Sports category, Page 2568
Tearful Andy Murray says Australian Open could be his last tournament
MELBOURNE, Australia — Andy Murray is still hoping to make it to one more Wimbledon tournament before his problematic hip forces him into retirement. For now, he’s only committing to the Australian Open. In an emotional news conference Friday, when a tearful Murray had to leave the room shortly after...
Penn State men lose as Nebraska wins 20th straight at home
LINCOLN, Neb. — Isaiah Roby scored a career-high 22 points and made a couple big defensive plays late, and Nebraska beat Penn State, 70-64, on Thursday night for its school-record 20th straight home win. The Cornhuskers (12-4, 2-3 Big Ten) bounced back from two straight road losses that knocked them...
Offensive star power headlines Colts-Chiefs showdown
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Eric Ebron has seen the forecast for Saturday’s divisional playoff game between the Indianapolis Colts and Kansas City Chiefs, where even the most optimistic of meteorologists are pegging the chances of rain or snow at about 50 percent. It doesn’t bother him. The Colts tight end...
Did Tyler Boyd perform beyond his contract terms?
The Cincinnati Bengals caught a bargain with Tyler Boyd this season. The former Pitt and Clairton star is one of five NFL finalists for the VIZIO Top Value Performer trophy. The award is given to the NFL player whose on-field performance most exceeds the value of his contract. Boyd, who...
Pitt plans to discontinue women’s tennis after spring season
Pitt will shut down its intercollegiate women’s tennis program at the end of the upcoming spring season, marking the first time in nearly a quarter century the university has discontinued a sport. Men’s gymnastics and tennis were eliminated at the end of the 1994-95 academic year. The elimination of women’s...
Rams’ Whitworth looking for 1st playoff win in 8th trip
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Seven trips to the postseason and no wins can wear on a person. Los Angeles Rams left tackle Andrew Whitworth has managed to keep his sense of humor. “This is the furthest I’ve been in the playoffs, even though we didn’t play last week,” Whitworth said....
Franklin Park’s Catanzarite claims USTA Gold Ball in Orlando
After a string of second- and third-place finishes, Franklin Park junior tennis player Ava Catanzarite ended the year on top. Catanzarite, 16, and her partner, Avery Durham, of South Carolina, took first place in girls 16 doubles at the U.S. Tennis Association National Winter Championships on Dec. 29-Jan. 4 at...
North Allegheny grads Gonzalez, Zhang made quick impact for college teams
North Allegheny graduates Mason Gonzalez and Andrew Zhang have made smooth transitions to Division I swimming. Gonzalez (Stanford) and Zhang (Northwestern), both freshmen, rank among their teams’ fastest performers. Gonzalez, the reigning PIAA Class AAA champion in the boys 50-yard freestyle and 100 freestyle and WPIAL champion in the 50...
Bruce Arians confident Buccaneers not far from playoff contention
TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay’s bid to lure Bruce Arians out of retirement and back to the NFL included a pitch from baseball manager Joe Maddon. The 66-year-old Arians, a longtime Steelers offensive coordinator, grew up in York, not far from Maddon’s hometown of Hazelton. He and the Chicago Cubs...
West Virginia coach Neal Brown brings strong track recordVideo
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Self-described as “completely average college football player,” Neal Brown accepted his bachelor’s degree in business management from Massachusetts and wasn’t sure of his next step. “I was trying to put off going into the real world,” he said. So he played indoor football for a short time...
Penguins’ Patric Hornqvist out with another concussion
Pittsburgh Penguins winger Patric Hornqvist is sidelined with a concussion for the second time this season, coach Mike Sullivan said Thursday. Hornqvist was injured when he took a puck to the face in the first period of Tuesday night’s game against the Florida Panthers. It’s the fourth documented concussion for...
Lawyer: Vegas police seek Ronaldo DNA in rape investigation
LAS VEGAS — Cristiano Ronaldo is being asked by police in the U.S. to provide a DNA sample in an ongoing investigation of a Nevada woman’s allegation that he raped her in his Las Vegas hotel penthouse in 2009, the soccer star’s lawyer in Las Vegas said Thursday. Attorney Peter...
