Sports category, Page 611
Mark Madden: Something seems sketchy with Shohei Ohtani, but does MLB want to know?
As MLB and the NBA face calamitous gambling scandals, one wonders how ESPN covers them without casting a bad light on ESPNBet, the company’s online sportsbook. Networks and leagues are sponsored so heavily by bookies. It’s everywhere. (My radio program, too.) Gambling and sports are directly and massively intertwined now,...
Be like Caitlin: Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is inspiring a younger generation of players
CHANDLER, Ariz. — Caitlin Clark makes pulling up from the midcourt logo look easy, routinely hitting shots most players would consider a heave. The Iowa star’s deep range has expanded the scope of possibilities for up-and-coming women’s basketball players, much the way NBA star Stephen Curry changed the men’s game...
Kentucky AD: John Calipari will return as coach, despite calls for his firing after early NCAA exit
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart confirmed on social media that John Calipari will return as men’s basketball coach despite calls for his firing following the Wildcats’ third consecutive early exit from the NCAA Tournament. Barnhart posted Tuesday night on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he and...
MLB’s new managers adjusting to jobs as Opening Day approaches
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Joe Espada has worked for an impressive group of managers. Espada was an assistant for three managers who have won a World Series in Joe Girardi, A.J. Hinch and Dusty Baker before becoming a skipper for the first time after the Houston Astros hired him...
Jake Guentzel discusses potential of re-signing in Pittsburgh
Carolina Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal could relate to what his new teammate was going through Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena. He has stood in Jake Guentzel’s skates before. Coming back to play in Pittsburgh while wearing a Hurricanes jersey after having won a Stanley Cup as a Penguin. The...
Tim Benz: Credit where credit’s due. Steelers at least trying to act with the urgency they promised
After the Pittsburgh Steelers concluded their 2023 season — the seventh year in a row without a playoff win — owner Art Rooney II stated that the team was operating with a sense of urgency this offseason in an effort to end that drought. “I think there’s an urgency,” Rooney...
First Call: Bears GM praises Justin Fields; cornerback some Steelers fans wanted is going elsewhere; Jeff Capel still sore over snub
Wednesday’s “First Call” has some encouraging comments from the NFC North about new Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields. A cornerback some Steelers fans wanted to see come to Pittsburgh is heading to Los Angeles instead. There was a surprising vote against the NFL’s new kickoff rule. And Pitt’s Jeff Capel...
300 game: Pirates star Andrew McCutchen starts season sitting 1 home run shy of milestone
After a season of meeting milestones — his 2,000th hit, 1,000th walk and 400th double — Andrew McCutchen came up one short of joining the 300-home run club last year. The Pittsburgh Pirates designated hitter, a five-time All Star, four-time Silver Slugger and 2013 NL MVP, is sitting at 299...
Previewing the Pirates: Mitch Keller tops starting rotation that awaits Paul Skenes’ arrival
For as much as Derek Shelton loves to play coy about his Opening Day lineup, the Pittsburgh Pirates were only a week into spring training when the manager revealed Mitch Keller would be the starting pitcher. Of course, that news was revealed on the heels of Keller agreeing to a...
Jake Guentzel addresses departure from Penguins: ‘My intention was to stay’Video
There was one obvious reason that 17,913 fans piled into PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday night as the Carolina Hurricanes visited the struggling Pittsburgh Penguins. That was to see former winger Jake Guentzel make his inaugural visit to Pittsburgh in an opponent’s sweater after the Penguins traded him to Carolina....
Next on the Tee: Former pros Bill Mallon, Scott Gump talk about amateur, Tour competition
On this episode of Next on the Tee, host Chris Mascaro is joined by former PGA Tour pros Bill Mallon and Scott Gump. Mallon played on Tour in the mid to late 1970s during the Golden Age of the PGA Tour. After winning 43 amateur titles he earned his way...
Penguins snap skid with impressive win over Jake Guentzel and the Hurricanes
Michael Bunting is barely more than two weeks into his tenure with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and he has helped his new employer in a handful of ways through a few hard-working, dirty goals and a dutiful, energetic approach to his vocation. And for one night at least, he offered to...
Dutcher’s Aztecs face UConn in the Sweet 16 in a rematch of their painful national title game lossVideo
SAN DIEGO — The UConn Huskies pretty much wrecked every team they faced in the NCAA Tournament on the way to last year’s championship, and the first two games this March Madness look awfully familiar. Up next is a wrinkle: A rematch with a San Diego State team that was...
