Sports category, Page 2510
Plenty to praise as Penguins take 1st of back-to-back games vs. Blue Jackets
In the most important stretch of the season, the Penguins are starting to get hot. Thursday night, they won the first of two crucial games against the Blue Jackets, with a return match coming Saturday in Columbus. The Penguins blanked the Blue Jackets, 3-0. And a lot went right along...
First call: Todd Haley said what about Antonio Brown?
Friday’s “First Call” features some unbelievable quotes about Antonio Brown from Todd Haley. Ramon Foster channels his inner Will Ferrell. And Marc-Andre Fleury continues to climb the ladder of all-time wins. Todd Haley said what? Todd Haley spent six years as the Steelers offensive coordinator from 2012-2017. All of them...
Football footnotes: Eric Weddle to Steelers sounds better than it really is
Sports Illustrated mentioned the Steelers as a potential destination for free agent safety Eric Weddle. We did the same thing here at “Breakfast With Benz” two days ago when word came out that Weddle was going to be released by Baltimore. Weddle is a Mike Tomlin favorite, and the Steelers...
Tim Benz: Lamenting the death of the Antonio Brown-to-Bills deal
How many times have you heard this phrase from disgruntled Steelers fans in the weeks since Antonio Brown demanded a trade? “Pfft! They should screw him over and just send him to the Bills.” Well, early Friday morning, NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport, tweeted that was actually going to happen....
Penguins goalie Matt Murray heating up as season hits stretch run
By winning two Stanley Cup rings before his 24th birthday, Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray established himself as the type of player who ramps up his game as the stakes get higher. Murray wouldn’t say he’s the kind of guy who particularly likes playing at this time of year, though....
Penn State fires women’s basketball coach
Penn State women’s basketball coach Coquese Washington, who led the Lady Lions to three consecutive Big Ten regular-season championships from 2012-2014, was relieved of her duties Friday after 12 years on the job. Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour said Washington is leaving the program under a mutual agreement with...
Passion releases 2019 schedule
The season opener for the Pittsburgh Passion women’s semi-pro football team is less than a month away. The team kicks off its 17th campaign April 6 against the Cleveland Fusion at West Allegheny’s Joe P. DeMichela Stadium. A road game against longstanding rival D.C. Divas follows on April 13. The...
Despite Matt Murray’s strong performance, Penguins fall to Blue JacketsVideo
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Faced with the prospect of falling six points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins in the standings, the Columbus Blue Jackets were forced into the role of a cornered animal Saturday night. Not even a spectacular performance from goalie Matt Murray could keep them from claiming their prey. Boone...
Steelers’ reported talks to send Antonio Brown to Bills don’t pan out
The Pittsburgh Steelers won’t be shuffling wide receiver Antonio Brown off to Buffalo after all . After the NFL Network reported late Thursday night that the Steelers were “closing in” on a deal that would send Brown to the Buffalo Bills, talks were broken off Friday when the 30-year-old receiver...
Santa Anita tested as hoof beats give way to sounds of silence
ARCADIA, Calif. — The dirt track at eerily quiet Santa Anita is being tested extensively after the deaths of 21 thoroughbreds in two months forced the indefinite cancellation of racing and disrupted the workaday world of horses, trainers and jockeys. The sound of pounding hooves on the dirt was replaced...
Phil Kessel ends scoring drought as Penguins blank Blue JacketsVideo
During the famous HBK run that carried the Pittsburgh Penguins to the 2016 Stanley Cup, Phil Kessel cemented his reputation as a high-stakes player. He scored a big goal in a big game again Thursday night, but the satisfaction of coming through in the clutch wasn’t the prevailing feeling that...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Penguins beat Blue Jackets for critical conference win
Only two points separated the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets for eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings, so their Metropolitan Division game had Stanley Cup playoff implications. That their meeting Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena was the first of back-to-back games between the division rivals — they...
Pitt’s hope for Notre Dame game: Escape last place in the ACC
Pitt is on its way to a third consecutive losing season for the first time since 2000, but there is still an important matter to resolve Saturday. The Panthers (12-18, 2-15) can escape last place in the ACC by defeating Notre Dame (13-17, 3-14) at Petersen Events Center. A victory...