6 players to represent Western Pennsylvania schools at NFLPA Collegiate Bowl
The eighth annual NFLPA Collegiate Bowl game will be well represented with players from district colleges. The all-star game, which consists of college seniors, will be played Jan. 19 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. It will include six players from Western Pennsylvania schools among the 112 participants on...
New West Virginia football coach Neal Brown professes ‘dislike’ for Pitt
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Neal Brown hasn’t been at West Virginia long enough to build up any malice toward Pitt, but he was quick to jump feet-first into the rivalry during his introductory news conference Thursday. At least, West Virginia’s new head coach has a sense for the intensity of the...
Penguins reaping rewards of trade for Marcus Pettersson
Daniel Sprong is a simple, 21-year-old Dutchman just trying to score a few goals in the cruel world of professional hockey. It’s not his fault the Pittsburgh Penguins got off to a poor start to this season. Marcus Pettersson is a humble, 22-year-old Swede just trying to establish himself as...
Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman breaks elbow in fall on stairs
BOSTON — Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman says she is recovering from a broken elbow suffered in a fall on the stairs. Raisman in a Twitter post says “I survived two Olympic Games and 19 years of gymnastics without ever breaking a bone … the stairs got me … I fell...
Steelers’ David DeCastro won’t play in Pro Bowl because of injury
Guard David DeCastro became the second Pittsburgh Steelers player to withdraw from the Pro Bowl because of an undisclosed injury when he was replaced in the all-star game Thursday by Cleveland Browns guard Joel Bitonio. Wide receiver Antonio Brown pulled out of the Pro Bowl last week with an injury....
Steelers offseason positional outlook: Offensive tackles
Editor’s note: This is the fifth of a 12-part series breaking down the Pittsburgh Steelers at each position in the offseason. All salary cap information courtesy spotrac.com. Marcus Gilbert took to Twitter soon after the season ended to proclaim on his verified account that “2019 will be my best one...
Russia says WADA has started copying doping data
MOSCOW — Russia says World Anti-Doping Agency experts have started copying data from a Moscow laboratory which could implicate numerous Russian athletes in past drug cases. Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov says in televised comments that “work has started with the equipment, setting the equipment up and copying the database.” He...
One of the Steelers’ longest-tenured players, Daniel McCullers keeps surviving; will he again?
Only seven of the 55 other players who appeared in a game for the Pittsburgh Steelers during the recently-completed season have been with the team longer than Daniel McCullers. But as a pending unrestricted free agent, will Big Dan be back for a sixth season in black-and-gold? “We’ll just see...
First call: ‘Injured’ Antonio Brown seems to be working out pretty hard
In Thursday`s "First Call," Antonio Brown really seems to be struggling with his "injury." The never-ending parallels between Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin. And perhaps the greatest non-walk-off home run celebration ever. Gosh, I hope he`s OK For a guy who was too injured to be in the Pro Bowl...
Tim Benz, Jeff Erickson break down quiet Pirates offseason, fantasy NFL playoffs
In our weekly "Breakfast with Benz" fantasy sports podcast, we talk with Jeff Erickson of RotoWire. We`re looking at playoff predictions for all four NFL games this weekend. Not only do we dive into NFL playoff fantasy talk, but we look at the growth of college fantasy football. LISTEN: Tim...
U mad, bro? Readers believe Steelers actually were ‘a few plays away’
This week`s "U mad, bro?" shines a light on angry Steelers fans and prickly Penguins fans. And on people who still call Antonio Brown their "idol." Voluntarily. <hr? Steve emailed me. He agrees with most of my comments in this article about John Elway potentially impacting the Steelers` future on...
Tim Benz: Jerry Rice makes insane comments about Steelers’ Antonio Brown
Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown may have a $20,000 G.O.A.T ring. But when it comes to NFL wide receivers, San Francisco legend Jerry Rice is still the G.O.A.T — Greatest Of All Time. Rice is the all-time leader in receiving yards, receptions and touchdowns. He isn`t the G.O.A.T when it...
New West Virginia DC Vic Koenning values ‘contact-seekers’
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Vic Koenning said his philosophy on finding good football players is simple. “You have to be able to bend your knees,” he said. “You have to be able to have balance. You have to be able to tackle, and if you’re a defensive back, you have to...
