Glad to have you back this morning. The sports world was closed for only a few short hours last night after that classic Big East tourney game at Madison Square Garden ending at 1:22 this morning. I know we’re a pro sports town, but I have to lead with some college hoops today.
NCAA Basketball
We go to MSG, where #17 Syracuse shocked the #3 UConn Huskies, 127-117, in six overtimes. Mike Anthony says the second-longest game in NCAAM history came a split second and a fingertip away from ending six overtimes earlier, although the result would have been the same. Mark Blaudschun says the overtimes were wild as fatigue and exhaustion steadily eroded play. Jeff Jacobs has the Huskies getting a chance for redemption later but for now, this game belongs to history. Neill Ostrout says the Huskies’ fifth consecutive Big East tournament loss will cost them a top seed in the Big Dance.
Kevin McNamara wonders if the PC Friars have done enough at 19-12 to secure an NCAA birth after falling to Louisville yesterday, 73-55. Paul Kenyon has the second half of the Rhody sweep, as the URI Rams went down to Duquesne, 78-74, and will await their NIT berth.
Bruins
Some baby steps toward a recovery last night, as the Bruins downed the Ottawa Senators, 5-3, at TD Banknorth. Stephen Harris says the B’s played half a good game, but are a long way from recovering their swagger and precision. Fluto Shinzawa calls it a disappointing two-minute stretch that nearly wiped out a three-goal lead. The lowly Senators may be the drug to cure the B’s losing snap, but Bud Barth says it wasn’t a dose sufficient to return that killer instinct.
Harris’ Bruins Notebook has defenseman Aaron Ward looking for a place to hide after his shorthanded breakaway goal last night. Kevin Paul Dupont says it’s not every day that Ward gets a breakaway. Shinzawa’s Bruins Notebook has a heady Marc Savard exploiting the Senators’ defensive proclivities.
Douglas Flynn has Patrice Bergeron’s flashes of brilliance beginning to shine through again. And, in the face of recent scrutiny about its place in hockey, Steve Buckley defends fighting as an effective comeback strategy.
Red Sox
If Jonathan Papelbon has even a morsel of regret for dropping the ‘C’ word on Manny, it was erased yesterday. Every disease has its treatment, and Michael Silverman brings us Papelbon’s treatment for Manny cancer. Daniel Barbarisi has Sox officials enjoying a quieter spring without Manny and 38 Pitches around.
Ron Borges has Jason Bay happy for the WBC experience, and happier still to be back in left field. Borges also has David Ortiz confused about his WBC experience, but happy to be back at DH. Maureen Mullen has Ortiz returning with a sore shoulder and a fresh pair of underwear, while Bay is ready to give center back to Jacoby Ellsbury. Barbarisi has Bay and Ortiz the first of 15 Sox players rejoining the squad from the WBC.
Silverman’s Red Sox Notebook extolls the virtues of Josh Beckett’s spring, where even his walks are smart. Boston Metro has the versatile Justin Masterson and his plus-90 sinker an effective tool out of the pen. Sarah Green tries to help Tito by calculating the perfect batting order. With J.D. Drew at lead-off, let’s hope Sarah isn’t an accountant by day.
Patriots / NFL
It was Pro Day at The Heights yesterday and, as Rich Thompson reports, Ron Brace and B.J. Raji had a surprise in store for scouts traveling to O-Line U. Michael Vega has Raji keeping a keen eye on Eagles teammate Brian Toal, whose final year ended after Raji rolled on him and fractured his fibula. Thompson’s Pro Day Notebook has UMass QB Liam Coen hoping his arm will leave a better impression on scouts than his legs did.
If the NFL was full of QBs named Hasselbeck, the Pats may have a shutdown corner in Shawn Springs. Karen Guregian brings all the praises from one Hasselbeck bro. She also has corner Leigh Bodden as a diamond in the rough, this according to one former teammate.
