Sports category, Page 2408
Deadline nearing to bid on Steelers game-worn memorabilia
Time is running out for Pittsburgh Steelers memorabilia collectors to bid on game-worn jerseys sported by some of their favorite players. A spring collection of memorabilia at lelands.com that features 30 Steelers-related items has a Friday deadline at 10 p.m. for collectors to submit bids. The auction began May 7....
ACC Network expected to increase exposure, revenue for its members including Pitt
Heather Lyke likes the exposure the ACC Network will give Pitt athletics when it launches Aug. 22. “It’s a national network,” Pitt’s athletic director said Wednesday while meeting with a small group of reporters. “So your brand goes across the country. It gives us the chance to tell the stories...
Tyler Gaffalione becomes horse racing’s rising star jockey
Tyler Gaffalione seems poised to add his name to the list of all-time great jockeys in horse racing that includes Ron Turcotte, Jerry Bailey, Gary Stevens, John Velazquez and Mike Smith. While there may not be a specific moment when people in horse racing realized those jockeys would become all-time...
Injured Pirates starter Trevor Williams moves closer to return to rotation
The beleaguered Pittsburgh Pirates starting rotation finally got some good news Wednesday. Trevor Williams was scheduled to throw a bullpen session consisting of about two innings’ worth of pitches before the Pirates faced the Atlanta Braves. If all goes according to plan, he will pitch a simulated game this weekend...
Pressure on Bruins to respond in Game 5 of Stanley Cup vs. Blues
The Stanley Cup Final so far has been a case of acting and reacting, thrusting and parrying, moving and countering. What the Bruins did in Game 1, the Blues took away from them in Game 2. The Bruins solved that issue in Game 3, and the Blues did the same...
Pirates announcer Steve Blass criticized for comments about Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr.
Broadcaster Steve Blass came under fire Wednesday for on-air comments he made during Tuesday night’s game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves. In the fourth inning, Pirates pitcher Steven Brault hit Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. in the elbow with a 2-2 pitch. Blass made note of Acuna’s animated...
Kevin Gorman: It’s time Steelers made coaching secondary a priority
The Pittsburgh Steelers addressed many positions of need through free agency and the NFL Draft, whether it was signing Mark Barron, Donte Moncrief and Steven Nelson or selecting Devin Bush, Diontae Johnson and Justin Layne. One of the most important offseason acquisitions was hiring Teryl Austin as secondary coach, adding...
Cincinnati Reds draft Quaker Valley grad Tyler Garbee
The Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday selected Quaker Valley graduate and Mercyhurst University senior right-hander Tyler Garbee in the 19th round of the Major League Baseball draft. Through 17 appearances and 11 starts this season, Garbee owns a 3.08 earned-run average with 109 strikeouts in 73 innings of work. Garbee struck...
Norwin grad Connor Perry among 3 Pitt players drafted
The Pitt baseball program was well-represented on the third and final day of the MLB First-Year Player Draft on Wednesday. Center fielder Connor Perry, a Norwin graduate, was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 28th round (No. 832). Perry led the Panthers with 15 home runs this season while...
‘Mack’ linebacker Ulysees Gilbert focusing on the details as rookie at first Steelers OTAs
Pittsburgh Steelers sixth-round draft pick Ulysees Gilbert has been taking reps at “Mack” inside linebacker during organized team activities the past three weeks, the rookie said Thursday from the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. “It’s kind of what I did in college, weak-side ‘backer,” Gilbert said. “(But) inside linebacker is inside...
B.J. Finney serving as high-priced insurance policy for Steelers
David DeCastro’s absence from organized team activities has provided B.J. Finney prolonged first-team work at right guard. When DeCastro returns — presumable next week at mandatory minicamp — Finney will go back to his customary spot with the second string. And that’s just fine with the fourth-year interior offensive lineman....
After season with so few turnovers, Steelers piling up interceptions at OTAs
A route jumped along the sideline for an interception, prompting a sideline full of gold-jerseyed defensive players to jump up, whoop and cheer. Two practice-rep snaps later, a defender made a play on a ball, deflecting it up in the air, where Mike Hilton sprinted and dove to cradle it...
