Phil Hughes on the Road to Recovery

Yankees starting pitcher, Phil Hughes has been scheduled for a rehab start in the minors.

He has been out since April 15th with inflammation in his pitching shoulder, which caused him to struggle with his velocity, barely reaching 90mph with his fastball and resulted in a record of 0-1 record with a 13.94 ERA in 3 starts in 2011. It was completely inexplicable after Hughes had such a breakout season in 2010 in becoming a first time all star and finishing the season with a record of 18-8.

Hughes will be pitching on Sunday for the Yankees' Class-A Staten Island team and will be allowed 65 pitches. Hopefully Phil Hughes will have a successful outing and move closer to coming back into the rotation, especially with Bartolo Colon on the DL. It would even be good if he could contribute in the bullpen since the Yankees are weakened there after losing Joba Chamberlain all season.

Joba on the DL

Yankees reliever, Joba Chamberlain has been put on the 15-day DL, but that is surely about to change. It has just been discovered that Chamberlain has a torn elbow ligament, which will probably require Tommy John surgery and will miss the rest of the season.

This is a huge blow to the Yankee bullpen. Joba has been the set up man for Mariano Rivera with Rafael Soriano on the DL and he's been pitching great lately. In May, Chamberlain posted a 2.08 ERA in 13 IP with 10 SO. He also marks the second pitcher the Yankees will lose for the season in addition to Pedro Feliciano. This injury leaves just Mariano Rivera and David Robertson as the most dominant pitchers left in the pen with Luis Ayala on the rise.

I wonder if the Yankees will call up Mark Prior, who had a good spring training from the minors to help strengthen the pen. Also, I would look for the Yankees to look for relief pitching around the trade deadline. They're always a very active team at the end of July, except this was a very unexpected casualty that is very costly, so instead of getting a potentially available Felix Hernandez as a starting pitcher, the Yankees will need to look at relief pitchers instead.

Plaxico Burress Released from Prison

After nearly 2 years in a New York prison, former New York Giants wide receiver, Plaxico Burress was released from prison after shooting himself in the leg at a nightclub in 2008. His wound led to being indicted and convicted of criminal possession of a hand gun. With such strict gun laws in NY it was inevitable that Burress was going to miss significant time from football and more importantly his life.

Presently he's 33 years old, which is old for a football player, but he has had almost 2 years to heal and not get beaten up every week on the football field. Several Giants that have visited him during his sentence reported that he was in great shape and would have no problem coming back ready to play. As Burress was released it proved that he does stayed in shape and has talked about running routes with fellow inmates during his incarceration.

Despite his age I would definitely take a chance on him. Just his 6 foot 5 height is a enough to sign him. He's a great target in the red zone or to set him on a streak and throw it up for him to catch it. You also have to remember he was a vital part of the Giants offense in getting to Superbowl 42 and the year after. He's been a dynamic receiver in both Pittsburgh and New York and I'm sure he hasn't lost his talent. I would also believe that he'll be a more disciplined player that will not cause any distractions or trouble now that he's been humbled and knows the value of living life. His crime was nowhere near as terrible as Michael Vick and he's reformed his life immensely. It seems that it'd be easier for Burress since he didn't do anything that was evil like Vick.

What team is he going to land on? Personally, Giants running back, Brandon Jacobs and I would like to see him return to the gmen, but that seems highly unlikely. But there's a chance right? I can hope. Hines Ward would love him back on the Steelers, but that hasn't been thrown out there as a potential team. A few teams I can think of that have been mentioned are the Philadelphia Eagles, the St. Louis Rams, and the New York Jets. I think he could fit in anywhere, but I wouldn't blame him for wanting to go to a winning team since he's a top notch receiver. The Redskins have been thrown out there, but I wouldn't even want to play for them. They're not a good team and have quarterback and head coach issues. Burress' agent, Drew Rosenhaus told reporters that every team is an option.
 
"I wouldn't rule out any team, I wouldn't rule out the Giants, I wouldn't rule out any club. Ireally won't talk about specific teams because I don't want to hurt his position. As far as the Giants, my personal opinion is he wouldn't rule them out. I certainly wouldn't. We are going to be open to all 32 teams. Ultimately this will be Plax's decision, not mine. I am here to help him pick the best spot and get the very best contract. And that is what we will do," stated Rosenhaus.

