Super Bowl heading back to Las Vegas in 2029
LAS VEGAS — The Super Bowl will return to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in 2029 for the second time after NFL owners voted Monday in Phoenix to award the nation’s gambling and entertainment capital the big game. Las Vegas getting the Super Bowl back after Kansas City defeated San...
NFL taps Seahawks to be featured on HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’ for 1st time in team history, AP source says
SEATTLE — The Seattle Seahawks will appear on the HBO show “Hard Knocks” ahead of the 2026 NFL season, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on Monday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because neither the Seahawks nor the NFL had formally announced the...
Penn State 2-time NCAA champion Mitchell Mesenbrink wins Hodge Trophy as nation’s top wrestler
NEWTON, Iowa — Two-time NCAA champion Mitchell Mesenbrink of Penn State has been named winner of the Dan Hodge Trophy as the nation’s top men’s college wrestler. WIN Magazine, which compiles the results, made the announcement Monday. Penn State has had six wrestlers win a total of eight Hodge trophies....
Pitt’s Brandin Cummings to enter transfer portal
Jeff Capel being retained as coach at Pitt was no guarantee that the Panthers wouldn’t experience an eventful offseason with regards to player movement. While Capel will remain for at least the 2026-27 campaign, one of Pitt’s leading contributors for the past two seasons apparently will not, as guard Brandin...
Joe Starkey’s Mailbag: If the Penguins make the playoffs, is Dan Muse the Coach of the Year?
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 …. Matt Choate, @mattchoate: Dr Starkey. Is Dan Muse the best professional coach in...
NFL Draft top prospect profile: Ty Simpson, Alabama QB
TribLive is highlighting the top prospects leading up to the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh. The three-day event is April 23-25. Ty Simpson Position: Quarterback Height/weight: 6-foot-1/211 pounds College: Alabama Simpson might be the prospect drawing the widest range of opinions. The 23-year-old is considered a first-round pick by most...
First Call: If Steelers pass on Kirk Cousins, at least 1 team wants him; latest on George Pickens; Penguins’ next huge gameVideo
Tuesday’s “First Call” has a possible destination for Kirk Cousins — if it isn’t Pittsburgh. The Dallas Cowboys are dealing with George Pickens’ contract uncertainty. The Penguins are looking to build off of Monday’s exhilarating win over the New York Islanders. Some big-name Pittsburgh figures are involved in the NFL’s...
Pirates hoping listless lineup can feed off hot bats of Brandon Lowe, Ryan O’Hearn
When the Pittsburgh Pirates added All-Stars Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn this offseason, it was with the intention of bringing some pop to a lineup that too often fell flat last season. Lowe and O’Hearn have been as advertised through the first four games, as both are batting better than...
Tim Benz: Mike McCarthy appears to have right blueprint for Steelers’ receiver rebuild
I didn’t agree with the premise of the question, but I did agree with how Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike McCarthy answered it. On Monday’s “Pat McAfee Show,” McCarthy was asked what it is going to be like to have “two No. 1” wide receivers on the 2026 roster next season,...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Jeannette grad helps Kentucky to Sweet 16
A former local basketball star experienced March Madness at the highest level. Kentucky assistant coach Ciara Gregory (Jeannette) and the Wildcats reached the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. They fell to top-seeded Texas, 76-54, to finish the season 25-11. Gregory is a second-year assistant who also serves as the team’s director...
Cup of Joe: Pirates must promote Konnor Griffin for home opener
Cup of Joe: Starkey on Sports in 350 words or less I’m sorry. I can’t watch this anymore. We’re four games in, and I have already seen enough of Bryan Reynolds, Henry Davis, Oneil Cruz and especially Jared Triolo, whom the Pirates seem to have confused with Cal Ripken Jr....
After decades of all gold seats, Art Rooney II says Acrisure Stadium’s touch of black add subtle new look
PHOENIX — No, that’s not your eyes playing tricks on you. There are, indeed, new seats getting installed at Acrisure Stadium. And among them are, indeed, specks of black. After a quarter century of a “sea of gold,” the stadium’s newest seating facelift has added some color diversity to its...
