Sports category, Page 245
Tim Benz: Aaron Rodgers situation is now more about saving face for Steelers than it is the football calendar
I want to thank ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio. He sat through an entire three-hour appearance by Aaron Rodgers on Joe Rogan’s podcast and took notes. So we don’t have to. I don’t always agree with Florio’s opinions or presentation. But that’s doing God’s work, my friends. Thanks, Mike. Furthermore, Florio endured...
Pirates farm report for May 22, 2025: Omar Alfonzo drives in 4 in Greensboro win
INDIANAPOLIS (Triple-A, 26-20) managed a total of six hits in being swept by Toledo (Tigers) in a doubleheader. In the first game, a 2-1 Indianapolis loss, LF Matt Gorski (.289) went 1 for 3 with his fourth homer. Matt Frazier (.231) went 2 for 3 with a double. 2B Nick...
Pirates snap streak of not scoring more than 4 runs but are beaten by Brewers
Just when it appeared that neither Mother Nature nor the baseball gods could prevent the Pittsburgh Pirates from setting a major league record of dubious distinction Thursday night, they finally caught a break. The Pirates hadn’t scored more than four runs in 26 games when a one-hour, 50-minute rain delay...
Bennett, Verhaeghe help Panthers roll past Hurricanes 5-0, take 2-0 lead in Eastern final
RALEIGH, N.C. — Sam Bennett scored one of his two goals in Florida’s three-goal first period, Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves and the Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 5-0, on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference final. Gustav Forsling and Matthew Tkachuk also scored in...
Florida coach Todd Golden reaps rewards of national title, including reloading his rosterVideo
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — It would be tough to top the month Florida coach Todd Golden has enjoyed since winning the national championship. Golden and the Gators visited the White House on Wednesday, a trip that included an invitation to the Oval Office. He landed one of the top guards in...
Saints brushing off concerns about unproven QBs in Kellen Moore’s first year in chargeVideo
METAIRIE, La. — New Orleans Saints first-year coach Kellen Moore’s experience tells him that NFL teams can win without an accomplished quarterback. Moore was playing for Dallas when the Cowboys selected Dak Prescott in the fourth round of the 2016 draft. Prescott won the starting job as a rookie and...
Scottie Scheffler opens Colonial with an eagle and trails tour rookie John Pak by 5 shotsVideo
FORT WORTH, Texas — Scottie Scheffler and John Pak enjoyed the same start to the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial with eagles on their respective first holes. The world No. 1 couldn’t keep up with the PGA Tour rookie from there. Four days after winning his third major at the...
Trade Paul Skenes? GM Ben Cherington downright dismissive of dealing Pirates star
As the Pittsburgh Pirates stumbled to a disappointing start to the season, the idea that they should consider trading star right-hander Paul Skenes has become a hot-button topic in baseball circles. Pirates general manager Ben Cherington smirked when asked about trading Skenes on Thursday afternoon, entertaining the question if not...
NHL playoffs include 13 players from Finland on 4 teams in conference finalsVideo
DALLAS — Dallas Stars coach Pete DeBoer has jokingly referred to himself as being Finnish during these NHL playoffs. After all, he has five of the 13 players from Finland who are on the rosters of the four teams still chasing the Stanley Cup. The Stars’ top line is a...
Team Penske focused on moving forward after shock firings following Indy 500 cheating scandalVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — Roger Penske personally told Will Power about the firings of Team Penske’s top three executives, a decision, Power said, his boss made after a sleepless night contemplating how to handle a cheating scandal ahead of the Indianapolis 500. “I know it was very tough for him. He said...
Canada, Sidney Crosby stunned by Denmark in quarterfinals of world championshipsVideo
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby recorded an assist for Canada, which was upset by Denmark, 2-1, in the quarterfinal round of the International Ice Hockey Federation’s World Championship tournament at the Jyske Bank Boxen arena in Herning, Denmark. Forward Nick Olesen scored the winning goal with 49 seconds remaining in...
‘Being Pittsburgh strong’ sold transfer Barry Dunning Jr. on coming to Pitt
After playing for three college basketball teams the past three seasons, Barry Dunning Jr. was drawn to being part of Jeff Capel’s rebuilt roster at Pitt and chasing success in the ACC. “Being Pittsburgh strong and going in with a chip on my shoulder, playing for something bigger than themselves,...