UConn's Top Wide Receiver Will Not Play in 2011

UConn football's #1 receiver, Mike Smith has been determined to be academically ineligible to play in the 2011 football season. He started all 13 games last season and led the team with 46 catches for 615 yards and 2 TDs last season. However, he will still have one year of eligibility left.

This is a big blow to the Husky offense which is already filled with question marks. With no idea who the starting QB will be, who regardless of who it is will be inexperienced, or who the running back will be, this lack of continuity is not helping. In addition to the question marks at  those positions, the receiving corps. wasn't that great to begin with. Last season the passing game was awful with many missed opportunities, dropped balls, and turnovers. Hopefully there will be some improvement among the returning receivers in order to make the passing game more of a threat.

NFLPA to Host Their Own Rookie Symposium

In the wake of the NFL cancelling their rookie symposium due to the uncertainty regarding the lockout, the NFLPA has stepped in.

The Player's Association will stage a two-day program for NFL rookies towards the end of June and will cover all costs.

The NFLPA is calling it "The Business of Football, Rookie Edition," which will take place in Washington D.C. from June 28-29. All 254 drafted rookies are invited to attend.

The program will educate rookies about financial planning and how to manage themselves on and off the field, in addition to various life skills. You know, stuff people should pick up going through their lives.

The NFL's rookie symposium was cancelled because the NFL claimed they couldn't commit to the number of people necessary to run the program, in addition to the uncertainty surrounding the lockout. The NFL's vice president, Adolpho Birch said that it would be up to the teams to help acclimate the rookies into the NFL. However, it's currently the 11th week of the lockout with no end in sight and teams are not allowed to communicate with their players in any form.

Jeremy Lamb is Going to Summer Camp

After winning the national championship with UConn, the now sophomore, Jeremy Lamb has been invited to attend USA Basketball's Under-19 training camp. Only 17 players were invited to participate. The camp will run from June 17-24 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The team will play in FIBA's U-19 World Championship which runs from June 30 to July 10 with games played in 3 different cities in Latvia.

The coach of the U-19  team is George Mason's new head coach, Paul Hewitt.

Red Sox Fans Can No Longer Complain about Money

The age old excuse used by Red Sox fans in that the Yankees buy their players with exorbitant amounts of money no longer applies.
With the offseason acquisitions of top free agents Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez, the Red Sox are now not so different than the Yankees. Crawford was signed to a huge deal of 7 years and $142 million. On April 15, Gonzalez was signed months after being traded to the Red Sox in December of 2010 in order to avoid paying the MLB's luxury tax. His deal was even bigger than Crawford's at a 7 year extension worth $154 million. Next season they'll have to pay the luxury tax. I know I'm a little late, but this has bothered me and other Yankees fans for a while.

Also, in 2011 the Red Sox have the third highest payroll being behind the Phillies and the Yankees up top. The thing is that Boston has been up towards the top of the list for a while, yet for the longest time, all I've heard is that the Yankees buy their players, which is why they win all the time. In 2010 the Red Sox were at #2, in 2009 they're 4th, in 2008 they're at 4th again, in 2007 they're 2nd. As far back as 2000, the Red Sox had the seventh highest, but every year after they were in the top 4 being at the 2 spot 6 times in the past 10 years.

It's funny how that's overlooked.

However, as shown notably by the Yankees and the Mets, money doesn't buy championships. Besides, most of the Yankees now 28 World Series titles came before they were known for paying the most for a player with only 5 coming in the past two decades, but with New York City being larger than life the goal is championship or bust. To be honest, the Yankees is a franchise that has been there and done that and all that matters now is championships. They expect to win it every year.

Eric Chavez Breaks His Foot

On Thursday while running out his RBI triple in the fourth inning, Eric Chavez broke his left foot in the Yankees' loss against the Detroit Tigers. He was filling in for Alex Rodriguez that game, which has given the aging slugger the chance to rest some days and also was a very competent replacement for that short stint Arod was injured.

