Sports category, Page 1721
After rare losing season, Penn State’s James Franklin makes plans for 2021
Penn State’s 2020 football season — and the days that followed — were marked by change, personnel upheaval and something that is rarely experienced by the Nittany Lions and difficult for coaches, players and fans to accept: A losing record. For the first time since 2004, Penn State (4-5) lost...
Former WPIAL stars Alex Kirilloff, Austin Hendrick on Baseball America’s prospect list
A pair of former WPIAL stars are ranked in Baseball America’s top 100 prospects, including one who cracked the top 20 for the first time. Plum’s Alex Kirilloff is ranked the No. 18 overall prospect and No. 1 in the Minnesota Twins organization by Baseball America. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound outfielder...
Once a pillar of strength and continuity, Steelers’ offensive line could be due for makeover
Ben Roethlisberger helplessly waving his arm at the sailing ball and chasing it down 20 yards into his own end zone serves as the defining moment of the 2020 Pittsburgh Steelers’ playoff “run.” But Maurkice Pouncey’s overshot first snap of the wild-card game against the Cleveland Browns also provides a...
Unfiltered: Tim Benz and Mark Madden talk Steelers, NFL playoffs, PenguinsVideo
Tim Benz and Mark Madden return for this week’s edition of “Unfiltered” on TribLive’s Facebook page to discuss everything happening in Pittsburgh sports. The guys open up show discussing where wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster could end up next year if he doesn’t return to the Steelers. Madden thinks Smith-Schuster would...
WVU men’s basketball game at Baylor rescheduled for Feb. 18
The West Virginia men’s basketball team received some good news from the Big 12 Conference on Monday as a game postponed because of covid issues has been rescheduled. The Mountaineers’ matchup with Baylor, originally scheduled for Jan. 12, now will be at 5 p.m. Feb. 18, in Waco, Texas. The...
Duke falls out of AP Top 25; Gonzaga, Baylor remain 1-2
Gonzaga and Baylor maintained their grip on the top two spots in The Associated Press men’s basketball poll Monday. If third-ranked Villanova ever plays a game, perhaps it will make a run a them. The Bulldogs again racked up all but the two first-place votes that went to the Bears,...
Penguins Prospect Watch: Santeri Airola makes Liiga debutVideo
A weekly look at how Penguins prospects and minor leaguers have fared over the past week: • In Finland’s Liiga, defenseman Santeri Airola made his debut in that league by recording two power-play assists for Ilves during a 5-4 home loss to HPK on Saturday. Aside from two games in...
Baseball America ranks Ke’Bryan Hayes as Pirates’ top prospect, one of top 20 in baseball
A brilliant rookie debut has lifted Ke’Bryan Hayes to rise in Baseball America’s top 100 rankings and become the top prospect for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2021. Baseball America moved Hayes from No. 52 in 2020 to No. 15 this year, the highest of any Pirates prospect, when it updated...
Mark Madden: Steelers promoting Matt Canada falls under ‘status quo,’ ‘definition of insanity’
At his season-ending media briefing, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said, “I’m not going to maintain the status quo and hope the outcome changes. That’s the definition of insanity.” Less than a week later, Tomlin slipped on a straitjacket and is hoping no one notices. Replacing Randy Fichtner with Matt Canada...
Still playing: Bills, Bucs risen from Super Bowl droughts
In the 1990s, the Bills buffaloed their way to four successive — if not successful — Super Bowls. No other franchise has managed that. About a decade later, the long-downtrodden Buccaneers swashbuckled to an NFL title. Ever since, pretty much nothing for those teams. Until now. Next weekend, Buffalo, which...
Chargers hire Rams DC Brandon Staley as head coach
COSTA MESA, Calif. — Brandon Staley won’t have to move that far for his first head coaching opportunity. Staley agreed to become the Los Angeles Chargers’ coach on Sunday night after one season as the defensive coordinator for the crosstown Rams. The Chargers made the decision to hire Staley after...
This date in sports history: Jan. 18
1938 — Grover Cleveland Alexander is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. His 90 shutouts is second on the career list to Walter Johnson, and his 16 shutouts in 1916 is still the major league record. 1958 — Canadian born Willie O’Ree becomes the NHL’s first black player for...
