Sports category, Page 1699
Mark Madden: Play of Sidney Crosby, systemic excellence lifted Penguins to East division title
I’m just another heart in need of rescue, waiting on love’s sweet charity … and for the NHL playoffs to start. Meantime, check out these refreshing hockey notes. Here I go again … • Many (including me) had the Pittsburgh Penguins pegged as a borderline playoff team before season’s start....
Unfiltered: Tim Benz and Mark Madden discuss Penguins, playoff outlookVideo
And now we wait … for the NHL playoffs to begin. The Pittsburgh Penguins have won the East Division, but the postseason matchups are not set yet. Will a break hurt or help the Penguins? Tim Benz and Madden return for this week’s edition of “Unfiltered” on TribLive’s Facebook page...
Justin Champagnie decides to leave Pitt, declare for the NBA Draft
Jeff Capel received some additional bad news in his quest to reconstruct the Pitt basketball roster when All-ACC forward Justin Champagnie decided to enter the 2021 NBA Draft and hire an agent, ending his two-year college career. The announcement comes the day after five-star center Efton Reid, who Pitt had...
Penguins Prospect Watch: Kasper Bjorkqvist returns to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
A weekly look at how Penguins prospects and minor leaguers have fared over the past seven days: • In the American Hockey League (AHL) forward Kasper Bjorkqvist rejoined the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins after being on loan to KooKoo of the Liiga, the top-tier league in his native Finland. Rejoining the Penguins’...
First Call: Steelers’ selection of Quincy Roche getting some national praise; Andrew McCutchen heating up; Pitt hoops news
Monday’s “First Call” features some optimism for a late-round Steelers draft choice. Also, a tough recruiting loss for Pitt basketball, and a look at the Pirates’ upcoming series at PNC Park. Plus, former Pirate Andrew McCutchen is starting to get things right at home plate. Sure would be nice On...
Football Footnotes: Latest interview shows JuJu Smith-Schuster still doesn’t grasp mistake of ‘Browns is the Browns’ quote
With the draft over and training camp still a few months away, we are in a down cycle for news surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFL. But since the league is the Goliath that it is — and with the Steelers’ constant ability to find their way into headlines...
Madden Monday: Biggest reason to restrain your optimism about Penguins before playoffs start
The Pittsburgh Penguins have clinched the NHL’s East Division. The regular season has been better than any Penguins fan ever had a right to expect. But what does any of it mean if the franchise fails to advance beyond the first round of the playoffs for a third straight year?...
Pirates farm report for May 9, 2021
INDIANAPOLIS (Triple-A, 2-3) lost 2-0 at Iowa (Cubs). Four Iowa pitchers combined for a no-hitter with 15 strikeouts. RHP Miguel Yajure (0-1, 1.50) allowed four hits and one earned run in six innings with two walks and six strikeouts. SS Cole Tucker (.190), 3B Kevin Kramer (.150) and LF Anthony...
Report: Pirates offered managerial job to John Wooden in 1964
Clint Hurdle likes to quote and read as much as he can about John Wooden, the basketball coach who lived four months short of his 100th birthday and led UCLA to 10 national championships in 12 years. But who knew Wooden and Hurdle almost ended up on the same list...
Optimism rising about future of Pimlico with rebuild looming
Frankie Brothers walked into the grandstand at Pimlico Race Course in the late 1980s and early ’90s with his head on a swivel. “I always made sure I knew where the exit was because if somebody dropped a cigarette or something like that, that place would’ve went up in flames,”...
Martin Truex Jr. dominates at Darlington to 3rd win of year
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Martin Truex Jr. powered his way around Darlington Raceway, sweeping both stages and leading the final 105 laps Sunday. Kyle Larson cut into Truex’s often large lead over the final 30 laps, coming as close as two car-lengths down the stretch. But the Joe Gibbs Racing driver...
Minor league report: Penguins fall to PhantomsVideo
Goaltender Tommy Nappier made 20 saves on 26 shots for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 6-2 road loss to the rival Lehigh Valley Phantoms at the PPL Center in Allentown on Sunday. Forwards Josh Currie and Felix Robert scored goals for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (12-12-4-2). Highlights: The Penguins’ next game is a...