Chavez will be fitted with a boot to wear for 2 weeks and then will be re-evaluated. He'll be out for 4-6 weeks, possibly longer.

Unfortunatley for the Yankees this injury means that Girardi can't give Rodriguez as many days off to keep him at 100%. Ramiro Pena, was called up from AAA to fill Chavez's roster spot, but probably won't get a lot of playing time. I expect to see some more of Eduardo Nunez.

New Caroline Doty Trick Shot Video

I just want to give a shout out to UConn's Caroline Doty for releasing her second basketball trick shot video. The first one was great and this new one is just as good.

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Jim Calhoun Finds New Assistant Coach

Glen Miller has been promoted to assistant coach by Jim Calhoun after the departure of Andre LaFleur to be head coach at Providence.

Miller, however has plenty of experience at the position. He previously served as an assistant coach for Calhoun from 1986-1993 before taking the head coaching job at Connecticut College. He then coached at Brown from 1999-2006 and Penn where he would claim the Ivy League Championship in the 2006-07 season. Then he was fired in the 2009-10 season at Penn.

He would come full circle after being hired the same year as director of basketball administration after the firing of Beau Archibald due to the NCAA violations.

UConn 2010-11 Recap

I just thought I'd share a video that sums up what a wonderful year it has been to be a Husky both academically and athletically. UConn isn't just your local public university.

Maya Moore Drafted No. 1 to the Lynx

With the number 1 pick in the WNBA Draft, the Minnesota Lynx have seleced UConn's Maya Moore. It was no surprise as Moore was a four-time All-American, two-time AP player of the year, helped lead the Huskies to their 90th straight victory this past season and back to back championships from 2009-2010.

As a Husky in 2011, Moore averaged 22.8 ppg and was the leader of the team. She becomes the second straight UConn player to be selected no. 1 overall with the selection of Tina Charles last year by the Connecticut Sun and the fourth UConn player overall to be selected with the first pick.

The Lynx finished 13-21 last season and have high hopes after winning the draft lottery and so does Maya Moore for this team.

"Every year the goal is a championship. That's what I expect. I go on to every team expecting to win a championship, especially with the amount of talent we have. I don't want to limit to the playoffs, I want to win a championship."

Moore also went on to sign with her new team soon after being drafted.

What's Up with Phil Hughes?

Yankees starting pitcher, Phil Hughes hasn't been the same pitcher he was last year. After beating out Joba Chamberlain for a spot in the starting rotation, winning 18 games, and becoming an all star, Hughes came into 2011 with his velocity down and after 3 games, 10.1 innings pitched, and posting an 11.94 ERA he finds himself on the disabled list trying to find a way to get back his velocity. His fastball last season could hit up to 96 mph, but in 2011 he was averaging about 89 mph and peaking at 92.

There's no explanation for such a drastic change in Hughes' velocity. He came into spring training healthy and there's nothing wrong with his arm. After performing so terribly in 2011, the Yankees placed him on the DL with a dead arm and will undergo arm strengthening exercises such as long toss to get his strength back. He hasn't pitched since April 3rd.

He threw in a bullpen session on April 25th, but it was cut short after around 20 pitches becuase Hughes had shown no improvement. Therefore, the decision has been made to shut Hughes down until some tests can be done and he sees some specialists to try and figure out why his velocity has disappeared. He's supposed to be out for 6-8 weeks.

Hopefully Hughes comes back soon because who knows how long either Freddy Garcia or Bartolo Colon will be successful. But either way it's hard to replace an 18 game winner . I was hoping for an even better season for him since he wouldn't be as limited as before, but now I just hope he comes back into the form he had last year. He's a future pitching star for the Yankees if he can recover. Fortunately he's young, only 24, so he has plenty of pitching left in his career.

UConn Assistant Basketball Coach Leaves for Providence

After working alongside Jim Calhoun for 10 years and as an assistant coach for the past 7 years, Andre LaFleur has left UConn to work as an assistant for Providence head coach, Ed Cooley.

He has signed a multiyear contract that will pay him about a quarter million dollars per year, a significant raise from the $161,859 he was paid in 2010.

LaFleur played key roles in the recruitment of recent players such as Kemba Walker, Stanley Robinson, Hasheem Thabeet, and Jerome Dyson.