First Call: JuJu Smith-Schuster stokes free agency talk via video game, Aaron Donald’s emotional response to loss
Monday’s “First Call” starts with Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and his “virtual” flirtation with free agency. Cleveland suffered a bad break during the Browns playoff loss in Kansas City. Los Angeles’ Aaron Donald had an emotional reaction to his Rams losing in Green Bay Saturday. And the “Killer B’s”...
Madden Monday: Matt Canada ‘is not qualified’ to be Steelers’ new offensive coordinator
The idea of the Steelers potentially promoting Matt Canada to become the offensive coordinator is going to go one of two ways. If it eventually happens. 1. It’s going to go as many predict. For quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, Canada is going to be a less abrasive, less public annoyance than...
Tim Benz: Photo of dejected Ben Roethlisberger conjures bad Pittsburgh sports memory
I saw that photo of Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger sitting alone on the bench at the end of the team’s 48-37 playoff loss to the Cleveland Browns. Dejected. Almost slouching into his pads. Staring off into the void of defeat and a murky future. It was about 10 minutes after...
Empty Thoughts: Penguins 4, Capitals 3Video
Observations from the Penguins’ 4-3 shootout win against the Capitals: Things were looking rough for Marcus Pettersson early in Sunday’s game. He kind of got tangled up behind the net and wasn’t in position to properly defend on the first goal the Capitals scored midway through the first period. A...
Tom Brady, Bucs eliminate Drew Brees, SaintsVideo
NEW ORLEANS — Tom Brady’s best game in three tries against New Orleans kept the Buccaneers moving on in the NFL playoffs and has Saints quarterback Drew Brees headed home — perhaps for good. Brady and the Bucs offense turned three Saints turnovers, including two interceptions of Brees, into touchdowns,...
Gateway’s Rogers eager to return to basketball court after recovery from heart bypass surgery
Being away from the basketball court for any length of time normally is a foreign concept for Alvis Rogers. The third-year Gateway boys head coach enjoys keeping his mind and body sharp in the game he loves. But a medical issue and subsequent surgery late last month now has the...
Gutsy or insane? Depends on the outcome of tough NFL calls
Gutsy or insane? Depends on the outcome. Andy Reid’s gamble on fourth-and-inches at the Kansas City Chiefs’ 48-yard line with 1 minute, 14 seconds remaining in Sunday’s 22-17 divisional-round win over the Cleveland Browns fits the category. That it succeeded will become legend among Chiefs fans. Had it failed, well,...
Browns’ Baker Mayfield: Playoff loss to Chiefs ‘definitely going to sting’Video
Just like so many painful playoff losses in their past, the Browns came up achingly short — inches from a game-swinging play, inches from a last chance. Cleveland’s turnaround season ended Sunday in heartbreak. “For now,” said quarterback Baker Mayfield. “It’s definitely going to sting.” Unable to take advantage of...
Kevin Na has a big finish and wins Sony Open
HONOLULU — Three shots behind with six holes to play, Kevin Na birdied three straight holes and finished with an up-and-down birdie from behind the 18th green for a 5-under-par 65 and a one-shot victory in the Sony Open. Na won for the fifth time in his PGA Tour career,...
Marshall hires Alabama, Penn State assistant Charles Huff as football coach
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Marshall has given Alabama’s Charles Huff his first head coaching job. Marshall announced Huff’s hiring Sunday. Huff spent the past two seasons as the Crimson Tide’s associate head coach and running backs coach and is widely known as a top recruiter. The 37-year-old Huff is Marshall’s first...
Chiefs overcome Patrick Mahomes injury, defeat Browns to reach AFC title gameVideo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs had lost Patrick Mahomes to a concussion and were in danger of losing the game. Then their defense and Chad Henne — their defense and Chad Henne?! — kept their hopes of a Super Bowl repeat alive, holding off the Cleveland Browns,...
Lionel Messi sees red, Athletic beats Barca in Spanish Super CupVideo
Lionel Messi lost his cool after another Barcelona collapse on Sunday, hitting an opponent away from the ball and being sent off for the first time while playing with the Catalan club in the team’s 3-2 loss to Athletic Bilbao in the final of the Spanish Super Cup. Iñaki Williams’...
Bills fans donate to charity after Ravens QB Lamar Jackson suffers injuryVideo
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson’s loss Saturday night was a win for charity. After the Buffalo Bills knocked the NFL’s reigning MVP out of their AFC divisional-round game late in the third quarter, Bills Mafia stepped up. A fan on the team’s Reddit page shared a link to one of Jackson’s...
