UConn sports

I’ll have a few more UConn football notes soon but here’s a pic from my new favorite restaurant.

Myself and a couple talented colleagues (talented writers and eaters, it turns out) ate at Dreamland BBQ this afternoon.

The food was great and there was an interesting atmosphere. Note the pecking order of SEC helmets on the wall (Vandy is kind of in the league, right?) and the behavioral warning.

- Neill

Safety Marcus Aiken and defensive tackle Tim Willman were sent home this morning by UConn football coach Randy Edsall for “violating team rules.”

“There’s things that you have to go by and that you’re going to do in this program,” said Edsall, while not going into any detail about the violations.

Both players are true freshman reserves and it was highly unlikely that either would play in Saturday’s Papajohns.com Bowl. The two flew home to Connecticut Friday morning.

“I met with the two young men and they’ll be better off for it,” Edsall said. “I’m sure they won’t make the same mistake again.”

- Neill

The UConn football team has been practicing this week at Hoover High School, just outside of Birmingham this week. Hoover is one of the top football programs in the area

Hoover’s impressive field turf stadium, which is more akin to a college stadium in the northeast (no high school in Connecticut looks like this), isn’t even where the Buccaneers play their games. They actually play at nearby Regions Park.

Now, depending on whether or not you’re 22 or 32 or 42, you may have heard of Regions Park and/or Hoover.

The Birmingham Barons, the Double-A affiliate of the White Sox who play in the Southern League, play their home games at Regions Park. The Barons have had their share of major leaguers come through, but they also had some outfielder named Michael Jordan back in 1994. You might remember him for playing a little basketball.

And if by chance you’ve been living on Mars in terms of basketball viewing, you baseball fans might have heard of Jordan’s manager with the Barons, Terry Francona.

And if by some strange factors you’ve heard of none of the previous men, you may know Hoover and its athletes from the short-lived MTV series “Two-a-Days.” The documentary-style program (reality show) followed Hoover’s football team, its cheerleaders and the usual high school drama.

- Neill