His ultimate goal is to become a head coach and part of his reason for leaving Connecticut was that he felt he wasn't going to get the job when Calhoun decides to retire as former UConn player, Kevin Ollie appears to be an early favorite for the job.

UConn Spring Football Game

It was a cruddy day for the spring game as the cold and rain kept attendance to just 2,500 at Rentschler. The weather could also be attributed to the lack of offense displayed in the 16-14 Blue team victory over the White team.

The defense was strong as expected, which is a good sign for the Huskies. You can win games with a bad offense, but not with a bad defense. With most of the defense coming back next year hopefully they'll be able to keep Connecticut competitive against most of the teams they'll face next season.

The quarterback question was not answered as there was no clear standout. Scott McCummings went 1-7 for only 8 yards. Trick shot master, Johnny McEntee went 6-16 for 51 yards and an interception. Michael Box couldn't complete a pass in 4 attempts and freshman, Michael Nebrich went 2-5 for 10 yards.

With the departure of Jordan Todman to the NFL, the search for a replacement at running back has been an urgent one with not many options, especially since Todman last year was the primary form of offense for UConn. Senior and USC transfer, D.J. Shoemate looks like their next running back. After a mediocre performance in the 2010 season opener at Michigan, Shoemate ran for 110 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown in the spring game.

Spring games are a tough way to see how a team may fare in the regular season. It's mostly because you're splitting up the whole team into 2 and mixing the good players with the bad. A good amount of these guys may not see much playing time next season. As a whole unit this Husky team could look very good, but as of now there's no way to tell.

Pedro Feliciano Out for the Season

The lefty relief pitcher is going to miss his first year in pinstripes. The Yankees pitcher had an MRI which revealed he has a torn capsule in his pitching shoulder, an injury attributed to how the Mets abused his talents after appearing in 92 games in 2010. Surgery will most likely be needed.

With Feliciano out, that leaves only Boone Logan as the only lefty in the bullpen for the Yankees and he was supposed to compete with Joba Chamberlain for the 8th inning set-up job.

Pedro Feliciano could have made the Yankees already strong bullpen even better, but we'll have to wait until next year to see what he'll bring to the pen.

Kemba Walker to Enter the NBA Draft

Today as expected, Kemba Walker announced his decision to enter the NBA Draft after only his junior year. He hasn't hired an agent yet, but intends to and has been talking with some.

"There's no chance that I'm coming back," Walker said.

Jim Calhoun and Walker even joked how UConn doesn't have a scholarship for him anymore and that it was time to go. With Kemba's decision to leave, the Huskies will bring back 4 starters and 9 players for next year from the team that won them the national championship.

Kemba Walker is considered by many to be a first round pick. While perusing the internet, I've even seen suggestions that Walker could potentially be a top five pick and is a top five prospect in this year's draft, albeit being a weak NBA Draft this year. Another reason for Walker to leave school early coming off a stunning breakout season. Connecticut will also introduce blue chip recruit, Ryan Boatright. Personally I don't pay much attention to high school athletes so I YouTubed him and he plays just like Kemba Walker. He's of similar size, very fast, and loves to drive the lane for the layup or the floater, but also can make his jumpers and distribute the ball. Even as a freshman, he has the ability to fill at least some of the void with Walker's departure. When looking Boatright up on ESPN's recruiting page for UConn, one of his listed weaknesses is scoring too much and not passing as much. I believe this will be a non-issue with Shabazz Napier returning, who ran the offense for about the last half of the season because it allowed Walker to get better shots by playing off the ball. With Napier running the offense as an experienced sophomore next year, Boatright can score as much as he pleases because Napier knows how to distribute. Besides, players like Jeremy Lamb, Alex Oriakhi, and Roscoe Smith are going to be looking to play a bigger part in scoring. Next season look for UConn to still contend and maybe look to repeat as national champions.

I'm not only looking forward to next season, but I'm very interested to see the type of NBA player Kemba Walker will become. Walker will become the 27th player Jim Calhoun has sent to the NBA.

