VIDEO: Francona talks with ESPN's Schaap about ownership

In an interview for ESPN's television show E:60, Terry Francona sat down with Jeremy Schaap to discuss the revaluations in his new book Francona: The Red Sox Years. Earlier this week an exclusive excerpt of the book was released to Sports Illustrated. In that excerpt it was reviled that Francona and former Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein believed ownership became more concerned with ratings and image than wins.

“I definitely think they wanted to win. They also wanted to sell the product,” Francona told Schaap. "I don’t blame them for that. Sometimes it conflicted, made it harder for me to maybe get our work done. I just wanted to make sure that we did win.”

In the Sports Illustrated excerpt, the book describes Francona nearly walking out of a meeting when team chairman Tom Werner, complained about weakening television ratings, said saying the team needed to “start winning in more exciting fashion.”

“I didn’t care if it was exciting or not,” Francona told Schaap. “In fact for me it was too exciting. I have to be consistent. If I’m consistent, I thought we were good enough to win. If I start going up and down like a roller coaster our team is going to do the same thing and it won’t work.”

Manti Te'o's Girlfriends Death is a Hoax; Notre Dame Releases Statement

Notre Dame Official Statement:

On Dec. 26, Notre Dame coaches were informed by Manti Te’o and his parents that Manti had been the victim of what appears to be a hoax in which someone using the fictitious name Lennay Kekua apparently ingratiated herself with Manti and then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had tragically died of leukemia. The University immediately initiated an investigation to assist Manti and his family in discovering the motive for and nature of this hoax. While the proper authorities will continue to investigate this troubling matter, this appears to be, at a minimum, a sad and very cruel deception to entertain its perpetrators.

News broke Wednesday afternoon the girlfriend of Notre Dame star Manti Te’o who was to believed to have died tragically of leukemia, never really existed. Now school officals are saying Te'o and his family were victims of a hoax. Deadspin has the unbelievable story.

Manti Te'o did lose his grandmother this past fall. Annette Santiago died on Sept. 11, 2012, at the age of 72, according to Social Security Administration records in Nexis. But there is no SSA record there of the death of Lennay Marie Kekua, that day or any other. Her passing, recounted so many times in the national media, produces no obituary or funeral announcement in Nexis, and no mention in the Stanford student newspaper

To read the full article visit Deadspin: Manti Te’o’s Dead Girlfriend, The Most Heartbreaking And Inspirational Story Of The College Football Season, Is A Hoax


UPDATE: Manti Te'o Statement

"This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but over an extended period of time, I developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online. We maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone, and I grew to care deeply about her. "To realize that I was the victim of what was apparently someone's sick joke and constant lies was, and is, painful and humiliating. "It further pains me that the grief I felt and the sympathies expressed to me at the time of my grandmother's death in September were in any way deepened by what I believed to be another significant loss in my life. "I am enormously grateful for the support of my family, friends and Notre Dame fans throughout this year. To think that I shared with them my happiness about my relationship and details that I thought to be true about her just makes me sick. I hope that people can understand how trying and confusing this whole experience has been. "In retrospect, I obviously should have been much more cautious. If anything good comes of this, I hope it is that others will be far more guarded when they engage with people online than I was. "Fortunately, I have many wonderful things in my life, and I'm looking forward to putting this painful experience behind me as I focus on preparing for the NFL Draft."

UPDATE: Jason McIntyre Reporting that ESPN has know about the story for days

Confirmed from 2 sources: ESPN has known about the Manti Te'o story for 10 days. Had been reporting it, but could not confirm.
— Jason McIntyre (@TheBigLead) January 16, 2013

 

Recap: Bruins Black and Gold Scrimmige

For the full recap head over to NESN

Full NESN recap of the Providence/Boston scrimmage

Francona Blasts Red Sox Owners

 By Joel McAuliffe

JDMcAuliffe@gmail.com

"Francona: The Red Sox Years", former Red Sox manager Terry Francona's tell all book about his time as manager of the club, is due on bookshelves January 22nd.

The book co-authored by the Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy had been expected to ruffle some feathers on Yawkey Way, but an exclusive except of the book was released to Sports Illustrated today offered a sneak peak about what went wrong for Francona in Boston.

The excerpt reveals that after the 2010 season the Red Sox ownership group hired marketing consultants to look at ways to improver the teams marketability.  The consultants findings resulted in the ownership group to make changes including pressuring the front office to add star players.

Former Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein, who also departed the team the same offseason as Francona, is quoted in the excerpt as saying "They told us we didn't have any marketable players, that we needed some sizzle. ... We need some sexy guys. Talk about the tail wagging the dog. This is like an absurdist comedy. We'd become too big. It was the farthest thing removed from what we set out to be.''

The excerpt also confirms suspicions that ownership had obsessed over the declining ratings of Red Sox games on NESN, the regional sports network the team partly owns.

Francona said owners refused to allow day games at the end of homestands because of television ratings.

In the offseason leading to the 2011 season, the team added all-star first basemen Adrian Gonzalez and outfielder Carl Crawford, both of which were traded this past season after the team fell out of contention.

Franconas harshest criticism came at the hands of the ownership saying "They come in with all these ideas about baseball, but I don't think they love baseball,'' he said. "I think they like baseball. It's revenue, and I know that's their right and their interest because they're owners ... and they're good owners. But they don't love the game. It's still more of a toy or a hobby for them. It's not their blood. They're going to come in and out of baseball. It's different for me. Baseball is my life.''

