Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 113
Heinz Field closed to Steelers, Pitt fans through September
If there are football games at Heinz Field next month, the seats will be empty. The worst fears of Pittsburgh Steelers and Pitt football fans became harsh reality Thursday when season-ticket holders were informed fans will not be permitted inside the stadium throughout September. The ban will include the first...
‘Destructive’ Devin Danielson hopes to replace Jaylen Twyman on Pitt’s defensive line
Bill Cherpak remembers Devin Danielson as such a nuisance he had to kick him off the field at practice. “He was so destructive,” Thomas Jefferson’s 25-year coach said of Pitt’s sophomore defensive tackle. “We really couldn’t practice if he was going full speed on defense because the offense would never...
Unranked and rankled, Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi demands explanationVideo
Pat Narduzzi usually doesn’t listen to outside noise. He likes to duck into a foxhole with his players, ignore the rest of the world — especially when people express opinions about his team — and focus on preparing for the season. It’s a strategy coaches and managers in all sports...
Pitt schedules FCS member Austin Peay to start the season Sept. 12
Pitt finalized its reconfigured 2020 schedule Tuesday when director of athletics Heather Lyke announced the Panthers will open the season Sept. 12 at Heinz Field against Austin Peay, an FCS school located in Clarksville, Tenn. Austin Peay will replace Miami (Ohio) of the Mid-American Conference on Pitt’s schedule. The MAC...
Pitt senior cornerback Damarri Mathis will miss season with nonfootball related injury
Pitt received more bad news Tuesday when it was revealed senior cornerback Damarri Mathis will miss this season with a nonfootball related injury. Mathis is the second key contributor Pitt announced will miss this season since camp started. Preseason All-American defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman opted out to prepare for the...
Antonio Brown, Pitt freshman Jordan Addison: Pat Narduzzi sees a resemblance
Through the first 19 days of Pitt training camp, freshman wide receiver Jordan Addison has caught the attention of coach Pat Narduzzi. When Narduzzi was asked Tuesday to compare Addison to other pass catchers he’s come across over the years, Narduzzi made an interesting choice. “I’m pretty bad at that....
After opt-outs, Pitt’s Jaylen Twyman, PSU’s Micah Parsons still named preseason All-American
Jaylen Twyman continues to make news — even after opting out of the 2020 season. Twyman, who would have been a junior defensive tackle at Pitt this season, was named Tuesday to the Associated Press’ preseason All-America first team. Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons joins Twyman as two of 11...
‘Burgh’s Best to Wear It, No. 6: Controversial Tony Pena trade helped Pirates win division championships
The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number. No. 6: Tony Pena Few players are good enough to contribute to a team by walking out the door, but Tony Pena found a way....
Pirates claim pitcher Carson Fulmer from Tigers
The Pittsburgh Pirates’ quest for pitching resumed Monday when they claimed right-hander Carson Fulmer off waivers from the Detroit Tigers. To make room for Fulmer on the 40-man roster, outfielder Guillermo Heredia was designated for assignment. Heredia was the Pirates’ starting right fielder in the season opener, but he appeared...
Pirates hope momentum from win streak carries onto the road
Ben Cherington believes his team is ready to play 15 games in the next 13 days. But the Pittsburgh Pirates general manager knows it is a grueling stretch, especially for a team that loses another player to injury nearly every day. One day, it’s Phillip Evans’ broken jaw. Then, Joe...
Gregory Polanco’s home run in 8th inning leads Pirates to sweep of Brewers
Gregory Polanco never said he planned to hit the winning home run Sunday. All he did was turn to teammate Jose Osuna and say, “Watch, I’m about to hit this ball really hard.” He simply carried through with that promise. The fact the ball sailed over the wall in right...
Pirates hope Nick Tropeano can help in long relief, possibly in rotation
The Pittsburgh Pirates hope the addition of right-handed pitcher Nick Tropeano on Sunday can pay dividends in long relief or in the starting rotation. Tropeano had been in the Pirates’ alternate training site in Altoona before he was called up Sunday before the game with the Milwaukee Brewers. The Pirates...