Kemba Walker's Press Conference at Storrs, CT:

Jim Calhoun's Future

Is Calhoun coming back for at least one more year as head coach of the UConn Huskies basketball team? As a Husky fan and UConn student I hope so. At 68, Calhoun became the oldest coach to win a national championship in his 25th season at Connecticut. He's under contract until 2014, but the topic of retirement has come up after winning his third title. When asked about retirement, Calhoun has stated he's going to take his time and enjoy his offseason, but continue to prepare the team for next year and recruit. The only thing that bothers me is that if he comes back it'll be because of his love of the game since he doesn't need to prove anything else. He's already a hall of famer, won over 800 games, won the NIT in 1998, and has 3 national championships, as well as sent 26 players to the NBA with Kemba Walker about to be added to that list. I just hope he's not ready to stop yet. Only time will tell.

Manny Ramirez Tests Positive for PED Use, then Retires

Manny Ramirez is officially retired. He informed MLB of his retirement after being cited for using performance enhancing drugs for the second time. Technically it was his third time because his name was mentioned in the infamous Mitchell Report. Had Ramirez not retired he would have been facing a 100-game suspension. Manny had previously served a 50-game suspension when playing with the Dodgers in 2009. What's next for Manny? He says he's going to Spain with his "old man." If Ramirez decides to come out of retirement he'll have to serve the 100 game suspension before he can start playing.

Manny is regarded as of the best right handed hitters in the game, but is he a hall of famer? Manny is one of three players ever to have 2,574 hits, 555 homers, a .585 career slugging percentage, and a .996 OPS. However, when looking how hall of fame voters have shut out names like Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, who despite having hall of fame numbers have been associated with PED use. Unless voters change their minds regarding players associated with PEDs, I don't think we'll see Manny Ramirez's name in the hall of fame once he becomes eligible.

Kemba Walker Inducted into Husky Ring of Honor

During the pep rally celebrating the UConn Huskies' 2011 National Championship, Kemba Walker was inducted into the Husky Ring of Honor.



Walker is the 14th mens player to be honored and joins the likes of Ray Allen and Rip Hamilton, but he is the first active player to be honored in the school's history.

Response to UConn and Jim Calhoun Haters

Recently after UConn's victory over Butler in the 2011 National Championship, I've had the misfortune to read some of the comments on some ESPN articles that bash head coach, Jim Calhoun and talk about how he cheated, doesn't deserve this title, about how this title will get vacated later, etc.

I just want to point out why Calhoun is not a cheater and why you won't see this title vacated. First off, until this year, Calhoun has never been reprimanded for NCAA violations and the violations UConn was cited for this year had nothing to do with Calhoun actually doing anything. It was someone on his staff who no longer works for the university giving illegal benefits to recruit, Nate Miles, which Calhoun did not know anything about. Calhoun has never given any reason to doubt his integrity, so there's no valid reason to believe he's lying about that. Secondly, Nate Miles never actually played in a single game for UConn, so there's no reason to think the 2011 title will get vacated. Calhoun is no John Calipari, who has had his 2 Final 4 appearances vacated at both UMass and Memphis. Nate Miles is no Derrick Rose, who played ineligibly for Memphis under Calipari by having someone else take his SATs for him. So, how did Calhoun cheat? I think his 3rd title is here to stay.

Kemba Walker's Future

After winning the national championship, what is there left to do for UConn's Kemba Walker? He's graduating after only 3 years and is projected to be at best a potential top-5 pick in the NBA Draft. There's nothing left for him by staying at school other than the opportunity to repeat as national champions. And it's a weak draft class this year, which allows him a better opportunity in the NBA

All indicators point to Walker leaving for the NBA Draft, but hold on just one minute. After this NBA season is over, like the NFL, the NBA's CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) is up, which could potentially lead to a lockout. ESPN's SportsCenter has recently had coverage of the potential future of the NBA and all signs right now point to a lockout that will continue into the regular season and is expected to take away a significant amount of games played next season. Like the NFL, the NBA's team owners are looking for as one ESPN NBA analyst described it as "draconian" amounts of money from the players. If it's anything like the NFL lockout right now, expect a major struggle between the owners and the players.

