Sports category, Page 2407
At minicamp, Steelers work on improving 2-minute situations
The first two days of minicamp practices for the Pittsburgh Steelers each ended with the first-team offense, followed by the second-team offense, trying to drive the length of the field and score a touchdown in a simulated 2-minute drill. It wasn’t by happenstance. Each of the final seven games last...
Five suspects detained in shooting of former Red Sox star David Ortiz
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — An alleged gunman and five accomplices were detained in the shooting of former Red Sox superstar David Ortiz, Dominican officials said Wednesday, while providing no information about why a group of young men would try to kill their country’s most beloved sports hero. Four other...
James Conner expects Steelers to spread carries evenly
James Conner was a workhorse in his first season as a Pittsburgh Steelers starter last year, eating up more than 62% of the carries in the ground game and 64% of the targets to running backs in the passing game. At least one key player in the locker room believes...
Keith Butler: Steelers did ‘great thing’ by trading up to draft Devin Bush
Evidenced mostly by a 9-6-1 record, the Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t do enough to replace injured inside linebacker Ryan Shazier for the 2018 season. Finding a player with Shazier’s blend of speed, athleticism and instincts remained atop the team’s wish list heading into the NFL Draft, and nobody was happier than...
Steelers new replay-challenge czar prepping by watching all 300+ NFL challenges from 2018
There were more than 300 replay reviews in the NFL last season. Teryl Austin vows to watch all of them. Hired by the Pittsburgh Steelers in January as their senior defensive assistant and secondary coach, part of Austin’s duties with his new team is to be something of a replay-challenge...
JuJu Smith-Schuster says he learned from Antonio Brown’s Steelers exitVideo
JuJu Smith-Schuster said he was disappointed with how Antonio Brown’s tenure with the Pittsburgh Steelers ended but said he wouldn’t describe their subsequent Twitter feud as hatred. The Steelers wide receiver exchanged words with Brown since the seven-time Pro Bowl and four-time All-Pro wideout was traded to the Oakland Raiders,...
WPIAL baseball and softball teams gearing up for shots at PIAA gold
The PIAA baseball and softball championship matchups are set, and five WPIAL teams – Beaver and Serra Catholic for baseball and Penn-Trafford, Elizabeth Forward and Frazier for softball – will attempt to bring home state titles. The WPIAL has a team in the 4A baseball final for the second year...
Grunewald, runner with cancer who inspired many, dies at 32
MINNEAPOLIS — Gabriele Grunewald, one of the country’s top middle-distance runners, has died at her home in Minneapolis after inspiring many with her long and public fight against cancer. She was 32. Her husband, Justin Grunewald, posted on Instagram about her death late Tuesday and confirmed it Wednesday in a...
Steelers announce training camp schedule, with 15 open workouts
For the 54th consecutive year, the Pittsburgh Steelers will conduct training camp at Saint Vincent College this summer, with players reporting for work by 4 p.m. Thursday, July 25. The first workout will be held Friday, July 26 at 2:55 p.m. The Steelers will hold 15 practices that are open...
Pirates plan to build top pick Quinn Priester ‘the right way’ in Bradenton
The Pirates gave Quinn Priester and his family the prototypical tour of Pittsburgh on Tuesday, from getting his first view inside PNC Park to a ride on the incline and lunch at Primanti Bros. On Wednesday, they put Priester on a plane. After signing their first-round pick, the Pirates sent...
First Call: Pirates’ Melky Cabrera’s rising trade stock; Antonio Brown embraces ‘Hard Knocks’
For “First Call” Wednesday, is Melky Cabrera getting traded? How about Derek Dietrich? Antonio Brown seems pumped for “Hard Knocks.” High praise for a Pitt product in the NFL. And the Pirates first-round pick insists his arm is fine. Will Melky move? MLB.com posted a list of 10 players whose...
Pitt’s Qadree Ollison could be ‘dangerous’ with Falcons’ offense, NFL analyst says
It wasn’t the strongest NFL draft class for running backs. But Pitt’s Qadree Ollison may be one of the most impactful of the bunch. That’s according to NFL.com’s Gil Brandt. Here’s what he said about the Falcons’ fifth-round pick. “In a perfect world for the Falcons, Devonta Freeman and Ito...
Kevin Gorman: Penguins GM playing with poker face on trading Phil Kessel
Phil Kessel pulled a page out of the playbook of another Pittsburgh sports superstar, using his leverage like Antonio Brown to kill a trade before it could be finalized. Difference is, Jim Rutherford didn’t cave like Kevin Colbert. Where the Steelers general manager stayed true to his word about trading...
