Sports category, Page 1459
Mike Bianchi: Get used to SEC dominance; it’s only going to get stronger
This column is a public-service announcement to all of you college football fans who are sick and tired of seeing the Southeastern Conference dominate your sport. It’s for all of you who think watching Alabama and Georgia playing for the national championship on Monday night in a rematch of the...
AP sources: Yanks’ Balkovec to be first female MiLB managerVideo
NEW YORK — The New York Yankees are promoting Rachel Balkovec to manager of the Low A Tampa Tarpons, making her the first woman to skipper a team affiliated with MLB, according to two people familiar with the move. The people spoke to the Associated Press on Sunday night on...
Cameron Smith sets PGA Tour record and outlasts Jon Rahm at KapaluaVideo
KAPALUA, Hawaii — No one ever finished a PGA Tour more shots under par than Cameron Smith, and he needed every one of them to outlast Jon Rahm and win the Sentry Tournament of Champions. In the best scoring conditions Kapalua has seen in the 24 times it has hosted...
Steelers notes: Chase Claypool ends regular season on high note
BALTIMORE – Since his best game of the season Oct. 10 against the Denver Broncos, Chase Claypool hadn’t scored for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Since his regrettable premature first-down celebration Dec. 9 in Minnesota, he barely made much of an impact. In Sunday’s must-win regular-season finale, though, Claypool was an offensive...
Ben Roethlisberger had inkling his Steelers career wouldn’t end in Baltimore
BALTIMORE — Ben Roethlisberger had a feeling his NFL career wouldn’t end Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium. And it didn’t. The night before Roethlisberger led the Steelers to a 16-13 overtime victory against the Baltimore Ravens that put them in the AFC playoffs, he told his father that it didn’t...
Steelers ‘hungrier than ever’ after securing postseason trip to Kansas City
BALTIMORE — Cameron Heyward paused and darted his eyes up to the ceiling in contemplation. The Pittsburgh Steelers defensive captain couldn’t recall with precision the date of their most recent game against the Kansas City Chiefs. “Was that three weeks ago or two weeks ago,” Heyward asked Sunday evening, “when...
Tim Benz: ‘Feats of Strength’ and ‘Airing of Grievances’ as Steelers barely keep playoff hopes alive in Baltimore
In a most unlikely turn of events, the Pittsburgh Steelers offense was able to turn around a dreadful day to rally late and win the 2021 season finale in Baltimore, 16-13 in overtime. In an even less likely development, the Jacksonville Jaguars (3-14) stunned the Indianapolis Colts (9-8), 26-11. That...
Denver Broncos fire coach Vic Fangio after 3 losing seasonsVideo
DENVER — The Denver Broncos are looking for a new head coach to lead them out of a six-year playoff drought and a half decade of losing seasons that marks the most protracted plunge by a Super Bowl champion in NFL history. The Broncos fired Vic Fangio after he went...
Baker Mayfield’s season ends on sideline, surgery awaits Browns QBVideo
CLEVELAND — At least Baker Mayfield’s exit meeting went well. Just about everything else this season for the Browns quarterback was off the mark. And while the season is over, his time in Cleveland isn’t as defined. Mayfield watched Sunday’s home finale wearing a stocking cap on the sideline as...
NFL Week 18 roundup: Titans clinch AFC’s top seed with win over TexansVideo
HOUSTON — The Tennessee Titans clinched the top seed in the AFC for the first time in 14 years, beating the Houston Texans 28-25 on Sunday behind Ryan Tannehill’s career-high-tying four touchdown passes. The 12-5 Titans, who secured their second straight AFC South title last week, have the No. 1...
Georgia gets 2nd shot at Alabama with national title at stakeVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — Georgia coach Kirby Smart got an inside look at what it takes to build a college football juggernaut working for Nick Saban at Alabama for eight seasons. Blueprint in hand, Smart took over at his alma mater in 2016, and the Bulldogs have been ascending ever since, going...
‘Frustrating’ home loss to Purdue Fort Wayne for Robert MorrisVideo
Jalon Pipkins scored 18 points to lead four Purdue Fort Wayne players in double figures, and the Mastodons beat Robert Morris, 76-70, Sunday at UPMC Events Center, handing the men’s basketball team their fourth consecutive and third Horizon League single-digit setback in a row. Robert Morris (2-13, 0-6) dropped a...
Steelers beat Ravens in OT, secure playoff berth after Jaguars’ upset, Raiders’ victory
BALTIMORE — The result on the out-of-town scoreboard was favorable for the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was nothing compared to what transpired on a rainy, cold day inside M&T Bank Stadium. With their postseason aspirations hanging in the balance, the Steelers got a 36-yard field goal from Chris Boswell in overtime...
