Sports category, Page 913
College football 2023: Notre Dame QB Sam Hartman heads list of impact transfers
Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman won’t get a chance to add to his ACC record for career touchdown passes in his final season. But the former Wake Forest star’s new stop will allow him to face plenty of familiar foes. Hartman opted to use his final season of college eligibility...
First Call: 49ers reveal QB depth chart for opener vs. Steelers; new ACC expansion talk; will McCutchen hit 300th vs. Cubs?
Thursday’s “First Call” gets the full breakdown of the San Francisco 49ers quarterback depth chart as they prepare for the regular-season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers. We also have the network broadcast team for that game, and a little Steelers-Niners history from an opening-day perspective. Plus, we examine the latest...
U mad, bro?: Steelers preseason hype, RB1 debates, SMU in the ACC and lanternflies
There is only one thing that has truly made me mad this week. Lanternflies. Gawd, do I hate those things! I feel like I’m in the Battle of Stirling scene from “Braveheart.” “We’re outnumbered … at least three to one!” Watch the video I posted of the war zone that...
For post-trade deadline Pirates, top of order becomes heart of lineup
With Ke’Bryan Hayes batting leadoff ahead of Bryan Reynolds and Andrew McCutchen, the top of the order has become the heart of the order for the Pittsburgh Pirates this month. The trio has found its groove by hitting a collective .287/.350/.526 with 15 doubles, 12 home runs and 37 RBIs...
With super conferences, CFP expansion on horizon, 2023 is end of an era in college footballVideo
Welcome to the final season of college football as we know it. Extreme? Maybe, but 2023 has an end-of-an-era feel. Texas and Oklahoma are taking their last lap in the Big 12. The Pac-12 is still a Power Five conference. Will it even be a conference in 2024 after the...
Pirates farm report for Aug. 23, 2023: Matt Fraizer collects 4 hits in Altoona victory
INDIANAPOLIS (Triple-A, 56-64) knocked around Iowa (Cubs), 9-4. RF Canaan Smith-Njigba (.248) went 2 for 5 with a run scored and an RBI. LF Ryan Vilade (.262) went 2 for 4 and drove in a pair. SS Jared Triolo (.296) went 1 for 3 with two walks and three runs...
Jason Kelce center of attention in offseason, center of Eagles’ Super Bowl hopes
PHILADELPHIA — Jason Kelce spent an offseason striking drums, pounding beers, fighting off retirement and knocking out podcasts with his NFL tight end brother. From elite center for the Philadelphia Eagles to center of attention from Sea Isle City to Saturday Night Live, Kelce has reveled in the man-of-the-people touches...
Browns’ Deshaun Watson knows he must prove he still belongs among NFL’s elite QBsVideo
BEREA, Ohio — Deshaun Watson still has so much to prove — on and off the field. While he tries to repair an image marred by sexual misconduct allegations, Watson is attempting to move back among the NFL’s elite quarterbacks, a status he once held but has since relinquished. Watson...
Ezekiel Elliott says time in free agency left him ‘anxious’ and ‘ready to ball’ with Patriots
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Ezekiel Elliott’s diminishing output and price tag helped hasten the end to his Dallas Cowboys tenure. After spending the spring and most of the summer in the NFL’s free agency wilderness, he landed with the New England Patriots, a team calling on him to be a complementary...
Lionel Messi converts PK, assists on 2 goals, leading Miami past MLS-best CincinnatiVideo
CINCINNATI — Lionel Messi had two assists and converted a penalty kick as Inter Miami rallied from a two-goal deficit and beat MLS-leading Cincinnati 5-4 in penalties in a U.S. Open Cup semifinal on Wednesday night. Cincinnati jumped to a 2-0 lead before Messi set up a pair of goals...
2023 Western Pa. high school football schedule for Week Zero
Friday Nonconference Albert Gallatin at Connellsville, 7 p.m. Allderdice at North Allegheny, 7:30 p.m. Apollo-Ridge at Leechburg, 7 p.m. Avonworth at Grove City, 7 p.m. Bethel Park at North Hills, 7 p.m. Blackhawk at Beaver Falls, 7 p.m. Brashear at Baldwin, 7 p.m. Brentwood at Ellwood City, 7 p.m. Brownsville...
Riverhounds blow 3-goal lead, escape from Hartford with wild win
Second-half substitute JC Obregon saved the Pittsburgh Riverhounds from a humiliating result Wednesday night. Obregon scored the game-winning goal in the 88th minute after the Riverhounds blew a three-goal lead, escaping with a 4-3 victory over Hartford Athletic. The Riverhounds (14-5-8) remained in first place in the USL Championship’s Eastern...