Kennesaw State’s Amani Johnson tabbed ASUN’s top freshman
Amani Johnson, the former WPIAL scoring champion from East Allegheny, was unanimously voted the top freshman basketball player in her college team’s conference. The 5-foot-6 guard at Kennesaw State was named the Atlantic Sun Conference Freshman of the Year. Johnson, who scored 2,345 points in high school, was named ASUN...
Rafa Cabrera Bello leads Bay Hill as Phil Mickelson salvages wild round
ORLANDO, Fla. — Rafa Cabrera Bello had a Bay Hill debut to remember with a 7-under-par 65 for a two-shot lead while playing with Arnold Palmer’s grandson. The entertainment, as usual, came from Phil Mickelson. Back at the Arnold Palmer Invitational for the first time in six years, Mickelson capped...
Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim deemed ‘not reckless’ in fatal crash
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim will not be charged in last month’s fatal highway accident, and the case is closed. Boeheim was “not reckless,” Onondaga County district attorney William Fitzpatrick said Thursday. Fitzpatrick added his decision came after reviewing the police accident report. Boeheim declined to comment,...
5 district athletes to watch at NCAA D-I Indoor Track & Field
The NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships will be contested Friday and Saturday in Birmingham, Ala. Here are five district athletes to watch at the meet: Jordan Geist, So. Arizona (Knoch) — A record-breaker and bona fide “stud” in his sport growing up, Geist drew crowds away from...
Pitt-Johnstown’s Eddins, Allesandro eye DII national titles
Greensburg Salem graduate Chris Eddins has come a long way since high school. He left the Golden Lions with a 138-35 career record, was a WPIAL champion in 2016 and placed sixth in the PIAA Class AAA state tournament. But he stepped up his game at Pitt-Johnstown. He earned a...
Longtime coach D.P. Harris leaving Saint Vincent hoops program
For the first time in more than a decade, Saint Vincent is looking for a men’s basketball coach. Don Paul “D.P.” Harris, the man in charge of the Bearcats for 16 years, stepped down to take a position at a college in Florida. The Bearcats just finished a 22-5 season...
Steelers sign offensive linemen Maurkice Pouncey, Ramon Foster to contracts
Ensuring the core of their offensive line will remain intact a little while longer, the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday signed center Maurkice Pouncey to a three-year contract and guard Ramon Foster to a two-year deal. Pouncey had one year left on his contract, and Foster was set to become an...
Cole Tucker hits walk-off homer as Pirates beat Orioles
Cole Tucker hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth — his second of the game and the team’s fifth — to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday in Bradenton, Fla. Erik Gonzalez and Adam Frazier hit home runs...
‘Arrow’ pointing up for former Central Valley star WR Robert Foster
Unlike a year ago, Robert Foster has some clarity about his NFL future. Foster, the former Central Valley star wide receiver, emerged as one of the unlikely success stories in the NFL last season, and the Buffalo Bills are hoping he can build on his progress in 2019. Last week...
Injured Penguins defenseman Kris Letang misses Thursday’s skate due to illnessVideo
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang responded well after returning to practice this week, but he didn’t skate Thursday morning due to illness, coach Mike Sullivan said. Letang has been out since Feb. 23 with an upper-body injury. He skated with teammates Tuesday and Wednesday in a red, no-contact jersey. The...
Penguins, Blue Jackets heading in different directions since trade deadline
As good as a trade-deadline acquisition looks on paper, he still has to fit into his new team’s lineup. That’s a lesson the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets are on opposite sides of coming into their key Metropolitan Division matchup Tuesday night. Ballyhooed pick-ups Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel, Adam...
Blue Jackets sit top goalie Sergei Bobrovsky for crucial game against Penguins
Facing one of the teams the Columbus Blue Jackets are battling with for a playoff spot in a tight Eastern Conference race in one of the biggest games of the year, John Tortorella is starting his backup goalie and telling his players to relax and have fun. Joonas Korpisalo, not...
