Sports category, Page 886
Big 12 preview: League goes from endangered to bigger before No. 11 Texas, No. 20 Oklahoma leave for SEC
The Big 12 was on the endangered list again two summers ago when the only remaining conference members with national championships set off another round of realignment when they said they were switching leagues. With Texas and Oklahoma going into their final season in the Big 12, the conference is...
ACC preview: No. 9 Clemson has been atop the ACC for years; No. 8 Florida State is hoping to get back there
Clemson has been in control of the Atlantic Coast Conference for nearly a decade. Florida State aims to challenge that this fall. The ninth-ranked Tigers are the preseason favorite after winning the ACC title for the seventh time in eight seasons. The Seminoles, however, are ranked higher in the AP...
Coach Neal Brown gets another chance to show improvement at West Virginia, but it could be his last
Neal Brown was allowed to keep his job at West Virginia after another lackluster season in 2022. Now it’s time for the fifth-year coach to show some improvement. The task will be tough with a brutal September schedule. Several key players transferred after last season, and the Mountaineers are picked...
With fewer questions than usual, Penn State enters Franklin’s 10th season confident as ever
STATE COLLEGE — James Franklin has plenty of reasons to be optimistic entering his 10th season at Penn State. He knows the Nittany Lions have depth across the board, experience to match and a certain swagger that follows an 11-win season capped by a Rose Bowl win. Nearly everyone is...
FIFA suspends Spain soccer federation president Luis Rubiales for 90 days after World Cup final kiss
GENEVA — FIFA suspended Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales from office on Saturday while its disciplinary committee investigates his conduct at the Women’s World Cup final, which included kissing a player on the lips without her consent. The ruling comes six days after Rubiales was accused of becoming a...
Good not good enough for Pitt in 2023’s new era of college football
Pitt football began in 1890 with a team that played three games, never bothered to name a coach and managed one victory, 10-4, at Geneva. Today, there are 55 Pitt coaches and staff members — from coordinators to nutritionists — who make significant contributions to a program that is among...
High school football roundup for Aug. 25, 2023: Penn Hills tops Seneca Valley in battle of ranked teams
Julian Dugger threw for 140 yards and two touchdowns as Class 5A No. 2 Penn Hills got off to a strong start with a 33-20 victory over Class 6A No. 5 Seneca Valley (0-1) in a nonconference game Friday night. Amir Key added 108 rushing yards and a touchdown for...
Central Catholic routs Woodland Hills in Ryan Lehmeier’s debut as Vikings coach
There’s no question Ryan Lehmeier’s reputation as a motivator and sharp offensive mind enticed Central Catholic to hire him as a first-time head coach. One game into his Vikings tenure, that reputation remains solidly intact. Wide receiver Peter Gonzalez caught a touchdown on Central Catholic’s opening drive, the first of...
Pirates farm report for Aug. 25, 2023: Max Kranick, Quinn Priester pitch Indy to win
INDIANAPOLIS (Triple-A, 58-64) held on for a 2-1 victory over Iowa (Cubs). RHP Max Kranick (0.00), rehabbing after Tommy John surgery, opened for Indy and allowed one hit and one walk while striking out four in 2.2 innings. RHP Kyle Nicolas (7.39) went 1.1 innings and only allowed a walk...
Rookie lefty Jordan Wicks records 9 strikeouts in debut as Cubs cruise past Pirates
The Chicago Cubs promoted top-10 prospect Jordan Wicks to make his major league debut Saturday night, only for the Pittsburgh Pirates to give him a wicked welcome to the show. Before Wicks knew what hit him, Ke’Bryan Hayes sent his second pitch into the left field seats for a home...
Franzi, Odom lead Plum to victory over Kiski Area
For the second straight season, Plum and Kiski locked up in the season opener. Last year at Plum, the score was tied at halftime before the Mustangs pulled away. This year at Kiski Area, the Mustangs held a one-point halftime lead before scoring on their first two second-half drives on...
Rogan Katchur, special teams lead Hempfield to win against Greensburg Salem
Two special teams plays and a three-touchdown performance by junior Rogan Katchur helped make new Hempfield coach Nick Keefer smile. The young Spartans overcame a sluggish first quarter to defeat rival Greensburg Salem, 45-6, on Friday in the 58th meeting between the neighboring schools at Spartan Stadium. It was the...
