bainton of Newport.
For ticket information, call the National Tennis Club at 401-849-6672.

Posted by Mike Szostak  at 11:59 AM to Tennis | Permalink | Comments 0

Boston sports scene losing Lobel; MacMullan reportedly will leave Globe

There are two big pieces of news on the Boston sports media scene today. The Boston Herald is reporting that WBZ-TV is dropping sports commentator Bob Lobel, part of a big round of job cuts that is reducing the station's work force by 15 percent. Lobel's career on Boston television spans nearly 30 years.

Meanwhile, the Web site Boston Sports Media is reporting that Boston Globe sports columnist Jackie MacMullan is accepting a company-wide buyout offer.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments 0

Report: Larranaga torn between PC, Mason

It appears that George Mason coach is understandably torn between staying in Virginia and leaving for the basketball coaching job at Providence College. We expect word one way or the other some time today.

Here's a good story from today's Washington Times.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 8:45 AM to PC basketball | Permalink | Comments 0

Download today's sports cover

On today's sports cover, Shalise Manza Young has details about Bill Belichick's recent Spygate comments, Sean McAdam writes the story on last night's Red Sox win in Oakland, Jim Donaldson waxes poetic about opening day at McCoy Stadium, and the AP reports on the Celtics' latest triumph.

Click here to download the file in pdf format.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 8:43 AM | Permalink | Comments 0