DK Metcalf turns in respectable 100 time, finishes last in heatVideo
WALNUT, Calif. — Seattle Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf couldn’t catch the field in his heat of a 100-meter race at the USA Track and Field Golden Games on Sunday, finishing ninth out of nine but in a respectable time of 10.37 seconds. Although Metcalf didn’t earn a spot in the...
Rory McIlroy ends 18-month streak without a victory
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rory McIlroy found his comfort zone at Quail Hollow and left with a trophy he badly needed. McIlroy closed with a 3-under-par 68 and made it tough on himself at the end Sunday, driving into the hazard left of the 18th fairway and needing two putts from...
Rick Tocchet, Coyotes agree to part ways after 4 seasons
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Coach Rick Tocchet won’t return for a fifth season with the Arizona Coyotes, the team announced Sunday, saying the sides “mutually agreed to part ways.” The move comes after the Coyotes missed the playoffs for the seventh time in eight seasons. “After meeting with Rick, we have...
John Tortorella out after 6 years as Blue Jackets coach
COLUMBUS, Ohio — John Tortorella is out as coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets after six seasons. General manager Jarmo Kekalainen said in a statement Sunday that parting ways with the winningest coach in franchise history was a mutual decision. The 62-year-old Tortorella was in the last year of his...
‘Stress-free’ Jim Rutherford watches, enjoys Penguins’ success, considers future
Jim Rutherford is mindful of his pronouns. It’s not “we.” It’s “they.” The Pittsburgh Penguins would be “they.” “I’m usually very careful with my words, as you’ve known over the years,” the team’s former general manager said by phone Saturday. “I went to ‘they’ relatively quickly as I left.” Rutherford...
Restructured Pirates lineup finds a way to defeat Cubs
Colin Moran was on the injured list with a groin injury. Bryan Reynolds was in the dugout, nursing some lower-body soreness. Wilmer Difo was in centerfield for only the second time this season, and Ka’ai Tom was batting third. Most unfortunately, Troy and Lawanya Stokes were in a taxi cab...
Penguins recall Juuso Riikola, Yannick Weber, Emil Larmi from taxi squad
The Penguins’ taxi squad is no more. With NHL’s rosters expanded for the postseason, the Penguins essentially dissolved their taxi squad. Defensemen Juuso Riikola, Yannick Weber and goaltender Emil Larmi were recalled to the NHL roster while defenseman Josh Maniscalco was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL)....
Alexander Zverev beats Matteo Berrettini to win his 2nd Madrid Open titleVideo
MADRID — Alexander Zverev continued his impressive form going into the French Open by winning his second Madrid Open title on Sunday. After beating top-seeded Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals and fourth-ranked Dominic Thiem in the semifinals, Zverev rallied to defeat Matteo Berrettini 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-3 for his second...
Pirates move Ke’Bryan Hayes to 60-day injured list; he can’t return until early June
The Pittsburgh Pirates, already losers of eight of their past nine games, reached a new level of misfortune on the injury front Sunday. Third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, who hasn’t played since the second game of the season with a strained left wrist, was moved from the 10-day to the 60-day...
Medina Spirit could lose Ky. Derby win; track bans Bob BaffertVideo
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Medina Spirit’s victory in the Kentucky Derby is in serious jeopardy because of a failed postrace drug test, one that led Churchill Downs to suspend Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert on Sunday in the latest scandal to plague the sport. Baffert denied all wrongdoing and promised...
Sewickley Academy grad Luke Ross to begin next chapter after tennis career comes to an end
Tennis has always been a main focus for former PIAA and WPIAL singles champion Luke Ross. During his time at Sewickley Academy, between 2014-17, Ross won three WPIAL singles titles, two PIAA singles titles, and was a PIAA runner-up his freshman year. He could’ve won an additional title but took...
Penn-Trafford grad Hannah Dobrinick ends college career on high note
Hannah Dobrinick played her final collegiate softball game May 9. The senior first baseman at Otterbein could have played one more season after the NCAA allowed an extra year of eligibility because of the coronavirus pandemic, but Dobrinick said she’s ready to pursue her career. “We’re going to miss her,”...
Riverview alum Molly Collins makes impact for PSNK softball
Riverview graduate Molly Collins has been a key factor this season for the Penn State New Kensington softball team. The Lions freshman outfielder went 2 for 3 with two doubles and four runs batted in as PSNK rolled past Penn State Beaver, 9-0, on May 1 in the first round...