Given the current outlook on the situation of the NBA's CBA I believe that if Kemba were to shock everyone and stay one more year at school, he would be given a pass because of the possibility of missing professional basketball next year, which would give Calhoun another year to develop Walker and prepare him even more for the NBA. Personally, I'm going to be selfish and hope he comes back for one last year to give UConn another championship, but that's just me and every other UConn basketball fan.

Pep Rally and Parade to be Held in Honor of UConn Huskies Championship

On April 6th, there will be a pep rally to welcome the 2011 NCAA Champion Huskies back to Storrs, CT in Gampel Pavilion. The doors will open at 5pm and the rally will start at 5:30pm. It is a free event and will be open to the public. The team is expected to land at Bradley International Airport around 3:45pm and there will also be a gathering there as well.

Governor, Dannel P. Malloy has also announced that there will be a parade in Hartford on April 17th. The parade will start at 3pm and will begin and end at the State Capitol. Following the parade there will be a rally with the coaches and the team will take place on the north steps of the Capitol building.

UConn Huskies Win the National Championship 53-41

The UConn Men have defeated the Butler Bulldogs won their third national championship in school history. All three have been since 1999 when coach, Jim Calhoun won the Huskies' first title. Connecticut has more titles since 1999 than any other school. Not Duke, not Kansas, nobody. At 68, Calhoun is the oldest coach to win a championship and is the fifth coach ever to win 3 titles or more. With this championship, Calhoun enters a very select group of coaches that includes, John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, Mike Krzyzewski and Bob Knight.

This UConn team finishes the season on an 11 game win streak and 14-0 overall in tournament games this season. From Maui to New York to Houston, no one could beat the Kemba Walker and the kids.

This game will be remembered most by the great defensive play by both teams and by Butler's notoriously horrific shooting. UConn saved themselves from matching Butler's shooting performance by playing a great second half that won them the game. Overall, Butler shot 18.8 percent, the worst ever in a title game. They made just 12 shots of their 64 attempted. Thirty-three of those attempts were three pointers of which they made 9. The Huskies shot terribly as well, but were able to have a 34 point second half to finish the game with a 34.5 field goal percentage.

Another aspect of this game that made it memorable was how uncharacteristic it was of a game. Usually when a team outrebounds and scores more points in the paint than the other team, you can expect them to win. Until the second half, Butler defied all logic by winning 22-19 at the end of the first half, despite having 0 points in the paint and getting dominated on the glass. What made the game more bizarre was how Shelvin Mack went off in the first half making threes well beyond the arc, yet they couldn't score a single point in the paint or make any other jumpers. While watching in Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, CT I was thinking, what did Butler do, practice half court shots after last year's title game? I bet the other 8,000 plus students there were thinking along the same line. It certainly seemed like it. Mack's three pointer to finish the first half and send the Bulldogs up 22-19 was such a buzzkill in Storrs. It seemed they had momentum going into the 2nd half. However, in the end, the Huskies were able to prevail after dominating the paint scoring 26 points to 2 and outrebounding Butler 51-40.

Kemba Walker finished what he started. He led his team with 16 points and 9 rebounds. It wasn't his prettiest game as he shot 5-19 and missed all 4 of his three point attempts, but he made 6 of his 7 free throws and his leadership on the court is unparalleled, especially with such a young UConn team. Jeremy Lamb was ice cold to start the game, but came out of halftime on fire as he would score all 12 of his points in the second half. His second half play is what we expected all game and it just came 20 minutes too late. Better late than never for UConn. Sophomore, Alex Oriakhi was a monster. He had the paint on lockdown with 11 rebounds and 4 blocks. On top of that he scored 11 points. There couldn't have been a better time for him to play his best. It only sets him up for next year to play even better.

It was a fairy tale ending to a fairy tale season. Coming in, no one gave the Huskies a shot at anything. They were projected to have a mediocre finish towards the cellar of the big east, no NCAA Tournament bid and they were supposed to have an early exit in the Maui Invitational that they were invited to for some reason. Right off the bat, Kemba Walker told UConn Country this season was going to be different. All the more reason for Storrs, CT to celebrate. Storrs went wild and after storming the floor after the big win went outside to celebrate. A perfect ending to a shocker of a year. As a freshman, I've been very spoiled this year with such great sports success for the Huskies. Hopefully next year the UConn women can get in on the championship. Whether Kemba comes back next year or not, look for the Huskies to be a contender next season. As the academic year wraps up, there is no better way to end it.

