How 'bout those Huskies! Alright, they've got a long way to go. I know. I get it. One win at Pitt does not a season make. But let's look at what they've done and what perhaps we can look forward to the rest of this season and into next.

UConn's 4-0 start is the first since 1997, but with wins over Duke, Maine, Temple and Pitt, maybe you are still cynical. Fine. But the 34-14 win at Pitt was big. The Panthers program may be down, but they've won 9 National Tittles and produced 71 All-Americans. For a program like UConn, only a few years removed from 1-AA status, beating Pitt for the third time in four years, and thumping them at Heinz Field, is impressive.

What makes all of this early season success so enticing is this: Only 6 players on the two deep with key roles are seniors. Quarterback Tyler Lorenzen, the backs, the wideouts, the line and most of the defense will all be back next season. If the Huskies can go 6-6, 7-5, or 8-4 this year with a bunch of underclassman, imagine what they might be able to do next year.

Call me a cool-aid drinking UConn supporter if you like, but I did not think this team could do better than 6-6 when the season started. Now, outside of the season ending game at West Virginia, I am not sure there is a game on the schedule that the Huskies can't win. Yes, each game will be tough, starting with Akron Saturday. But the Huskies get Louisville, South Florida and Rutgers at home. I expect they will upset at least one of those teams. I also expect them to beat Syracuse, win Saturday and possibly pull another upset (I figure UConn will be the underdog in most games after Akron) at either Virginia or Cincinnati.

No matter what happens, the journey will be fun. This is an exciting team with lots of young men of great character. So in between the baseball playoffs, give your local college football team a little love. What's not love about a 4-0 start? Saturday afternoon they will be 5-0. Prediction (and I'm 4 for 4 so far): UConn 24, Akron 13.

Have a great weekend.

I never saw Bill Gonillo on tv. I never got his channel. But I saw him everywhere else. And that made a lasting impression that I will never forget.

Name a big Connecticut sporting event and there would be Bill, camera in hand, smile on his face, making someone, usually everyone laugh. We lost Bill on Sunday. And there will never be another person quite like him.

Some will remember Bill as the Sports Director at News 12. I will remember him as much more. No matter how much sweat was dripping from his face or how tired his shoulder might be from carrying a camera (everywhere), he could share a conversation and make you walk away feeling good about yourself. It was never about him. It was always about everyone else: The athletes he was shooting. The stories he was telling. The laughter he was creating.

On NBC 30 Monday, a place where Bill worked for a time back in the 90's, I said this of him: In a sports world that is becoming increasingly more serious, Bill was serious about covering local sports, but never took himself too seriously.

To me, that will always be one of his lasting legacies. For the type "a's" of the sports world like me, Bill teaches us to stop what we are doing, engage those around us and share a laugh. LIfe really can be that simple. The story we are covering is important, but not as important at that moment as our colleague's story. Bill always had a story. And he always left me smiling.

My last time seeing him was at the Pilot Pen last month. He tried to get in one final question from the back of the room for James Blake, but was promptly cut off by a woman running the tournament. She made it clear, one more question, and in her mind, that one question did not belong to Bill. Meantime, all Bill wanted to know was if Blake was serious about another player doing his laundry. Well, as it turned out, as the news conference ended, Blake looked to the back of the room at Bill and said, "yes, he really does my laundry." We all let out a huge laugh. James Blake didn't make it that funny. But somehow, because it was Bill, we all cracked up. He had that way of keeping the mood light. This week it is somber.

We lost a great person in Bill Gonillo. Connecticut sports will never be the same. No one cared more about the athletes, coaches and teams he covered. No one spent more time on High School sports. And no one could have ever done all that he did while making everyone smile.

I only wish we could have one more laugh.

Time for some weekend predictions. The forecast looks lovely. I wish I could say the same thing about the Giants. Big Blue will be 0-3 after they leave Washington on Sunday. The Redskins are my surprise team in the NFC. I thought that before the Skins started 2-0, I just forget to tell anyone.

I watched Joe Gibbs up close 20 years ago. Back then the Redskins shared our practice facility at Dickinson. They would laugh at us Lilliputians. The "Hogs" scared me. On my first day reporting to football camp, I actually thought the "Hogs" (Jeff Bostic, Russ Grimm, Joe Jacoby and Mark May) played for Dickinson. Thank goodness they didn't. I would have gotten even more crushed than I already did playing college football.

I digress. Sorry. Let's get off the Red Devils of Dickinson and back to those Redskins. Joe Gibbs was the master then. A Hall of Famer. One of the 5 or 10 best coaches ever. Gibbs may not be "all that" today. But now that he has a quarterback in Jason Campbell, watch out for Gibbs and the Skins. Despite the loss of two key starting offensive lineman, I like their team a lot. They have weapons on offense and an aggressive, hard hitting defense.

