Sports category, Page 1162
Pitt Take 5: Virginia Tech game no must-win, but the Panthers better win, anyway
By definition, Pitt’s game Saturday against Virginia Tech does not represent a must-win. Pitt (3-2, 0-1 ACC) can lose to the Hokies and still rally to win the ACC Coastal. Remember: Pitt lost two within the conference and still went to the championship game in 2018. But a loss to...
Friday Football Footnotes: Von Miller dismisses Kenny Pickett’s ‘underdog’ quote; Bart Scott pans Steelers drafting Pickett
In this week’s edition of “Friday Football Footnotes,” a member of the Buffalo Bills takes exception to something said by Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett. A former rival of the Steelers pans the franchise’s decision to draft Pickett instead of addressing the offensive line. Plus, Le’Veon Bell isn’t done with boxing,...
Colts grind out 12-9 win over Broncos in injury-filled gameVideo
DENVER — Stephon Gilmore batted away Russell Wilson’s pass to Courtland Sutton in the end zone on fourth-and-1 from the 5 to give the Indianapolis Colts a 12-9 overtime victory over the Denver Broncos on Thursday night. Gilmore also intercepted Wilson’s pass in the fourth quarter to help set up...
Coaching carousel leaves 10 NHL teams with new face on bench
The coaching carousel spun a little faster than usual across the NHL, meaning nearly a third of the league will have someone new behind the bench this season. And not just bottom-feeders making changes. Ten teams go into the season next month with a new coach, from Presidents’ Trophy-winning Florida...
After being swept last season, Ravens face Bengals again
If there was a single moment when the Cincinnati Bengals announced their arrival as contenders last year, it may have been in Week 7 at Baltimore, when Ja’Marr Chase caught a short pass in front of Marlon Humphrey, spun past Chuck Clark and was gone for an 82-yard touchdown. “We...
College football at 49? North Dakota lineman and Trinity grad Ray Ruschel finding wayVideo
WAHPETON, N.D. — When North Dakota State College of Science suffered a heartbreaking loss in early September — foiled at the goal line as time expired in a jolt to their national championship ambitions — it was a backup defensive lineman who stepped forward with a pep talk to lift...
Is Izzy ready to return? Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi hints running back Abanikanda may be getting better
All Pat Narduzzi needed was a remote microphone, and his final words Thursday at his weekly media briefing would have qualified as a classic mic drop. While he rose from the long, wooden table in a room where many of the Pitt coaching staff’s most important meetings are held, he...
Kenny Pickett quickly shows more tendency to run than Steelers QB predecessors
It’s a small sample size, to be sure. But newly minted Pittsburgh Steelers No. 1 quarterback Kenny Pickett quickly showed he is more likely to run, and the Steelers’ offensive braintrust also showed it is more likely to ask Pickett to run than it did Pickett’s predecessors. In one half...
Matt Canada will ‘tweak’ Steelers offense with Kenny Pickett, but no major changes
Seemingly everybody associated with the Pittsburgh Steelers wants to know if the change in quarterback will mean a change in offensive scheme for Kenny Pickett’s first start. The man who’d be in charge of such a shift said there’s no reason to wait for Sunday’s game at the Buffalo Bills...
Steelers searching for right mix of healthy defensive players to face Josh Allen, Bills
Teryl Austin doesn’t know which players he will have at his disposal Sunday when the Pittsburgh Steelers face the Buffalo Bills and $258 million quarterback Josh Allen. The Steelers first-year defensive coordinator just knows he will put 11 on the field for every snap, and that will have to suffice...
Diontae Johnson, Mason Cole added to lengthening Steelers injury report
An already-lengthy Pittsburgh Steelers injury report added two starters to the list Thursday. Wide receiver Diontae Johnson and center Mason Cole were new to the practice status report. Each was a limited participant, with Johnson having a hip injury and Cole a foot ailment. Johnson and Cole join seven other...
MLB crowds jump from 2021, still below pre-pandemic levelsVideo
PHOENIX — Even with the homer heroics of sluggers like Aaron Judge and Albert Pujols, MLB wasn’t able to coax fans to ballparks at pre-pandemic levels this season, though attendance did jump substantially from the covid-19 affected campaign in 2021. The 30 MLB teams drew nearly 64.6 million fans for...
