Sports category, Page 430
Tim Benz: For the Penguins, ‘solid’ effort vs. Devils sums up adjusted eye-level of the team
It was the kind of loss just about any hockey player or coach could live with. Maybe even some of the fans. Especially if it had been late October and there were still 70 games to play. Now, though, Tuesday’s outing for the Pittsburgh Penguins became the kind of game...
Former Pitt coach Jamie Dixon earns 500th career win as TCU tops WVUVideo
FORT WORTH, Texas — Vasean Allette scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and TCU beat West Virginia, 65-60, on Wednesday night to give coach Jamie Dixon his 500th career win. Dixon, a TCU alum, has the program’s second-most wins at 172 since taking over in 2016 after 13 years...
Pete Alonso stays with Mets, agreeing to $54 million, 2-year contract
NEW YORK — First baseman Pete Alonso is staying with the New York Mets, agreeing to a $54 million, two-year contract, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday night because the agreement, first reported by The New York Post,...
Duquesne men’s basketball team drops 5th in row
Duquesne’s losing streak in men’s basketball reached five games Wednesday night. Jason Roche scored 14 points and Dusan Neskovic added 13, including a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left to seal the outcome, as Richmond handed Duquesne a 73-68 loss at Robins Center in Richmond, Va. Richmond led...
Robert Morris men bounce back to swat away Detroit Mercy
Amarion Dickerson appeared in disbelief. “A school record?” the Robert Morris junior forward said, repeating what someone just told him. “Really, a school record?” But for Dickerson, honestly, it was business as usual. He entered the night fourth in Division I in blocks with 59. The total swelled to 67...
Jimmy Butler headed to the Golden State WarriorsVideo
Jimmy Butler has gotten his wish. He’s being traded out of Miami. The Heat and the Golden State Warriors have agreed on a deal that sends Butler to the Bay Area, a person with knowledge of the talks said Wednesday. The trade ends a Miami era for Butler that will...
Rams will be home team in 2026 for 1st NFL game in AustraliaVideo
NEW ORLEANS — The NFL is expanding its international footprint to Australia. The league announced Wednesday it will be playing a game in 2026 in Melbourne at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, a venue that holds about 100,000 spectators. The Los Angeles Rams will be the home team for that game,...
Western Pa.’s top football prospects for the Class of 2026
The Class of 2026 is on the clock. With the arrival Wednesday of signing day, most of the top high school seniors in the WPIAL and City League have finalized their college football plans. That leaves college recruiters free to focus on a talented junior class that’s largely uncommitted. Here...
Blitzing with ‘Spags’: Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo is mad scientist of pass rush
NEW ORLEANS — Every once in awhile, when an unsuspecting offense is least expecting it, Kansas City Chiefs safety Justin Reid will inch his way toward the line of scrimmage, then take off like a thunderbolt toward the quarterback the moment the ball is snapped. It looks so simple, the...
Mark Madden: A decades-old tradition, Steelers would rather be right than win
In Week 13 at Cincinnati, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Bengals, 44-38. Quarterback Russell Wilson scored six more points than Joe Burrow. Wilson threw for 105 more yards than Burrow. Wilson threw for three touchdowns, same as Burrow. That’s rarefied air, a callback to Wilson’s glory days with Seattle. Wilson...
Penn State adds Greg Gattuso to Jim Knowles’ defensive staffVideo
The Nittany Lions are adding a Penn State letterman and former national champion to Jim Knowles’ staff. Greg Gattuso, Albany’s longtime head coach and a defensive lineman on Penn State’s 1982 national championship team, is joining the Nittany Lions as a defensive consultant, according to a source. WYNT’s Rodger Wyland...
NFL players’ union boss Lloyd Howell: ‘No one wants to play an 18th game’ in regular season
NEW ORLEANS — An 18-game NFL regular season isn’t a slam dunk. NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell pushed back on it Wednesday even though NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has openly talked about it as if it’s inevitable. The two sides haven’t had formal discussions about expanding the season, which would...
Vic Fangio remade the Eagles defense and now looks for his elusive Super Bowl title
NEW ORLEANS — Vic Fangio’s coaching career started in the 1970s as a high school assistant in Pennsylvania and has taken him across the country in various stops as he grew into one of the most innovative defensive coaches in the game. Now at age 66, Fangio is at the...
