http://otr.blastmagazine.com Back to Basics. Design to follow. Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:37:32 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en With star running back Ronnie Brown placed on the IR and out for the rest of the season Miami's wildcat may need to be put down. Brown is the lynch pin of that system and without him i doubt it will be as productive as it has been in the past. ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/11/19/a-wildcat-declawed/ ESPN.com reports that Larry Johnson has signed a one-year contract with the Bengals. No one claimed Johnson off waivers last week presumably due to sub-par performance coupled with a history of behavior issues. The Bengals have offered Johnson a fourth string slot on their depth chart so we probably wont be ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/11/17/larry-johnson-signs-with-cincinnati/ Tonight is probably one of the biggest games of the season for the Patriots. They face the 8-0 Indianapolis Colts. If they win they will prove that Tom Brady is back and that they can compete in the top of the league once again. I think the Patriots can hand the ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/11/15/sunday-night-football/ It's a bunch of guys from Mormon country who got into the playoffs on a wing and a prayer. First they deposed the reigning champions, beating them twice, and then they took out the number two team. Now they're in the national championship, going against a big-money team ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/11/14/soccers-silent-cinderella/ For sports fans who desire their information rapidly and already versed on the blogs, boards and even their teams’ Twitter feeds, there is a new game in town.  Launched Monday, Spitter (www.spitter.com) is a sports fan’s newest real-time source for news and discussion. Powered by SpitterBot, Spitter searches the Internet for ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/08/26/the-spitter-pitch/ According to The Boston Globe, the Red Sox designated pitcher John Smoltz for assignment this afternoon. If he is not claimed on waivers, the club has 10 days to release him or send him to the minors. Smoltz has struggled this season; he allowed nine hits and eight earned runs in ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/08/07/red-sox-designate-john-smoltz-for-assignment/ The Red Sox head to the Bronx to start a four-game series against the New York Yankees tonight.  The Sox are 8-0 in the season series with their rivals but trail them by 2.5 games in the division.  The Sox are also floundering while the Yankees are firing.  Still, there ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/08/06/look-at-the-splits-dammit-a-red-sox-yankees-preview/ I would like to use this post to clarify my purposes and goals in contributing to On the Record Sports as well as address some criticism I have received.  I am here, simply, to provide commentary on sports topics and events as well as pass on interesting articles and information.  ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/08/05/to-the-readers/ Some sports material to enjoy with your morning coffee and get you to the weekend. With sports and sports media focusing on subjects such as performance-enhancing drugs, NFL quarterbacks' retirement or reinstatements, college recruiting scandals and hotel voyeurism, a lot of the good in sports is often overlooked.  In this excellent ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/07/30/breakfast-links/ Down 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh to the Oakland A's in today's getaway-day game, Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz unleashed some vintage Papi and blasted a three-run homer to centerfield to put the Sox ahead for good.  The Red Sox split the four-game series with the Athletics ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/07/30/what-a-day-for-big-papi/ Some sports musings while we await news of the move that will save the Red Sox's season. Theo Epstein will make a significant move before Friday's 4pm non-waiver trade deadline.  While the team is just behind the Yankees in the AL East and leading the Wild Card standings, the post All-Star ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/07/29/night-moves/ While we tend to bother ourselves with the AL East, one of the more intriguing baseball storylines is going on out west.  The San Francisco Giants are nine games behind the Dodgers in the NL West standings but only one game behind the Rockies in the Wild Card standings.  Anchoring ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/07/28/lincecum-and-cain-and-pray-for-rain/ The Red Sox bats showed life tonight in an 8-3 win over the Oakland A's, exploding for 14 hits.  Although it was against the A's, any offensive explosion is a welcome sight for a team that since the All-Star break was in one of those slumps where just nothing is ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/07/27/bards-lines-almost-poetic/ We think we know what’s going on in Sox trade land, but manager Terry Francona said before Monday’s game that we may never really know what’s said behind closed doors. Francona said that he has been speaking with general manager Theo Epstein regarding trade negotiations before Friday’s deadline but the names ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/07/27/we-think-we-know-but-we-have-no-idea/ National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell reinstated former Falcons quarterback Michael Vick on Monday, almost two years after suspending him indefinitely for his involvement in a dogfighting ring. Goodell first suspended Vick in August of 2007 after he admitted running a dogfighting ring and lying about his involvement in the operations. ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/07/27/goodell-reinstates-michael-vick-conditionally/ This past weekend as well as the impending non-waiver trade deadline at 4pm EST on Friday makes this Monday a bit manic for baseball talk.  For the Red Sox, Jim Rice and Rickey Henderson (he put in a year with the Sox) probably with it were Sunday because that was ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/07/27/monday-mumblings/ Although not Roy Halladay or Victor Martinez, the Red Sox stirred trade waters this afternoon by raiding the Pittsburgh Pirates vessel and demanding first baseman Adam LaRoche, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  Walking the plank back to the Bucs are minor league shortstop Argenis Diaz and pitcher Hunter Strickland.  The word ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/07/22/pirate-booty-adam-laroche-to-boston/ The Tribune Company may force the Chicago Cubs to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to speed up the sale of the team by the media company, according to reports. If they file, the Cubs would become the first team to go under since the Seattle Pilots went bankrupt ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/07/13/cubs-reportedly-to-file-for-bankruptcy/ It's the first day of the All-Star Break and tonight is the annual State Farm Home Run Derby (8pm, ESPN).  The Red Sox do not have a representative in the Derby this year although All-Star pitcher Josh Beckett has gone deep in interleague games this year and in 2006.  Some ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/07/13/its-derby-day/ The baseball media are buzzing after Toronto Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi said that the team would listen to offers for ace Roy Halladay, one of the best pitchers in the majors.  Naturally, fans, writers and bloggers in Boston and New York are running themselves ragged on what it will ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/07/08/halladay-road/ Red Sox starting pitcher Tim Wakefield was named to his first All-Star Game on Sunday. At 42 years old, he is the second-oldest pitcher to be named an All-Star; Satchel Paige was chosen at age 46. Wakefield, a 17-year veteran, is 10-3 so far this season with a 4.30 ERA. His ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/07/05/wakefield-named-an-all-star-five-sox-players-to-join-him/ Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair was found dead Saturday with multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the head. Police said a gun was discovered near the body of a woman, identified as a "friend" of McNair's, who was also shot dead in a downtown Nashville condominium. McNair, a three-time Pro Bowler, ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/07/05/steve-mcnair-shot-killed-in-nashville-on-4th/ For people who drive standard or have at least tried to learn, the most difficult part of the learning process is getting moving in first gear without stalling.  Shifting from first to second is also tough but once you can do that, you can do the rest.  David Ortiz's 2009 ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/06/25/in-rainy-june-big-papi-shines/ Red Sox manager Terry Francona revealed yesterday that John Smoltz will pitch for the big league team next week while Brad Penny and Daisuke Matsuzaka stay with the club. How is this possible? The team will go with a "six-man rotation" for the time being. This writer calls shenanigans ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/06/22/six-call-it-the-tumbling-dice/ Three members of the Bruins organization took home the jackpot at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas on Thursday. Bruins goalie Tim Thomas won the Vezina Trophy (top goaltender), defenseman Zdeno Chara was awarded the Norris Trophy (top defenseman), and Bruins coach Claude Julien was honored with the Jack Adams Award ... http://otr.blastmagazine.com/2009/06/20/bruins-hit-it-big-in-vegas/