After Pro Bowl season in Year 2, Steelers’ T.J. Watt finds new means of motivation
It was, on the surface, an early-practice position drill as part of the eighth of nine voluntary organized team activity sessions in early June. But T.J. Watt forced himself to perform with a fire as if it was the fourth quarter of a December game against New England. “We are...
First Call: Browns drama starts to emerge; bunt breaks up no-hitter
In “First Call” Wednesday, the Browns are dealing with some drama of their own. Arizona is still mad about Super Bowl XLIII. And a team broke up a no-hitter with a bunt. Browns drama The Steelers have had their share of drama in recent years while attempting to win the...
Tim Benz: Le’Veon Bell’s praise for Jets QB Sam Darnold a little much
So how was Le’Veon Bell’s first day at his new school? The former Steelers running back went through his first minicamp practice with the Jets on Tuesday. Bell says he can already tell that he is going to be more of a leader in New York than he was in...
High school coach dismisses arm worries for Pirates 1st-rounder Quinn Priester
The Pirates selected Quinn Priester in the first round of the MLB Draft on Monday. In this podcast, I interviewed his coach, Ryan Passaglia. Passaglia coached Priester at Cary-Grove High School in Illinois and has been working with the right-hander since he was in middle school. Priester has committed to...
Pirates draft Troy Polamalu’s cousin in 7th round
We haven’t seen Troy Polamalu at Heinz Field in quite some time. But maybe he’ll be at PNC Park soon. To watch his cousin. The Steelers legend has a second cousin named Blake Sabol, who’s a standout baseball player at Southern Cal. And he just got drafted by the Pirates....
Podcast part 3: Mike Ditka talks coaching 1980s Chicago Bears
The 1985 Chicago Bears offense couldn’t help but be good, having practiced daily against one of the NFL’s all-time great defenses, Mike Ditka said. “If we didn’t defense ourselves, we were going to get killed,” Ditka told Gus Frerotte in the third part of this week’s “Huddle Up with Gus”...
Aaron Rodgers, Packers looking to find options in passing gameVideo
GREEN BAY, Wis. — For most of his career, Aaron Rodgers has had plenty of good options at receiver. However, after going from Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, James Jones and Jordy Nelson at the start of his tenure as the Green Bay Packers’ starting quarterback to Nelson, Randall Cobb and...
Errors, shaky pitching lead to Pirates’ blowout loss vs. Braves
An optimist might say that three Pittsburgh Pirates errors that led to three unearned runs Tuesday night created an insignificant wrinkle that easily can be ironed out. A pessimist – and their numbers are growing – will note that the Pirates’ 12-5 loss to the Atlanta Braves before a crowd...
Raiders look to change story on defense after 2018 strugglesVideo
ALAMEDA, Calif. — The story line around the Oakland Raiders last season was a consistent and frustrating one. After trading away star pass-rusher Khalil Mack following a contract holdout, the Raiders never were able to fill that void on defense and were the worst in the league when it came...
Pirates minor league report: June 4, 2019
Pirates INDIANAPOLIS (Triple-A, 32-23) lost 7-6 to Louisville (Reds). The Indians fell behind 5-0 after two innings and trailed 7-2 after five before scoring four runs in the seventh, falling a run short of the tie. SS Jung-Ho Kang (.476) went 4 for 5 with two doubles and three RBIs....
Sons of former MLB players highlight Day 2 of draft
NEW YORK — Grant McCray will get a chance to leave his mark on professional baseball, but he’ll have a tough time making one as dramatic as his famous father. The Florida high school outfielder, drafted in the third round by San Francisco on Tuesday, is the son of former...
MLB’s Rob Manfred doesn’t expect protective nets to change in season
SEATTLE — MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he does not expect teams to make changes to the protective netting around ballparks during the season, although he expects conversations to continue about whether netting should be extended. Manfred’s comments Tuesday came less than a week after a young child was struck...
NHL announcer, Pirates superfan Doc Emrick not slowing down
BOSTON — The Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues’ morning skates are over, and Mike Emrick stops to take a picture with some folks who ask for one. A handful of broadcasters have taken the ice to re-enact a play from this bruising Stanley Cup Final. In the otherwise-empty stands...
