Sports category, Page 1418
WRs return: JuJu Smith-Schuster practices, James Washington off covid list for Steelers
The two most veteran and tenured members of the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receivers corps returned to practice. Just as the Steelers began their workout Thursday afternoon, they announced JuJu Smith-Schuster had been cleared to practice for the first time since he suffered a shoulder injury early during an Oct. 10...
Keith Butler glad to return to Steelers sideline after watching Ravens game on TV
Since he got into coaching in 1990, Keith Butler estimated he never missed one of his team’s games until Sunday. A positive covid test and an inability to clear protocols in time led to Butler remaining in Pittsburgh while the Steelers traveled to Baltimore with their season hanging in the...
First Call: Steelers are record-setting underdogs against Chiefs; K.C. injury update; a Marc-Andre Fleury trade idea
Thursday’s “First Call” shows us just how big of an underdog the Pittsburgh Steelers truly are this weekend in Kansas City. The Chiefs are getting healthier, too. Fire up the Marc-Andre Fleury trade rumors again. And an honor for a former Robert Morris Colonial. More truth than you thought? When...
U mad, bro?: Steelers fans get snippy over NFL ties, criticism of Mike Tomlin, Raiders-Chargers result
It’s Pittsburgh Steelers playoff time for “U mad, bro?” Emotions are raw. The emails are snippy. The tweets are more contentious. And errors in judgment are more costly. Just ask Brandon Staley. Buckle up. This week is going to be a bumpy ride. In my column on Wednesday, I wrote...
Tim Benz: How confident are Chiefs fans for another blowout of the Steelers? Probably too much for Andy Reid’s liking
Exactly how confident are fans of the Kansas City Chiefs as their team (12-5) prepares to host the Pittsburgh Steelers (9-7-1) in Sunday night’s AFC playoff game? Well, Soren Petro hosts a talk show in Kansas City on Sports Radio 810 WHB. He joined me for Thursday’s “Breakfast With Benz”...
BetMGM: Best NFL over-unders in Week 13
By BetMGM staff writer / NFL over-unders help bettors when the money line isn’t valuable, or the point spread is too difficult to handicap. To improve your chances of winning these bets, you should also make a habit of checking the totals at the start of every week. Let’s see...
Riverhounds release 2022 schedule
The Pittsburgh Riverhounds on Wednesday released their 2022 USL Championship schedule. The Riverhounds will face a mix of new and familiar foes throughout the 34-game slate. Highlights include four road trips to face Western Conference teams. It will be the first time Pittsburgh will play in the Mountain or Pacific...
Covid cases scrambling winter sports schedules at Westmoreland County colleges
Depending on what district college athletic program you ask, the coronavirus has and hasn’t affected winter sports teams. “We’re juggling things constantly,” Seton Hill executive director of athletics Chris Snyder said. “We’ve rescheduled numerous contests for various reasons.” Last week, the Seton Hill women’s basketball team was shut down, and...
Australian Open draw delayed amid uncertainty over Djokovic
MELBOURNE, Australia — The Australian Open draw was delayed indefinitely on Thursday amid uncertainty over top-ranked Novak Djokovic’s visa status. The draw, to determine men’s and women’s singles brackets at the year’s first tennis major, was scheduled to be held at 3 p.m. local time in Melbourne, but a tournament...
Fordham sinks Duquesne on last-second layup
In one moment, Duquesne was hoping for another tight victory — its fourth win in a row — but in the next, the Dukes were walking away with another tight loss. Fordham ended a six-game losing streak to Duquesne in men’s basketball Wednesday night, rallying from a 13-point, first-half deficit...
These aren’t the same Eagles the Buccaneers beat in Week 6
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Eagles are a better team than the one that lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 6. Still, there are plenty of reasons why the defending Super Bowl champions are 8 1/2-point favorites in Sunday’s NFC wild-card game. High among them is the fact the...
Texas doctor charged with giving Olympic athletes performance drugs
NEW YORK — U.S. prosecutors charged a Texas man on Wednesday with providing performance-enhancing drugs to athletes competing in last summer’s Olympics in Tokyo, including star Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare. Eric Lira, 41, of El Paso, is the first person to be charged under a new U.S. anti-doping law governing...