Jags down Colts 26-11, keep Indy from playoffsVideo
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Indianapolis Colts got clowned in Jacksonville. This one was more embarrassing than any other loss to the Jaguars, too. Indy badly botched a chance to secure an AFC wild-card spot with a 26-11 loss to Jacksonville on Sunday in the “clown game,” the team’s seventh consecutive...
Browns close season with 21-16 win over Burrow-less BengalsVideo
CLEVELAND — Joe Burrow skipped Cincinnati’s last trip of the regular season. He and the Bengals have reservations to go somewhere more special — the playoffs. Case Keenum got his second win while filling in for Baker Mayfield on Sunday as the Cleveland Browns ended their dismal season with a...
Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt ties NFL record with 2nd quarter sack vs. Ravens
BALTIMORE — T.J. Watt tied the NFL record for most sacks in a season with a second-quarter takedown of Tyler Huntley during Sunday’s Pittsburgh Steelers game at the Baltimore Ravens. The sack gave Watt 22½, tying him with Michael Strahan’s 2001 total while he was playing for the New York...
Pitt basketball gets commitment from Ohio high school junior Marlon Barnes
Pitt coach Jeff Capel has no commitments in the recruiting class of 2022, but he started building his 2023 class Sunday when four-star small forward Marlon Barnes Jr. announced his plans to enroll. ZOO WHATS GOOD! ???????? #committed #H2P pic.twitter.com/42QeQWO1AO— marlonbarnesjr (@marlonbarnesjr) January 9, 2022 Barnes (6-foot-6, 180 pounds) has...
Short bench, close calls make interesting mix on Pitt’s road toward improvement
You need to scroll back to Nov. 27 — two days after Thanksgiving when the Christmas lights you put away last week weren’t even up yet — to find a Pitt game decided by a double-digit margin. That was an 87-77 loss to Maryland Baltimore County at the Petersen Events...
Starting LT Dan Moore not active, but P Pressley Harvin playing for Steelers vs. Ravens
BALTIMORE – For the first time this season, the Pittsburgh Steelers have a different starting left tackle in the regular-season finale. Rookie Dan Moore Jr. was among the listed inactives for Sunday’s game at the Baltimore Ravens. A fourth-round pick, Moore started each of the season’s first 16 games. But...
Dak Prescott throws 5 TD passes in Cowboys’ romp over Eagles
PHILADELPHIA — Dak Prescott ran into Dallas’ locker room with a message for any NFC team he’ll play next week in the playoffs. “The real (stuff) starts,” he said. It starts with finding out the Cowboys’ wild-card opponent, and Prescott will be like millions of football fans every Sunday and...
Net-front play led to the Penguins’ winning streak being snappedVideo
The Penguins knew what the Dallas Stars would do. And they stopped them. At least for the first 54 minutes, 59 seconds of regulation. That’s when the Stars’ seemingly relentless intent of crashing the net began to pay off and led to them claiming a 3-2 win at American Airlines...
Monroeville’s Ahmad Matour earns International Federation of BodyBuilders pro card
Ahmad Matour’s focus at last month’s National Physique Committee National Championships was clear. Weeks of weight training and a proper diet regimen fueled the Monroeville resident’s goal of earning his International Federation of BodyBuilders pro card at the Dec. 18 contest in Orlando, Fla. Mission accomplished. Matour, 28, one of...
Report: Kevin Colbert will step down as Steelers GM after NFL Draft
Kevin Colbert’s tenure as Pittsburgh Steelers general manager could be winding down. NFL Network reported Sunday that Colbert, the long-time general manager who has been in charge of the organization’s football operations since 2000, will retire when his contract expires after the 2022 NFL Draft. The Steelers will conclude their...
Marc-Andre Fleury welcomed back to Vegas by adoring fans
LAS VEGAS — Hockey fans in southern Nevada still love Marc-Andre Fleury. The adoration overflowed Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena when the 18-year veteran led the Chicago Blackhawks onto the ice for their game against his former team, the Vegas Golden Knights. Fans lined the end boards, pounded the glass,...
Minor league report: Penguins shut out by Bears, drop sixth straightVideo
Goaltender Alex D’Orio made 33 saves on 36 shots for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 3-0 road loss to the Hershey Bears at the Giant Center in Hershey on Saturday. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (9-13-1-3) has lost six consecutive games. Highlights: The Penguins’ next game is a road game against the Bears on...
