Sports category, Page 1811
Penguins learning on job after abbreviated training camp
One game into his season, Sidney Crosby is somewhat muddled. The Pittsburgh Penguins captain was uncertain when answering a query during a video conference with media from the team’s hotel Thursday in Philadelphia. Frankly, his answer was ambiguous and lacked conviction. What is new teammate Mark Janowski’s nickname? “I’ve heard...
Woodland Hills suspends boys basketball coach Matt Furjanic 1 game for social media post
Woodland Hills suspended boys basketball coach Matt Furjanic for one game in response to a social media post last week that criticized game officials. Furjanic confirmed the suspension Thursday after his appeal was denied by the school’s administration. He’ll sit out Friday’s home game against Berlin Brothersvalley. The WPIAL board...
Mickey Mantle rookie card sells for record $5.2 million, crushing Mike Trout record
It’s the Holy Grail. It’s the Mona Lisa. Entrepreneur Rob Gough believes he got both wrapped in one when he purchased a rare Mickey Mantle rookie baseball card for a record $5.2 million in November. “I’ve always wanted this card,” Gough recently told Forbes. “I’ve been searching for this Holy...
Steelers sign Pine-Richland’s Kevin Rader, 12 others to futures contracts
Tight end Kevin Rader and inside linebacker Tegray Scales, who each saw playing time on the active roster late in the season, were among 13 players the Pittsburgh Steelers signed to futures contracts Thursday. Also signed were wide receivers Anthony Johnson and Cody White; tackles Anthony Coyle, John Leglue and...
PAC announces schedule for late-starting basketball season
Basketball is coming back in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference with a shared chorus among the 10 schools: better late than never. The NCAA Division III league, which postponed winter sports months ago when the covid-19 pandemic bum-rushed daily life, released modified schedules Thursday with each men’s and women’s team playing...
Pirates trade lefty reliever Nik Turley to Oakland A’s for cash considerations
The Pittsburgh Pirates traded left-handed reliever Nik Turley to the Oakland A’s on Thursday for cash considerations. Turley, 31, was 0-3 with a 4.98 ERA and 1.108 WHIP with 20 strikeouts and 11 walks in 21 2/3 innings over 25 appearances last season. Turley is 0-5, with a 7.78 ERA...
UFC won’t punish fighters for marijuana use in policy change
The UFC will no longer punish fighters for using marijuana in most cases, making a major change to its anti-doping policy. The world’s largest mixed martial arts promotion confirmed Thursday that it will no longer worry about positive tests for carboxy-THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, unless it believes a...
Pirates, medical partners could ‘potentially utilize’ PNC Park as a covid-19 vaccination center
The Pittsburgh Pirates are meeting with medical partners at Allegheny Health Network and Highmark to “potentially utilize” PNC Park as a covid-19 vaccination center, a team spokesman confirmed Thursday. “The ballpark can allow for mass vaccinations to be done in a safe and socially distanced manner,” team spokesman Brian Warecki...
5th-year options due on Steelers safeties Minkah Fitzpatrick, Terrell Edmunds
There are plenty of decisions that need to be made by the Pittsburgh Steelers during an offseason that began after this past Sunday’s playoff loss. A couple of the easier ones involve picking up fifth-year contract options. For the first time, the Steelers have a pair to exercise — and...
Sidney Crosby’s jersey top seller on NHL’s store in 2020
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby had the top-selling jersey on the NHL’s online store for 2020. Sales of Crosby jerseys topped those of Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, Washington’s Alex Ovechkin and Toronto’s Auston Matthews for 2020, according to the NHL. Former Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, now with the Las Vegas Golden...
Kevin Stefanski out of basement, back with Browns after covid-19
CLEVELAND — Browns coach Kevin Stefanski doesn’t plan a trip downstairs to his basement any time soon. “Those walls were closing in on me,” he said. Stefanski returned to the team’s facility Thursday, 10 days after the first-year coach tested positive with the virus and after he missed Cleveland’s playoff...
Steelers part ways with offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner, 2 other assistants
The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t waste time shaking up their coaching staff after their sudden exit from the AFC playoffs. The franchise announced Thursday that offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner, offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett and defensive backs coach Tom Bradley won’t have their contracts renewed for the 2021 season. The announcement...
