Sports category, Page 1447
Tiger Woods returns at PNC Championship, still ‘long way’ from tournament golfVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — Tiger Woods walked onto the tee for a routine pro-am round Friday and felt an unexpected dose of nerves, realizing how long it had been since he had an audience on the golf course. The small grandstand behind the tee was packed, everyone on their feet. Spectators...
Middle Tennessee tops Toledo in Bahamas to begin bowl seasonVideo
NASSAU, Bahamas — Freshman Nick Vattiato threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns, including a 59-yard scoring pass to Jarrin Pierce with 6 minutes, 24 seconds left, and Middle Tennessee beat Toledo, 31-24, on Friday in the Bahamas Bowl. Two plays after Toledo’s 32-yard punt, Vattiato connected with a wide-open...
Trickle-down economics at heart of MLB labor disputeVideo
NEW YORK — Francisco Lindor’s $341 million contract with the New York Mets was supposed to be a boon for other shortstops. Same for pitchers when aces Gerrit Cole and Max Scherzer signed megadeals. Baseball players long have benefited from trickle-down economics, where stars set a market that leads to...
Loss in NCAA semifinal brings down curtain on stellar careers of Pitt volleyball players Kayla Lund, Chinaza Ndee
Kayla Lund rose up — as she had so many times during her Pitt volleyball career — and swung her arm in its signature windmill motion. She took aim at yet another kill, one she hoped would extend the Panthers’ stay in their first Final Four just a bit longer....
Pitt cornerback Damarri Mathis plans to skip Peach Bowl
Pitt lost another starter for the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Friday when senior cornerback Damarri Mathis announced on Twitter his plans to skip the game and focus on preparing for the NFL Draft. Mathis has been invited to the Senior Bowl next month, but he is not listed among ESPN...
Steelers vs. Titans: Joe Haden questionable but Alex Highsmith, Robert Spillane to play
It has been more than a month since Joe Haden was able to play in a game. While it is yet to be assured he will play Sunday, the veteran Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback appears to be as close as he has been since suffering a foot injury Nov. 14. Haden...
Browns-Raiders game pushed by NFL to Monday amid covid cases
CLEVELAND — The Browns got a welcomed reprieve on Friday after days of positive covid-19 tests. The NFL moved Cleveland’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders to Monday as the Browns grappled with a virus outbreak that sidelined coach Kevin Stefanski, quarterback Baker Mayfield and more than a dozen regulars....
Steelers’ Najee Harris — again — reiterates he’s not concerned with heavy workload
His usual post-practice Friday session with media was moved from in-person outdoors to a Zoom format. But for Najee Harris, one thing remained the same: fielding questions about whether he is concerned about the heavy workload he has shouldered as a rookie running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers. “You guys...
Steelers T.J. Watt says he’s going to play vs. Titans
T.J. Watt didn’t make everyone wait for the Pittsburgh Steelers to release their injury status report regarding Sunday’s scheduled home game against the Tennessee Titans. “I’m going to play,” Watt said early Friday afternoon. When the injury report cane out more than 3½ hours later, Watt was listed as a...
Steelers’ Pat Freiermuth moves on from failed catch at end of last game
In the immediate aftermath of having his hands on the ball on the final play of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ most recent loss, tight end Pat Freiermuth was said to be “taking it hard.” For a rookie who has made a name for himself because of his reliable hands and “combat-catch”...
Winnipeg Jets coach Paul Maurice resigns; Dave Lowry gets interim job
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Winnipeg Jets coach Paul Maurice has resigned in a surprise move in his ninth year with the team. The team announced Maurice’s decision on Friday, and said it was effective immediately. Dave Lowry was elevated to interim coach. The Jets (13-10-5) have dropped three of four heading...
Penn State QB Sean Clifford addresses whether Kenny Pickett influenced his decision to return in 2022
One week ago, Penn State veteran quarterback Sean Clifford announced he would return for a sixth season with the Nittany Lions. Assuming good health, Clifford will head into the offseason primed to be a four-year starter, something rarely seen in college football. Clifford and his teammates still have one game...
