The UConn football team kicks off the '07 season Saturday at Duke. There is far less at stake than say those UConn-Duke basketball games in 1999 and 2004 at the Final Four. Just ask Coach K. But don't tell that to the UConn football team or Duke's for that matter.

The Blue Devils are riding an embarrassing 20 game losing streak. Saturday is their Super Bowl. Go up and down the Duke schedule and you might not find one game that is a gimme win. They play non-conference games with teams like Notre Dame and their ACC schedule includes the likes of Florida State, Miami and Virginia Tech. Duke looks at UConn as a winnable game. That remains to be seen. Duke has all 11 starters back on offense and 5 starters back on defense. But are these guys that didn't win a game last fall really any good? Saturday may give us an answer.

There are nearly as many questions surrounding the Huskies. UConn is coming off a 4-8 season. They remain a very young team with a new quarterback. But I have gotten the sense this summer spending time with the team and coaches that their is a quiet confidence building in storrs. Clearly, they have a chemistry. The question, how will it translate onto the field?

After a myriad of off the field problems last season, Randy Edsall really seems to have a great bunch of kids; Q.B. Tyler Lorenzen wants to find alternative ways to feed the hungry through products like soy beans. Star running back Donald Brown is majoring in kinesiology. Center and captain Keith Gray is majoring in actuarial science. He likes math! And so many of the players are warm, confident and well spoken.

So please, be patient UConn nation. I truly believe that Coach Edsall and his staff are building something special in Storrs. They may just be a year away from it translating into a breakthrough year in the way of wins and losses. But these are fine young men with great work ethic that you are cheering for this fall. And with a little luck, they should get win number one Saturday at Duke. I expect Donald Brown to run right through Duke's defense. Prediction. UConn 27-Duke 17. 189 yards rushing for Donald Brown. One other prediction...Duke's goalposts remain standing.

Do you finally want to listen to me, Red Sox Nation? I have been trying to tell you all season (well, at least since late May) that it is over. This is the Red Sox year to win the American League East.

When the Yankees closed the gap to four games I enjoyed watching you cringe. I enjoyed watching you squirm. I enjoyed watching you gulp. I enjoyed it because it is so predictable.

There is no way the Yankees could play .800 ball the last three months of the season. When they began winning 3 out of every 4 after the All-Star break it was against some of baseball's worst teams.

The Red Sox, meantime, have a very favorable schedule in September with the majority of their games at home. They have a deep pitching staff. Big Papi is hitting. They just scored at least ten runs in all four games in a sweep of the White Sox. They are the first American League team to do that in 85 years. Add it all up, and the Red Sox have baseball's best record. What is not to love?

So search for negatives if you must. But you won't be searching for a playoff spot in October. It's a done deal, just as it was in May.

Ah, back from a six day vacation. The highlights: a trip to Fenway and a fence project.
Let me start with the more enjoyable experience first.

Last Wednesday I went to the Red Sox/Devil Rays game at Fenway. What a day. My six year old daughter Brynn started a "let's go Red Sox chant in our section. I kid you not, every single time Brynn cranked it up, the Sox scored. Mike Lowell even gestured towards our section. Clearly, he wasn't looking at my little girl in the grandstand. But she thought he was. And from there a Red Sox fan is born.

As many of you know, I grew up a Mets fan and still root for the Amazins. But I am happy with my daughters conversion. My son is another story.

Ryan (10) is not a huge baseball fan. He loves to play and calls himself a Mets fan. But lets face it. Most of the games are not on tv around here. It makes it tough to follow the Amazins. But Ryan surprised me when I offered to buy him a souvenir after the game. He declined. He said it wouldn't be right as a Mets fan to have me, in his words, waste my money on Red Sox stuff.

Brynn of course had no problem picking up the slack leaving Fenway with a pink Red Sox bracelet and a pink Sox pennant which is proudly displayed in her room. Dad may be a Mets fan. But I am happy to raise a Sox fan. Baseball is such a great family game. And it will be another way to bond as a family.

