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Tim Benz Columns category, Page 90

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
5 big 2020 Pirates questions: Can the Pirates hit their way to relevance?
The Pirates are ramping up to their 60-game sprint of a season at PNC Park’s “Spring Training 2.0.” The Major League Baseball schedule starts for the Pirates on Friday, July 24 in St. Louis. So each day this week at “Breakfast With Benz,” we will be examining the five most...
First Call: How the Big Ten’s decision may impact Pitt, Notre Dame, West Virginia and others
Sometimes this job requires you to act like you have all the answers. All the time. Immediately. Even if you don’t. Saying “I don’t know” feels like a cop-out. But when it comes to asking what the football ripple effects will be from Thursday’s decision by the Big Ten to...
Tim Benz: Steelers’ Cam Heyward, Zach Banner strong voices after DeSean Jackson comments
In June, when Saints quarterback Drew Brees said he couldn’t condone players protesting the national anthem, he was excoriated by athletes throughout the sports world. By the media. And on Twitter. He went from one of the most popular players in football to a national pariah overnight. To be clear,...
Tim Benz: Pirates’ Mitch Keller has 2 specific ways he can become … Mitch Keller
In 2020, the Pirates might be able to hit enough to stay in contention over the looming 60-game sprint of a season. However, their pitchers may get hit around the yard on a nightly basis just as hard. Or worse. One X factor in how the starting rotation performs is...
Tim Benz: Health complaints from NFL players are mix of spot on and ridiculous
National Football League players have recently expressed some concerns about a return to play. In some cases, they have a point. And, in some cases, they absolutely do not. In the coronavirus era, the analysis on every level is about risk versus reward. And in the NFL’s attempt to launch...
Tim Benz: How Cam Newton going to the Patriots will impact … the Steelers?
It used to be that this time of year Steelers fans would be focusing on two things. 1. How can we talk ourselves into believing the Steelers are going to be better than the year before? And 2. How can we talk ourselves into thinking the Patriots are going to...
Tim Benz: Steelers ‘optimistic’ fans will be in Heinz Field this fall
The Pittsburgh Steelers are still holding out hope that they will be able to play home games in front of their fans during the 2020 season. Last week, The Athletic’s Daniel Kaplan wrote that the NFL is going to allow teams an opportunity to work out their own seating volume...
Tim Benz: Making a good defense better? Mike Tomlin and Cam Heyward have different suggestions.
Ask most Steelers fans what they want to see improve in 2020, and the suggestions usually come back to something on offense. Rushing offense. Passing offense. Red zone offense. Third down offense. Scoring offense. None of those are wrong answers. But if we talk about the defense specifically, for as...
From ‘fringy’ to fabulous, one tool turned Pirates 1st-round pick Nick Gonzales into the NCAA batting champ
Many Pirates fans have become familiar with the story of Pirates first-round draft choice Nick Gonzales. From underrecruited walk-on at New Mexico State to NCAA batting champ to Cape Cod League MVP to seventh overall pick in the MLB draft in just three years. But his former coach at New...
First Call: Ditching the Hall of Fame Game isn’t a catastrophe, but it’s something
For Friday’s First Call, let’s take a look at the cancellation of the NFL’s Hall of Fame Game. It was supposed to feature the Steelers against the Dallas Cowboys on Aug. 6 in Canton, Ohio. Because of the coronavirus, that ain’t happenin’. Neither is the induction ceremony that would’ve included...
Tim Benz: Jarome Iginla, Marian Hossa, tainted history and butterfly effects
When former Steelers Troy Polamalu, Bill Cowher and Donnie Shell were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame a few months ago, the news was met with celebration in Pittsburgh. A practical Black and Gold caravan was planned to leave Western Pa. and head to Canton, Ohio, for induction...
Tim Benz: Figuring out Ben Roethlisberger’s message about his addictions and recovery
When I heard Ben Roethlisberger’s soundbite admitting that he had battled addictions to alcohol and pornography, I had two immediate questions. The first was, how was this story so far off the radar for so long? Roethlisberger was a speaker for the “ManUp Pittsburgh” Christian men’s program, which was streamed...
