If and when current Pitt football coach Paul Chryst accepts the job at Wisconsin, likely as early as Wednesday, the Panthers will have lost more than just a coach. They are also losing out on valuable time, not only in a busy recruiting period, but valuable time in hiring a new head coach as well. There’s nothing Chryst can do about the situation to help the Panthers, other than announce he is staying at Pitt, as the Panthers have been in limbo for close to a week now. During that time, ... Read More
Penguins use secondary scoring to beat Lightning
The mumps may have set back the Pittsburgh Penguins, but it wasn’t able to stop them on Monday night. Without Sidney Crosby and Beau Bennett, both sidelined with the illness, and a handful of other players missing due to injuries, the Penguins merely turned to different sources of scoring to earn a 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Consol Energy Center. The Penguins started out slowly, with the Lightning outshooting the Penguins by a 12-to-5 margin in the first period, and Penguins ... Read More
Pittsburgh Steelers Report Card after big win vs. Falcons
The Pittsburgh Steelers may be hitting their stride at the right time, coming away with a big 27-20 victory against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, in Atlanta. There was a lot to like about the Steelers performance as they inched closer to a playoff spot with the win. With that being said, let’s take a look at how the Steelers graded out in my weekly Pittsburgh Steelers Report Card. Quarterback- Ben Roethlisberger didn’t throw a touchdown pass, but more importantly didn’t throw an ... Read More
Pitt, Penn State aren’t destination jobs
When people talk about sports, the line is often brought up that it’s just a game. However, I tend to disagree with this statement. Especially when I think about football in the state of Pennsylvania. Football is not only a game here, it is a part of our culture. It’s not something we do just to pass the time, it’s a way of life. If it were just a game, you wouldn’t see people out and about on Saturdays representing the Pitt blue and gold or the navy and white of Penn State. The two teams ... Read More
Steelers beat Falcons, improve playoff hopes
The Pittsburgh Steelers (9-5) were one of three AFC North teams to win in Week 15, remaining on top of the AFC Wild Card standings with a 27-20 victory at the Atlanta Falcons (5-9). After the Steelers settled for two field goals in the first quarter, William Gay set the tone and gave his team a 13-0 lead with an interception of Matt Ryan returned 52 yards for a touchdown. It was Gay's third such play of the season, the most by any Steelers defensive player in any season in franchise ... Read More
Julio Jones out for Falcons
After days of speculation, the Atlanta Falcons top receiving threat is out for Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Julio Jones was ruled out by team doctors about two hours prior to kickoff as he continues to struggle with an injury to his hip. That means Roddy White and Harry Douglas will be the top two targets for Falcons QB Matt Ryan. The only other significant inactive players in this Week 15 matchup for Atlanta are T Jonathan Scott and CB Robert Alford. For Pittsburgh, LB ... Read More
Mayhem in Columbus leads to shootout loss for Pens
In a card worth of a WWE pay-per-view, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets squared off on Saturday night. The Penguins and Blue Jackets played physically all night long and they racked up 88 penalty minutes, including fights between Bobby Farnham and Jordan Leopold and Steve Downie and Brandon Dubinsky. Through 65 minutes, however, the fight card, and the scoreboard, was all square, and it came down to a one-on-one battle between goaltenders Sergei Bobrovsky and Thomas Greiss in ... Read More
Panthers narrowly escape Bonnies
In just the third home game for the Pittsburgh Panthers (6-3), the visiting St. Bonaventure Bonnies (6-2) brought all Jamie Dixon's team could handle into the Petersen Events Center. Pitt won 58-54, holding on in the second half and even trailing at one point late, to improve to 113-3 all-time at the Pete against non-conference opponents. Since it opened in 2002, the Panthers are now 55-2 there in the month of December. The Panthers jumped out to an early 11-5 lead and forced eight Bonnies ... Read More
Steelers, Falcons can damage each other’s playoff hopes
They are no doubt two teams with very different records and resumes in 2014, but the situations are very similar entering Week 15 for the Pittsburgh Steelers (8-5) and the Atlanta Falcons (5-8). Pittsburgh is currently atop the AFC Wild Card standings and just a half-game behind division-leading Cincinnati (8-4-1) after defeating the Bengals last week, while Atlanta is tied with the New Orleans Saints (5-8) in a poor, but tight NFC South. Pittsburgh still gets to host Cincinnati in the season ... Read More
Surging Blue Jackets host Pens
After a miserable, injury-riddled start to the 2014 season, the Columbus Blue Jackets (11-15-2, 24 pts.) have won five straight and are beginning to climb out of the basement in the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference standings. TONIGHT’S OPPONENT: A playoff opponent of the first-place Penguins (19-6-3, 41 pts.) last season, the Blue Jackets bottomed out in late November with a sixth consecutive loss and they earned just six points in all of that month. December has been much kinder ... Read More