PIAA takes 1st step toward approving fall playoff brackets
It is going to be a few more months before the PIAA releases the fall playoff brackets. During the March board of control meeting Wednesday, the board voted on first reading to approve the fall brackets. The PIAA needs to approve the fall brackets two more times. WPIAL executive director...
Braxton Ashcraft leaves Tigers looking with 8 strikeouts as Pirates end 3-game skid
Braxton Ashcraft didn’t just wow the Detroit Tigers. The Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander left them looking. Ashcraft drew 22 called strikes, including on four of his eight strikeouts without a walk in 5 1/3 innings, as the Pirates beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-1, on Wednesday night to end a three-game Grapefruit...
Jeannette grad Ethan Berginc leads WPIAL contingent at NCAA wrestling championships
The start of March Madness officially gets underway at noon Thursday. But so does the NCAA Division I wrestling championships at Cleveland, and the WPIAL will be well represented. There are 50 wrestlers from Pennsylvania who are entered in the tournament, 21 from the WPIAL, including Jeannette grad Ethan Berginc....
Bryan Hodgson’s NCAA Tournament homecoming filled with painful, uplifting memories for South Florida coach
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Bryan Hodgson’s celebrated homecoming comes with both deeply painful and joyously uplifting reminders of South Florida’s full-circle journey in preparing to make his NCAA Tournament coaching debut not far from his Jamestown, N.Y., roots. There are the mental and physical scars — two burn marks on the...
MLB might consider moving thriving World Baseball Classic to midseason
MIAMI — Having set attendance and broadcast viewer records, the World Baseball Classic will return in 2029 or 2030 and at some future point could be moved to midseason, when clubs would be less likely to restrict players. Since the WBC’s inception in 2006, it has been played during spring...
Transfer portal means March Madness at multiple schools for some
Wisconsin guard Nick Boyd’s NCAA Tournament experiences have run the gamut at his previous schools. Boyd reached the Final Four with Florida Atlantic in 2023, endured an overtime loss in the round of 64 with the Owls a year later and then lost in the First Four with San Diego...
3-point attempts keep ticking up heading into March Madness
No team has made more 3-pointers, nor launched more, than Alabama in the past four seasons. And nothing will shake coach Nate Oats from believing they’re at the core of building a winner in modern basketball. Teams might struggle to match the Crimson Tide’s sheer volume heading into March Madness,...
Kyle Louis, Desmond Reid among 15 players to partake in Pitt’s Pro Day
Fifteen former Pitt players will look to solidify their NFL Draft prospects March 26 at the Panthers’ Pro Day at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on the South Side. Pitt announced Wednesday the details of its annual Pro Day, which will feature scouts on hand to watch participants conduct the vertical...
Defensive end Jimmy Scott, guard BJ Williams offer Pitt veteran leadership to build around
Pitt is leaning on established veterans this spring while facing question marks at several positions. The list of returning players expected to play large roles in 2026 includes Mason Heintschel at quarterback, Cruce Brookins at safety and Braylan Lovelace at linebacker. Also prominent within the team’s group of veterans are...
Penn State favored for a 5th straight NCAA Division I men’s wrestling title
Penn State is out to claim an elusive fifth straight NCAA Division I men’s wrestling title this weekend. The Nittany Lions have won four straight championships three times under coach Cael Sanderson, including the current run. He said the pressure to win a 13th title overall and make this the...
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby set to return from injury after 11-game absenceVideo
Sidney Crosby will re-enter the Pittsburgh Penguins’ lineup Wednesday evening against the Carolina Hurricanes after missing 11 games because of injury. Crosby partook in the Penguins’ morning skate at the Lenovo Center ahead of their game at Carolina and, following the session, Crosby indicated he will return to action. Coach...
WNBA and players union have reached an agreement in principle on a transformational new CBA
NEW YORK — The WNBA and its players’ union reached an agreement in principle on a transformational new collective bargaining agreement early Wednesday morning. Specifics still need to be finalized over the next few weeks as lawyers on both sides work on the new CBA. A term sheet should be...
Cup of Joe: Oh well, at least Team USA honored the Padres
Cup of Joe: Starkey on sports in 350 words or less Yes, Team USA choked away the overrated World Baseball Classic, its vaunted lineup again coming up small in a 3-2 loss to Venezuela and journeyman pitcher Eduardo Rodríguez in the championship game. But at least they honored the San...
