Sports category, Page 970
With new coach, colors, location, Maulers return for 2nd USFL season
Like the league that brings a spring alternative for football-starved fans, the Pittsburgh Maulers return for a second season this weekend. The team wouldn’t mind all similarities to 2022 ending there, however. The Maulers are coming off a season that was the worst in the eight-team USFL, a 1-9 finish...
Tim Benz: Penguins find comically fitting way in Columbus to end ‘failure of a season’
There was a macabre fascination to the way the Pittsburgh Penguins regular season finale played out in Columbus. The Pens lost to the awful Blue Jackets 3-2. In overtime. After blowing a third period lead. To a significantly inferior foe. While outshooting the opponent and making a journeyman goalie in...
Pitt Take 5: Pat Narduzzi will keep eyes open, whistle at the ready during Blue-Gold Game
Pitt shuts down spring drills Saturday with the Blue-Gold Game, and the one sight coach Pat Narduzzi wants to see over all others is everyone walking out of Acrisure Stadium without the aid of crutches, walking boots or slings used to stabilize injured arms or shoulders. Spring ball is necessary...
Analysis: A stunning lack of support for veteran stars torpedoed Penguins’ season
Ron Hextall was almost indignant over the question. On July 13, less than a day after he had re-signed superstar center Evgeni Malkin — to say nothing of his successful efforts in re-signing franchise defenseman Kris Letang seven days earlier — Hextall was asked what gave him faith that retaining...
3 takeaways: Penguins put a bow on season with a last blown 3rd-period lead
Three takeaways from the Pittsburgh Penguins’ season-ending 3-2 overtime loss at Columbus: One final blown lead The Penguins’ inability to protect third-period leads is a frustrating component within their overall performance this season that hardly needs elaborated upon. Entering Thursday night, their nine total losses in such situations led the...
First Call: Ben Roethlisberger gets pushback on Lamar Jackson comments; Devin Bush on leaving Steelers for Seattle
Friday’s “First Call” features fallout from Ben Roethlisberger’s critique of Lamar Jackson. Ex-Steeler Devin Bush discusses his move to Seattle. And there will be a Pittsburgh influence in the new ownership group of the Washington Commanders. Ruffling Raven feathers During the latest episode of his “Footbahlin’ with Ben” podcast, former...
Pirates farm report for April 13, 2023: Jase Bowen homers in Greensboro win
INDIANAPOLIS (Triple-A, 5-7) lost 3-2 to St. Paul (Twins). RHP Carmen Mlodzinski (0-1, 4.76) gave up a run in the eighth to take the loss. LHP Cam Alldred (2.16) started and went four innings, surrendering two runs on three hits and a walk with six strikeouts. RF Miguel Andujar (.182)...
Hovland leads RBC Heritage; Masters champ Rahm strugglesVideo
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Viktor Hovland’s round of 7-under-par 64 at the rain-delayed RBC Heritage on Thursday gave him a first-round lead for a second straight week and left Masters champion Jon Rahm eight shots behind and with plenty of work ahead to get into contention after his major...
Pirates’ Vince Velasquez, 3 relievers blank Cardinals, Ji Hwan Bae shines in center field
The Pittsburgh Pirates launched a seven-game road trip through St. Louis and Denver with a 5-0 victory Thursday night against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. It was only one good game in a current seven-day stretch in which the team has alternated victories and defeats (4-3), but it was pleasing...
Penguins enter offseason after overtime loss to Blue Jackets
Sidney Crosby did something he hasn’t accomplished with much frequency throughout his nonpareil career. Play every game of a regular season. With Thursday’s 3-2 overtime loss to Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena in nearby Columbus, Ohio, Crosby suited up for this 82nd contest of the 2022-23 campaign. It marked...
Scotty Bowman embracing hockey retirement role
TAMPA, Fla. — When Scotty Bowman left the Chicago Blackhawks a year ago, he was open to taking another job. During the course of this season, the 89-year old Hall of Famer discovered not working for a team can be a good thing. Now, the record-holding, nine-time Stanley Cup winning...
Ravens’ Odell Beckham says he has no assurances on Lamar Jackson’s statusVideo
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Odell Beckham Jr. can’t make any promises about Lamar Jackson’s future, although his preference is obvious. “The goal was to come here and have that possibility to play with him,” Beckham said. “I didn’t get any assurances for anything. Life’s uncertain. I think we don’t know...