Here's some videos to get the sense of how it was in Storrs:

UConn Women Fall to Notre Dame 72-63

Connecticut is no longer looking for a three-peat as they were defeated by Notre Dame in their fourth meeting of the year. Notre Dame will be heading to National Championship game against Texas A&M after their upset victory over Stanford.

UConn's Maya Moore played spectacularly, scoring 36 and grabbing 8 rebounds. Unfortunately for her, the rest of the Huskies wouldn't provide much support. Freshman, Bria Hartley was the only other UConn player to score in double digits with 10 points. In addition to no support from the rest of the team, the Huskies didn't get many fouls called their way in the second half which severely limited them. Had Notre Dame not been given so many easy points in the second half, I believe UConn would have either won or made the game even closer. I admit that Connecticut was not playing their best basketball. Notre Dame did a great job shutting down everyone but Maya Moore. They did exactly what they had to do to win. Moore is going to score her points and you're not going to outplay her, so the best way for a team to win is shut down the rest of the team. Unlike in previous years, UConn didn't have a second star player to help carry the team. It was somewhat of a rebuilding year with such a young cast of players and veteran, Caroline Doty out all season.

This game marks Connecticut's second loss on the season to a team that has played them tough all season. It's very tough for a team to beat another four times in the same season, especially a very good Notre Dame team. The familiarity between the two teams is very tough to overcome, especially when everyone knows Maya Moore is going to be leading her team. Now Connecticut has to move on from Maya Moore as she will graduate this year and is expected to be selected no. 1 overall in the WNBA Draft.

As a bitter UConn fan, I must say go Texas A&M. Please beat Notre Dame and win your first national title, but I'm also torn to say go Notre Dame to keep the national title in the Big East family. The title game is April 5th at 8:30pm on ESPN. It should be a good game regardless.

Former UConn Recruit Nate Miles Willing to Talk to the NCAA

So now former UConn basketball recruit, Nate Miles will talk to the NCAA while previously refusing to be involved in the investigation of recruiting violations against Connecticut that resulted in coach, Jim Calhoun being suspended for 3 Big East games next season for not promoting an environment of compliance.

Miles refutes the idea that Calhoun didn't know he was receiving improper benefits from a former team manager. Nate was expelled from UConn in October of 2008 without ever playing for the Huskies. He says he wants to set the story straight and get some details right.

"During these efforts, it was made clear Nate was not going to talk to us," NCAA Spokeswoman, Stacey Osburn said. "If new information comes to light, the next step is to assess its credibility and determine if further steps are needed."

Calhoun's lawyer, Scott Tompsett released a statement in which Calhoun reaffirms his story that he was unaware of Miles receiving any improper benefits. In addition to Calhoun's new statement, Tompsett reminded us that Nate Miles signed a statement last year, which contradicts the story he has come out with now. It sounds to me like Miles needs to keep quiet before he gets himself into any trouble. You can't go around changing your story to try and get Calhoun in more trouble. I think that Miles holds a grudge over Calhoun and was unhappy with the suspension the NCAA gave Calhoun, so he has come out with this new story. He had months to come out and say something to the NCAA during their investigation, but refused to do so and ignored the NCAA's attempts to contact him. His timing here appears awfully suspicious to me. Until shown otherwise, I'm not putting any stock into what Miles says.

NBC's Today Show at Storrs

Due to UConn's appearance in the national championship game, NBC's Today Show will be making an appearance in Storrs, CT to do a live TV shoot on Monday morning inside of Gampel Pavilion. The doors open at 6:30am and live shots will be shown on the air between 6:45am to 7:30am. The first 500 students get a free t-shirt, so make sure you show up.

I am currently  awake right now waiting for around 6am to head over to Gampel for a once in a lifetime experience. I'm proud to say I go to the University of Connecticut and I've been fortunate enough to go at the right time. I couldn't have asked more of the Huskies to make my college experience special and they've done so already in my freshman year. Hopefully this kind of tradition continues for the rest of my 3 years here.

