Sports category, Page 1807
Penguins Prospect Watch: Santeri Airola makes Liiga debutVideo
A weekly look at how Penguins prospects and minor leaguers have fared over the past week: • In Finland’s Liiga, defenseman Santeri Airola made his debut in that league by recording two power-play assists for Ilves during a 5-4 home loss to HPK on Saturday. Aside from two games in...
Baseball America ranks Ke’Bryan Hayes as Pirates’ top prospect, one of top 20 in baseball
A brilliant rookie debut has lifted Ke’Bryan Hayes to rise in Baseball America’s top 100 rankings and become the top prospect for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2021. Baseball America moved Hayes from No. 52 in 2020 to No. 15 this year, the highest of any Pirates prospect, when it updated...
Mark Madden: Steelers promoting Matt Canada falls under ‘status quo,’ ‘definition of insanity’
At his season-ending media briefing, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said, “I’m not going to maintain the status quo and hope the outcome changes. That’s the definition of insanity.” Less than a week later, Tomlin slipped on a straitjacket and is hoping no one notices. Replacing Randy Fichtner with Matt Canada...
Still playing: Bills, Bucs risen from Super Bowl droughts
In the 1990s, the Bills buffaloed their way to four successive — if not successful — Super Bowls. No other franchise has managed that. About a decade later, the long-downtrodden Buccaneers swashbuckled to an NFL title. Ever since, pretty much nothing for those teams. Until now. Next weekend, Buffalo, which...
Chargers hire Rams DC Brandon Staley as head coach
COSTA MESA, Calif. — Brandon Staley won’t have to move that far for his first head coaching opportunity. Staley agreed to become the Los Angeles Chargers’ coach on Sunday night after one season as the defensive coordinator for the crosstown Rams. The Chargers made the decision to hire Staley after...
This date in sports history: Jan. 18
1938 — Grover Cleveland Alexander is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. His 90 shutouts is second on the career list to Walter Johnson, and his 16 shutouts in 1916 is still the major league record. 1958 — Canadian born Willie O’Ree becomes the NHL’s first black player for...
First Call: JuJu Smith-Schuster stokes free agency talk via video game, Aaron Donald’s emotional response to loss
Monday’s “First Call” starts with Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and his “virtual” flirtation with free agency. Cleveland suffered a bad break during the Browns playoff loss in Kansas City. Los Angeles’ Aaron Donald had an emotional reaction to his Rams losing in Green Bay Saturday. And the “Killer B’s”...
Madden Monday: Matt Canada ‘is not qualified’ to be Steelers’ new offensive coordinator
The idea of the Steelers potentially promoting Matt Canada to become the offensive coordinator is going to go one of two ways. If it eventually happens. 1. It’s going to go as many predict. For quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, Canada is going to be a less abrasive, less public annoyance than...
Tim Benz: Photo of dejected Ben Roethlisberger conjures bad Pittsburgh sports memory
I saw that photo of Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger sitting alone on the bench at the end of the team’s 48-37 playoff loss to the Cleveland Browns. Dejected. Almost slouching into his pads. Staring off into the void of defeat and a murky future. It was about 10 minutes after...
Empty Thoughts: Penguins 4, Capitals 3Video
Observations from the Penguins’ 4-3 shootout win against the Capitals: Things were looking rough for Marcus Pettersson early in Sunday’s game. He kind of got tangled up behind the net and wasn’t in position to properly defend on the first goal the Capitals scored midway through the first period. A...
Tom Brady, Bucs eliminate Drew Brees, SaintsVideo
NEW ORLEANS — Tom Brady’s best game in three tries against New Orleans kept the Buccaneers moving on in the NFL playoffs and has Saints quarterback Drew Brees headed home — perhaps for good. Brady and the Bucs offense turned three Saints turnovers, including two interceptions of Brees, into touchdowns,...
Gateway’s Rogers eager to return to basketball court after recovery from heart bypass surgery
Being away from the basketball court for any length of time normally is a foreign concept for Alvis Rogers. The third-year Gateway boys head coach enjoys keeping his mind and body sharp in the game he loves. But a medical issue and subsequent surgery late last month now has the...