Pitt elevates Ben Waldrum to women’s soccer head coach; Randy Waldrum moves into technical director role
Pitt’s father-son tandem tasked with leading the Pitt women’s soccer program each will take on new roles. Randy Waldrum, who has been the Panthers’ head coach for the past seven seasons, will move into a technical director role while his son Ben Waldrum has been elevated to head coach. Pitt...
College Football Playoff shifts to straight seeding model, no automatic byes for top league champsVideo
The College Football Playoff will go to a more straightforward way of filling the bracket next season, placing teams strictly on where they are ranked instead of moving pieces around to reward conference champions. Ten conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director came to the unanimous agreement they needed Thursday...
Emmy Klika joins fellow Pitt women’s volleyball players on national teams
Emmy Klika, a recent alum of the Pitt Panthers women’s volleyball team, has been selected to play for the women’s U23 national team. The libero joins 17 other athletes who will be training for the NORCECA U23 Pan American Cup. The tournament takes place in Leon, Mexico from July 25-Aug....
Chicago Blackhawks hire Jeff Blashill as head coach, hoping for a turnaround
CHICAGO — The Chicago Blackhawks hired Jeff Blashill on Thursday, giving him a second chance to prove himself as a head coach in the NHL. Blashill, a 51-year-old Michigan native, coached the Detroit Red Wings for seven seasons. He was let go after the team went 32-40-10 during the 2021-22...
Craig Kessler selected next LPGA commissioner and sees explosive potential
The LPGA has selected Craig Kessler as its next commissioner, turning to the PGA of America’s chief operating officer to help the 75-year-old league better capitalize on the growth in women’s sports. Kessler, 39, is the 10th commissioner in LPGA history, replacing Mollie Marcoux Samaan, who stepped away after three-and-a-half...
Mark Madden: The tush push has NFL people talking; some should be quiet
The tush push is one play. It’s basically run by one team. (A few others dabble.) But it certainly gets people talking. At this week’s NFL owners meeting in Minnesota, Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie lobbied for an hour on behalf of the tush push, his team’s ballyhooed goal-line go-to....
French Open 2025: The certainty Rafael Nadal and Iga Swiatek brought to Paris is missing now
PARIS — For quite some time, there’s usually been a sense of certainty at the French Open. That was particularly so on the men’s side, with Rafael Nadal ruling over the red clay of Roland-Garros the way no one has dominated any tournament in tennis history. He would go there,...
First Call: Art Rooney’s insight on ‘heated’ debate over tush push; new NFL postseason award
Thursday’s “First Call” has quotes from Steelers owner Art Rooney II about how things went down in a prickly meeting surrounding the idea of eliminating the tush push. We also have a new award in NFL circles, recruiting information from Pitt and Duquesne and a look at the Pirates’ next...
U mad, bro?: NFL fans angry about failed playoff changes; Pirates fans hate Paul Skenes trade talkVideo
For “U mad, bro?” this week, we’ve got a lot of people who are angry that the NFL ended up keeping its current playoff format in place. We’ve also got folks all tied up about the idea of trading Paul Skenes, and some guy is ticked about the use of...
Tim Benz: Starters diluting Pirates’ historic futility at the plate
How good has the Pirates’ starting pitching been of late? Good enough that on a day when the franchise’s anemic offense tied an MLB record for run scoring futility, the Pirates still managed to win. For a second game in a row. Wednesday’s 3-1 victory over the Reds marked the...
Amid historically bad offensive stretch, Pirates focus on finding a fix
The Pittsburgh Pirates are mired in an historic offensive slump, one that saw them match a major-league record Wednesday for most games without scoring more than four runs. When Spencer Horwitz drove in Andrew McCutchen with an RBI groundout in the ninth inning of an 8-5 loss to the Milwaukee...
Penguins A to Z: Ville Koivunen has already provided hopeVideo
With the Pittsburgh Penguins entering the offseason for a third consecutive year without a playoff appearance, TribLive will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 56 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until future seasons — with the organization....
Aliquippa ousts 2-time state champion Nick Lackovich as boys basketball coach
Aliquippa boys basketball coach Nick Lackovich was holding an open gym Wednesday, unaware that the school board gathered nearby was voting him out. Lackovich said he was told his coaching contract was not renewed despite leading the Quips to the WPIAL finals and the state semifinals this past season. The...