Past, present, future collide for Penguins in Jake Guentzel’s return to PittsburghVideo
Tuesday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes featured an interesting intersection of the past, present and future for the Pittsburgh Penguins as beloved winger Jake Guentzel made his return to PPG Paints Arena for the first time since being traded to the Hurricanes. Guentzel, a Stanley Cup champion in 2017, represents...
Penguins recall forward Jonathan Gruden from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
The Pittsburgh Penguins recalled forward Jonathan Gruden from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League Tuesday night, shortly before facing the Carolina Hurricanes at PPG Paints Arena. Gruden, 23, has frequently shuttled between the NHL and AHL this season. In total, he has been recalled to the NHL roster seven times....
Caitlin Clark, Iowa claim another record with most-viewed first-round game in women’s NCAA tourney history
BRISTOL, Conn. — Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes can claim another record — the most-viewed first-round game in women’s NCAA Tournament history. The Hawkeyes’ 91-65 win over Holy Cross on Saturday averaged 3.23 million viewers on ABC, according to Nielsen. The viewership surpassed the 2.50 million who watched last...
WPIAL standouts Braylan Lovelace, Cruce Brookins hope to increase their impact on Pitt’s defense
With so much change occurring in all corners of Pitt’s practice facility — on the Beano Cook fields, in the locker and weight rooms, inside the coaches’ offices and certainly in the offensive playbook — Pat Narduzzi occasionally uses the words “work in progress” to describe certain elements of his...
Pitt notebook: Rain or cold, Pat Narduzzi exposes his team to the elements
Tuesday morning was cold and rainy, but Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi didn’t care. Pitt practiced outside, rather than work in the indoor facility. “Beautiful day out there,” he said after Pitt’s eighth practice of the spring. “You don’t often get that nice, cold rain. Kind of went (outside) on purpose.”...
Steelers agree to contract with former Falcons return specialist Cordarrelle Patterson
ORLANDO, Fla. — On a day when the NFL adopted a radical new kickoff rule aimed at boosting the number of returns, the Pittsburgh Steelers acquired one of the best returners in the business. The Steelers agreed to terms with Cordarrelle Patterson, formerly of the Atlanta Falcons, on a two-year...
Steelers have change of heart on kickoff rule, vote in favor of radical conceptVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — Initially opposed to the NFL’s new hybrid kickoff rule, Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II was swayed by popular opinion Tuesday at the league’s annual meetings. The Steelers were one of 29 teams that approved the rule change that was adopted at the NFL annual meeting. Three...
Art Rooney II sees Steelers on path to getting better ‘as quickly as possible’
ORLANDO, Fla. — Art Rooney II didn’t openly tell Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan to change the way he constructs the team’s roster. Judging by the way Khan has conducted business in his second season on the job, it just looks that way. For an organization that generally is...
Jake Guentzel’s bonds with the Penguins remain strongVideo
Once upon a time, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust were the future. Each was drafted in the third round by the Pittsburgh Penguins during the early 2010s — Rust was No. 80 overall in 2010, and Guentzel went No. 77 in 2013 — and first met at an offseason development...
Injury to Le’Veon Bell in 2015 contributed to Steelers voting to eliminate hip-drop tackle
ORLANDO, Fla. — Nine years after the fact, the sight of Le’Veon Bell writhing in pain on the sideline is one Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II hasn’t forgotten. The Steelers lost Bell, their star running back, to a season-ending injury after he was tackled awkwardly by Cincinnati Bengals linebacker...
Penguins’ Noel Acciari out week-to-week with injury; Alex Nedeljkovic to start vs. Carolina
Noel Acciari’s season is likely over. After leaving Sunday’s contest against the Colorado Avalanche with a lower-body injury, the 32-year-old winger in his first year with the Pittsburgh Penguins was placed on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) Tuesday morning in advance of his club’s home game vs. the Carolina Hurricanes. Per...
Penguins recall forward Sam Poulin from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
The Pittsburgh Penguins summoned one of the organization’s top prospects Tuesday when forward Sam Poulin was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL). In a corresponding transaction, forward Noel Acciari was placed on long-term injured reserve. A first-round pick (No. 21 overall) in the 2019 NHL Draft, Poulin...
