Sports category, Page 2111
Pitt postpones Pro Day after NFL bans visits with draft-eligible players
Pitt postponed its annual Pro Day for seniors wishing to work out for NFL scouts after the league banned in-person visits with draft-eligible players. The session, which typically attracts scouts and executives from most NFL teams, was scheduled for Wednesday at the South Side practice facility Pitt shares with the...
Gary Bettman: NHL players in isolation while season is on holdVideo
The NHL is telling its players and staff to stay away from the rink and self-isolate while hockey is on a hiatus of unknown length during the coronavirus pandemic. Commissioner Gary Bettman said Friday he was not aware of any player or league employee testing positive for the new coronavirus,...
PSAC, PAC, AMCC college leagues shut down spring sports seasons
Three state college leagues have chimed in on the coronavirus scare with the best interest of student-athletes and fans in mind, each joining a sports world that has gone dark in the last few days. The Division II Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, and the Presidents’ Athletic Conference and Allegheny Mountain...
Pirates announce plans for spring training refunds; no policy yet for regular season
The Pittsburgh Pirates announced their plans for refunding ticket-holders of six spring training games that were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. A policy regarding lost or postponed regular-season games, though, will have to wait. “Club officials remain in active conversations with Major League Baseball on a variety of contingency...
Mark Madden: This sports shutdown stinks, but greed will bring the games back
I’m not as worried about no sports as I am about no toilet paper. You can’t even get it on Amazon. You’d think the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor. We might need rationing. I got nine rolls. May God have mercy on my soul. Or, if I have to use paper...
There are more questions than answers for the NHL right now
Conor Sheary really didn’t know what to say. To be clear, the reporters on the other side of the rope weren’t quite sure what to ask. On Tuesday, before their most recent and possibly final — for a while at least — game in Newark, N.J., the Pittsburgh Penguins’ forward...
NASCAR, IndyCar postpone racing over coronavirus concerns
NASCAR and IndyCar both reversed course Friday and pulled the plug on racing this weekend, with IndyCar suspending its season through the end of April due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. NASCAR only suspended Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway and next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Both events were...
Boston Marathon postponed until Sept. 14 amid coronavirus concerns
BOSTON — Organizers of the Boston Marathon, the planet’s most celebrated footrace, are postponing the event until Sept. 14 because of concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced Friday. The Boston Athletic Association, which oversees the marathon, had held off deciding the fate of the April 20...
Masters postponed over coronavirus
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Augusta National on Friday postponed the Masters, another massive hit to the spring sports calendar by the coronavirus that already is responsible for the loss of March Madness and the delay of MLB’s Opening Day. So much for that annual rite of spring and the...
How fantasy sports, gambling are affected by coronavirus; odd team surfaces for Tom Brady
Sports is a multibillion-dollar business. So is sports gambling. So is the fantasy sports industry. And a lot of people in those lines of work are being impacted by the absence of sports because of the coronavirus outbreak. Much like the casual players and big-money investors. Our friend Jeff Erickson...
Tim Benz: Path to coronavirus sports cancellations confused, confounded and contradicted
I’m not a huge fan of “The Office.” It’s OK. Not great. The humor is forced. The characters became two-dimensional characterizations of themselves after the third season. And I found the plot lines repetitive. There. I said it. Unpopular TV hot take for you. But I ran through five episodes...
First Call: How MLB, NHL, NBA can salvage their seasons
In the wake of the coronavirus sports shutdown, sadly, the 2020 NCAA basketball tournament could not be saved. Maybe that could’ve happened with more time to plan. But arena availability is at issue. Many venues are in a state of flux between attempts to reschedule pro sports, events, and shows...
Penguins’ minor league affiliates halt play
Like virtually every sports team and league in North America, the Penguins’ minor league affiliates have halted play as a precaution against coronavirus. After the American Hockey League (AHL) announced it was suspending play indefinitely, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins issued a statement: With the health and safety of players, officials, staff...
PGA Tour decides to scrap rest of Players Championship, next several eventsVideo
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The PGA Tour decided Thursday night to scrap the rest of The Players Championship and shut down its other tournaments for the next three weeks. Commissioner Jay Monahan said earlier Thursday there would be no fans at TPC Sawgrass for the final three rounds or...
Mixed results for Pitt basketball, but things looking up
It was always Jeff Capel’s intention and the hope of Pitt fans for the Panthers to play on the last day of the ACC Tournament. Just not this way. After Pitt was eliminated Wednesday in a 73-58 second-round loss to N.C. State, the ACC canceled the remaining three days of...
Kevin Gorman: Shutdown of the sports world showed us that leaders are not to be trusted
In a surreal span of 24 hours, the sports world shut down and sent a mighty message about the power of a global pandemic. The games mustn’t go on. All that talk about concerns over the coronavirus couldn’t convince officials, from preps to the pros, to stop playing the games....
NASCAR, IndyCar closed to fans this weekendVideo
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — IndyCar and NASCAR will race this weekend without spectators, the latest sports series affected by concerns over the covid-19 pandemic. IndyCar pushed forward with Sunday’s season-opening race after the mayor of St. Petersburg said Thursday fans would not be permitted to attend. Only essential personnel can...
Steelers RT Matt Feiler receives $600K in bonus compensation from 2019
Right tackle Matt Feiler was the lowest-paid starter on the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line in 2019, but he nearly matched his compensation in performance-based pay, according to figures released by the NFL on Thursday. Feiler earned $387,578 in performance-based pay for his play last season, but he also was awarded...
Swimmer Leah Smith setting sights on qualifying for another Olympics
Oakland Catholic graduate Leah Smith is making good progress in her quest to make the Olympic Games this summer in Tokyo. Smith, who will turn 25 in April, produced this year’s fastest time in the world in the women’s 800-meter freestyle in 8 minutes, 23.46 seconds in the TYR Pro...
NCAA cancels men’s, women’s basketball tournaments
March Madness came to a screeching halt before a bracket could even be filled out. The NCAA canceled its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments Thursday because of the spread of coronavirus, putting an abrupt end to the season less than a month before champions were to be crowned. The unprecedented...
ACC suspension of all spring athletic activities will impact Pitt athletes
The ACC has decided to suspend all athletic activities, which will significantly impact Pitt teams on several fronts, including participation in the NCAA Wrestling Tournament, which was subsequently canceled by the NCAA. Also, spring football practice, games and recruiting will be discontinued for the duration of the spring. The ban...
Blue Jays beat Pirates in final game before MLB suspends spring training
In one of the final games before MLB suspended spring training, the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-5, on Thursday at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla. MLB announced during the game it decided to suspend spring training games and the start of the 2020 season by at least...
Big Ten, Penn State scrap all sports through the end of academic year
Penn State has canceled all spring sports, including the April 18 Blue-White football game, due to coronavirus outbreak. In a release disseminated early Thursday afternoon, Penn State announced it had postponed all football-related activities — practice, recruiting and media availability — indefinitely. That included pro day workouts for NFL-bound players,...
MLB cancels spring games, delays openers
NEW YORK — Major League Baseball is delaying the start of its season by at least two weeks because of the coronavirus outbreak and suspended the rest of its spring training game schedule. Opening day had been scheduled for March 26. Statement from Major League Baseball: pic.twitter.com/0bWS5VTRPu— MLB (@MLB) March...
NFL cancels annual meeting in Florida because of coronavirus outbreak
The NFL has canceled its scheduled league meeting later this month in Palm Beach, Fla., because of the coronavirus pandemic. The announcement came on a day when the NCAA Tournament was canceled, and the NHL and Major League Baseball followed in the NBA’s lead by suspending their season and spring...