Urban Hire: Meyer returns to sidelines with NFL’s Jaguars
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Urban Meyer has won everywhere he’s coached. Small colleges. Big-time programs. He’s been a difference maker at each stop during his storied career. He’s ready to try something new: the NFL. Meyer agreed to become head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday, leaving the broadcast booth...
Bucs, Browns, Bills out to follow footsteps of champ Chiefs
Aside from winning the final Super Bowl before the merger in 1970, the Kansas City Chiefs’ biggest claim to fame for over half a century was team founder Lamar Hunt coining the phrase Super Bowl. Patrick Mahomes changed all of that a year ago when he led a furious fourth-quarter...
NFL wild-card games show potential for alternate broadcasts
LOS ANGELES — Brian Robbins directed “Varsity Blues” and was the producer of “Coach Carter,” but both of those might have been eclipsed last Sunday with Nickelodeon’s successful kids-oriented broadcast of an NFL playoff game. Even a couple days after last Sunday’s game, the president of Nickelodeon as well as...
Andy Murray tests positive for coronavirus before Australian Open
Andy Murray has tested positive for the coronavirus days before he was due to leave Britain for the Australian Open, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Thursday. The three-time Grand Slam champion is isolating at home near London and still hopes to compete in...
First Call: JuJu Smith-Schuster refutes claims about exit plans, radio host walks back Kevin Colbert story
Plenty of Steelers talk in Thursday’s “First Call.” Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is denying that he’s already planning to find a bigger market in free agency. The Detroit radio host who advanced the “Kevin Colbert to the Lions” story admits where he went wrong. And we find out if the...
U mad, bro?: Fans lambaste Steelers after humiliating playoff loss, Penguins after bad opener
This is one of those moments where I get out of the way and let Steelers fans get after it. The team just allowed its season to end in ignominious, humiliating fashion to the Cleveland Browns on wild-card weekend 48-37. People are fed up with head coach Mike Tomlin, quarterback...
Tim Benz: Based on his own ‘Tomlinisms,’ Mike Tomlin has failed to meet that ‘standard’ lately
We all know about the “Tomlinisms” from Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. His colorfully descriptive phrases to spin a sound bite. There’s usually a message underscoring those quotes, too. Truth and lessons underneath. The problem is, if you judge Tomlin by his own slogans, he hasn’t measured up to them...
Empty Thoughts: Flyers 6, Penguins 3Video
Observations from the Penguins’ 6-3 loss to the Flyers: This contest was not the best display of hockey. Sure, it was entertaining, particularly if you live east of Harrisburg. There were lots of goals, plenty of skating and relatively little defense. It looked like something from the 1980s, particularly when...
Duquesne falls apart in 2nd half in loss to Dayton
Let’s examine the state of the Duquesne basketball team through seven games after a 72-63 loss at Dayton on Wednesday night. • The Dukes (3-4, 2-3 Atlantic 10) can’t shoot well enough or find others enough open shots. The result is an unacceptable 34.8 shooting percentage over the past three...
Bills brace for run-dominant, Lamar Jackson-led Ravens
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Buffalo Bills defensive end Jerry Hughes feels as if he’s back at TCU, where the Horned Frogs would open training camp prepping for the read-option offense to squeeze in extra time for what had been their annual meeting against Air Force. “Given all the misdirection, and...
Penguins open season with 3-goal loss to Flyers
On Wednesday, Mike Sullivan was somewhere he has not been very often over the previous 10 months. A bench in an NHL arena. Since March, the Pittsburgh Penguins coach had been conducting the duties of his office primarily through the lens of a laptop camera. A few hours before his...
Buttoned-down Baker: Mayfield showing maturity for BrownsVideo
CLEVELAND — Baker Mayfield answered every question with thoughtful responses, carefully choosing each word while knowing a wrong one could spark controversy. Cleveland’s quarterback has matured: buttoned-down Baker. Days before the biggest game of his NFL career and another matchup against Patrick Mahomes and the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas...
Positive coronavirus tests shut down Penn State wrestling program
The Penn State wrestling team shut down because of positive coronavirus tests within the program just days before its scheduled season opener, the school announced Wednesday. The Nittany Lions were set to open the season Saturday at Rutgers. The schools and Big Ten will work to reschedule the match. Penn...
