Sports category, Page 2078
Giants make Alyssa Nakken first female major league coachVideo
SAN FRANCISCO — Alyssa Nakken became the first female coach on a major league staff in baseball history Thursday when she was named an assistant under new Giants manager Gabe Kapler. Major League Baseball confirmed Nakken is the first woman coach in the majors. Nakken is a former softball standout...
Stolen away: Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher recalls 1951 sign-stealing scamVideo
NEW YORK — Stealing signals. Banging on a trash can. Beating the Dodgers in October. Sounds very familiar to Carl Erskine. “If they’re going to go back to 2017 with penalties for the Astros,” he said Wednesday, “then I want them to go all the way back to 1951 to...
WVU to retire Rod Thorn’s No. 44
West Virginia great Rod Thorn, who played from 1961-63, will have his No. 44 retired at halftime of the Feb. 29 game against Oklahoma, athletic director Shane Lyons announced Thursday. Thorn is the last WVU player to wear the number. Jerry West also wore No. 44, and it was retired...
Prolific pass-catcher Kittle takes more pride in blocking for 49ers RBsVideo
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — No tight end in NFL history has been as productive catching the ball over the first three years of a career as George Kittle. A player that skilled as a receiver might be expected to ask — or even demand — for the ball to come...
Pitt guard Trey McGowens’ improved play may be tied to something you can’t seeVideo
Trey McGowens said he worked “harder than ever” getting ready for his sophomore season at Pitt. He also watches video with a more experienced eye, looking for an edge that might mean the difference between winning and losing — some things he might have missed last season as a freshman....
McCauley, Corley, Dumm headline Mon Valley Hall of Fame class
Yough graduate Ben McCauley is one of six inductees in the the 2020 Mon Valley Sports Hall of Fame class. The class will be inducted at the 27th annual banquet June 19 at St. Spyridon Hellenic Center in Monessen. The banquet begins at 5:30 p.m. Others inducted are Mon Valley...
Kevin Gorman: Why Bill Cowher calls this Mike Tomlin’s best coaching job for the Steelers
As Bill Cowher reminisced about winning Super Bowl XL, he recalled how he was corrected after calling his Pittsburgh Steelers underdogs before playing the Seattle Seahawks. “Someone said, ‘I think you guys are favored,’ ” Cowher said of the four-point odds. “I said, ‘Nope, we’re underdogs. I’m not going to...
Penguins to start Tristan Jarry against Boston BruinsVideo
BOSTON — The Pittsburgh Penguins are expected start goaltender Tristan Jarry for Thursday’s game against the Boston Bruins in TD Garden according to coach Mike Sullivan. In 23 games this season, Jarry has a 16-6-1 record with a 2.12 goals against average, a .930 save percentage and three shutouts. Jarry...
Derek Culver, Oscar Tshiebwe help No. 12 WVU’s half-court defense thrive
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — No. 12 West Virginia’s opponents don’t have to dribble the ball past midcourt to the point of exhaustion anymore. But it comes at a cost. In abandoning a suffocating full-court pressure defense from past seasons, the Mountaineers have doubled down on an even-greater priority: keeping teams out...
Former starting QB Mariota still finding ways to help TitansVideo
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Titans benched Marcus Mariota for Ryan Tannehill in mid-October after a 2-4 start. Finding the No. 2 overall pick from the 2015 draft isn’t that hard during their amazing playoff run. Just keep an eye on the field. The Titans (11-7) have gotten Mariota into...
Warrant issued for Odell Beckham Jr. after allegedly slapping officer’s backsideVideo
Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. did not endear himself to New Orleans police Monday night when he apparently slapped a Superdome security officer on the backside in the LSU football team’s locker room after the Tigers defeated Clemson for the national championship. On Thursday morning, New Orleans police obtained...
Art Rooney II willing to raise hand for Steelers to play game in Mexico City
If the Pittsburgh Steelers have a chance to travel south of the border in the 2020 season, team president Art Rooney II is all for making the trip. “We continue to raise our hand and say that we’re interested in playing a game in Mexico,” Rooney told reporters earlier this...