Penguins erupt for 8 goals in win over Islanders as Sidney Crosby rejoins lineup
The Pittsburgh Penguins needed their best for a vital Metropolitan Division confrontation with the New York Islanders on Monday. And they got their best back in the lineup as forward Sidney Crosby rejoined his teammates after missing a game due to an undisclosed injury. His return buoyed his team to...
Eyes of Texas on women’s Final Four again after Longhorns beat Michigan in regional final
FORT WORTH, Texas — Madison Booker had 19 points and seven rebounds, fifth-year senior guard Rori Harmon had 13 assists and Texas is going to the women’s Final Four for the second year in a row after a 77-41 rout over Michigan in the Fort Worth Regional 3 championship game...
Despite quality start by Braxton Ashcraft, Reds hold Pirates scoreless to win
The Pittsburgh Pirates couldn’t score through the first eight innings against the Cincinnati Reds, so their only hope came down to trying to manufacture a run against a pitcher seeking his first save. Filling in for Emilio Pagan, who had pitched the previous two games, Connor Phillips walked Marcell Ozuna...
The NBA’s stretch run has arrived. Here’s a look at what’s happening
The NBA stretch run has arrived. Going into Monday, there were only 111 games left in the season • or put another way, 91% of the regular season had been played. The postseason (not playoff) teams are set: Milwaukee, Chicago, Washington, Brooklyn and Indiana have all been eliminated from the...
Riverhounds look to march on in U.S. Open cup as they host 4th-division side
Creating early-season momentum with a pair of home wins last week, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds have set themselves up with a chance to advance into the next round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. On Tuesday, they host fourth-division Virginia Dream FC, which is based in Falls Church, Va., and...
Steelers notes: Broderick Jones injury update, options at left guard
PHOENIX — Some four months after suffering a neck injury that ended his 2025 season, Pittsburgh Steelers left tackle Broderick Jones is still on the mend as the team is on the cusp of embarking on its voluntary offseason program. “He’s starting to do more and more,” general manager Omar...
The Steelers hold 12 picks in 7-round NFL draft. Can they use them all? Will they?
PHOENIX — As things stand now, the Pittsburgh Steelers hold 12 selections in the seven-round NFL Draft they are set to host next month. Is it tenable to add 12 drafted rookies to the roster? “That’s a great question,” coach Mike McCarthy said Monday from the site of the NFL...
Steelers open to drafting a quarterback — even if Aaron Rodgers returns
PHOENIX — Via one means or another, the Pittsburgh Steelers are making their rounds through the incoming draft class of quarterbacks. One by one, be it at the combine or pro days or via official visits to their South Side facility, Steelers coaches and management are performing their due diligence...
Freshman Koa Peat helps carry Arizona into the Final Four of March Madness
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Koa Peat has been a winner throughout his basketball career. He won four state titles in high school in Arizona and became the first player to win four international gold medals at the junior level. So when Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd was trying to entice Peat...
Mike McCarthy: Aaron Rodgers ‘really engaged’ with what’s going on with Steelers
PHOENIX — Long regarded as one of the preeminent offensive minds in the NFL and as a head coach who prefers to call his own plays, Mike McCarthy takes more care than most in the sport’s most important position. “Everything we do on offense,” McCarthy said Monday, “is built around...
Penn State’s Marcus Neal, a leader in the safety room, on the Lions’ CBs: ‘You got some dogs’
STATE COLLEGE — Few members of the Penn State football program know the potential of the Nittany Lions’ safety room better than Marcus Neal Jr. A junior safety who played for Matt Campbell at Iowa State last season, the 6-foot-1, 218-pound Neal was a force against the run and the...
Masters field all but set for Augusta National
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Players eligible to compete in the 90th Masters, to be played April 9-12. Players listed only in the first category for which they are eligible (a-amateur). Tiger Woods has not said whether he intends to play. One spot remains if the Texas Open winner is not already...
Penguins recall forward Avery Hayes from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
The Pittsburgh Penguins recalled rookie forward Avery Hayes from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Monday morning. It marks the second time within a week that Hayes has been summoned to the NHL roster. He was recalled on Thursday but was a healthy scratch that night during a 4-3...
