Sports category, Page 2311
Steelers’ JuJu Smith-Schuster expects to be focus of Patriots’ gameplan
Since Antonio Brown was traded to the Oakland Raiders in March, the Pittsburgh Steelers have faced endless questions about how the offense will fare without the All-Pro wide receiver. The answer will become clearer Sunday night when the Steelers open at defending Super Bowl champion New England. “Turn on the...
Why isn’t Seton Hill starting the football season like everyone else in the PSAC?
For those wondering why Seton Hill is not opening the football season like its PSAC counterparts — games start Thursday, Friday and Saturday — there is a simple explanation. The Griffins did not want to start the season a week later than usual but their initial opponent gave them no...
Raiders plan to suspend Antonio Brown after blowup with GM
ALAMEDA, Calif. — Star receiver Antonio Brown was not with the Oakland Raiders four days before the season opener amid reports he could be suspended over a confrontation with general manager Mike Mayock. Mayock said at the beginning of practice Thursday that the former Pittsburgh Steeler wasn’t at the Raiders...
Finally, Steelers’ James Conner gets his chance to start against Patriots
The Pittsburgh Steelers will be playing their third game against the New England Patriots since James Conner was drafted in 2017. For Conner, the season opener Sunday night at Gillette Stadium will represent his first career start against the Steelers’ longtime nemesis. Conner was a backup to Le’Veon Bell when...
Sidney Crosby’s junior team to retire his No. 87
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby’s No. 87 jersey will undoubtedly hang in the rafters of PPG Paints Arena shortly after he announces his retirement someday. The Coliseum Sun Life Financial won’t have to wait to host a similar celebration. Crosby’s junior team, the Rimouski Oceanic, announced Thursday that it will...
With no home court, Duquesne to play at PPG Paints Arena, UPMC Events Center
While renovation continues on Duquesne’s on-campus UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, the Dukes’ men’s basketball team will play their nine Atlantic 10 home games at PPG Paints Arena and Robert Morris’ new UPMC Events Center in Moon Township, school officials announced. The first two conference games against defending champion Saint Louis on...
First Call: Antonio Brown’s latest tantrum; JuJu Smith-Schuster on Sports Illustrated cover
In Thursday’s “First Call,” Antonio Brown rips his new team. JuJu Smith-Schuster is a Sports Illustrated cover boy. And someone just did something we haven’t seen since Babe Ruth. We’ve seen this fish before It took nine full seasons before Antonio Brown became intolerable in Pittsburgh. I wonder if he’ll...
Kevin Gorman: Steelers LB Devin Bush ready to be tested by Tom Brady in debutVideo
As daunting debuts go, Devin Bush knows that he couldn’t ask for much more from his first NFL game as a Pittsburgh Steeler. The 21-year-old first-round draft pick from Michigan appears unfazed about opening the regular season against the reigning Super Bowl champion New England Patriots on a prime-time Sunday...
Duquesne football prepares for its title defense with opener vs. Walsh
The Duquesne football team is taking the field for the first time this weekend. And they are doing so as defending champions. The Dukes won the NEC title then went on to upset Towson for the school’s first FCS playoff victory. History was made yesterday at Towson #GoDukes pic.twitter.com/Wu68DolWrE— Duquesne...
U mad, bro? Pitt fans lash out at Pat Narduzzi; angst over Pirates, Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell
How do I know when somebody is starting to slip in popularity at Pitt? When I write a critical column regarding the Panthers football team and I get far more positive response to it than I do negative. Normally, if I write anything remotely skeptical about Pitt football, I’m overwhelmed...
Tim Benz: How Steelers should prepare for post-Gronkowski Patriots
It’s … what? What word would you use? Ironic? Typical? Funny? Unfortunate? No. Not unfortunate. No matter how you slice it, be glad that the Steelers don’t have to deal with Rob Gronkowski anymore. Even if they are probably better suited to do so right now than they have ever...
Rafael Nadal beats Schwartzman in 3 tight sets to reach U.S. Open semis
NEW YORK — Rafael Nadal kept pulling away in his U.S. Open quarterfinal, then getting reeled back in by Diego Schwartzman. In the first set, Nadal led 4-0 before Schwartzman got to 4-all. In the second, Nadal went up 5-1 before Schwartzman made it 5-all. Took more than two hours...
