Sports category, Page 1704
Hempfield grad Tim Jarocki makes everything run smoothly for Tampa Bay Bucs at Super Bowl
Credit for getting a team to the Super Bowl, as often is the case, is reserved for the coach and quarterback. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with Bruce Arians calling the shots from the sideline and Tom Brady making the calls on the field, are no exception. Behind the scenes, though,...
MLB average salary falls for 3rd straight year
NEW YORK — The average Major League Baseball salary dropped for an unprecedented third straight year, even before the shortened season caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic. The Major League Baseball Players Association said Thursday the 2020 average would have been $3.89 million if a full season had been played....
NHL revises virus protocols with 40 players on covid-19 list
The NHL has followed the NBA in revising its virus protocols early in the season as a response to covid-19 problems cropping up around the league. Glass panels have been removed from behind benches for better air flow, players and coaches are not allowed at the arena until 1 hour...
Steelers 2021 offseason positional outlook: Specialists
Editor’s note: This is Part 12 of a 12-part series breaking down the Pittsburgh Steelers at each position in the offseason. All salary cap information courtesy spotrac.com or overthecap.com: After several years of continuity, the Pittsburgh Steelers special teams room had a bumpy 2020. By the end, though, it was...
Former Steelers QB Kordell Stewart opens up in penning Players’ Tribune piece
A quarter century ago, Kordell Stewart was the toast of Pittsburgh. But his tenure with the Pittsburgh Steelers was complicated, as was his relationship with their fans. In an essay published by The Players’ Tribune on Thursday, Stewart opened up in detail about it all, including addressing a particularly vulgar...
First Call: Bruce Arians’ quote about Ben Roethlisberger; Chris Drury not in mix for Penguins GM job
Bruce Arians and Franco Harris comment on the Steelers. A perceived general manager candidate is off the Penguins’ list. And Robert Morris hockey has a rare mid-week doubleheader. All that in Thursday’s “First Call.” Bruce on Brady and Ben Former Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians provided an interesting quote about...
The biggest problems facing the Penguins … besides the power play. Oh, and the power play.
At 5-4-1, things could be worse for the Pittsburgh Penguins. But they aren’t great. During Wednesday’s“Breakfast With Benz” podcast, Penguins Radio Network host Brian Metzer and I spent a lot of time drilling down on the problems facing the power play. But that’s not where the analysis needs to stop....
This date in sports history: Feb. 4Video
1861 — The Philadelphia Athletics beat Charter Oak, 36-27, in a baseball game played on frozen Litchfield Pond in Brooklyn, N.Y., with the players wearing ice skates. 1924 — The first Winter Olympics close in Chamonix, France. Sixteen countries competed in 17 events from seven sports. 1932 — The Winter...
Steve Sarkisian puts finishing touches on Texas class near top of Big 12Video
Tom Herman started the 2021 Texas recruiting class. Steve Sarkisian is finishing it up, and the new Longhorns coach still can sign a few more players. Sarkisian inherited a group of 19 signees recruited by Herman before the coaching change in January, then Wednesday added a group of four more...
Pitt knocks off No. 16 Virginia Tech, stops 3-game losing streak
Two years later, Au’Diese Toney still feels the pain. Worse, he sensed more coming after Pitt lost three games in row. So, with the memory of the 13-game losing streak of 2019 too real and still on his mind, the junior forward called together teammates and friends Justin Champagnie and...
National champion Alabama secures ‘championship-winning’ classVideo
Alabama continues recruiting at a level that should strengthen the reigning national champion’s status as college football’s premier program. If anything, coach Nick Saban’s ability to land the nation’s top prospects grows stronger with each passing year. The recruiting class Alabama finalized Wednesday has the highest rating in the history...
Powerhouse Clemson leads way again in ACC recruiting rankingsVideo
Clemson’s most recent berth in the College Football Playoff arguably was its least successful, but a 49-28 semifinal loss to Ohio State didn’t appear to damage the Tigers’ appeal to recruits. Six consecutive appearances in the game’s final four, with national championships in 2016 and ‘18, are difficult to overlook....
