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Travis Ford rejects PC, will stay at UMass

BY KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer

AMHERST, Mass. -- Travis Ford has told Providence College officials he will not accept their offer to become the next coach at PC, deciding instead to remain at the University of Massachusetts.

There is no word on the Friars' next move in their coaching search, which began when they fired Tim Welsh nearly a month ago.

Posted by Art Martone  at 5:31 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Hal and Hank made co-chairmen of Yankees

NEW YORK (AP) - Hal and Hank Steinbrenner were made co-chairpersons of the New York Yankees on Thursday by their father, owner George Steinbrenner.

George Steinbrenner, who has controlled the team since 1973, is chairperson, essentially the same as his previous title of chairman. The sons took over supervision of the team's daily operations last year.

Steinbrenner's daughters, Jennifer Steinbrenner Swindal and Jessica Steinbrenner, were made vice chairpersons along with their mother, Joan Steinbrenner, the owner's wife.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 2:11 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: An ugly loss to Detroit

Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. He discusses last night's game, Mike Lowell's injury, possible roster replacements for Lowell, the bullpen dilemma and Edgar Renteria, who has hit .342 against the Sox since being booed out of town after the 2005 season.

Here are some excerpts from Sean's comments:

Last night's game: "It was not the best showing for the Red Sox on either side. Jon Lester had control problems, walked four, and that directly cost him. And after geting Bonderman on the ropes early, the offense wasn't able to take much advantage after that; the attack was pretty nonexistent after the third inning."

On Lowell: "He was pretty uncomfortable last night. In fact he needed some help getting his jacket on over his hand and that sprained thumb. ... He'll be reevaluated today, but I think it's clear that were not going to see Mike Lowell for the next few days. I guess for the Red Sox the best case scenario at this point is to stay away from a D.L. visit early in the season, and hope that it can maybe calm down in the next four to five days."

Call-ups if Lowell goes on the DL? "It's not going to be [Chris] Carter, because they do not see him as a first base candidate -- he's had real difficulties over there. [Brandon] Moss could be a possibility to come up, and have Youkilis play third base every day. Another option would be essentially what they did last night, with Casey taking over at first, Youkilis at third and then maybe bringing in somebody like Jed Lowrie to give them some flexiblility; Lowrie can play third as well [as shortstop]."

Aardsma vs. Corey vs. Lopez: "I would have said a week ago that Corey was the guy who probably was going to be kept. ... But he's not helped himself in the last week, either with his showing Saturday in Toronto, or last night when he had a bad inning. For that matter, neither Aardsma nor Lopez have looked sharp of late. So I'm not sure what decisions are going to be made here, but it seems as though neither one of these guys is stepping up and claiming this job for himself."

Renteria, a target of Boston fans: "It seems as if he has used that as some sort of motivation in coming back here, either with Detroit, or playing pretty well against them as a member of the Atlanta Braves. I think it's more evidence that the year he had here was essentially a fluke and that ... hes been a pretty good major league shortstop for 10 years."

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 1:40 PM to Red Sox | Permalink | Comments 0

PawSox win matinee, 5-2

The PawSox beat the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, 5-2, on a beautiful spring afternoon at McCoy Stadium.

The PawSox scored two runs in the first inning on back-to-back doubles by George Kottaras and Jed Lowrie and an RBI single by Brandon Moss. They added two in the fifth on Jonathan Van Every's two-run homer to right field and one in the seventh on Van Every's RBI single.

The IronPigs, still looking for their first victory in eight games this season, got on the scoreboard in the fourth inning on Jason Jaramillo's leadoff homer and combined three singles for a run in the ninth..

Pawtucket starter David Pauley, apparently on a strict pitch count, left the mound after retiring the first batter he faced in the fifth inning. The right hander allowed five hits and one earned run, walked two and struck out one. He threw 74 pitches, 43 for strikes. Lincoln Holdzkom relieved him and got the win. Abe Alvarez came out for the seventh inning. Dan Kolb started the ninth, and Jon Switzer finished the game.

Lehigh Valley starter Brian Mazone, struck out 10 and did not walk a batter in his six innings.

The first-place Pawsox wrapped up their first homestand with a 6-2 record. They will start an eight-game road trip Friday night in Louisville.

-- MIKE SZOSTAK

Posted by Mike Szostak  at 1:27 PM to PawSox | Permalink | Comments 0

No word on PC and Travis Ford

BY KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer

PROVIDENCE -- There is no pending word on whether Travis Ford will accept an offer to become the next basketball coach at Providence College.

PC has no press conference scheduled, according to associate AD Arthur Parks. Athletic Director Bob Driscoll is in Providence and no doubt anxiously awaiting some kind of resolution to his courtship of Ford.

The UMass coach spent yesterday at PC but returned to Amherst last night and is on campus there today. There is no word coming from UMass, either.

"John McCutcheon, our athletic director, has a policy of not commenting on speculation regarding coaches," said UMass athletic spokesman Jason Yellin.

UMass is holding its end-of-season team banquet tonight on campus. Representatives of both schools privately say they hope this situation is resolved sometime later today. PC's banquet is scheduled for Monday night.

It's unclear if Ford is asking for more money from UMass. He already has a contract that runs through 2015, so security is not an issue. UMass' athletic department is far from flush with cash and the university system is dealing with major budgetary issues.

What could also be playing out is Ford wishes to tell his team and UMass officials that he is moving on. Doing so before (or at) a public banquet would prove difficult but Ford is scheduled to attend the event.

Posted by Kevin  at 11:01 AM to PC basketball | Permalink | Comments 0

Download today's sports cover

On today's sports cover, Carolyn Thornton has the ugly details of the Red Sox' loss to Detroit last night, Sean McAdam says this whole Red Sox Nation thing has gone too far, Kevin McNamara alerts you to be on the lookout for a PC coaching announcement today, Bill Reynolds writes about Barrington coaching giant Frank Murgo, and finally, we have an AP story on a rare Celtics loss.

Click here to download the file in pdf format.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 8:33 AM | Permalink | Comments 0