Penguins forward Brian Boyle out against Sabres
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Brian Boyle will miss Friday’s home game against the Buffalo Sabres due to an undisclosed injury. Coach Mike Sullivan labeled his status as “day to day.” Boyle did not participate in an optional morning skate on Friday, a day after he was absent from practice in Cranberry....
Robert Morris plans to reinstate men’s, women’s hockey teams for 2023-24 season
“Hockey is the Goal” has been the rallying cry for fundraising efforts to reinstate the Robert Morris men’s and women’s hockey teams. On Friday afternoon, men’s coach Derek Schooley gave the slogan a new twist. “Hockey is the goal. And the goal was just scored.” Seven months after the Colonials...
Mark Madden: Penguins should extend Kris Letang’s contract now
The Penguins’ management team of GM Ron Hextall and president of hockey operations Brian Burke has difficult work ahead between now and next season. How good do the Penguins have to be to not trade defenseman Kris Letang and/or center Evgeni Malkin before the March 21 trade deadline? Both are...
Confidence, opportunity leading to success for Penguins’ Evan Rodrigues
For Penguins forward Evan Rodrigues, explaining his success this season is a series of progressions. “Opportunity and confidence,” Rodrigues said Tuesday when asked about why he’s been so productive this season. “I got off to a pretty good start early in the year. I got a lot of opportunities to...
First Call: Mike Vrabel shares fond memories of Steelers days; Chiefs offense flashes; RMU hockey’s decision day is here
Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel shares his fond memories of being a Steeler in advance of his team’s game at Heinz Field Sunday afternoon. The Steelers game next week against the Kansas City Chiefs looks like it will be a monumental task. The Penguins are catching the Buffalo Sabres as...
Tim Benz: Sunday’s game against the Titans sets up better for Steelers than what standings may suggest
Wanna know how Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has avoided having a losing season all these years, even with lesser incarnations of his team? Like, for instance, the current one? He’s won games like the one his team has Sunday afternoon against the AFC South-leading Tennessee Titans. That’s how. Late in...
This date in sports history: Dec. 17
1933 — The Chicago Bears win the first NFL championship with a 23-21 victory over the New York Giants. The Bears score the winning touchdown on a 36-yard play that starts with a short pass from Bronko Nagurski to Bill Hewitt, who then laterals to Bill Kerr for the score....
Pitt volleyball falls short in national semifinals, losing 3-1 to Nebraska
When asked about his plan of attack for the national semifinals, Pitt volleyball coach Dan Fisher kept it simple: Hit it as hard as we can as many times as we can. That’s how Fisher has built the Panthers into a prominent program. There isn’t much finesse about the way...
Travis Kelce’s OT touchdown gives Chiefs win over ChargersVideo
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Travis Kelce scored on a 34-yard pass from Patrick Mahomes in overtime and the Kansas City Chiefs rallied for a 34-28 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday night. Kelce caught a tying 7-yard touchdown pass with 1:16 left in the fourth quarter, then ended the...
Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett won’t play in the Peach Bowl
Kenny Pickett’s season is over. Pitt’s record-setting All-American quarterback and ACC Player of the Year tweeted Thursday night that he won’t play against Michigan State in the Peach Bowl, the Panthers’ final game Dec. 30 in Atlanta. Only hours earlier, Michigan State All-American running back Kenneth Walker III also opted...
Ravens’ Lamar Jackson misses practice again with ankle injuryVideo
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Lamar Jackson missed another practice for the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday because of his sprained ankle. Jackson also missed practice Wednesday because of the ankle injury that knocked him out of last weekend’s loss at Cleveland. The Ravens have remained hopeful Jackson can play Sunday against...
Browns backup QB Case Keenum tests positive for covid-19Video
CLEVELAND — Case Keenum’s expected start for the Browns took an unexpected turn. Cleveland’s veteran backup quarterback tested positive Thursday for covid-19, possibly leaving the Browns without their top two quarterbacks for Saturday’s vital game against the Las Vegas Raiders, a person familiar with the situation tells the Associated Press....
Penguins forward Teddy Blueger sees improvement in faceoffsVideo
It was a fairly one-sided game. And it was against a clearly inferior opponent. But for a brief moment or two, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ fate in their 5-2 home win against the beleaguered Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday seemed to be in question. After giving up a score off a poor...