Building fences bonds no one except me to a shovel. I started a fence around my yard with my father in law last week. Oh my. I had no idea what I was getting myself into with this one. Bob Villa I am not. I try very, very hard. But this is close to being out of my league. Please pray for me and my back. This Fence may look like the Green Monster when it's done. But at least my daughter can now identify the Monster.

"I've got two tickets to paradise, pack your bags we leave tonight"
-- Eddie Money
"Two Tickets to Paradise"

You are probably already wondering what the picture or the quote above has to do with sports...absolutely nothing. You may think I'm in love with nothing but the Yankees and UConn, but some of my other interests include the fine music from the 80's, including the man to your left Mr. Edward Joseph Mahoney...aka Eddie Money.

This past Friday night, myself (second from right) and two old friends, Mike (third from right) and Charles (second from left), ventured to Mohegan Sun to see Eddie Money (third from left) rock on stage. He comes to Connecticut about every six months to play a free show at the Wolf Den and we usually make it to all of them.

There was one thing that made this show stand out over all the others I've seen. Not only was Eddie shakin' and groovin' but he decided to pass the microphone to me during his performance of his hit "Take Me Home Tonight". Let's just say Mike and Charles had no control over what happened next. Without hesitation I continued singing the song, "With all the power you're releasing, it isn't safe to walk the city streets alone. Anticipation is running through me, let's find the key and turn this engine on." I was singing (or as my friends said yelling) so loudly that I had to yell to them to gimme some water to cool off my vocal cords.

I didn't find out until later that during my "performance" Eddie was making fun of me to the crowd and pinched his nose and said, "He stinks!". You know what, it didn't matter. I did stink, it did sound awful, but I wanna go back and do it again.

Maybe you are laughing at me right now reading this. You know what though, Eddie Money had more hits than you realize. Go search his catalog and if you are at least 30 years of age, you will have wished you were there too. Plus Eddie still sounds like a million bucks with that signature raspy voice of his.

After the show, we got to meet Eddie and the band and get autographs and pictures taken with them. My friend Charles then asked the band where's the party now and we went and had a couple beers with them.

I have now sang with Eddie Money and Warrant while at concerts. Now I am just hoping Jon Bon Jovi will pass me the mic one day. I am sure that I have a better chance to walk on water than to have that happen, so I'll just stick with the Money Man. And after checking his tour dates, oh baby hold on, he is performing in Danbury next month! Guess I have to go loosen up my pipes!

Writers note: For fun, I hid seven Eddie Money hit song titles throughout this blog (besides "Two Tickets to Paradise" and "Take Me Home Tonight"). See if you can find them and let me know. Unfortunately, there was absolutely no way to fit in one of our favorites, "Trinidad"!

"A day without cannoli is like a day without sunshine."
Phil Rizzuto - from his Hall of Fame induction speech in 1994

The Yankee family lost a great one last night. Hall of Famer Phil Rizzuto passed away at the age of 89. He will be remembered for being the spunky shortstop on the Yankee dynasties of the '40s and '50s and for being the colorful broadcaster for the Pinstripes for four decades (and some will know him for the Money Store commercials or for appearing in a Meatloaf song). I will remember him for epitomizing what in meant to be a Yankee.

I obviously never saw the Scooter play. All of my memories of Rizzuto were from him in the broadcast booth. My favorite broadcasting team was him and Bill White. I can remember watching the Yankees on Channel 11 in New York and just cracking up at how they dealt with the game and everything else. Rizzuto was constantly talking about his favorite Italian pastries, birthday announcements to friends, and about leaving the game early to beat the traffic (for the newer Yankee fans, he actually left games in the 7th inning to get home to sleep). He also was homer and was always abviously rooting for the Yanks, but that was another reason that made him loveable. He once said, "I'm a Yankee fan first, and a broadcaster second."

To me, Rizzuto is synonymous with "Yankee". He loved being a Yankee, he loved the Yankee organization, and he loved the Yankee fans. Joe DiMaggio is always characterized as a classy Yankee, but no one had more class and warmth then Rizzuto, and unlike Joltin' Joe, the Scooter would talk to anyone and make them feel special and important. On the talk shows and in news articles today, there are hundreds of stories of his kindness in and out of the game of baseball. He may not have been the greatest Yankee statistically, but you couldn't find a Yankee who was more respected in the history of the ball club and before Derek Jeter came along, Rizzuto was the starting shortstop on the all-time Yankee team.

