Breakfast With Benz category, Page 148
Pondering Evgeni Malkin’s injury, NHL playoffs without Penguins, Tristan Jarry as full-time starter
It didn’t last very long, did it? Mid-summer excitement about the return of Pittsburgh’s pro sports world was brief. And frankly, not that enjoyable. Hey, better to have it than not. But it hardly felt like the real thing. Especially based on how short of a run it was. The...
Unfiltered: Tim Benz and Mark Madden discuss Penguins moves, possible Josh Bell trade, Steelers training campVideo
Tim Benz and Mark Madden return for this week’s edition of “Unfiltered” on TribLive’s Facebook page and discuss the concert that was supposed to happen Sunday at PNC Park: Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Poison and Joan Jett. They would have been there, but now wonder whether any concerts will happen...
Tim Benz: Pittsburgh sports history shows how long a full Penguins rebuild may take
The Penguins have already successfully pulled off a mini-rebuild within their current era of championship success. What’s now being called the “core three” of the Penguins team — Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin — used to have a much broader membership. The perception was that “core” also used to...
First Call: Hall of Famer hopes his team signs Antonio Brown, former Penguins step up
Monday’s “First Call” features a Hall of Famer who is making a pitch to sign Antonio Brown. A few NFL.com lists aren’t very flattering of the Steelers. And a pair of former Penguins had some key contributions in NHL wins Sunday. A.B. in L.A. Isaac Bruce knows receivers. He was...
Madden Monday: ‘Wouldn’t shock me if they move Bryan Rust.’ And is freelancing Minkah Fitzpatrick a ‘diva’ move?
We might be short on sports right now, but Mark Madden isn’t short on opinions. In this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark and I get into great detail about the Penguins’ looming offseason. General manager Jim Rutherford and head coach Mike Sullivan both make it sound like roster adjustments are...
Former Pirate, WPIAL star Neil Walker dusts off skills in emergency MLB pitching debut
Neil Walker completed his WPIAL career at Pine-Richland High School as one of the best athletes in Western Pennsylvania history. He was a three-sport star with the Rams (football, baseball, basketball), playing multiple positions along the way. Walker emerged as one of the best baseball prospects in the country as...
First Call: ‘Pacman’ Jones now suspects Joey Porter in Steelers jersey shipment; big challenge for ‘Big Ben’ Roethlisberger
Friday’s “First Call” features developments on Adam “Pacman” Jones versus Steelers cornerback Joe Haden and a big challenge for “Big Ben” Roethlisberger. Montreal Canadiens coach Claude Julien has a health scare, and another MLB pitcher gets ejected from the stands for arguing balls and strikes. • • • Joe vs....
Tim Benz: Gov. Wolf’s latest high school sports quotes are even more absurd and dismissive than last week’s
Last week, Gov. Tom Wolf made an out-of-nowhere recommendation that scholastic sports be postponed until at least Jan. 1. The PIAA didn’t know that statement was coming. Wolf provided no context for how his office came to that decision. And he put forth no explanation for the logic behind the...
Tim Benz: For a guy who always talks about ‘moving forward,’ Mike Sullivan’s Penguins keep moving backward
A favorite crutch for Penguins coach Mike Sullivan is “moving forward.” He uses it as a transition. As punctuation. As a point of emphasis. All the time. Unfortunately, his team has spent the last three years moving backward. Badly. From Stanley Cup champion in 2017. To a second-round exit in...
‘First Call’: ‘Pacman’ Jones cusses out Steelers CB Joe Haden, burns a box of his jerseys
For Thursday’s “First Call,” TMZ has video of former Cincinnati Bengals annoyance Adam “Pacman” Jones burning a box full of Steelers jerseys. There are no more words necessary. And if we did use any more words as quotes from Pacman, they’d probably all have to be censored or edited out...
Robert Morris AD: Total shutdown of college sports? Not yet. But ‘there may be that discussion’
I’m getting to that point with college sports. That point when you think, “Shut it down until there is a coronavirus vaccine. Or a treatment. Or national infection rates are next to nothing.” I’m conflicted. Because I’m also at a point where I think, “Just play through it. We aren’t...
‘U mad, bro?’: Penguins fans shred Evgeni Malkin, Matt Murray; Steelers grumbling, too
You knew that venom would be spewed toward the Penguins in “U mad, bro?” this week. The team was dreadful in its four-game, qualifying-round elimination at the hands of the 24th-seeded Montreal Canadiens last week. Fans are ticked off. They should be. My only question was, “Which Penguins were going...
Tim Benz: Jim Rutherford is somehow both totally correct and completely wrong
I didn’t think anything could make me more frustrated than watching the fifth-seeded Penguins lose to the 24th-seeded Montreal Canadiens in the qualifying round of the 2020 NHL season. Until I listened to Jim Rutherford talk about it. On Tuesday, the Penguins general manager gave a frank assessment of how...
