In 1st combine without Mike Tomlin, rivals reflect on Steelers’ former coachVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — Hired seven years ago, Zac Taylor has become the dean of AFC North coaches. Whereas recently as two months back, he was matching wits with a pair of Super Bowl winners and a two-time NFL coach of the year, the Cincinnati Bengals’ Taylor saw each of his three...
‘I like Will a lot’: Steelers’ Omar Khan praises Will Howard, acknowledges need for franchise QBVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — Much of the time Omar Khan spent speaking to local and national media on Tuesday was spent on the topic of if Aaron Rodgers would return to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2026. Khan, though, was equally effusive in talking about one of the other quarterbacks on last year’s...
Pitt’s Olivia Babcock named finalist for AAU Sullivan Award
Pitt right-side hitter Olivia Babcock has already established her dominance in college volleyball, judging by back-to-back AVCA Player of the Year awards and a host of other accomplishments. By being named an AAU Sullivan Award finalist Tuesday, Babcock earned further respect as one of the premier amateur athletes in the...
Westminster football coach Scott Benzel leaving to join Manny Diaz’s staff at Duke
Westminster football coach Scott Benzel accepted a position on the coaching staff at Duke, director of athletics Jason Lener said Monday. Benzel led the Titans for the past 12 seasons since becoming head coach in January 2014. He guided the team to two Presidents’ Athletic Conference titles, and his 85...
Penguins acquire defenseman Samuel Girard from Avalanche
Kyle Dubas is usually open-ended when he talks about how he wants to craft his roster as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ president of hockey operations. That’s a nice way of suggesting he is adept of saying a lot without saying much. But at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season, he offered...
Mark Madden: Jack Hughes should jump from golden goal to NHL’s golden goose
The face of hockey is 38 years old. No offense to Sidney Crosby, but it’s time for a new face. That new face has a broken tooth. That face is Jack Hughes, 24, who scored the golden goal for the U.S. at the Olympics and plays in the New York...
2-time WNBA champion Kara Braxton dies at 43 after being in a car crash
Two-time WNBA champion Kara Braxton died after being in a car crash in Atlanta on Saturday. She was 43. The athletic department at Georgia, where Braxton played in college, texted The Associated Press confirmation of her death on Monday and posted on social media. Her son, Jelani Thurman, posted a...
Sewickley native Ryder Fetterolf is excelling in the OHL as he eyes the NHL DraftVideo
Ryder Fetterolf turned 18 on Jan. 5 and it was a fairly quiet affair. He had school earlier in the day, then had dinner along with some cake. Worst of all, he had homework. To be certain, the work he had to do at home wasn’t all that miserable, as...
Pitt departs for Stanford, seeking back-to-back ACC wins for 1st time this season
One victory hardly removes the bad taste in the mouths of Pitt coach Jeff Capel, his players and Panthers fans as a highly disappointing campaign continues. Still, Capel will take what he can get at this stage of the season, with the Panthers (10-17, 3-11 ACC) fighting to stay alive...
Steelers GM Omar Khan open to another season with Aaron Rodgers at QBVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — It’s officially A-Rod Watch 2.0. This sequel, though, won’t be like that long-running original. It’s looking more like a limited engagement. Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan on Tuesday said the team would “welcome” Aaron Rodgers back for the 2026 season. Unlike last year, though, the Steelers don’t...
Joe Starkey’s Mailbag: Would a salary cap enable the Pirates to keep Paul Skenes?
You ask. I answer. It’s time for “Mailing It In,” a weekly Q&A that appears Tuesdays at TribLive.com. Most of the questions come via X, but you can also hit me up at jraystarkey@gmail.com. Let’s gooooooo …. Chris Abt, @Chris_Abt: Why aren’t we considering that the imminent MLB lockout and...
Dennis Santana, Gregory Soto hope to provide Pirates right-left punch in high-leverage relief
BRADENTON, Fla. – When the Pittsburgh Pirates signed Gregory Soto, one of the players who welcomed him was the very man who had the most to lose by the arrival of the two-time All-Star left-handed reliever. Dennis Santana remembers Aroldis Chapman doing the same for him in June 2024, when...
First Call: Potential Steelers WR draft target limited at combine; Rickard Rakell on playing center while Sidney Crosby is hurtVideo
Tuesday’s “First Call” has some disappointing news from the NFL combine regarding a potential Pittsburgh Steelers draft target. The Cowboys are massaging the franchise tag situation with George Pickens. Plus, Penguins forward Rickard Rakell shares his Olympic opinions, and he discusses a potential move to center with Sidney Crosby injured....