Busting the Bracket: NCAA basketball analyst Mike DeCourcy helps you win your office pool
Sporting News columnist Mike DeCourcy joins me once a week to talk about the Steelers and the NFL on our “Friday Football” livestream. But during college basketball season, DeCourcy also does a lot of work for the Big Ten Network and Fox. He joins me annually on the “Breakfast With...
Pitt football announces promotional schedule for 2026 home games
Pitt announced its 2026 promotion schedule for the upcoming football season, featuring themes for each of the Panthers’ seven home games this fall. On Sept. 5, Pitt begins the season at Acrisure Stadium vs. Miami (Ohio). The Panthers will celebrate the history of their program as well as the city...
Mark Madden: ‘Evgeni Malkin hat trick’ reignites debate of his future with Penguins
When a hockey player gets a goal, assist and fighting major in the same game, that’s a Gordie Howe hat trick. On Monday at Denver, we saw the birth of the Evgeni Malkin hat trick: A goal, assist and dumb offensive-zone penalty in the same game. (Though it’s hardly the...
First Call: Ex-Steeler Beanie Bishop suspended by NFL; AFC North rival TE may be on the move within the division
A former Steeler is in trouble with the NFL. An AFC North rival of the club could be on the move within the division. The Penguins got no help Tuesday night in the Eastern Conference. And there are some Pittsburgh ties to the first result of this year’s NCAA Tournament....
Alika Williams impressed by Konnor Griffin as the Pirates shortstops compete for roster spot
BRADENTON, Fla. — The Pittsburgh Pirates are down to two non-roster invitees among their position player group in big-league camp, and it just so happens they play the same position. Alika Williams is a locker mate of Konnor Griffin in the home clubhouse at LECOM Park, so he’s had an...
Cup of Joe: In defense of Evgeni Malkin, top 25 all-time player and 3rd-best in Penguins history
Cup of Joe: Starkey on Sports in 400 words or less (or significantly more, in this case) People are often quicker to rip Evgeni Malkin than give him the benefit of the doubt. And that continues to amaze me. Has this man not earned the benefit of the doubt by...
Venezuela beats U.S. on Eugenio Suárez’s 9th-inning double to win first World Baseball Classic title
MIAMI — Venezuela won the World Baseball Classic for the first time, rebounding from a blown eighth-inning lead to beat the United States 3-2 Tuesday night on Eugenio Suárez’s tiebreaking double in the ninth. Maikel Garcia’s third-inning sacrifice fly and Wilyer Abreu’s fifth-inning homer off rookie Nolan McLean built a...
Howard gets its 1st March Madness win, holding off UMBC in First Four
DAYTON, Ohio — Bryce Harris had 19 points and 14 rebounds, and he sank a turnaround jumper with 13 seconds remaining that sent Howard to its first NCAA Tournament victory in program history, 86-83 over UMBC in the First Four on Tuesday night. Ose Okojie scored a career-high 23 points...
Duquesne’s Tarence Guinyard named to all-region 2nd team
Fresh off a berth on the all-Atlantic 10 first team, Duquesne’s Tarence Guinyard has collected another postseason honor. The senior point guard transfer from UT Martin on Tuesday was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Mid Atlantic Region second team. West Virginia senior guard Honor Huff earned...
Cameron Young delivered big moment at The Players Championship
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Cameron Young had given up on his own expectations, and for good reason. Seeing him pose with The Players Championship trophy makes it easy to forget that he once tied a PGA Tour record with seven runner-up finishes — all of them in a 30-month...
Newest Steelers defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day proves versatile on and off field
Defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day once reviewed restaurants for a YouTube series and later served as co-host for boxer Mike Tyson’s podcast, a unique versatility that carries over to the football field. A 6-foot-4, 310-pounder with a Super Bowl ring, Joseph-Day has played various positions across the defensive front, from nose...
March of the freshmen: NCAA Tournament loaded with top NBA prospects
It was early in the final week before March Madness when BYU’s AJ Dybantsa opened his Big 12 Tournament run by scoring 40 points, breaking a freshman single-game record held by NBA great Kevin Durant. “I’m just trying to win games,” Dybantsa said afterward. By Selection Sunday, Darius Acuff Jr....