Rangers, Islanders, Devils give Big Apple flavor to NHL playoffsVideo
Keith Yandle walked into coffee shops when he played hockey in New York and would hear people talking about the next Rangers game against the Islanders or the New Jersey Devils. “When you play those teams, even during the regular season, it adds a little bit more,” Yandle said. “Those...
Pitt’s Dayon Hayes living up to high standards set by defensive line coach Charlie Partridge
Charlie Partridge has been a guiding light for football players at Pitt, Wisconsin and five other schools since four years before the turn of the century. In that time, he has coached All-American defensive linemen who became pros such as J.J. Watt, Patrick Jones, Rashad Weaver, Jalen Twyman and (soon...
The losing is done, NBA teams now await 7-foot-3 WembanyamaVideo
Gregg Popovich placed his left thumb on the inside of his right wrist, paused for a couple of moments and then confirmed that, yes, he has a pulse. It was also an indication when asked that, yes, he is thinking about Victor Wembanyama. There are very specific rules that teams...
MLB parlay of favorites and a total in The Bronx: Best Bets for April 13
BY JIM DERRY | Home Field Sports Each day, one of our experts will offer up a best bet (or two or three) that mobile sportsbooks are offering. It might be a traditional spread bet, a player prop or one of the various odds boosts that books offer. Here are...
Chase Elliott vows to continue snowboarding after accidentVideo
Chase Elliott won’t stop snowboarding or any of the other off-track activities he enjoys, even after an accident in Colorado sidelined NASCAR’s most popular driver with a broken leg. Elliott will return this weekend at Martinsville Speedway after missing six Cup races with a broken left tibia that he suffered...
Rays tie record with 13-0 start, rally to beat Red Sox 9-3Video
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays tied MLB’s post-1900 record for 13 consecutive wins to start a season, rallying to beat the Boston Red Sox, 9-3, on Thursday behind a seven-run fifth inning that Harold Ramirez began and capped with doubles. Tampa Bay matched the 13-0 start of...
Penguins assign defenseman Mark Friedman to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Mark Friedman was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL) after clearing waivers Thursday afternoon. Having bounced between the NHL and AHL rosters much of the season, Friedman, a right-handed shot, has appeared in 23 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins and scored three points (one...
Once-fired NHL coaches thrive with new playoff-bound teams
LAS VEGAS — Bruce Cassidy didn’t think his job was in jeopardy, having taken Boston to the NHL playoffs all six seasons as coach and serving in the Bruins’ system for 14 years. When he was fired on June 6, Cassidy was shocked and upset … for a few hours....
AP source: Harris/Rales group has deal to buy Commanders
A group led by Josh Harris and Mitchell Rales that includes Magic Johnson has an agreement in principle to buy the NFL’s Washington Commanders from longtime owner Dan Snyder for a North American professional sports team record $6 billion, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. The person...
Which wide receiver will be drafted first in the 2023 NFL Draft? See latest odds
BY GABE HENDERSON | Home Field Sports It’s no secret that the wide receiver class in the 2023 NFL Draft is special. There are a handful of NFL-ready receivers prepared to go on night one. Teams are circling as they’re eager to get these future stars to put pen to...
Browns drop agreement with FirstEnergy, change stadium name
CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns ended their stadium naming rights partnership with FirstEnergy Corp. after 10 years, and will return to their lakefront stadium being called Cleveland Browns Stadium. The sides announced the agreement Thursday. Terms and conditions were not disclosed. FirstEnergy’s partnership with the NFL franchise came under scrutiny...
WVU receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton among 2 prospects to meet with Steelers
Among the two players to visit the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday was a wide receiver who had to make the short commute up Interstate 79 from Morgantown, W.Va. Bryce Ford-Wheaton, a 6-foot-4, 221-pound receiving threat, and Bowling Green defensive end Karl Brooks conducted top-30 visits at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex....
First QB helmet designed to help reduce concussions approved
The first quarterback-specific helmet designed to help reduce concussions has been approved for use by the NFL and NFLPA, the AP has learned. The helmet, manufactured by Vicis, reduces severity of helmet-to-ground impacts, which league data says account for approximately half of quarterback concussions, including the one suffered by Miami’s...