Should I even bother previewing the Patriots and Bills? Please. Pats roll and improve to 3-0 and they won't need any hidden camera's to dominate.

The Red Sox....ahhhhh...the Red Sox. 14 and 1/2 games ahead of the Yankees on May 20th down to 1 and a 1/2 tonight. Ouch. But ask the '06 Tigers what September really means....not a lot. The Tigers folded down the stretch and relinquished their first place lead to the Twins on the last day of the season. Which team made the World Series last October? That's right, Detroit.

But the Red Sox have problems. Right now the Angels, Indians and yes even the Yankees are better. Eric Gagne can't pitch his way out of a JV High School game. Manny is hurting....still. And as I have said millions of times, Manny, not Big Papi, not anyone else, is "the" key the Red Sox offense. They need him back...now!

The Sox starting pitching is also shaky. After Josh Beckett, is there really anyone you totally trust?

I do trust that UConn will play much better Saturday night at Pitt. If they can slow down Pitt's freshman sensation running back Lesean McCcoy, they can win. Pitt is not very good. They are decimated by injuries and Dave Wannstedt is their coach. That alone should be worth 7 points to the Huskies. Has anyone or anything benefitted more from Jimmy Johnson, other than a bottle of hair spray, than Wannstedt?

But UConn has only one Big East road win; 2004....Thanksgiving Day at Rutgers. What gives Saturday night? I say the Pitt defense. UConn wins 27-24.

Lastly, how bout the Cheshire girls swimming and diving team. They haven't lose a dual meet since 1986! For that, we gave them this week's high five. Any argument? Didn't think so. But nominate a team, coach or athlete. We love your suggestions.

Have a great weekend.

How bad are the Giants? I wish the Patriots would spy on them and tell us what they're doing wrong. I am already rooting for the Giants to have the worst record in the league and the first pick in the draft that comes with it. That may be the only positive thing that comes out of this season. Yes, two games into the season, I am that confident.

The Patriots are going to another Super Bowl. Mark it down. Bill Belichick can hand the NFL every piece of "Spygate" evidence they want, including next week's game plan, and it won't matter. Only injuries can slow down Tom Brady and Randy Moss. I saw Moss play in high school in West Virginia. I covered his football and basketball games. When he is motivated (and he is right now) he is one of the most dominating athletes I have ever seen---on the level of a Tiger Woods!

Notre Dame should be a compelling watch on NBC this fall. You Notre Dame haters, and I know you are out there, you are enjoying this 0-3 start which could end up even worse. You will watch the games though, kid of like a train wreck, just wanting to see how bad the damage really becomes. As a longtime Irish fan (my Grandfather went there in the 1920's), this is painful. But they will be back. I am just not sure what "back" means for Note Dame....9-3, 8-4. They should really join the Big East! Over the last decade UConn has more bowl wins than Notre Dame: For those scoring at home...UConn 1, Notre Dame 0.

Speaking of the Huskies, that was an ugly win over Temple Saturday. But I'd rather have ugly wins than pretty losses, right? I missed the game. I had my stepsister's wedding. It sounds like the Huskies may have been a bit flat. But who cares. Save your "A" game for Saturday in the Big East opener at Pittsburgh. That's when they will need their best. And as legendary basketball coach John Wooden once preached, "be at your best when your best is needed."

Lastly, I am so happy to see the progress that Bills tight end Kevin Everitt is making since suffering a severe spinal cord injury. I had a friend in college, Mel Fahnstock, who was left paralyzed from the neck down, following a rugby accident. Many of us, myself included, take for granted how lucky we are to climb out of bed in the morning. Not everyone is so blessed. I still remember some of my friends, who lived with Mel, turning him over at night when he returned to school so as to prevent bed sores. People like Mel and Kevin Everitt are an inspiration and a reminder to all of us of how fragile life can be. I hope that Everitt makes a full recovery.

As for me, I am still recovering from the wedding. Too much "bad" dancing! That's bad as in bad, not bad as in good. Have a good week.

Our prayers are out tonight for former Southern Ct State star Joe Andruzzi. The three-time Super Bowl winner with the Patriots is battling an aggressive form of cancer. No one played guard any more aggressively than Andruzzi and we just hope he makes it.

Andruzzi's humility and character were missing from his former Head Coach this week. Can Bill Belichick stopping acting like he's guarding Pentagon secrets when he addresses the media? This is football information, not nuclear physics that will land in the hands of the enemy. Then again, when you need to spy on the other team, maybe it is life and death...to you.

