Red Sox Spring Training Update

The baseball season has begun. The Red Sox played 2 games yesterday 1 against BC, and the other against Northeastern. I am not going to go into detail about both games, because to be honest a lot of these is nonsense, and no one cares, but I will point out what does matter.

Red Sox 15 Northeastern 0

As we noted last year Casey Kelly has decided to become a full time pitcher, and yesterday we got to see him in a Sox uniform. Kelly pitched 1 scoreless inning retiring the side on 10 pitches (7 strikes, 2 Ks). He finished the rest of his day in the bullpen, but most scouts were impressed by his accuracy, and action on his fastball.

Ortiz looked strong in this game as he hit a deep HR to right field. Hopefully this is a sign that he can start the year a lot stronger then he did last year. Lars Anderson also got himself on the stat sheet with an RBI single. This is a make or break year for him after a terrible 2009 season.

Red Sox 6 BC 1

I was much more interested in the players playing against Northeastern, but this was debut of Jeremy Hermida, Adrian Beltre, Marco Scutaro, and Boof Bonser. Boof and Bowden, and Tazawa all pitched pitched scoreless innings (Tazawa had 2 Ks).

Kalish had a good game goin 1 for 2 with a walk, 2 runs scored and a sacrifice fly. Jose Iglesias ripped a three-run double to left in his first at-bat as a Red Sox to give them a 5-0 lead on the Eagles.

Overall the Sox looked good yesterday. There isn't too much you can learn from these games, but you have to be impressed by Kalish, Kelly, Iglesias, and Tazawa. The Sox have done a good job bring up prospects through their system.

The Sox play tonight, hosting Minnesota.

Northeastern Football Is NO MORE

BOSTON -- Northeastern University is dropping its football program after 74 years, saying it's too expensive to maintain.

President Joseph Aoun and the board of trustees endorsed the move Friday after a two-year review of the Boston school's sports programs by athletic director Peter Roby.

The program's 87 players and 10 coaches learned of the program's demise Sunday night at a meeting on campus with Roby, a day after the Football Championship Subdivision team won its final game 33-27 at Rhode Island. The Huskies won their final two games to finish 3-8, their sixth consecutive losing season. ESPN

Well the first thing I want to say is that I'm glad their final game ever came against my alma mater and secondly, does anyone know what happens to the scholarships of the kids who were on the football team? I assume they dissolve too, so that sucks. I don't really have much else to say because Northeastern football was so insignificant in everyone's life. At least their Hockey team is good.

NFL Dream Dies For Northeastern Kid

We all know it is extremely difficult to make the NFL. A kid from Northeastern (Brian Mandeville) actually had a shot, which is a big deal for a school that hasn't had a winning season since 2003. Brian was invited to California to prepare at the Velocity Sports Performance Center for the NFL combine, while there he found out during a routine physical that he had a heart problem that will end his career before it even got started. It's a sad end for any kid, who works that hard only (to not fault of his own) be cut short for medical reasons. A friend of mine (Andrew Brecher from Harvard) went through a very similar thing, as he was going to be signed by the Cowboys, but was sent home after they found a problem with his back. He is still trying to make the NFL today, but stories like this make you realize what a lot of these guys go through, and not all of them have a happy ending. I think it has to be the hardest when it isn't that you're not talented enough, but rather that your body just can't do it anymore.