Sports category, Page 1672
Anthony Alford takes center stage, shining for Pirates with home run, diving catch
A day after Jared Oliva and Brian Goodwin made their mark on the center field competition with home runs, Anthony Alford answered in a way that might have pushed him to the forefront. Alford hit a two-run homer in the second inning, made a spectacular catch in the third, then...
Hendrick off to fast start with 2 wins heading into Phoenix
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Hendrick Motorsports celebrates each race win with a Victory Bell t hat is carted across the campus for every employee to ring. If not for the pandemic, the bell would have made two trips so far this season. The Hendrick folks believe the count should actually be...
Texans’ Culley on possible Deshaun Watson trade: ‘He is our quarterback’
HOUSTON — New Houston Texans coach David Culley reiterated Thursday that the team has no intention of trading Deshaun Watson despite the star quarterback’s request to be dealt. Culley, hired in January to replace Bill O’Brien, was asked more than a half-dozen times about Watson’s future with the team. Every...
‘Controlled environment’: NCAA plunges ahead with tourneys
Mount St. Mary’s earned its sixth bid to the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday night by beating Bryant in the Northeast Conference Championship game, setting off a postgame celebration that included joy, anticipation, hugs — and covid-19 testing. Before the Mountaineers made the 7 1/2-hour bus trip from Smithfield, Rhode Island,...
No. 12 Oklahoma St. beats No. 10 West Virginia in Big 12 Tournament
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Avery Johnson III hit the go-ahead bucket for Oklahoma State with less than a minute to go, and Sean McNeil’s tying 3-pointer came a split-second after the final buzzer, allowing the No. 12 Cowboys to escape with a 72-69 win over No. 10 West Virginia in...
Pirates say tickets to be offered month-to-month, delivered digitally
The Pittsburgh Pirates announced that tickets will be made available on a month-to-month basis to start the season and delivered digitally. Starting Thursday, the Pirates will notify groups for an exclusive presale for full, half and partial season plans for the first dozen games over two homestands at PNC Park,...
9 Penn State wrestlers will compete at NCAA Championships
Penn State will send nine wrestlers, including four top-three seeds, to the NCAA Championships on March 18-20, in St. Louis. Five freshmen and a sophomore are among the qualifiers. Two-time All-American and Big Ten champion Roman Bravo-Young (9-0) at 133 pounds and senior Nick Lee at 141 will be No....
Penguins reflect on a year since the NHL paused for covid-19
Mike Matheson was in a much different place exactly one year ago. Dallas, to be specific. Then a member of the Florida Panthers, Matheson was in his Dallas hotel room watching the Dallas Mavericks host the Denver Nuggets. And that’s when he realized the world was rapidly changing. During the...
After his release from Buffalo, WR John Brown thinks Steelers could be a fit
Veteran wide receiver John Brown is looking for a new home after being released by the Buffalo Bills. He thinks Pittsburgh could be a potential destination. One day after he was cut loose in a salary-cap move, Brown said the Steelers and Indianapolis Colts are two teams he wouldn’t mind...
5 Pitt wrestlers headed to NCAA Championships in St. Louis
A year ago, Pitt wrestlers Micky Phillippi, Jake Wentzel, Nino Bonaccorsi and Demetrius Thomas were named All-Americans by the National Wrestling Coaches Association. But in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic, there was no NCAA Championships to validate the distinctions. This year, five Pitt wrestlers, including four top-three finishers at...
NBA fines Heat’s Meyers Leonard $50,000 for anti-Semitic slur
MIAMI — The NBA has fined Meyers Leonard $50,000, the maximum allowed by league policy, and suspended him from using all Miami Heat facilities and activities for one week in response to his use of an anti-Semitic term. Commissioner Adam Silver, in announcing those sanctions, also said that he believes...
March 11, 2020: The night that sports, as we knew them, ended
Nobody knew exactly what to say in Oklahoma City around 7:10 p.m. local time on March 11, 2020. That was an issue for Mario Nanni, whose job as the Oklahoma City Thunder public-address announcer is to tell fans exactly what’s happening. He had just introduced the starting lineups. The Thunder...