Tim Benz: The intangibles behind great Pittsburgh sports memories
Full marks to my radio colleague Adam Crowley at ESPN Pittsburgh. On Monday, Crowley put up a web poll — clearly designed to tweak the masses. A tactic I fully embrace, by the way. More overrated Pittsburgh sports moment— Adam Crowley (@_adamcrowley) June 22, 2020 Psst! Adam, there’s a Mr....
Tim Benz: Trump’s love-hate of NFL will continue for months
When you combine the National Football League, a pandemic, social upheaval, President Donald Trump, and an election year, you are going to see some rather odd intersections of reality. Such was the case over the weekend. Within the span of one tweet — and the span of 36 hours —...
Tim Benz: On Mike Tomlin, Steelers playoff droughts, NFL comps, history lessons
Given the Pittsburgh Steelers’ track record since 1972, NFL fans in the city may have a slightly skewed vision of success versus failure. That’s my nice way of saying, “Yinz know, Stiller fans are spoiled, n’at, right?” Granted, if the Steelers fail to make the playoffs again in 2020, that’ll...
Tim Benz: If NFL players’ message about kneeling gets ‘hijacked,’ options exist
If athletes who kneel during the national anthem want their message against police brutality to be more firmly understood by a wider swath of America, they may want to try a different approach. Because the same script which led to a redirection of that message is playing out exactly as...
Tim Benz: Congrats, MLB! You’ve somehow made me enraged at my own apathy.
I’m angry about my lack of anger at Major League Baseball. Does that make any sense? On Monday night, I watched MLB commissioner Rob Manfred on ESPN. He was attempting to tap dance through an explanation over the game’s flailing attempt to reboot from the covid-19 shutdown. He did so...
Tim Benz: Saints open old wounds for Steelers fans
One of the most painful regular season losses in Steelers history was the team’s Week 16 defeat in New Orleans back in 2018. You remember. • The awful pass interference call against Joe Haden in the end zone. • The other awful pass interference call later in the game. •...
Tim Benz: Jake Guentzel, RMU announcement provide ‘pure sports’ jolt
Guess what I’m doing today. I’m going to a press conference! Woo-hoo! What do I wear? A coat and tie? A tux?! Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Tim, what’s the big deal? You do this for a living. How many thousands of press conferences have you gone to over...
First Call: Ben Roethlisberger’s Twitter turn. D.C. for Antonio Brown?
Thursday’s “First Call” gives an update on Ben Roethlisberger’s notorious Twitter account, the latest on Antonio Brown’s job hunt, what might happen to the Steelers-Cowboys Hall of Fame Game, and someone steps into Sidney Crosby’s elite company. Welcome back? If Ben Roethlisberger’s offensive line blocked as well as his social...
Taking over a college hockey program during a pandemic … and other fun hobbies
It’s your first college head coaching job. It’s a small school. It’s Division III men’s hockey. You aren’t the biggest program in your own state, or your own city. The team is 14-58-6 in its first three seasons. And you’ve signed on during a pandemic. So, you’ve been on the...
Tim Benz: Steelers training camp at Heinz Field may not be as bad as some thought
When I first heard that the Pittsburgh Steelers are planning to hold training camp at Heinz Field, I had the same reaction many of you did. “Oh, this stinks for the Steelers! Let ’em practice on the South Side. The concerns over social distancing in the locker room are stupid....
Tim Benz: Praising Maurkice Pouncey’s balance, fairness and objectivity
Flame wars over coronavirus. Raging battles over how to maintain law and order while eradicating police brutality. The louder both sides of the political aisle scream at one another, the less I hear them. It’s just a cacophony. Their voices sound so similar. Yet, neither side is speaking a language...
Tim Benz: Steelers players miss the mark by blaming the media for Drew Brees controversy
A lot of blame can be thrown around for a lot of different issues these days. There’s no shortage of it. A heaping tablespoon can be served to media members (and outlets) regarding coverage and commentary surrounding the covid-19 pandemic and civil unrest in the wake of George Floyd’s death...
Tim Benz: If Minkah Fitzpatrick starts moving around, which Steelers move with him?
Minkah Fitzpatrick has made his opinion known. The Steelers safety would like to move around on defense more often. At the Pro Bowl this year, Fitzpatrick said he may like to do something besides just play the deep middle or one half of the field. It’s Fitzpatrick’s belief that his...


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