Odds & Sods
Lenny Megliola ruminates about March, the month that opens and closes doors in the world of sports.
It’s also the month of St. Patrick’s Day parades, and I’ll be at this one in Newport tomorrow. A great Irish town and some great weather in the forecast.
I’ll be checking out for now. Be sure to come back this and every Friday evening for Ken Fang’s Megalinks. I’ve got the honors again on Monday morning but there’s a whole weekend in between, so enjoy.
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I don’t mean to come across as overly critical, but is there a reason why there are not any links to articles on last night’s BC-UVA game? I understand that this is a pro sports town and this explains why your site’s coverage of BC is relatively thin. That said, given the presence of links to the UConn-Syracuse game (of course, 6OTs makes this a no-brainer) and the Providence game, why not the BC game? The name of this site is the “Boston Sports Media Watch”; why is Providence being covered, but not BC? I would think that an article by Bob Ryan–arguably the most famous Boston sportswriter–about Boston College–the only “big-time” NCAA athletics program in Boston–would at least get a cursory mention on your site.
How do you lead with college hoops and not include anything on BC? This site gets worse and worse daily.
If this site can criticize anything and everything the boston sports media does, then we can criticize what this site does. There’s no excuse not to have BC here (disclaimer: Not even a BC fan). Especially when it leads off with college hoops for probably the only time of the year. Today was one of the rare times I WANTED to read a BC story, and Ryan in particular, since it was such a big game. And we get nothing. Maybe it’s just an oversight, but seems like this sight has been slow on a lot of things lately.
You’re certainly entitled to it.
However please keep in mind that for the last two weeks the site has been manned by volunteers, who donate 2-3 hours of their own time early in the mornings to put together these summaries. You’re more than welcome to take a crack at it sometime and see how easy it is to miss something when you’re trying to include everything.
Here’s your BC links from Julian Benbow and Bob Ryan. In the Herald, Mark Murphy has the only article on the game.
So while you’re welcome to be critical and call us out for mistakes and oversights (we make plenty of both), please remember that no one takes a salary from here, and no one makes a living off this site. We do the best we can,and credit is especially due the guest bloggers who jump in without any warmups or practice and do a fantastic job keeping things updated when I’m away.
I can understand BC fans complaining about not getting any press in Boston – that still makes no sense to me, especially with Al Skinner and Jerry York around- but complaining about PC getting a mention? Come on now… Do you really think there aren’t any Friar fans in Boston who have any interest in PC? You guys get screwed over by the Globe and Herald, no question about it. Direct your animosity there.
Boston is an awful college sports market and I have no idea why.
The Syracuse vs UConn game is the best basketball game I’ve ever watched. Two hall of fame coaches, great historic programs battling it out.
….dare I say, “It is what it is”?…If your really,really,into college/BC sports there are plenty of places out there to get get information on it. No need to beat up Bruce over it…..plus this is a Boston MEDIA based web site. Other than the horrible, “Meter” I don’t think anybody knows who does BC games (does Sarandis still do BC Basketball?)….and the reason most people know “Meter” is because of the D&C show, not BC football.
I’d like to thank all the ombudsmen for reading, but I do ask that you not discredit this site due to an oversight on my part. Jon, you are totally right, and I will never apologize for what is included, be it the Friars or NASCAR. I will, however, apologize for what is excluded, and that was BC b-ball. I saw earlier that Bruce picked up the links and, to be fair, they were there but inconspicuous. UConn was huge news in the Courant, and PC and URI were huge news in the Projo. Like it or not, these are Boston-area media outlets. By contrast, there were only three tucked-away stories in the Globe and Herald. That’s because BC beating up a 10-18 team is not nearly as newsworthy as UConn, PC, and URI being eliminated. So say Joe and Hank. Tell you what. I’ll run BC’s ACC elimination in my heading on Monday and to show there are no hard feelings, come down to Newport and buy me a beer tomorrow! Happy St. Pat’s.