Here's some footage from Gampel this morning.

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UConn Men are Going to the Ship

The UConn men are headed to the national championship after outlasting Kentucky 56-55.

The UConn campus at Storrs, CT went wild the second after the game was over. Yelling and screaming everywhere. Dorms were emptying out as kids went outside to celebrate such a spectacular win. I was fortunate enough to go out with some friends to see literally thousands of kids all walking towards Carriage chanting UConn cheers and exclaiming the love they had for their Huskies. It was a very happy night with high fives and cheers everywhere. Tonight was the one night everyone was friendly to each other. On Monday night I'll have the pleasure of joining thousands of students to watch the championship game in Gampel Pavilion and will hopefully be celebrating afterwards. This is just a glimpse of the campus reaction tonight.



And this is what happened the last time the men won it all in 2004.



Kemba Walker led the Huskies with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block. While you may say he didn't play well just because he didn't score 20+, that's not truly representative as to how much impact Walker has on the game. If you combine his 18 points and 7 assists, Kemba is accountable for 32 points out of his team's 56. Freshman star, Jeremy Lamb had 12 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists as he has continued to play excellently throughout the NCAA Tournament. Despite the pressure of being in the Final 4 and under a national spotlight, this young UConn team has yet to falter. Alex Oriakhi played very well scoring 8 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. His play has been vital to Connecticut's success. I think that he's essential to UConn winning. If bigs like him, Roscoe Smith, and Charles Okwandu can score in the paint and outrebound the other team, the Huskies will win. Everyone knows that Kemba can make shots and will get his points, as well as Lamb, but if you want to beat the Huskies you have to limit plays in the paint.

Free throws in this game were key. Kentucky shot a mediocre 4-12 from the line while UConn went 9-11. If Kentucky were to only make 50% of their free throws they would have won the game, it's that simple. You also have to dish out major credit to UConn's defense. They have been playing some of the best defense in the tournament that caused Kentucky to make only 33.9% of their field goals on the night and 9-27 from beyond the arc. It's Connecticut's defense that allowed them to win despite only making 1 three pointer out of their 12 attempts. What sealed the game was when Shabazz Napier sunk 2 free throws with about 1 second to go to put the Huskies up 4. Ever since that Syracuse game in the Big East Tournament where Napier missed a free throw that could have won the game in regulation, he has been clutch in every opportunity he has gotten when put on the line late in games.

Monday will be UConn's third championship game in school history, all of which have been since 1999 when they first won it all. Connecticut won again in 2004 and made the Final 4 in 2009, but lost in the national semi-final game. Coach, Jim Calhoun will be looking to win his 3rd national championship, which will take him to a very prestigious group of coaches to have done so. The Huskies will be facing the Butler Bulldogs who are looking to win their first championship after losing to Duke in the title game last year. The game will be on CBS at 9:23 pm.

UConn Makes History

Now that Connecticut's womens basketball team has advanced to the Final 4, the University of Connecticut has become the first school to reach the men's Final 4, the women's Final 4, and a BCS game in the same year. Congratulations to UConn!

UConn Women Advance to the Final 4

The UConn women are headed to Indianapolis to play in the Final 4 for the 4th consecutive season and the 12th time in school history.

In round 2 against Duke, the Huskies still destroyed them. For the 2nd time against UConn, the Blue Devils didn't show up to play. Instead of winning by 36, this time Connecticut won 75-40, only a margin of 35 points. So you could make the argument Duke played them better than last time, just not by much.

Maya Moore was unstoppable and led UConn with a double-double of 28 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 steals. Part of her scoring effort led her to 3,000 points in her career making her the 7th player in Division I history to do so. Freshman, Bria Hartley also led the rout of the Blue Devils with 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists.

Duke only made 25.4% of their field goals, while the Huskies made 59.3%. Duke wasn't able to penetrate UConn's defense and was forced to take jump shots and scored very few points in the paint.

UConn will be playing a road game in Indianapolis against Notre Dame. The crowd will be ruthless. It will be the 4th time they will have played this season with the Huskies winning all 3 games this season. The game will be Sunday, April 3rd at 9pm on ESPN.