Duke pulls out of ACC Tournament after positive covid test; NCAA tourney streak ends
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Duke arrived at the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament hoping to make an unprecedented run to extend its long NCAA Tournament streak. Instead, the Blue Devils abruptly had to pull out of the tournament and end its season due to a positive covid-19 test and the resulting quarantining...
IOC and China make vaccine deal for Tokyo, Beijing Olympians
GENEVA — The International Olympic Committee and China have teamed up to offer vaccines to athletes and teams preparing for the upcoming games in both Tokyo and Beijing. The collaboration with Chinese Olympic officials was announced Thursday during an online IOC meeting. “We are grateful for this offer, which is...
In 2nd spring training with Pirates, Jared Oliva emerges as dark horse in center field
Jared Oliva will be the first to admit he was uncomfortable at his first major league spring training last year, trying to absorb as much as he could from veterans without stepping on any toes. That was evident to Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton, who saw as much trepidation as...
Penguins finally get their crack at Sabres. Now they need to pay it off.
After months of waiting, the Penguins are finally getting their shot at the Buffalo Sabres. While the rest of the Eastern Division teams have had their crack at the lowly cellar dwellers, the Pens and Boston Bruins have not. Now it’s time for the Penguins to make the most of...
First Call: Team that may have signed Ben Roethlisberger; team that may sign JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Conner
Let’s take a look at what could’ve been for Ben Roethlisberger had he not stayed in Pittsburgh. We also have a prediction on James Conner’s future, an ominous outlook for Pirates manager Derek Shelton, and another rough outing for former Penguins netminder Matt Murray. All that in Thursday’s “First Call.”...
U mad, bro?: Steelers fans bristle at negativity after Ben Roethlisberger’s new deal, NFL’s overtime idea
In this week’s “U mad, bro?,” Steelers fans clap back at my lack of faith in the team. Someone doesn’t like the NFL’s new overtime proposal. And I share the best email I have ever received. Jerry read my article about the Baltimore Ravens’ new overtime proposal. Like me, he...
Penn State rallies past Nebraska in Big Ten first-round game
INDIANAPOLIS — Jamari Wheeler scored a career-high 19 points, and No. 11 seed Penn State pulled away inside the last four minutes to beat No. 14 seed Nebraska 72-66 on Wednesday night in the first round of the Big Ten Conference tournament. Penn State (11-13) has won four of its...
This date in sports history: March 11Video
1922 — Cornell wins the first IC4A indoor track meet held at the 2nd Regiment Armory in New York. 1947 — Harry Boykoff of St. John’s sets a Madison Square Garden scoring record with 54 points in the Redmen’s 71-52 win over St. Francis (N.Y.) 1958 — Manhattan upsets top-ranked...
Newly signed Cowboys QB Dak Prescott healthy, happyVideo
Dak Prescott walked briskly and bounced up the couple of steps onto the stage for the announcement of the richest contract in the storied history of the Dallas Cowboys for their latest star quarterback. It was five months almost to the day Wednesday since the gruesome ankle injury that ended...
Brian Goodwin’s game-tying grand slam brings a boost to Pirates’ competition in center field
Brian Goodwin could tell by playing the outfield that the wind was doing something different Wednesday night at George M. Steinbrenner Field, calling it a difficult night for fly balls. The New York Yankees had built a five-run lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates by sending two of them over the...
Teams need only 5 players to be eligible for NCAA TournamentVideo
All a team needs to play in this year’s NCAA Tournament is five healthy players. How about a coach? The NCAA will get back to you on that. The fluid nature of a March Madness played amid the coronavirus pandemic was spelled out Wednesday, hours before the NCAA selection committee...
Burrell grad Weimer focused on high marks for outdoor track and field season
Elizabeth Weimer is laser focused on throwing the hammer, shot put and discus during her upcoming collegiate outdoor track and field season. The Burrell graduate and redshirt junior at Ashland hopes to carry over momentum gained from an indoor season during which she captured her second straight Great Lakes Intercollegiate...
After slow start to season, Tristan Jarry proving his ‘No. 1 goalie’ worth to Penguins
The resurgence of Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry coincides with former NHL All-Star goalie Ron Hextall taking over as the team’s general manager. In the seven games Jarry played before the Feb. 6 announcement of Hextall’s hiring, Jarry had the NHL’s second-worst save percentage (.857) and fourth-worst goals-against average (3.95)....
