Sports category, Page 1416
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers’ best strategy in Kansas City is to shorten the game
The likeliest way for the Steelers to beat Kansas City in Sunday’s wild-card playoff game is for the Chiefs to play horribly while the Steelers get lucky. That’s not very likely. If you’re looking for a more precise route — but one that’s even less probable — the Steelers must...
Steelers’ Joe Haden has waited long time for playoff win
Ben Roethlisberger is aware his words may ring hollow when he tells his younger Pittsburgh Steelers teammates not to count on playing in the postseason every year. “You never really know if you’re going to get a chance to get back,” Roethlisberger said this week as he prepared for the...
Clap, don’t chant: China aims for ‘Zero Covid’ Olympics
Athletes will need to be vaccinated — or face a long quarantine — take tests daily and wear masks when not competing or training. Clapping is OK to cheer on teammates, not chanting. Anyone who tests positive for covid-19 will be sent into isolation and unable to compete until cleared...
Fox Chapel grad builds massive social media following for sports-themed videos
Usually, when someone from the Pittsburgh region has success in the business or entertainment world, that person or company often relocates to New York City or Los Angeles. But for Fox Chapel graduate Frank Smith, the reverse is true. Smith recently moved his entertainment operation — consisting mainly of sports...
Pirates add pair of Dominican prospects to start international signing period
The Pirates signed two of MLB Pipeline’s top 12 international prospects Saturday, adding a pair of 16-year-old Dominicans: outfielder Tony Blanco and shortstop Yordany De Los Santos. Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com reported that the Pirates signed Blanco for $900,000 and De Los Santos for $1.2 million. The Pirates have a...
Four Downs: If Steelers must win special teams to beat Chiefs, it won’t be easy
1. Something special As a double-digit underdog, conventional wisdom suggests one of the best routes for a Pittsburgh Steelers upset of the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday’s AFC wild-card playoff game is via an advantage on special teams. Judging by the caliber of the Chiefs’ special-teams unit, though, don’t bet...
Hawaii football coach Todd Graham steps down
HONOLULU — Todd Graham resigned as the University of Hawaii’s football coach Friday, stepping down amid controversy after completing the second-year of a five-year contract. Graham resigned a week after former players and some parents testified before a state legislative hearing, criticizing the coach’s management style and relationships with players....
Minor league report: Penguins’ losing streak reaches 8Video
Forward Felix Robert had a goal and two assists for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 4-3 home loss to the rival Lehigh Valley Phantoms at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre on Friday. Goaltender Alex D’Orio made 12 saves on 15 shots for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (9-15-1-3) which has lost eight consecutive games....
Tennis Hall of Famer Chris Evert says she has ovarian cancer
Former tennis star Chris Evert says she was diagnosed with an early stage of ovarian cancer. The 67-year-old Evert revealed the illness in a story posted Friday on ESPN.com; she is an on-air announcer for ESPN. She learned of the cancer last month and began chemotherapy treatments this week. “I’ve...
Raiders, Bengals looking to end long playoff skidsVideo
CINCINNATI — Either the Raiders or Bengals will win a playoff game Saturday, and that will be news in itself. Postseason success has been elusive for both teams for a generation. The frustration for one will end Saturday when they meet for an opening-round playoff game in Cincinnati. The Raiders’...
Longest tenure grows as Iowa extends Ferentz’s contract
IOWA CITY, Iowa — The nation’s longest-tenured FBS head coach plans to stick around a lot longer as the University of Iowa on Friday announced it was extending Kirk Ferentz’s contract through the 2029 season. Iowa athletic officials announced the four-year extension that followed a 10-4 record in 2021. It...
Column: Novak Djokovic whiffed on 2 shots, 3 if you count boosterVideo
After more than a week of lies, hypocrisy, partisan bickering, bureaucratic bumbling and the inevitably idiotic comparison to the crucifixion of Jesus — by his own father, no less — the Novak Djokovic story still boils down to this: He threw away a chance to make history at the Australian...
Column: And then there was 1 … black coach in the NFL
And then there was one. David Culley didn’t even last a calendar year with the Houston Texans, as dysfunctional an NFL team as there is. Culley spent 43 years as an assistant in college and pros, but his tenure as a head coach ended after just 17 games. With his...