Gutsy or insane? Depends on the outcome of tough NFL calls
Gutsy or insane? Depends on the outcome. Andy Reid’s gamble on fourth-and-inches at the Kansas City Chiefs’ 48-yard line with 1 minute, 14 seconds remaining in Sunday’s 22-17 divisional-round win over the Cleveland Browns fits the category. That it succeeded will become legend among Chiefs fans. Had it failed, well,...
Browns’ Baker Mayfield: Playoff loss to Chiefs ‘definitely going to sting’Video
Just like so many painful playoff losses in their past, the Browns came up achingly short — inches from a game-swinging play, inches from a last chance. Cleveland’s turnaround season ended Sunday in heartbreak. “For now,” said quarterback Baker Mayfield. “It’s definitely going to sting.” Unable to take advantage of...
Kevin Na has a big finish and wins Sony Open
HONOLULU — Three shots behind with six holes to play, Kevin Na birdied three straight holes and finished with an up-and-down birdie from behind the 18th green for a 5-under-par 65 and a one-shot victory in the Sony Open. Na won for the fifth time in his PGA Tour career,...
Marshall hires Alabama, Penn State assistant Charles Huff as football coach
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Marshall has given Alabama’s Charles Huff his first head coaching job. Marshall announced Huff’s hiring Sunday. Huff spent the past two seasons as the Crimson Tide’s associate head coach and running backs coach and is widely known as a top recruiter. The 37-year-old Huff is Marshall’s first...
Chiefs overcome Patrick Mahomes injury, defeat Browns to reach AFC title gameVideo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs had lost Patrick Mahomes to a concussion and were in danger of losing the game. Then their defense and Chad Henne — their defense and Chad Henne?! — kept their hopes of a Super Bowl repeat alive, holding off the Cleveland Browns,...
Lionel Messi sees red, Athletic beats Barca in Spanish Super CupVideo
Lionel Messi lost his cool after another Barcelona collapse on Sunday, hitting an opponent away from the ball and being sent off for the first time while playing with the Catalan club in the team’s 3-2 loss to Athletic Bilbao in the final of the Spanish Super Cup. Iñaki Williams’...
Bills fans donate to charity after Ravens QB Lamar Jackson suffers injuryVideo
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson’s loss Saturday night was a win for charity. After the Buffalo Bills knocked the NFL’s reigning MVP out of their AFC divisional-round game late in the third quarter, Bills Mafia stepped up. A fan on the team’s Reddit page shared a link to one of Jackson’s...
Penguins place defenseman Mike Matheson on injured reserve
The Pittsburgh Penguins placed defenseman Mike Matheson on injured reserve, retroactive to Friday, because of an undisclosed ailment. Coach Mike Sullivan announced Matheson would be sidelined for an indefinite period of time following Sunday’s 4-3 shootout win at PPG Paints Arena. “He was injured in the (Friday’s) game,” Sullivan said...
Balanced Purdue staves off Penn State men’s basketball team
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Sasha Stefanovic led a balanced attack with 15 points, Trevion Willilams had a double-double and Purdue held off rusty Penn State, 80-72, on Sunday. It was Purdue’s first home game since Christmas Day and the first game for Penn State since Dec. 30 after four conference...
Penguins get 1st win, defeat Capitals in shootout
Mike Sullivan often professes he has one overriding factor he considers when he crafts his lineup for each and every game he oversees as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ coach. What players will give his team the best chance to win that particular contest? On Sunday, with his team seeking its first...
Pitt shows it can score, but rebounding might be the key to enduring success
Pitt’s flurry of points against Syracuse on Saturday can be quantified in a variety of ways. • The Panthers scored 96 points, the most in a conference game that didn’t go into overtime since Pitt recorded 98 against DePaul in 2008. • It also was Pitt’s highest total against the...
Maceo Austin rejoins Duquesne teammates at practice
Duquesne sophomore guard Maceo Austin rejoined his teammates at practice Sunday after missing the past three games while taking a leave of absence for personal reasons, coach Keith Dambrot said. “We are glad to have him back,” Dambrot said. “It means a lot.” Austin probably won’t play Wednesday against Rhode...
Penguins to start goaltender Casey DeSmith against CapitalsVideo
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan professes his primary consideration in crafting a lineup for any game is to dress the players he believes will give his team the best chance to win. For Sunday’s home opener at PPG Paints Arena against the rival Washington Capitals, backup goaltender Casey DeSmith will be...