Pirates rally past Marlins on Bryan Reynolds’ two-run singleVideo
Bryan Reynolds has a chance to make history, though he isn’t making a big deal about it. Reynolds’ two-run bloop single capped a three-run ninth inning as the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied for a 6-5 victory over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday. A 2-for-5 night boosted the outfielder’s average to .332...
Antonio Brown upset at Raiders for nearly $54,000 in fines
ALAMEDA, Calif. — Star receiver Antonio Brown said Wednesday that the Oakland Raiders have fined him close to $54,000 for missing a practice and walkthrough last month. Brown posted a letter on his Instagram account from general manager Mike Mayock saying that he was fined $40,000 for an unexcused absence...
Chase for Tom Herman ends well for Texas, LSU
AUSTIN, Texas — The chase was on for Tom Herman. In late 2016, Texas and LSU were eyeing the young hotshot coach from Houston until a wild Thanksgiving weekend that included a Tigers win, a Longhorns loss and leaked details of contract negotiations swung Herman to Texas and pushed LSU...
Speedy Tevin Bush gives lift to sluggish West Virginia offense
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Hints that Tevin Bush could make an impact for West Virginia in 2019 began at a simple team-building exercise during preseason camp. During a game of musical chairs, 300-pound linemen were knocking each other over to get to empty seats when the song stopped. The speedy, 5-foot-6...
Cowboys, Ezekiel Elliott agree on $90M deal that ends holdout
Ezekiel Elliott was finishing the early stretching at the first practice since ending his long holdout with the Dallas Cowboys when the star running back was called to the front of the group. Cheers rose from teammates Wednesday before Elliott led a brief set of jumping jacks to get the...
Kittanning’s Nick Bowers set for happy, healthy senior year at Penn State
Penn State tight end Nick Bowers has seen the glory college football can provide, scoring a touchdown on his first career catch in 2017 against Nebraska and finding the end zone again in the Citrus Bowl against Kentucky last season. He’s also seen the despair the game sometimes engenders, missing...
Strong safety Paris Ford ‘juices’ up Pitt secondaryVideo
When Virginia wide receiver Hasise Dubois caught a short flip from quarterback Bryce Perkins late in the third quarter against Pitt, he appeared to have enough for an important first down. But when Dubois turned upfield looking for more yardage, Paris Ford was waiting for him. Ford punched the football...
Another September callup: Pirates add Kevin Kramer to roster
The Pittsburgh Pirates added Kevin Kramer to the roster Thursday before their game against the Miami Marlins at PNC Park. Kramer, the Pirates’ second-round draft choice in 2015 after top pick Kevin Newman, hit .260 with 10 home runs, 30 doubles and 54 RBIs for Triple-A Indianapolis this season. He...
Mark Madden: Pitt football long on problems, short on fixes
Pitt football might not quite be broken, but elements of it certainly are. Pitt sold 47,144 tickets for its opening-night loss to Virginia. You can be encouraged by that, or discouraged by more than 21,000 left unsold. (It didn’t look like every ticket-buyer showed up, either. About 35K in the...
Ulysees Gilbert, Tuzar Skipper the other rookies part of Steelers linebackers corps
One-third of the linebackers on Pittsburgh Steelers season-opening roster are rookies. One, No. 10 overall pick Devin Bush, was assured of making the team. The others had to show enough to do so. A pair of Mid-American Conference standouts, Ulysees Gilbert and Tuzar Skipper, were playmakers throughout training camp and...
Kevin Gorman: Steelers need to stop watching and wishing they were PatriotsVideo
The last time the Pittsburgh Steelers opened the season in Foxborough, the New England Patriots didn’t just unveil their fourth Super Bowl banner. They trotted out their trophies, too. New England owner Robert Kraft was joined by Patriots greats Troy Brown, Willie McGinest and Ty Law in carrying their four...
WPIAL alumni Kevin Rader, Trevon Mathis happy to make the Steelers practice squad
While Trevon Mathis and Kevin Rader were in high school, their football teams played each other. “The two of us talked about that this morning,” Rader said earlier this week. “At the Wolvarena.” On Oct. 21, 2011, Rader’s Pine-Richland Rams lost 26-7 at The Wolvarena in Turtle Creek against Mathis’...
Sean Davis again misses practice, stage setting for Kameron Kelly to start NFL debut for Steelers
The first injury report of the Pittsburgh Steelers season was brief. But it could lead to quite the storyline for their regular-season opener. Starting free safety Sean Davis did not participate in Wednesday’s practice because of an ankle injury suffered late in training camp. Although there are still two practices...
