NEWS » Faulkner said if Army beats Morgan State, the

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- Like it or not, Boston Red Sox fans, you will have manager John Farrell to kick around for two more years.The Red Sox opened the winter meetings here on Monday by announcing they will pick up the 2018 option for Farrell, a target of unrelenting scrutiny for fans on social media and sports-talk radio over the past year.The team didnt have to make a decision on Farrell until 10 days after the end of the 2017 season, but in settling his future now, the Red Sox will avoid having him go through an entire year as a lame duck.It puts stability with our staff going into spring training, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said.But by providing Farrell with security beyond next season, Dombrowski and Red Sox ownership sent a clear message: Regardless of the dissenting opinions of outsiders, they believe Farrell is a good manager.Dombrowski inherited Farrell when he took over the Red Soxs baseball operations in August 2015, at which time the 54-year-old skipper had just begun undergoing chemotherapy treatment for non-Hodgkins Burkitt lymphoma. The Red Sox were on their way to a second consecutive last-place finish, and cynics believed Farrell kept his job only because of the potential public-relations fallout from firing him while he was sick.But Dombrowski had a full season to evaluate Farrell, and the Red Sox won the American League East for the second time in four years before getting swept out of the division series by the Cleveland Indians. Dombrowski said he was impressed by Farrells solid presence and the players response to his leadership, qualities that outweigh in the mind of the teams decision-makers the in-game strategy blunders that tend to get so much attention.John has done a real fine job for us, Dombrowski said. We had a very good year last year. Thought he did a good job in handling the club, being in a position where we had a good working relationship. I find him very open-minded when we have conversations, the give-and-take people talk about. I think hes done a very fine job.Farrell insisted he wouldnt have managed differently had he entered the season without a guarantee for 2018. And there is precedent for the Red Sox going through a year with a lame-duck manager. Terry Francona managed all of 2011 without having his 2012 option picked up.Having already committed to Farrell in 2017, it only made sense to pick up his option, especially after bench coach Torey Lovullo, always perceived as a manager-in-waiting, left last month to manage the Arizona Diamondbacks.Dombrowski declined to address Farrells option after the Red Sox were eliminated from the postseason. He explained away his hesitation, claiming the club had other pressing matters, including general manager Mike Hazens defection to the Diamondbacks and Lovullos ensuing departure.But Dombrowski finally met with Farrell on Sunday in Maryland and told him face-to-face of the teams decision.I appreciate his confidence, Farrell said. We had a conversation [Sunday], where it got a little personal [about] where he walks in and hes inheriting a manager and a chemo plan. It has a chance to work itself out, where we win a division title. We addressed and faced a lot of challenges throughout the course of the season, whether it was injury, whether its a little bit of a dry spell that the team went through from a performance standpoint, and we all came out of it in a better place. Wholesale Packers Jerseys . JOHNS, N. Green Bay Packers Shirts . In the response filed Wednesday to the complaint by 30-year-old Alexander Bradley, attorneys say the former University of Florida player is invoking his Fifth Amendment right that protects people from incriminating themselves. https://www.packersjerseysale.com/ . Vaives lawyer Trevor Whiffen claims the former 50-goal man wasnt provided with a copy of the claim beforehand and that he would not have agreed to the allegations made against the NHL had he been asked to review its contents. Green Bay Packers Pro Shop . The 26-year-old Ireland striker, who has four goals this season, has signed a three-and-a-half year contract with his new club. Cheap Packers Jerseys . Rinne played two periods in his first game since left hip surgery in early May. Gabriel Bourque scored 3:07 into the second period and Austin Watson tallied 5:15 later for Nashville. Eastern Michigan reached a major milestone in its remarkable turnaround.The Eagles are bowl eligible for the first time since 1995 after a 48-41 victory over Ball State on Tuesday night. The last time EMU actually played in a bowl was in the 1987 California Bowl.There are now 58 teams bowl eligible, with 80 slots available. There are 32 teams that cant finish .500 and thus cant go to a bowl unless sub-.500 teams are needed to fill open spots.Oregon (3-7) is one of those teams that cant finish .500 after a loss to Stanford. The Ducks havent missed a bowl since 2004.EMU (6-4) went 1-11 last season, and in April, a student and faculty report called on the school to consider dropping football altogether -- or perhaps stop playing it in Division I. The Eagles were one of a couple noteworthy teams to become bowl eligible this past week. Central Florida (6-4) also did -- a significant achievement after UCF went 0-12 last season.Army (5-5) can still finish two games above .500 but is in a complicated spot. The Black Knights have two games against FCS opponents on their schedule -- a win over Lafayette on Oct. 15 and next weekends matchup with Morgan State. Team spokesman Matt Faulkner said only the Morgan State game can count for the purpose of bowl eligibility.Armys regular-season finale against Navy will likely be moot in terms of Armys bbowl prospects, since it takes place Dec.dddddddddddd. 10, after bowl matchups will likely be set. Faulkner said if Army beats Morgan State, the Black Knights would have to wait and see if there are any open spots -- a situation similar to what 5-7 teams will face.Here are the 37 teams (not counting Army) that are still on the bubble. These teams arent bowl eligible yet, but they can still finish .500 or better and move into the bowl picture:Akron (5-6)Arizona State (5-5)Arkansas State (5-4)Ball State (4-6)Boston College (4-6)California (4-6)Central Michigan (5-5)Charlotte (4-6)Cincinnati (4-6)Colorado State (5-5)Duke (4-6)Georgia Southern (4-6)Indiana (5-5)Kansas State (5-4)Kentucky (5-5)Louisiana-Lafayette (4-5)Louisiana-Monroe (4-6)Maryland (5-5)Miami, Ohio (5-6)Mississippi (5-5)Mississippi State (4-6)North Carolina State (5-5)North Texas (4-6)Northwestern (5-5)Notre Dame (4-6)South Alabama (4-5)South Carolina (5-5)Southern Methodist (5-5)Southern Mississippi (5-5)Syracuse (4-6)TCU (5-4)Texas (5-5)Texas Tech (4-6)UCLA (4-6)UNLV (4-6)UTSA (5-5)Vanderbilt (4-6)---For more college football: http://collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister ' ' '