Pirates Take 5: On Oneil Cruz’s record pace, Ke’Bryan Hayes’ Gold Glove race, Bryan Reynolds’ familiar space
Oneil Cruz wasn’t shy about setting out to break Statcast records, and the Pittsburgh Pirates rookie shortstop finished with the highest exit velocity and hardest throw across the infield in recorded baseball history. As much as Cruz has been mocked for those metrics while striking out in 34.9% of his...
Scouting the Steelers’ Week 5 opponent: Buffalo Bills
The Pittsburgh Steelers will visit the Buffalo Bills for a 1 p.m. Sunday matchup against one of the best teams in the AFC. Here’s a look at the Steelers’ Week 5 opponent: The basics Coach: Sean McDermott, sixth season (52-33 record) Record: 3-1 Division: AFC East, second place Wins: Rams...
Penguins forward Brock McGinn is eager to prove who he is again
Brock McGinn had a great view of how the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2021-22 season came to an end. After all, he was sitting in the penalty box at Madison Square Garden. During overtime of Game 7 in the first round against the New York Rangers on May 15, McGinn took the...
Shakeia Taylor: Barry Bonds is the real home run record holder — and nothing can change that until someone breaks it
CHICAGO — In 2001, 37-year-old Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs, beating Mark McGwire’s single-season record of 70 set three years earlier. You probably remember it happened, whether you watched it or not. Even if you don’t have a relationship to baseball, it’s one of those facts many people know....
Brittney Griner at ‘weakest moment’ in Russia, her wife says
WASHINGTON — WNBA star Brittney Griner is at her “absolute weakest moment in life right now” as she faces a hearing in Russia later this month for her appeal of a nine-year prison sentence for drug possession, Griner’s wife said in an interview aired Thursday. Cherelle Griner told CBS “This...
After surge in first-half firings, can seasons be salvaged?
The move was shocking for its timing and memorable for its location. Lane Kiffin was fired by Southern California on Sept. 29, 2013, just five games into the season, on the airport tarmac after the team plane returned home from Arizona State. While not unprecedented, such an early coaching change...
‘It’s not right’: Players want more from NHL against racism
For too long, Matt Dumba felt he was on his own dealing with racial taunts directed at him as a youngster growing up in Saskatchewan. It was no different for Dumba as an adult, one of just a handful of minority players in the National Hockey League. Even in a...
First Call: Chase Claypool floated as a trade target in Buffalo; Steelers set to face NFL’s toughest remaining schedule
Is it possible that Steelers wide receiver Chase Claypool is auditioning for another team this weekend? Some stats are working against the Steelers this Sunday in Buffalo and for the rest of the season. The Baltimore Ravens made a move, and one of the Bills just got an NFL Award....
U mad, bro?: Steelers, Penguins fans take swings at Mitch Trubisky, Mike Tomlin, Mike Sullivan, Prime Video
As the Steelers changed quarterbacks this week, a funny thing happened on my way to the “U mad, bro?” inbox. Apparently, I’ve gone from a writer who is too negative, sarcastic, antagonistic and pessimistic to a guy who is too soft and forgiving. According to some of you folks this...
Quality of hockey, business booming as NHL begins new seasonVideo
Cale Makar won the Stanley Cup and earned playoff MVP honors after a season in which he was voted the NHL’s best defenseman. He may be the best hockey player in the world, and still he looks around at Connor McDavid, Patrick Kane, Auston Matthews and Colorado teammate Nathan MacKinnon...
Broncos’ Russell Wilson, Colts’ Matt Ryan enduring rough transitions to new teamsVideo
DENVER — Russell Wilson and Matt Ryan can feel each other’s pain. None of the nine NFL teams that changed quarterbacks this season has a winning record heading into October. Two of them square off Thursday night when Ryan’s beleaguered Indianapolis Colts (1-2-1) visit Wilson’s banged-up Denver Broncos (2-2). Both...
Jordan Poyer plays key role in Bills’ injury-filled secondaryVideo
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — With multiple injuries to their secondary, the Buffalo Bills have relied on safety Jordan Poyer more than ever. He’s relishing the opportunity. In the three games Poyer has played for Buffalo this season, the Bills have not allowed a single point in the second half. “That’s...
Protester subdued by Rams’ Bobby Wagner files police reportVideo
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — A protester who ran onto the field during the San Francisco 49ers’ Monday night home game against the Rams has filed a police report after being subdued by Los Angeles linebacker Bobby Wagner. Santa Clara Police Department Lt. Cuong Phan confirmed to the Associated Press on...