Ex-Steelers coach Bill Cowher: Credit goes to Andy Reid, Bruce AriansVideo
Bill Cowher would love nothing more than to see the Pittsburgh Steelers return to the Super Bowl. Still, Sunday’s matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers is a close second. Cowher spent three seasons in Kansas City as defensive coordinator before becoming a Hall of Fame coach...
Bucs’ Tom Brady has denied 27 QBs in unparalleled playoff successVideo
When a baby-faced Tom Brady made his first trip to the Super Bowl 19 years ago, Kurt Warner served up the main headline at media day by revealing he wanted to be remembered as the first quarterback to win five Super Bowls. That was one more than Terry Bradshaw and...
Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes the rare quarterback with no weaknessVideo
When it comes to judging the best quarterbacks, they all seem to have at least one deficiency. Whether it’s pocket passers such as Tom Brady and Peyton Manning who might not be adept at scrambling, or deadeye accurate ones such as Drew Brees and Joe Montana who might lack elite...
Penguins defenseman John Marino added to NHL’s covid-19 protocol list
Penguins defenseman John Marino was added to the NHL’s list of players unavailable to play or practice because of the league’s covid-19 protocol. Marino’s name was added to the list Wednesday. The Penguins, as scheduled, did not practice. The inclusion of Marino’s name on the list does not necessarily indicate...
Giants’ Saquon Barkley says knee doing well, won’t set return dateVideo
Saquon Barkley says his surgically repaired knee is doing well, though the New York Giants star running back won’t set a target date for his return. Barkley, the Penn State product who was named 2018 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, tore his right ACL in Week 2 and missed...
Maryland hopes top-20 recruiting class brings improvement in Big TenVideo
The Maryland athletic department slogan is “Fear The Turtle.” In seven seasons in the Big Ten, its football team has scared no one. That might be about to change judging by the recruiting work done by coach Mike Locksley and his staff. Locksley signed four four-star prospects in December and...
Emotions finally in check, Antonio Brown seeks super ending that eluded him with Steelers
The Immaculate Extension continues to live on for Antonio Brown in Tampa Bay. No, not the lean-over-the-goal-line touchdown that won a division championship for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas 2016, perhaps the defining moment of Brown’s nine-year tenure wearing black-and-gold. The extension the 32-year-old Brown is experiencing these days pertains...
Pitt will travel to No. 14 Virginia as replacement for postponed game with Florida State
Pitt no longer has an open date Saturday after the ACC announced several schedule changes Wednesday afternoon. The Panthers will play at No. 14 Virginia for a 4 p.m. tip-off, a replacement for the Florida State game that was postponed because of covid-19 complications. The game will be televised on...
Family: Keyontae Johnson’s collapse unrelated to covid-19Video
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida forward Keyontae Johnson’s collapse during a game nearly two months ago was not related to a positive covid-19 test, his family said Wednesday. University of Florida Health physicians consulted with other local and national experts who reviewed the relevant imaging and testing related to this case,...
DeChambeau flattered by role in golf’s rule-change proposalsVideo
Bryson DeChambeau has been pushing the limits of golf with his quest for increased distance off the tee. So the game’s “mad scientist” is flattered rule-makers are proposing changes to regulations in an effort to control how far big hitters like him can launch a golf ball. “I think I...
With top 25 class locked up, Pitt introduces transfers on 2nd official signing day
The first Wednesday in February used to be a big day at Pitt and everywhere else across college football. The fax machine whirled, spitting out national letters of intent. Coaches from Walt Harris to Todd Graham to Pat Narduzzi stalked the halls outside their office, seemingly attached to their phones...
Steelers 2021 offseason positional outlook: Safeties
Editor’s note: This is Part 11 of a 12-part series breaking down the Pittsburgh Steelers at each position in the offseason. All salary cap information courtesy spotrac.com or overthecap.com: Starting safety is one position where the Pittsburgh Steelers don’t need much improvement. They do, however, have a couple of options...
Penn State football lands another 4-star commit
Davon Townley Jr., a defensive lineman from North Community High School in Minneapolis, Minn., has joined the 2021 Penn State football recruiting class. Townley Jr., who signed Wednesday morning to kick off the start of the national letter of intent regular signing period for Division I and II football, is...