NFL sees big TV ratings increase from 2020 seasonVideo
An extra week of games, close finishes and a non-election year helped propel the NFL to its highest regular-season ratings in six years. The 272 regular-season games averaged 17.1 million viewers across television and digital platforms, that is a 10% increase over 2020 and is the league’s highest average since...
Draft picks key Bengals’ resurgence, return to playoffs
CINCINNATI — Many in Cincinnati scoffed when the Bengals passed on elite Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell to take Ja’Marr Chase with the fifth overall pick in the NFL Draft last spring. Cincinnati sorely needed offensive line help, and Sewell seemed an obvious choice. Chase, like Sewell, sat out the...
Veteran safety Eric Weddle rejoining LA Rams for playoffsVideo
LOS ANGELES — Safety Eric Weddle is coming out of retirement to rejoin the Los Angeles Rams for the playoffs. Weddle turned 37 last week, and he hasn’t played in the NFL since the 2019 season, but the Rams signed him to their practice squad Wednesday to address their glaring...
On the west side, Penguins forward Jeff Carter finds success on the left side
Jeff Carter is back in a familiar place where he has enjoyed a lot of success. Los Angeles. A vital component of the Kings’ only two Stanley Cup championships in 2012 and ‘14, Carter has a lot of warm memories of life on the West Coast. He likely will add...
Webb Simpson looks to atone for missing favorite events this week at Sony OpenVideo
HONOLULU — Webb Simpson has been on the PGA Tour long enough and won enough to not be in a hurry. He was no less eager to fly to the middle of the Pacific for one week at the Sony Open. “I realized that when I got off the plane...
Penn State running back Noah Cain reportedly enters NCAA transfer portalVideo
STATE COLLEGE — Penn State running back Noah Cain has entered the NCAA transfer portal, according to multiple reports. Cain entered the 2021 season atop Penn State’s running back depth chart, but he battled injury and ineffectiveness to finish the season with 350 yards on 3.3 yards per carry and...
Pitt-Greensburg announces 1st Athletics Hall of Fame class
A work in progress for some time, the Pitt-Greensburg Athletics Hall of Fame has arrived and has its inaugural class. Five individuals and two teams that helped put the Bobcats on the college map will be enshrined Feb. 18 during a ceremony at the school’s Wagner Dining Hall. The inductees...
Trai Turner thinks lack of playoff experience can work in favor of Steelers young linemen
Right guard Trai Turner has more playoff experience than the rest of the Pittsburgh Steelers starting offensive linemen combined. Only backup guard/tackle Joe Haeg can match Turner’s six games of playoff experience. Haeg earned a Super Bowl ring with Tampa Bay last year while Turner lost his Super Bowl appearance...
Najee Harris does not practice, Dan Moore Jr. does for Steelers
As coach Mike Tomlin had indicated the day prior, running back Najee Harris sat out Pittsburgh Steelers practice on Wednesday. Harris was limited during this past Sunday’s game in Baltimore because of an elbow injury. He played, though, during the fourth quarter and overtime, an indication that he can be...
Chiefs’ Andy Reid heaps praise on 9-7-1 Steelers, saying they are playing like ‘No. 1 seed’
Since the Pittsburgh Steelers lost by 26 points when they played the Kansas City Chiefs on Dec. 26, they won back-to-back games to scratch out the last spot in the AFC playoffs. Apparently those victories against Cleveland and Baltimore put them in the upper echelon of the conference. At least...
U.S., Canada women eager to resume fierce hockey rivalry
Forward Brianna Decker was unable to contain her enthusiasm in being selected to represent the United States in hockey for a third Olympics. She then bluntly declared the team’s one and only objective heading to the Beijing Games next month. “Our business isn’t finished until we come back with a...
Penguins recall forwards Drew O’Connor, Filip Hallander from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
The Penguins have recalled forwards Drew O’Connor and Filip Hallander from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL). O’Connor was assigned to the NHL roster while Hallander was assigned to the taxi squad. Shuffled between the NHL and AHL rosters sporadically throughout the season, O’Connor, a second-year professional who is...
Penn State 2022 football schedule analysis: 4 takeaways on what Big Ten’s changes mean for Nittany Lions
STATE COLLEGE — The Big Ten officially altered its 2022 football schedule Wednesday as it continues to account for the scheduling ripple effect caused by the 2020 season amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Penn State schedule saw a host of shifts with a couple high-profile matchups getting shuffled around, a...