How Penn State’s Micah Parsons, Pitt’s Jaylen Twyman will do in the NFL Draft. And how they may help change it.
The chances of playing any semblance of a college football season in the fall are looking bleak. It’s unclear if the sport will try to function in the spring. And who knows if either option will be safe enough for the players. For those reasons, many top-tier NFL prospects have...
First Call: Suddenly strong Steelers secondary still has questions
The Pittsburgh Steelers secondary surprisingly blossomed into one of the best units in the NFL during 2019. That doesn’t mean it is without questions heading into 2020, though. For Wednesday’s “First Call,” we examine five that stand out. How do the Steelers make the most of Minkah? After being acquired...
First Call: Michael Keaton pans Pirates again, Cam Heyward warns AFC North QBsVideo
Tuesday’s “First Call” gives a frightening perspective to the Pittsburgh Pirates’ bad start. Michael Keaton takes another swipe at the franchise. And Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward is giving a little jab to the quarterbacks in his division. Tweet from Wayne Manor Pittsburgh native and award-winning actor Michael Keaton once...
Investigating ‘fixed’ NHL draft lottery theories. Frozen ball, hidden weight, magnets? Let’s believe ’em all!
The fix is in! The Penguins and the rest of the NHL got robbed! The NHL wanted Alexis Lafrenière to go to New York City the whole time! Those are the cries of foul play flying around the NHL after Monday’s draft lottery. The New York Rangers won it. And...
Tim Benz: David DeCastro understands O-line changes for 2020, braces for more in ’21
Amidst two years of non-playoff results, significant injury and roster tumult on the Pittsburgh Steelers offense, one thing has remained relatively steady. The offensive line. Change is coming in 2020, however. Alejandro Villanueva will remain as the left tackle. Center Maurkice Pouncey and right guard David DeCastro will look to...
Unfiltered: Tim Benz and Mark Madden discuss Penguins’ humiliating loss to Canadiens in the playoffsVideo
Tim Benz and Mark Madden return for this week’s edition of “Unfiltered” on TribLive’s Facebook page to the discuss the Penguins humiliating loss to the Montreal Canadiens to be bounced from the Stanley Cup playoffs. The guys have had a few days to contemplate the game, but they still feel...
First Call: Steelers facing 2021 cap trauma. Will Flyers win the Stanley Cup? MLB brawl.
Monday’s “First Call” profiles an ugly situation for the Steelers salary cap. We also get some fantasy football insight on JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Conner. Plus, we’ll show you a baseball brawl. The Flyers are in prime position to end a 45-year Stanley Cup drought. And questions remain about Marc-Andre...
Mark Madden on Penguins elimination: ‘Worst, most embarrassing loss for anyone in NHL playoff history’
You can probably guess the main focus of this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast: What happened to the Pittsburgh Penguins and where do they go from here? The “what happened” part is all encompassing when it comes to the Pens’ four-game series loss to the Montreal Canadiens last week. It was...
Tim Benz: Want a rebuild for impotent Penguins? Let’s examine what that really means.
Blow it up! Tear it down! Total reboot! We hear those reactions from Penguins fans after almost every season-ending playoff exit. Those calls for drastic change are often hyperbolic emotion. Prisoner-of-the-moment stuff. Presently, though, demands from fans and media to reconstruct the team resonate more logically after the club’s putrid...
First Call: Pitt, Notre Dame ACC odds, Big Ten coaches exchange barbs, Gerrit Cole vs. Tyler Glasnow
Friday’s “First Call” gives us gambling odds for Pitt football in the ACC. And for Notre Dame, too. We also try to scout the Pittsburgh Pirates’ next opponent. A pair of former Pirates pitchers square off this weekend. And an epic Big Ten rivalry just got more salty. Irish odds...
To stay alive, Penguins must offset Canadiens’ blue line contribution
Whatever you pick, you aren’t wrong. Just about any complaint you want to raise about the Pittsburgh Penguins in their preliminary-round series against the Montreal Canadiens, you are right. • They aren’t scoring enough. • They are getting out-worked. • They are getting out-coached. • Montreal’s goalie has been better....
Fantasy Sports: Which Pirates player may heat up? Early NHL, NBA trends. Warnings about Rob Gronkowski?
Fantasy sports aren’t all about regular-season baseball and football. Jeff Erickson and I start this week’s fantasy sports podcast talking about results in the two “bubble sports,” as the NBA and NHL are underway in Orlando, Toronto, and Edmonton. In the hockey playoffs, Evgeni Malkin is off to a slow...