Big Ten to require football teams to report which players are available to play on gamedays
ROSEMONT, Ill. — The Big Ten announced Friday that it will require its football teams to provide an availability report of its players to the conference office no more than two hours before kickoff as part its efforts to safeguard the integrity of games amid the growth of legalized gambling....
With 8 shutout innings, Mitch Keller’s masterpiece leads Pirates past Cubs
Mitch Keller was amid a masterpiece when he took a comebacker off his right shin with one out in the eighth inning. The Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star right-hander dropped to the grass, clutching his leg. Pirates catcher Jason Delay came to the mound and showed little sympathy, given that Keller was...
Louis Riddick imparts wisdom to Pitt football players
It’s no secret ESPN football analyst Louis Riddick loves Pitt football. He doesn’t hide it: He boasts about the Panthers any time he can to his colleagues and on social media. The 1991 Pitt graduate was the guest speaker at the Pitt Football luncheon Friday at The Westin, where he...
Morikawa breaks Tiger’s 36-hole mark at East Lake and shares Tour Championship lead with HovlandVideo
ATLANTA — One bad shot during practice led to Collin Morikawa spending two hours looking for a fix. And now he has a scoring record at East Lake that previously belonged to Tiger Woods. Morikawa followed his 61 with another clean card for a 6-under-par 64 on Friday in the...
Chase Briscoe qualifies on the pole for NASCAR’s regular-season finale at DaytonaVideo
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Chase Briscoe won the pole Friday for the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway. Briscoe had a lap at 181.822 mph in the No. 14 Ford in the final round of qualifying, edging Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Aric Almirola for the No. 1 starting...
Pitt backcourt shorthanded after Dior Johnson leaves men’s basketball team
A once-prized Pitt basketball recruit who ran into legal trouble and redshirted last season, Dior Johnson is “no longer attending the University of Pittsburgh,” a team spokesman said in a statement Friday evening. The move comes as a surprise after the 6-foot-3 guard joined the Panthers on their preseason trip...
Iga Swiatek takes measured approach to repeating as U.S. Open champion
Iga Swiatek wants to win the U.S. Open again, of course. She just doesn’t want to think about trying to win the U.S. Open again. Make sense? Let’s let the No. 1-ranked Swiatek explain. “I already had many opportunities to play tournaments as a defending champion, and, for me, it’s...
US Open 2023: Novak Djokovic is back for the first time in 2 years and seeking a 24th majorVideo
NEW YORK — Novak Djokovic is back in the United States, back in New York and back at the U.S. Open for the first time in two years. Unable to compete at Flushing because he was not allowed to fly to the country as a foreign citizen who is not...
Pitt notebook: Panthers choose 3 team captains for ’23 season
Coach Pat Narduzzi announced tri-captains at the teams’s annual football kickoff luncheon Friday at The Westin. The trio selected by their teammates for the upcoming season includes offensive lineman Matt Goncalves, linebacker Shayne Simon and defensive lineman David Green. Goncalves said he didn’t know if he expected to be named...
Secondary takes shape in preseason as Steelers mix in blend young, old faces
On the day the Pittsburgh Steelers reported to Saint Vincent College last summer, coach Mike Tomlin took exception when asked whether his team might experience a learning curve on defense given the amount of turnover in the offseason. “I’ll be very blunt,” Tomlin said July 26. “I’m not concerned about...
Spanish soccer player says kiss on lips with federation president was not consensualVideo
BARCELONA, Spain — The embattled president of Spain’s soccer federation defiantly refused to step down Friday after insisting a kiss on the lips with women’s soccer player Jenni Hermoso was consensual, an assertion Hermoso strongly denied. Meanwhile, all 22 of Hermoso’s fellow world champions, and 58 other Spanish players, announced...
Tim Benz: Reestablishing ‘the standard’ for ascending Steelers — and let’s remember it all the way through January
Fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers are giddy in anticipation of the opening game for the 2023 season on Sept. 10. Based on how the preseason went, they should be. Not only did the club win all three of its games, but the first-team offense sparkled under the direction of the...
Why Penn State QB Drew Allar might be college football’s most important player
The expectations for Drew Allar are even bigger than the Penn State quarterback himself — which is saying something about a guy who sees eye-to-eye with the star offensive tackle who protects his blindside. Allar’s pregame warm-ups have made grown men swoon. He played one series in a competitive game...
