Sports category, Page 1483
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...
Titans prep to play at Steelers by playing ‘Renegade’ and ‘Black and Yellow’ at practice
With a trip to the ‘Burgh soon scheduled, the Tennessee Titans are preparing for what they might encounter at Heinz Field. At least, what they might hear there. During Thursday’s practice, among the music the Titans played was “Renegade” and “Black and Yellow,” according to a post to the verified...
Michigan State RB Kenneth Walker entering draft, skipping Peach Bowl vs. Pitt
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State All-America running back Kenneth Walker is skipping the Peach Bowl against Pittsburgh and his senior season to enter the NFL draft. Walker made the announcement in social media posts on Thursday. Coach Mel Tucker said earlier this week that he was uncertain whether Walker...
Steelers have depleted OLB corps, will see old friends in Titans’ Bud Dupree, Ola Adeniyi
A week after being down to their fifth- and sixth-string outside linebackers, the Pittsburgh Steelers likely get to see some old friends this weekend who were part of their past at the position. Among the Tennessee Titans’ edge-rusher depth chart are a pair of former Steelers in Bud Dupree and...
Joe Haden takes to practice field; T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith practice fully for Steelers
Although it remains far from assured he will return Sunday, Joe Haden took part in Pittsburgh Steelers practice for the first time in three weeks Thursday. The veteran cornerback was listed as a limited participant on the league-mandated injury report released by the team. Haden has missed the past four...
NFL updates protocols in response to covid-19 cases
The NFL has updated its protocols in reaction to an increase in covid-19 cases around the league, and it is pushing booster shots as the most effective protection against the coronavirus. As part of its protocol changes, the NFL is requiring masks regardless of vaccination status and remote or outdoor...
Pirates manager Derek Shelton stresses development with coaching staff changes
Calling development the lifeblood of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, Derek Shelton formally announced the shuffling of his coaching staff Thursday, adding two new members and putting two of the men he trusts the most in charge of the duties of one of his former assistants. Andy Haines was named hitting...
Keith Butler searching for ways to eliminate Steelers’ run-defense issues with Titans on tap
Keith Butler was in his third season as linebackers coach in 2005 when the Pittsburgh Steelers needed to run the table with four games remaining in order to make the playoffs. The Steelers did that, of course, and accomplished so much more, rolling to eight consecutive victories en route to...
Penguins anticipate NHL will issue stricter covid-19 protocols
The NHL has forged through a difficult week in which dozens of players, coaches and team staffers from Florida to British Columbia have been placed into the league’s protocols for covid-19. With the exception of skating and skill development coach Ty Hennes being placed in protocol recently, the Penguins have...
Black bears may be major factor in spread of ticks in Pennsylvania: Penn State research
Black bears may play an important role in spreading deer ticks, more widely known as blacklegged ticks, in Pennsylvania, according to researchers at Penn State. Blacklegged ticks are the primary spreader of the pathogen that causes Lyme disease, and more than 70 percent of black bears were found to have...
Penguins forward Brian Boyle withheld from practice
Penguins forward Brian Boyle was absent from practice in Cranberry on Thursday. Coach Mike Sullivan indicated Boyle is dealing with an undisclosed injury and was withheld for precautionary reasons. “I’d like to say he’s a maintenance day right now but that status may change moving forward,” Sullivan said. “It could...