OF Guillermo Heredia might be welcome addition to Pirates
In a three-day span at the MLB winter meetings last month, teams spent a combined $814 million on three free agents: Gerrit Cole, Anthony Rendon and Stephen Strasburg. The Pittsburgh Pirates’ largest expenditure on the free-agent market so far this offseason is the $1 million, one-year they gave outfielder Guillermo...
Agent Drew Rosenhaus reportedly severs ties with Antonio Brown until he ‘gets help’
Antonio Brown can’t find a way back into the NFL. Now, he’s lost the official representation in his quest to do so. Super-agent Drew Rosenhaus severed ties with the troubled former Pittsburgh Steelers star, according to an ESPN report. According to a message posted to the verified Twitter account of...
Carlos Beltrán out as Mets manager in wake of sign-stealing scandal
NEW YORK — Carlos Beltran is out as manager of the New York Mets before a single game, the latest fallout from the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal that has rocked MLB. The Mets announced the decision Thursday in a news release, saying Beltran and the team “agreed to mutually part...
For about 36 hours, Donnie Shell had to keep mum about Hall of Fame selection
Cracking a running back in the ribs, like he famously did to Earl Campbell in 1978, that was Donnie Shell’s forte. So was intercepting passes. Shell did that 51 times in a 14-year career with the Pittsburgh Steelers — more than anyone before or since in the NFL at the...
Demi Lovato to sing national anthem at Super Bowl
NEW YORK — Grammy-nominated pop singer Demi Lovato will perform the national anthem at the Super Bowl. NFL and Fox on Thursday announced the performance, which will take place ahead of the big game on Feb. 2 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Jennifer Lopez and Shakira will headline the...
Penguins find success with John Marino-Marcus Pettersson duoVideo
His first visit to Boston as an NHL player was unique. On Nov. 4, Penguins rookie defenseman John Marino played his first game in front of several family members and friends from North Easton, Mass. who trekked north to TD Garden and saw their son/brother/cousin/guy they played with in sixth...
Minor league report: Penguins fall to Stars, 5-2
Forwards Adam Johnson and Kevin Roy each had a goal and an assist for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 5-2 road loss to the Texas Stars at H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, Texas on Wednesday. Goaltender Casey DeSmith made 32 saves for the Penguins (18-16-3-3) who have lost six of...
Restoring bobwhite quail proving difficult, but hope remainsVideo
Progress is being made, and a recent change in policy offers hope for more. But this is going to take more time that perhaps thought. Wildlife managers kicked off an effort to restore bobwhite quail populations nationwide 25 years ago. The National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative, a strategic plan for meeting...
Taking a look at the underappreciated gray foxVideo
There’s no need to do an internet search. It’s safe to assume the runner-up in the most recent Miss Universe pageant is an attractive woman. It’s also a pretty good guess relatively few know her name or ever will. Such is the price of finishing second. That’s the plight of...
Maintaining those zippers, dark skies and more outdoor newsVideo
Take a quick look around the outdoors world with a tip, a fishing lure and more: Tip of the week This is the age of self-driving cars and voice-activated home assistants. So the zipper might not seem like much of a marvel, at least not compared to when it debuted...
Duquesne learns lesson beyond basketball in victory against FordhamVideo
Word reached the Duquesne campus late Tuesday afternoon that freshman basketball player Maceo Austin’s older sister had died. Shock and grief spread throughout the team as the next day’s game against Fordham almost didn’t matter anymore. Coach Keith Dambrot was prepared to play without Austin, who had started all 16...
‘Transformed’ Monica Burns has happy homecoming with Cal women’s basketballVideo
The transformation began last summer. Monica Burns, all but finished with college basketball after two eye-catching years at Wheeling Jesuit, came to Cal (Pa.) to get a master’s degree in cybersecurity. She had a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. It seemed almost criminal a player of her caliber was wasting...
Cardinals WR, former Pitt star Larry Fitzgerald returning for 2020Video
TEMPE, Arizona — Larry Fitzgerald didn’t keep the Arizona Cardinals waiting for long. One of the most productive wide receivers in NFL history isn’t done yet, returning for his 17th season with the franchise that drafted him in 2004. After some speculation that the popular 36-year-old Fitzgerald might finally retire,...
