The Red Sox were seeking their fifth straight win Wednesday night at Fenway Park, but it was not meant to be as starter Aaron Cook got knocked around for the third straight outing and the team fell 7-5. Cook went 4 2/3 innings allowing six runs on nine hits. He allowed back-to-back home runs to Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder in the fourth, which gave the Tigers a 6-1 lead at the time.
Before the game the team announced Daniel Nava will be placed on the 15-day DL with sore wrists, and Ryan Lavarnway was recalled from Pawtucket. Reliever Craig Breslow arrived from the West Coast and Clayton Mortensen was sent back down to Pawtucket to make room for the lefty specialist.
The Patriots held their annual season ticket holder practice inside Gillette Stadium Wednesday night. It was a spirited practice which saw the offense and defense going after one another following a scrum between Brandon Spikes and Nate Solder. To me it isn’t a big deal, rather it shows how intense all of the players are and how they cannot wait to hit someone on another team.
To no one’s surprise, Scott Zolak will be taking over for Gino Cappelletti in the Patriots radio booth this season working along side Gil Santos. A formal announcement from 98.5 should be coming soon.
Word is, time to get series– Michael Silverman says all the Red Sox need to do is keep winning series’, and they will be right in the thick of the Wild Card race.
Sox make it interesting by racking up wins– Joe Haggerty has the Red Sox making this interesting of late by winning games and series’.
Red Sox rotation still unsettled– Joe McDonald says the Red Sox front office believed in their rotation by not trading for a starter at the trade deadline, but with Beckett getting injured and Cook struggling again things aren’t looking so positive.
A catching conundrum: Red Sox have decisions to make behind the plate– Alex Speier looks at the situation the Red Sox have at catcher with three catchers on their roster after Ryan Lavarnway was called up on Wednesday.
Craig Breslow overcomes hectic travel schedule to make strong impression– Didier Morais has the newest Red Sox reliever having a solid first outing with the team, despite arriving just one hour before game time.
Blame falls on Larry Lucchino– Ron Borges says everything that has happened with the Red Sox is on Larry Lucchino and all of the decisions he made back in the off-season.
Pieces in place for McDaniels– Greg A. Bedard says McDaniels has everything an offensive coordinator could want in terms of players in his first year back in New England.
Players get into swing of camp– Shalise Manza Young has in her notebook the scuffle that highlighted the practice session. Bill Belichick spoke before practice, so did not comment on what happened.
Patriots engulfed in ‘dog’ fight– Mike Reiss says the scuffle was not a big deal since no one really got hurt, and the team seemed to have no hard feelings for one another following the practice.
Chandler Jones’ early polish is impressive– Tom E. Curran looks at Patriots rookie Chandler Jones and what a strong camp he’s had thus far.
Boston Sports Media Watch 
I never thought I would say this, but (gulp) Borges is totally right. This point is slipping by many but Larry got what he wanted. Theo is gone, Valentine is here and it has been a total disaster. The buck stops with him, he “runs the Red Sox” afterall.
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(I think it is impossible to ignore how much of this comes out and consider it some rogue source at this point.)
Compared to some of the stuff he’s said, it sounds like he talked with or got the column idea from someone in small business. From my time on here, it seems like quite a few of us have either started, run or at least been an integral part of smaller companies. From everything I’ve read and heard now from more than just one national/local source, it seems like they’re lucky to still be in business. No company that can’t just print money would survive for long if things were this dysfunctional–and, this is the public part. I’d imagine that the actual stuff is much worse, as the “where there is smoke there is fire” is almost always true with these things.
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Have you ever noticed how many times the Boston Globe has come up with ananymous negative comments when it comes to the Patriots. Bob Ryan for years and in numerous columns has said that many league sources have told him how much they dislike Bill and the Patriots and yet the visible evidence is quite the opposite. Most of the highly succcesful coaches and general managers have endorsed Bill and often speak of “the Patriot Way” I’ll name just a few of mine: Ozzie Newsome, Tom Coughlin, Dick Vermeil, who said “Bellichick is the standard all coaches will be measured against”, Andy Reid, Sean Payton, Bill Cowher, Jim Harbaugh, Bill Parcells, Rex Ryan, Jim Shwartz, head coach of the Lions, Jerry Jones, Ken Whisehunt, head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, Mike Shanahan, Greg Schiano, head coach of the Buccaneers, just to name a few. Nien hae been head coaches in Superbowls. That’s my list, Mr. ryan, Where;s yours or do you use the same source as John Tomase? In todays, ever thinner Boston Globe, Greg Bedard continues this ridiculous canard by accusing Bill of helping move Bill O’Brien out to give control back to Josh McDaniels. Bedard’s only supporting proof was and I quote: “It’s out there” Isn’t that the the BIRTHERS used as evidence without any concrete facts, about the president? .
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They wanted to see his long-form birth certificate. There’s nothing wrong with that. You should have to prove you’re a naturally born US citizen before taking office since it’s a requirement to hold that office. It’s good that there’s people out there willing to be a pain in the ass to keep the people in power honest.
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I’m pretty sure there’s no birth certificate requirement to be an offensive coordinator in the NFL. I don’t know what Penn State needed, though. Maybe in the light of the scandal, they did require O’Brien to prove he’s a US citizen? Anything’s possible, I guess.
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I’m not sure what you’re trying to say. Yes, there’s no requirement in NCAA regs that says you have to be over a certain age and be a naturally born US citizen.
The law of the US, on the other hand, does.
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We were talking about sports, right?
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To be fair, Bedard labeled the whole Belichick forcing Bill O’Brien to take the Penn State job thing as a conspiracy theory, not an accusation. As far as his contention of a strong anti-Bill O’Brien sentiment among the Patriot fan base, I have no idea where he’s getting that from. I wasn’t the biggest fan of his play calling in 2009 and 2010 (the “drive to nowhere” against the Jets in the playoffs comes to mind), but I don’t remember a hue and cry for his dismissal, or fans getting down on their hand and knees begging Josh McDaniels to please come back.
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Wait, the Patriots began camp? According to ESPN, only Tim Tebow and Peyton Manning were in camp with their teams.
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Looks like this article will be getting some talk/airtime today:
QUOTE:
Can somebody remind me why people still root for this team?
Yesterday’s revelation of dysfunction was sponsored by Valentine, who
stepped up his defense lawyer skills by presenting evidence of
backstabbing. Valentine essentially repeated a story he told Wednesday
during a radio interview on WEEI after he heard another negative audio
clip about his clubhouse.
As Valentine tells it, his attempt at dugout sarcasm with young third
baseman Will Middlebrooks came back to bite him — before he could tell
the rest of the story.
ENDQUOTE
http://bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view.bg?articleid=1061150690&position=0
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