"I guess heaven must have needed a shortstop"
George Steinbrenner in a statement on Rizzuto's passing

I have often argued with two of my Yankee friends about whether or not Rizzuto should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame. They look just at his statistics (38 career HR's and .273 career batting average) as evidence enough not be in Cooperstown. I usually have very tough standards for enshrinement, I feel it truly is a place for legends, so I must think Rizzuto is a legend, because I am glad he is a Hall of Famer. He played shortstop during a time when it wasn't a power position. He was a master with the glove and Ted Williams said that the Red Sox would have won all those pennants instead of the Yankees if they had Rizzuto. Sometimes greatness is more than just long balls and average. Rizzuto gave his entire life to the game and I was very happy to see him inducted in the Hall in 1994.

The Yanks will honor Rizzuto's memory for the remainder of the year by wearing his retired number 10 on their left sleeve. Let's hope he is reuniting with some of his old teammates and has finally found the "Holy Cow". We'll miss you Scooter.

Jim Calhoun told me today he's scared. Scared of his Red Sox and what some see as a total collapse. Relax. Sure, the Yankees have cut a 14 and a 1/2 game deficit down to 4. But do you really think this is 1978 again?

As tonight's game proved, don't bury the Sox before the "Wake." Tim Wakefield pitched six innings of no-hit ball as the Sox began an easier part of their schedule. The Sox are to the Devil Rays what Tiger is to the rest of the PGA Tour. Game over.

Yes, the Yankees have been great. And with the emergence of Joba Chamberlin, the Bombers show no signs of slowing down. But will they play .750 ball the rest of the way? Doubtful.

Simple question: Would you rather be four games up in the A.L East or four back? Sometimes I think the cynical Red Sox fans would rather be behind. Playing second fiddle to the Yankees is somehow built into the collective psyche of Sox fans in New England.

But shouldn't some, if not all, of that negativity have gone away after the '04 ALCS and World Series. Act like you've been there before Sox Nation. Act like your team is in first. Act like your team is better.

162 games is a long season. So far the Red Sox have been better than the Yankees. I do not see that changing. So Coach Calhoun, don't be afraid of the big bad Yankees.

I will be at Wednesday Sox/D-Rays game with my family. I can't wait. Nothing like a good race for the playoffs. I just hope Red Sox Nation can enjoy the ride.

It's over. Thank goodness. I'm sick of Barry Bonds. And I can't wait for A-Rod to shatter his record.

The Bonds sham is personal for me. I met the man. I've never felt so uncomfortable in all of my life. He was arrogant, rude and mean spirited. I didn't catch Barry Bonds on a bad day. I just caught up to Barry Bonds for an interview. Unfortunately, he's been treating people like this his entire life.

Sure, he can turn on the charm just like he can turn on a fastball. But look beneath the occasional charm and the mighty swing and there is deception.

We are all innocent until proven guilty. But please, how much evidence do we need to be "certain" that Bonds juiced it. His hat size grew. His feet grew. He grew. All the while, his image and perhaps other parts of his body shrank.

What comes around goes around, Barry. You will get yours. In some ways, the public outrage has already been your penance. If you had been a "good guy" I think many people would accept your alleged performance enhancing drug performance. But you are not a "good guy." Arrogant and cheat are far better ways to describe you.

The saddest part of this story is that Barry Bonds would be on the short list of the games best ever without his alleged steroid use. Now he tops the list for a generation of ballplayers who will forever be remembered as part of the steroid era.

As I was driving home from work last night, Bonds hit the record setting 756th homer. In front of me was exit 44....Hank Aaron's number. At that moment Hammerin' did go exit right. But in our hearts, we baseball purists still consider Henry Aaron the home run king. He played with class, dignity and honor. He treated others far better than Bonds, all the while enduring death threats and racism.

There should be an asterisk next to Bonds home run total:

*756

*was a mean-spirited steroid user...record broken by A-Rod