‘Burgh’s Best to Wear It, No. 8: Before he hit all those home runs, Willie Stargell stared down bigotry
In his major league debut, Willie Stargell was upstaged by a 5-foot-8 catcher, but Stargell went on to seize the spotlight for the next 20 years. Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an 18-year-old amateur free agent in 1958 for a reported bonus of $1,500, Stargell bounced from Roswell, N.M.,...
Grad transfer Lucas Krull hopes to make tight end a bright spot for Pitt
When winter turned to spring on Pitt’s campus, Lucas Krull looked around and said, “Where’s the sun?” What would you expect? He spent the past two years at the University of Florida. “I’m not going to lie. I hated the weather,” Pitt’s tight end admitted of his first impression of...
With ‘crazy season’ looming, Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi eager to talk football
The first question posed to Pat Narduzzi during his 30-minute Zoom call with reporters Friday had nothing to do with covid-19, masks or the tricky task of starting and finishing a season this year. It was the first of many about players blocking and tackling, running and throwing and how...
Pat Narduzzi ‘not blowing smoke’ when he predicts Pitt will play Sept. 12
Pat Narduzzi didn’t say when and he didn’t say who, but he left no doubt what he said to a player who made the mistake of uttering these words at practice: “Yeah, that’s if we play, coach.” In Narduzzi’s mind, there are no “ifs” about starting Pitt’s season Sept. 12...
Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi said giving athletes a free year of eligibility makes sense
Pitt football coach Pat Narduzzi said Friday giving fall athletes a free year of eligibility is “a no-brainer,” considering the questions hanging over college athletics. The NCAA Division I board of directors voted Friday to approve a proposal to ensure that all athletes, whether they play in the fall or...
Change doesn’t alter Pitt defense’s quest to be the best
The talk around the Pitt football team is the defense Pat Narduzzi has built could be his best in six seasons as coach of the Panthers. That’s a heavy load of expectations to carry around and probably too optimistic of a statement now that All-ACC defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman has...
West Virginia won’t allow fans at opener Sept. 12
West Virginia will play its first game of the season in a nearly empty Milan Puskar Stadium, although families of players and staff, plus operations personnel, will be permitted inside. The Mountaineers are scheduled to open the season Sept. 12 against nonconference opponent Eastern Kentucky. WVU’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics...
‘Burgh’s Best to Wear it, No. 11: Pirates’ Paul Waner collected 3,152 hits, turned down 3,000thVideo
Paul Waner could hit a baseball better than most men who came before or after him. The Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder also possessed something else in a large quantity that many could not match: pride. Waner, who grew up in Harrah, Okla., and played for the Pirates from 1926-1940, led...
West Virginia players police each other in time of covid-19
West Virginia coach Neal Brown has some help while preparing his team for the upcoming season. Brown said Wednesday some of the veterans are keeping an eye on the younger players, making sure everyone is following the covid-19 protocols and restrictions. “You’re asking them to make mature decisions, and a...
Penn State’s James Franklin says frustration, questions build in wake of Big Ten postponementVideo
For James Franklin, the frustration of losing the fall football season might never disappear. The looks on his Penn State players’ faces — he described them as “confused” — the day he delivered the bad news may remain seared in his mind for as long as he is coaching. He...
Pitt freshman basketball player Femi Odukale breaks arm in scooter accident
Pitt incoming freshman guard Femi Odukale broke his arm and suffered other injuries recently when his scooter collided with a car, a Pitt Athletics spokesman said. The injuries are not life-threatening, and Odukale’s arm was repaired surgically. Odukale will miss practice time, but he may be available before the end...
Alex Kramer, who served 5 Pitt football coaches, dies at age 91
Alex Kramer, whose love of Pitt football stretched from the coaching regimes of Jock Sutherland to Pat Narduzzi, died Tuesday. He was 91. Alex Kramer, a highly trusted and beloved Pitt Football administrator who served five different Panthers head coaches, has passed away at the age of 91. pic.twitter.com/SRmbepbZ9C— Pitt...
Analysis: Finally some football questions for Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi
Pat Narduzzi grew up the son of a coach, waiting eagerly at the kitchen table in his Youngstown, Ohio, home to hear about his dad’s day. “I was the guy … in his back pocket all day,” Narduzzi once said. Talking football is one of Narduzzi’s great skills, and he...
