This past week, the Pittsburgh Pirates picked up win number 82 and clinched a winning season for the first time in the past two decades. Sure, there were guys who stepped up at the plate, and sure they drove in runs for the win. But there was one guy who stepped up even more. That man is Gerrit Cole. Cole, who is pitching in his first major league season, took the hill for the Pirates this past Monday. The Pirates stood at 81 wins at the time. His counterpart on the other team was Yu Darvish, ... Read More
Is Coach Tomlin on the hot seat?
Fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers have, to say the least, been spoiled by a perennial contender and a trustworthy and successful head coach for decades. Chuck Noll won four Super Bowls during his 33-year tenure, Bill Cowher won one in two appearances over the course of 15 years, and Mike Tomlin has had two Super Bowl teams in just six seasons, winning in 2009 and losing in 2011. The Rooney family has been able to maintain consistency and build a system by putting who they want in charge and ... Read More
Todd Haley not to blame for Steelers’ pathetic offense
Following the Pittsburgh Steelers' embarrassing home loss to the Tennessee Titans last Sunday, the loudest cry from the fan base called for Todd Haley's head. To be fair, the fans did get one thing right about their criticism: the problem is on offense. With the Steelers putting up 12 measly points, two of which were handed to them three seconds into the game on a stupid kneel-down in the end zone for a safety, it isn't exactly rocket science figuring out the offense struggled. Ben ... Read More
Pirates take two straight over Rangers
ARLINGTON -- The Rangers snapped a 15-inning scoreless streak in the fifth, but by then, it was too late. The lack of early run support for Martin Perez, who had his roughest start in nearly two months, led to yet another September loss. Texas fell to the Pirates, 5-4, on Tuesday night at Rangers Ballpark for its fifth loss in the last six contests. The Rangers are 2-7 this month and remain two games back in the American League West behind the first-place A's, who lost, 4-3, to the ... Read More
Are the Pens lacking grit?
The Pittsburgh Penguins are set with their top two lines heading into 2013-14 season barring no injuries. The Penguins do have some questions as to who will fill the void on the third line. The Penguins were in negotiations to bring in Daniel Clearly. Cleary would have been a perfect fit on the third line for the Penguins as he is a hard nosed player that logs tough minutes on the penalty kill and still average 40 points in a season. However, early Tuesday morning, the Philadelphia Flyers ... Read More
Steelers drinking challenge
So the Steelers lost their opener. First time in a gazillion years since they lost their opener at home. The stats speak loudly without needing to be verbalized. The mistakes in clock management and play calling were egregious at best. The Steelers best healthy offensive player found himself on the turf more than the Chemlawn guy that sprays my neighbor’s lawn. The offensive line is going to have to let a lot more defenders pass if they want to set any kind of record this season, because ... Read More
ACC Power Rankings: Where does Pitt stand?
Another week is in the books and it is time to unleash my first ACC Power Rankings of the year. The Miami Hurricanes made a big statement over the weekend with and upset over then No. 12 Florida, which was the biggest win of the week for the conference, who already has a couple of big out of conference victories through two weeks. Where does that leave the Pitt Panthers, who had a week off? Let's not waste any time and find out. 1. Clemson (2-0, 0-0 ACC): After their huge opening week ... Read More
Pittsburgh Steelers report card following Week 1 loss
Saying that the Pittsburgh Steelers ‘ performance was ugly Sunday afternoon against the Tennessee Titans would be an understatement as all of the fears about the Steelers offense coming into the season all showed their head as the Steelers dropped their first home opener in over a decade, 16-9 to the visiting Titans. It’s never good when you have more season ending injuries (three) than touchdowns (one) to start the season, but the Steelers were able to pull off that rare feat. Exactly how ... Read More
Pirate of the Week: Andrew McCutchen
Despite the uphill battle to get win number 82, Andrew McCutchen has been a bright spot for the Pirates. During the course of last week, Pittsburgh went 2-3. McCutchen had a hit in each of the five games for his squad. Let's check out how he performed. 9/1: 1-3, 1 Run 9/2: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 BB 9/3: 2-4, 1 HR, 3 Runs, 1 RBI, 1 BB 9/4: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 Run, 1 RBI, 1 BB 9/6: 1-2, 1 Run, 2 BB For the week, McCutchen went 7-17 with a .412 batting average. He tallied two RBIs, two home runs, and six runs ... Read More
College football’s new battle
There are many questions and concerns swirling around college football these days. Most notably, players wanting to reek benefits from the universities that give these players free rides and national attention. However, there is one issue that is getting completely ridiculous and doesn't look like its going to stop anytime soon. These players work very hard to get to this stage and their families, youth coaches and mentors should be praised. Instead it's their girlfriends getting the national ... Read More