Tim Benz: Sidney Crosby’s injury comes at tricky time for Penguins with trade deadline looming
Ben Kindel sat at his locker after Monday’s practice, next to Sidney Crosby’s empty stall. As the rookie forward responded to the question, he looked up at Crosby’s name plate — as if Crosby’s presence was there even if he wasn’t. “Sid’s quite a big part of our team. Our...
Westmoreland County campus clips: Hempfield grad stars in pool for Saint Vincent at PAC meet
Saint Vincent senior Jacob Dzurica left an indelible mark on his final appearance at the PAC Championships. The Hempfield graduate won the 50-yard freestyle, setting a conference record in prelims with a time of 19.72 seconds. He won the event in 20.08 seconds. Dzurica didn’t stop there as he also...
Ukrainian teen flees country during war, grows into NYC high school tennis champion
NEW YORK — Mariia Vainshtein never heard the noise and slept straight through that horrible night four years ago. She didn’t have her phone near bed when she woke the next morning — it probably had been taken by her parents for some teenager’s misbehavior, she suspects now with a...
Hempfield’s Jasmine Jones credits Air Force, bobsled pilot for helping her reach Olympic dreams
Lake Placid, N.Y., is where Jasmine Jones calls home these days since she trains there with the Air Force World Class Athlete program. On Saturday night in Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy, Jones became an Olympic bronze medalist alongside her friend and teammate, Kaillie Armbruster Humphries, in the two-woman bobsled competition. The...
U.S. women’s hockey team declines invitation from Trump to attend State of Union
WASHINGTON — The U.S. women’s hockey gold medal-winning team has politely declined an invitation from President Donald Trump to attend his State of the Union address on Tuesday. “We are sincerely grateful for the invitation extended to our gold medal—winning U.S. Women’s Hockey Team and deeply appreciate the recognition of...
Plum native Mike Miller part of local flair as he takes over as head coach of CFL’s Argonauts
After four seasons as an assistant coach with the Toronto Argonauts and helping them win two Canadian Football League Grey Cup titles (2022 and 2024), Mike Miller is getting the chance to lead the longstanding franchise. “It’s been great to be a part of this first-class organization, and I am...
Pirates’ Bubba Chandler comes out firing, but fastball command leads to 4 walks in loss to Yankees
BRADENTON, Fla. — Bubba Chandler was feeling his four-seam fastball, so he turned to steal a glance at the scoreboard behind him after his third pitch of his first start of spring training. The radar gun clocked it at 100.6 mph. Short on sleep and over-caffeinated on coffee, the 23-year-old...
Cowboys leaning toward using franchise tag on receiver George Pickens
INDIANAPOLIS — The Dallas Cowboys are leaning toward using the franchise tag on receiver George Pickens while continuing to discuss a long-term contract, vice president of personnel Stephen Jones said Monday. Jones spoke to reporters at the NFL scouting combine, declining to put a timeline on getting a deal done...
Penguins rookie Avery Hayes returns with even more confidenceVideo
Avery Hayes knows he’s not here to replace Sidney Crosby. He wouldn’t dare even consider that outrageous suggestion. And how could he? “He’s a childhood hero of mine,” the 23-year-old rookie said of the 38-year-old captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins. But he is here on the NHL roster because Crosby...
Riverhounds sign former Plum standout Aldi Flowers-Gamboa to USL Academy contract
Aldi Flowers-Gamboa is back home with a big year in soccer on his mind. The former Plum soccer standout signed a USL Academy contract with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds and will join the club’s first team for the 2026 season. The deal, announced Monday, is pending USL and U.S. Soccer approval....
‘He got in deservedly’: MLB historian John Thorn discusses Bill Mazeroski’s place in baseball history
Whether it was fate, divine intervention by the baseball gods or just a player seizing the moment, Bill Mazeroski was a peculiar source for having propelled the Pittsburgh Pirates to victory in the 1960 World Series. On Oct. 13, 1960, when Mazeroski clubbed Ralph Terry’s second pitch over the left-field...
Penguins forward Sidney Crosby’s status remains unresolved
It remains to be seen whether the Pittsburgh Penguins have to play any games without the nonpareil talents of forward Sidney Crosby as they emerge from the Olympic break. But they appear to be fully preparing themselves for the possibility. With Crosby hobbled by a presumed right leg injury that...