Bills DE Jerry Hughes primed for ‘slobber-knocker’ against PatriotsVideo
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — If this is the end of the line for Jerry Hughes’ career, the Buffalo Bills defensive end is primed for the playoffs. Whether it’s facing the rival New England Patriots for a third time in seven weeks or the prospect of playing in potentially sub-zero temperatures...
Take 5: Pitt’s Jeff Capel juggles 2 important jobs, but the one at home counts most
Anyone with children knows it’s not easy to walk the line between work and family. Imagine walking it as Jeff Capel — husband, father of three and Pitt basketball coach. In the midst of a difficult season, Capel talked extensively about that tricky maneuver earlier this week on 93.7 FM....
Chiefs RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire will miss game vs. SteelersVideo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chiefs will be without Clyde Edwards-Helaire for their wild-card playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night after their starting running back was unable to put together a full week of practice because of a hurt collarbone. Chiefs coach Andy Reid confirmed Friday that...
Steelers mum on if JuJu Smith-Schuster will play vs. Chiefs, but his presence brings ‘energy’
A little more than 24 hours in advance of a 4 p.m. Saturday deadline for activating JuJu Smith-Schuster to the roster in time for a playoff game Sunday, Pittsburgh Steelers teammates were eager to let it be known they were unwilling to unveil any inside information about if Smith-Schuster could...
Steelers hold rare Heinz Field practice in prep for Chiefs
Who said Heinz Field had seen the last of the Pittsburgh Steelers for the 2021 season? Two-and-a-half weeks after the Steelers’ regular-season home finale and longer than that since it’d been determined they had no chance of hosting a playoff game, the Steelers were back at their home stadium Friday....
Starting OL Dan Moore Jr., Trai Turner, DB Arthur Maulet will play for Steelers vs. Chiefs
The Pittsburgh Steelers have a relatively clean bill of health headed into the postseason. Outside of a questionable designation given to running back Najee Harris, all other players on the 53-man roster were deemed as able to play on the injury report Friday. Of those who had missed practice time...
Best path for Steelers against Chiefs runs through Najee Harris
Though it made him sore for a couple days, the platelet-rich plasma shot Najee Harris received helped heal his injured right elbow. Can it also play a role in injecting some life into the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense? The Steelers have a formidable opponent for Sunday’s AFC wild-card playoff game in...
Keith Dambrot navigates new Dukes through rough start to season
Consider the misfortune that has struck Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot in the past three months: • The day Dambrot turned 63 — two weeks before the Dukes’ first game — his father, Sidney, died at the age of 90. Sidney Dambrot played on Duquesne’s great teams of the 1950s, and...
Steelers’ T.J. Watt unanimously selected AP All Pro, Cam Heyward also on 1st team
For the second time in three seasons, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive teammates T.J. Watt and Cameron Heyward were named first-team AP All-Pro. Watt, the Steelers’ outside linebacker who tied the NFL season record for sacks with 22½, was a unanimous choice of 50 media members who regularly cover the league. The...
ACC commissioner says CFP expansion should be put on hold
Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner Jim Phillips says now is not the time for College Football Playoff expansion, citing an abundance of uncertainty throughout college sports and the NCAA. “To the ACC, we don’t have a College Football Playoff problem,” Phillips said Friday during a conference call with reporters. “We have...
Penguins, Chatham University bring college hockey to Hunt Armory
With Robert Morris hockey on the shelf until the 2023-24 season, the Chatham Cougars men’s and women’s teams are the new local college hockey teams on center stage. Now the center stage itself is also new. For a few nights anyway. The Cougars men’s team will be playing a game...
Mark Madden: Evgeni Malkin needs to play within Penguins’ structure
The Pittsburgh Penguins just had a 10-game win streak. Jake Guentzel just had an 18-game points streak. Behold the majesty of 12 consecutive refreshing Penguins notes. Never stop never stopping! (Except the Penguins and Guentzel both got stopped.) • No one said Evgeni Malkin’s return would disrupt the Penguins’ chemistry....