Penguins reassign forward Jesse Puljujarvi to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of AHL
The Pittsburgh Penguins reassigned forward Jesse Puljujarvi to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Wednesday afternoon. Puljujarvi, 26, has been relegated to healthy scratch status of late and last dressed for the Penguins on Jan. 29 against Utah Hockey Club. That lone appearance followed a recall from the AHL,...
Penguins forward Sidney Crosby being evaluated for injuryVideo
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby is being evaluated for an undisclosed injury, according to coach Mike Sullivan. Crosby did not participate in practice Wednesday in Cranberry. Sullivan announced Crosby’s status after the session. The precise nature of the injury was not specified, but Sullivan labeled it as “upper body.” Crosby...
Women step into head coaching positions for area men’s volleyball teams, part of what could be a growing trend nationwide
When Kate McCauley was hired as the Saint Vincent men’s volleyball coach in October 2021, she couldn’t help but feel like she was on an island. A woman coaching a man’s sport, after all, was rare. McCauley hardly thought of herself as a trail blazer, but she did harbor hope...
LIV Golf players now have their own path to U.S. Open exemption
The U.S. Open became the first major to publish a direct pathway for LIV Golf players, on Wednesday announcing a new exemption category that awards one spot to the leading player from among the top three at LIV’s halfway point this year. The next exemption category will include one spot...
Pirates announce hirings, promotions of directors in baseball operations reorganization
Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington formally announced Wednesday the hiring of several baseball operations directors and staff promotions as part of a promised reorganization of the front office. Mike Voltmer joins the Pirates as the new vice president of pro evaluation and strategy after eight years with the reigning...
First Call: Ben Roethlisberger agrees with criticism of Steelers’ defense; Alex Ovechkin scores a buzzer-beater
Wednesday’s “First Call” has some quotes from Ben Roethlisberger that the current Pittsburgh Steelers defense won’t like. The NFL has a deal in place to officially use the phrase “three-peat” if the Kansas City Chiefs win the Super Bowl. Alexander Ovechkin scores a buzzer-beater goal. Marc-Andre Fleury hits another milestone....
More than 1/3 of Black NFL players surveyed by AP discouraged by lack of Black coaches
ASHBURN, Va. — Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin paused for a moment to think while speaking to a reporter after a practice this season. “Now that you mention it,” McLaurin said, “I’ve never had a Black head coach in high school, college or the NFL. Coordinators and position coaches...
Could backlash over alleged referee-favoritism toward the Chiefs benefit the Eagles in the Super Bowl?
The Kansas City Chiefs and superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes get the benefit of so many officiating calls that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had to answer a question about the trend being intentional during his pre-Super Bowl press conference. “That’s a ridiculous theory for anyone who might take it seriously,” Goodell...
Tim Benz: Kenny Pickett’s Super Bowl quotes create interesting Steelers QB hypothetical
Former Pittsburgh Steeler Kenny Pickett is at the Super Bowl as the Philadelphia Eagles’ backup quarterback. During an interview with SteelersNow.com in New Orleans, Pickett had this to say about his experience with the Eagles so far. “Every place does it differently, but the ultimate goal is to be (at...
Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi hopes transfer defensive ends can make up for losses in the portal
Pat Narduzzi isn’t one to worry about losses in the transfer portal, at least not publicly. But he does acknowledge roster ramifications of those losses, and he is trying to do something about it. After the portal claimed three Pitt defensive ends this offseason, including likely 2025 contributors Sincere Edwards...
Penguins’ Rickard Rakell relishes ‘huge honor’ of playing in 4 Nations Face-OffVideo
Rickard Rakell had but three words to describe recently getting the news that he’d be joining Sweden for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off. “Hornqvist called me,” Rakell said, referring to former Penguin Patric Hornqvist, who’s serving as Sweden’s assistant general manager. And what was that call like? “It was a...
Pirates by Position: Isiah Kiner-Falefa takes over at SS, Nick Gonzales settles in at 2B
When the Pittsburgh Pirates moved Oneil Cruz to center field late last August, it solved a problem at one position but appeared to create another: With Cruz in the outfield, who would play shortstop? The immediate answer was Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who started 17 of the next 20 games at shortstop...