NHL competition committee recommends expansion of instant replay
After several controversial calls sparked outrage during the Stanley Cup playoffs, the NHL/NHLPA competition committee has recommended an expansion of instant replay. The committee called for changes to the coach’s challenge system as well as the expansion of a referee’s ability to review calls on his own. The committee did...
Steelers’ Sutton Smith, ex-hockey player and Blues fan, breaks down Stanley Cup Final
It’s Blues vs. Bruins on Wednesday in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. So I turned to the best possible hockey expert in Pittsburgh for analysis for our podcast today. Look out, Bob Errey and Phil Bourque. Step aside, Colby Armstrong and Mike Rupp. This is Sutton Smith’s time...
Tim Benz: Can ‘Sweet Feet’ Shaun Sarrett fill Mike Munchak’s shoes with Steelers?
Everybody is in on the joke now. Not just the offensive linemen. “There you go, ‘Sweet Feet,’ ” Ben Roethlisberger hollered as he walked past a throng of media waiting for new offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett. “Uh, I mean, coach Shaun.” It’s been the running joke of Steelers spring...
Chris Archer gives up 5 homers as Pirates fall to Braves
ATLANTA — Now that his knee is healthy, Brian McCann showed he has plenty of power left at 35 years old. McCann hit one of four Atlanta homers in the second inning and took Pirates starter Chris Archer deep again with a tiebreaking, three-run shot in the sixth to help...
Tim Benz: 10 years after 1st Cup, expectations change for Crosby, Malkin
Penguins fans have had a lot of fun anniversaries to celebrate lately. • The 35th anniversary of drafting Mario Lemieux was Sunday. • The end of this season marked the 30th anniversary of Lemieux’s 199-point campaign in 1989. • Today is the 10th anniversary of the 2009 Stanley Cup championship...
Kevin Rabbitt podcast part 3: Facing Michigan’s Fab 5 as a freshman at Rice
Kevin Rabbitt knows what it’s like to guard Jalen Rose. Rabbitt, then a guard at Rice, faced Michigan’s Fab Five team that entered the 1992-93 season ranked No. 1. “My very first game at Rice … this was a big moment, we played (our) opening game (on ESPN), we played...
Pirates minor league report: June 11, 2019
Pirates INDIANAPOLIS (Triple-A, 35-27) lost 2-0 to Buffalo (Blue Jays). RHP Luis Escobar (1-1, 2.19) went 51/3 innings with a run allowed on two hits, five strikeouts and two walks in the loss. RHP Christian Kelley (.216) doubled once for the Indians’ lone extra-base hit. Next: Wednesday vs. Buffalo, 1:35...
Pirates sign six more draft picks, including three first-day selections
One day after signing first-round pick Quinn Priester, the Pittsburgh Pirates came to terms with six more draft choices. The Pirates signed their second-round pick, Indiana outfielder Matt Gorski; Houston infielder Jared Triolo, their Comp B pick; and third-rounder Matt Frazier, an outfielder from Arizona. 2nd-rder Matt Gorski signs with...
Amid appeal, Braves’ Josh Donaldson starts four-homer splurge against Pirates
Playing amid an appeal of a one-game suspension for his role in a benches-clearing incident, Josh Donaldson made the Pittsburgh Pirates pay in a big way. The Pirates were leading, 2-0, when the Atlanta Braves third baseman hit a 365-foot homer off Pirates pitcher Chris Archer that bounced off the...
With trade nixed, Penguins GM Jim Rutherford says he’s content keeping Phil Kessel
Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford has found trading winger Phil Kessel to be a difficult proposition. So for now, he says he’s given up. “It looks like he’ll stay here,” Rutherford said Tuesday. According to reports, Rutherford worked out a deal to send Kessel to the Minnesota Wild for...
Burrell’s Scherer finding spot with Pitt track team
Nikki Scherer enjoyed a prolific high school track and field career in which she produced championship performances at both the WPIAL and state levels. The Burrell graduate made a transition to the women’s team at Pitt last spring, and by her own admission, it took some time to get used...
Josh Donaldson appeals 1-game ban for Pirates-Braves dust-up
ATLANTA — Braves third baseman Josh Donaldson has appealed a one-game suspension for shoving Pirates catcher Elias Díaz in the first inning of Monday’s game. Donaldson can continue to play until his appeal is heard and was in his customary cleanup spot in the Atlanta batting order Tuesday night. The...