To read the entire excerpt visit SI.com

Get Up to Date on All Your Red Sox News

The Red Sox spring training facility is ready for year two. Pitchers and catchers report in just under a month.

The Mike Napoli saga continues for the Red Sox. Six weeks ago the team and Napoli agreed to a three-year, $39MM contract, but concerns over Napoli's hips surfaced after he took his physical with the team causing a delay in the contract talks and preventing anything from becoming official. Earlier last week reports surfaced that Boston was trying to restructure the contract as only a 1-year deal, after ESPN Radio's Jim Bowden tweeted that the team was interested in shortening the deal.

• Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe tells us that former Red Sox captain Jason Varitek will serve as an on the field coach for catchers in spring training.  It's the first we have heard of Varitek doing any sort of coaching, which bodes well for those that are hoping he will some day manage. It gives his an opportunity to see if coaching is what he likes or if he would rather a off the field role. Varitek will also continue his role as an adviser to GM Ben Cherington.
• WEEI's Rob Bradford reports that with the continued delay in the Napoli signing the team has shown interest in free agent first basemen Casey Kotchman and Lyle Overbay. Once source said “nothing is active” with regards to talks and we expect that it's just the team doing due diligence. Expect the team to sign Napoli or look in the trade market.
• ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes looks at Red Sox pitching prospect Rubby De La Rosa and his relationship with Pedro Martinez and his brother Ramon. De La Rosa is a high level pitching prospect with lots of promise and learned his changeup from Pedro, whose might have been the best in league history. WEEI's Alex Spier has a similar story. WEEI Version
• Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald looks at what it might take for the Red Sox to acquire Michael Morse for the Washington Nationals if the Napoli deal falls through. With the lack of depth in left field the team could both sign Napoli and trade for Morse, but at this point that seems unlikely.
• The Providence Journal's Brian MacPherson tells us Red Sox knuckleballing prospect Steven Wright is eager to work with Tim Wakefield who will be assuming some role for the club this year. Wright, who was converted to a full time knuckleballer just last season, was acquired for Lars Anderson last year.
• The Boston Herald also tells us that the Red Sox among other teams have scouted Javier Vasquez in Puerto Rico.  The 36-year-old pitcher took 2012 off when he retired, but now has strong interest in returning. He will pitch for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic.
• The Red Sox and NESN will air their annual "Red Sox Town Hall" on January 19th at 11 p.m. for more info and to submit your questions visit the NESN page.

Raving about the Ravens

Ray Lewis after the double-overtime thriller against the Denver Broncos on Saturday

By Tyler W. Leahy

It’s not too often that I’m overcome with a hunch so overbearing that I feel the need to write about it, but now is that time. After a wild weekend of playoff football, if I were a betting man, I would be putting my money on the bruisers from Baltimore to be raising the Lombardi Trophy on February 3^rd.

The Patriots flashed their classic playoff brawn. The 49ers looked to be untouchable. The Falcons scathed past a ruthless Russell Wilson and his Seahawks squad, perhaps saving Matt Ryan from being considered as much of a choke artist as Tony Romo (if it’s even possible for anyone to reach that level). But the Ravens—they looked tough.

Once considered a choke artist in his own right, Joe Flacco played a near flawless game in a double-overtime thriller over the Denver Broncos. He was poised, patient and gutsy en route to throwing for 331 yards and 3 touchdowns at a noisy, frigid Sports Authority Field.  With 31 seconds left in regulation, Flacco’s game-tying 70-yard heave to Jacoby Jones will go down as one of the more memorable playoff moments in recent history.

This is the best the Ravens’ offense has looked in years. Ray Rice carried the ball 30 times for 131 yards and a touchdown. Torrey Smith dazzled, with 2 touchdowns to his credit. While accumulating 98 receiving yards on a meager three catches, he made shutdown corner Champ Bailey look foolish.

Smith consistently burned Bailey, even at times he wasn’t targeted or thrown a catchable ball. Anquan Boldin caught 6 balls for 71 yards and was a staple in the short passing game. Jacoby Jones had the shocking touchdown at the end of regulation.

Any team that can overcome two ridiculous special team lapses that allowed Trindon Holliday two touchdowns and dismantle a Peyton Manning-led offense on an 11-game win streak deserves a lot of credit.

An emotional Ray Lewis led a hard-nosed defensive effort with 17 tackles. Manning never truly looked comfortable, throwing two interceptions and getting sacked three times, two of which were at the hands of Terrell Suggs. Ed Reed and a less-than-healthy Haloti Ngata were very quiet, but corner Corey Graham stole the show with 2 interceptions, one ultimately leading to the game-winning Justin Tucker field goal in the second overtime.

Something about a barn-burner upset at Mile High a week after holding Andrew Luck without a touchdown makes me faithful in an impending Baltimore Ravens upset over the methodical New England Patriots. When Ray Lewis is on the field, this is a smarter and more confident Ravens defense—and it has shown in the past two weeks.

Flacco finally has the pieces around him this year to play hero. Rice is the workhorse inducing defensive coordinators with nightmares. The receiving trio of Smith, Boldin and James has been a consistent force, along with tight end Dennis Pitta. If Smith was a problem for Champ Bailey, he can be for overconfident Patriots corner Aqib Talib. The special teams catastrophe will certainly be addressed in this week’s practices and film sessions.

Even though they may be without Rob Gronkowski, the Patriots are the more talented football team. So were the Broncos, though. Adept coach John Harbaugh’s squad has caught fire at the right time, led by an eager Ray Lewis and a dauntless Joe Flacco.

Don’t count them out just yet.

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