ACC progressing toward westward expansion with Stanford, Cal, SMU potential targetsVideo
The Atlantic Coast Conference is making progress toward an expansion that could grab Stanford and California from the sinking Pac-12, a person with direct knowledge of the ACC’s potential move told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the conference was not making its...
Sam Darnold wins backup QB job for 49ers, putting Trey Lance’s status in doubtVideo
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Sam Darnold has won the backup quarterback job in San Francisco, putting Trey Lance’s status with the 49ers in doubt less than three years after the team traded three first-round picks to draft him. Coach Kyle Shanahan told flagship radio station KNBR on Wednesday that Darnold...
New coaches add spark to Hempfield-Greensburg Salem rivalry
Ty George was a sophomore at Hempfield the last time Greensburg Salem was victorious in this historic series. Now the 2014 Hempfield graduate, the new Greensburg Salem coach, is trying to devise a plan to end the Spartans’ current six-game winning streak in the series between the neighboring school districts...
Plum, Kiski Area to work out the kinks in Week Zero rivalry matchup
Plum and Kiski Area passed each other last year when the WPIAL realigned its football conferences and classifications. The Mustangs moved up to Class 5A and into the Big East Conference with the likes of Penn-Trafford, Franklin Regional and Gateway, while the Cavaliers moved down to the Class 4A Greater...
Maple Leafs sign star center Auston Matthews to 4-year, $53 million extensionVideo
TORONTO — Auston Matthews has put pen to paper on a deal that is set to make him the NHL’s highest-paid player. And the Toronto Maple Leafs — and their fans — can finally exhale. The star center signed a four-year, $53 million extension on Wednesday that ties him to...
Andrew McCutchen hits 3 doubles but no homers as Cardinals top Pirates, avoid sweep
The Pittsburgh Pirates fans who attended the finale of the three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday afternoon wanted to see Andrew McCutchen have a milestone moment. And McCutchen did, just not the way they expected. One home run shy of his career 300th, McCutchen didn’t put one...
Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa fires back at ESPN analyst Ryan Clark’s criticism of bodyVideo
MIAMI — Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on Wednesday gave a sharp response to ESPN analyst and former NFL player Ryan Clark’s criticism of his body during an appearance on “NFL Live.” On Monday, Clark said of the fourth-year player: “Let me tell you what he wasn’t doing; he wasn’t in...
Jets WR Corey Davis announces he’s stepping away from football
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — New York Jets wide receiver Corey Davis announced Wednesday he is stepping away from football. The 28-year-old was entering his third season with the Jets after beginning his career with the Tennessee Titans as the No. 5 overall pick in the 2017 draft. “I’ve been searching...
Ligonier Valley grad Maddy Grimm helps Texas Smoke win 1st championship
After two years away from high-level softball, Maddy Grimm returned to the game she loves and won a championship. The Ligonier Valley alum helped lead the Texas Smoke to the first championship in the Women’s Professional Fastpitch league. The power-hitting shortstop out of Kent State stretched out her career a...
Phil Jurkovec eager to incorporate tight ends into Pitt’s offensive attackVideo
As Pitt’s Sept. 2 season opener against Wofford grows closer, plenty of questions have been asked about what the Panthers are capable of offensively. Will former Pine-Richland standout and high-profile transfer Phil Jurkovec take the reins seamlessly at quarterback? Are the Panthers prepared to run the football effectively in the...
Pirates SS Oneil Cruz stops running due to soreness, return this season in jeopardy
Oneil Cruz’s recovery from a fractured left ankle was off and running but hit a speed bump that could prevent the Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop from returning to play in the majors this season. Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Cruz’s rehabilitation has “plateaued,” and he stopped his running...
5 things to watch for in Steelers preseason finale at FalconsVideo
When the Pittsburgh Steelers opened their preseason Aug. 11, the high temperature in Tampa was 96 degrees. When the Steelers conclude their preseason 13 days later in Atlanta, the forecasted high is — again — 96 degrees. Mike Tomlin embraces finding ways for the elements to challenge his team during...
U.S. Open 2023: With Serena and Federer retired, Alcaraz-Djokovic symbolizes a transition in tennis
Based on the reactions on social media, it seems everyone in the world of tennis was riveted by Novak Djokovic’s victory over Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the last tournament for both ahead of the U.S. Open. It was a titanic, 3½-hour-plus showdown between the two titans of the...