High School football kicks off tomorrow night with the return of Jack Cochran to the New London sideline. No need to worry about the 50 point rule being invoked in Cochran's first game back after stepping down in 2006 . Northwest Catholic is good enough to win the game outright.

UConn will crush Temple Saturday and go into Pitt the following week 3-0. The only questions Saturday: Will the field hold up? How much, if at all, will Danny Lansannah play? And will the final score be 40, 50 0r 60 to 7. It will get ugly. Buffalo blew out Temple. Yes, Buffalo.

Enjoy the weekend.

The turf at Rentschler Field is a joke and experts are being called in to fix the problem. The last time I saw divots like that I was playing a round of golf. There is no excuse. Would Fenway Park ever get that bad. Yankee Stadium? And they play on those fields 81 times. Someone did not do their job. I am just glad that someone wasn't me.


When we moved into our house four years ago our lawn was immaculate. Given my "brown thumb" my father in law put the over/under for me ruining the lawn at one year. For the record, it didn't get brown and filled with fungus for a year and a half.


Yes, I understand maintaining healthy grass is a hard job. But experts can do it. Let's hope the problem is fixed quickly. Measures are being taken this week that should make things better for the UConn/Temple game Saturday.


I predict another UConn blowout: Huskies 41-Owls 7. Last week I predicted 38-10. 38-0 was the final. Yes, even I get something right once in a while. Just don't trust me with your lawn.

Year two of our high school sports feature "high five" starts in a couple of weeks. We love getting nominations.....hint, hint. It can be a story about a great athlete, coach or team, or perhaps even better, a feature on a compelling human interest story.

Today we shot two such features on Bloomfield's Marcus Cooper and Mike Golic Junior of NW Catholic. Cooper scored 18 td's for the Warhawks last season and has drawn attention from a number of division one colleges. Golic, whose father works at ESPN, will play at Notre Dame just as his dad did. Both Cooper and Golic are terrific young men. I look forward to putting those features together in the coming weeks.

NW Catholic opens the season next Friday night at home under the lights with New London. The Whalers have knocked them off the last two seasons. Adding to the drama of the season opener, the return of highly successful and equally controversial New London Head Coach Jack Cochran. Can't wait.

UConn/Maine Saturday may be close for a half. But that's all. Huskies win 38-10.

As I so boldly predicted last week, (gotta point out the occasional prediction that is right) the Huskies won their opener at Duke. Here is my week one report card.

Quarterback: A-

Tyler Lorenzen made two bad throws. He overthrew Steve Brouse for a would be first half touchdown and he threw a second half pick. Other than that, I thought he looked very poised and sharp for his first game. The numbers certainly back that up....22-30 passing for 298 yards and two scores.

Running Backs: B+

Donald Brown will have more dominant games starting with Maine this Saturday night. But 98 yards when Duke was keying on him all day was solid. His strength and stamina paid huge dividends in the second half when he broke a few runs.

Offensive Line: B-

The pass protection was pretty good. The run blocking lacked the kind of push you'd like to see. But for a first game of the season on the road, not bad. This group will only get better.

Receivers/Tight End: A

I saw more improvement from this group than any other position on the field. Terrence Jeffers and Steve Brouse have both made big strides. It is great to see Larry Taylor utilized more. Brad Kanuch made a "did you see that" over the shoulder catch to set up a score. And DJ Hernandez will be one of the league's most dangerous open field threats...just ask Duke. One of their players is still looking for their jock supporter after DJ's second half 57 yard score.

D-Line: A

They stopped the run and made big plays against the pass all day long. Cody Brown could end up being a great one at D-end. And for the first time the Huskies have depth at the end which should allow them to keep these guys fresh.

Linebackers: B

Solid effort, especially considering two starters (Scott Lutrus and Lawrence Wilson) are redshirt freshman. Both could end up being special players. Senior Danny Lansanah may already be a special one.

Secondary: B

Good overall day capped by the Darius Butler interception return for a touchdown. They would like to have the first drive of the game back when Duke marched down the field for a score on just 6 plays.

Special Teams: C

You can't let Duke or anyone else score on a kickoff return. It negates any other positives from the afternoon.

Overall: B+

The Huskies played well and got a much needed road win. But it is Duke, now losers of 21 straight games.
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One final grade, okay? Call it extra credit.

Clay Buchholz: A++

A no-hitter in the Red Sox rookie's second career start...are you kidding me? And now they are moving him to the bullpen. Mistake? Maybe. I'd like to see another start or two out of him. They guy has just nasty stuff and the way Dice-K has looked lately, who is to say that Buchholz is not a guy you might need in October?