While the upcoming week for the Pitt Panthers football team is being described as a playoff game by many in their locker room, as a win at Miami will make the Panthers bowl eligible, last Saturday's 30-7 win against Syracuse was something pretty special. Special for the Pitt seniors, who ran through that tunnel at Heinz Field for the final time. As a reporter I often like to find stories with real life �emotion attached to them and getting to watch seniors play their final home game is ... Read More
Pirates trade Ike Davis to Oakland
Just a few days after designating first baseman Ike Davis for assignment, the Pittsburgh Pirates made a minor trade on Sunday by sending Davis to the Oakland A’s. In exchange, the Pirates and A’s swapped International bonus slot money. The Pirates acquired bonus slot 27, from Oakland, which is worth $501,900. The Pirates can combine that with its own slot, just above Oakland’s, and spend a little more on the international market. The A’s got international slot No. 86 ($232,000) from ... Read More
Key pieces of Steelers defense have been invisible at times
On paper, the Pittsburgh Steelers defense has been neither really good or really bad in this 2014 season. Heading into a late Week 12 bye, the team is 7-4 and ranks a very average 16th against the pass (allowing 241 yards per game) and a respectable 10th against the run. Allowing 23.9 points per game, coordinator Dick LeBeau's unit ranks 18th in the 32-team league. The 14 turnovers forced already matches last year's total with five games still remaining, so that is certainly an improvement, even ... Read More
Pens fall again to surging Islanders
In the second day of a home-and-home battle with the New York Islanders (14-6-0, 28 points), the Pittsburgh Penguins (13-4-2, 28 points) fell 4-1 at Nassau Memorial Coliseum on Saturday evening, creating a tie between the Metropolitan Division's top two teams. After falling Friday in a shootout, the Penguins struck first with a goal by Evgeni Malkin to take a 1-0 lead with just over three minutes remaining in the first period. It was his eighth of the season and was assisted by Patric Hornqvist ... Read More
Pitt breaks losing streak with win over Syracuse
Not a lot has gone right for the Pitt Panthers football team lately, but Saturday afternoon, they put together a solid all-around performance in a 30-7 victory over longtime foe Syracuse. The Panthers not only put an end to their three-game losing streak, but in the process kept their slim bowl hopes alive for at least one more week. “It was a good win,” said Pitt head coach Paul Chryst. “The last couple weeks haven’t been easy, but the guys keep staying strong and kept their focus. It was ... Read More
W&J defense has record breaking day in first-round win
The Washington and Jefferson Presidents lived to play another week as a record-setting performance from their defense helped them advance to the second round of the Division III playoffs. No. 19 W&J set a school record by intercepting eight passes as that was plenty enough to help the Presidents defeat No. 12 Wittenberg (9-2) 41-25 in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs. The win moves W&J (10-1) into the second round of the playoffs where No. 3 Mount Union awaits. ... Read More
Penn State falls to Illinois in final road game
Penn State (6-5, 2-5 Big Ten) dropped its final true road game of the year to Illinois (5-6, 2-5 Big Ten) by a score of 16-14 at Memorial Stadium. The Nittany Lions opened the game against Illinois with an 18-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Christian Hackenberg to freshman wide receiver Chris Godwin in the first quarter, but could not spark a sustainable offensive moment through the rest of the game. Penn State’s two costly mistakes in the first half gave Illinois the momentum to take ... Read More
Penn State looks to extend win streak in final away game
Penn State (6-4, 2-4 Big Ten) will take on Illinois (4-6, 1-5 Big Ten) in its final true road test of the season with a noon kickoff at Memorial Stadium. Penn State’s offensive line has been unable to effectively protect quarterback Christian Hackenberg in recent weeks, leading to a record number of sacks; however, in the match against Temple, the offensive line received a lift from the return of Miles Dieffenbach and Donovan Smith. The two veteran players added experience and size to the ... Read More
Pitt suffers first loss of season at hands of Hawaii
The Pitt basketball program was supposed to get a taste of some tougher competition when it made its first appearance in the Maui Invitational. They probably didn't expect that to be the case as soon as they stepped off the plane in Hawaii. Pitt got a lot more than the warm up game they were expecting from the Rainbow Warriors. Hawaii's Michael Thomas scored four of his 12 points late in the game as the Rainbow Warriors defeated Pitt 74-70 early Saturday morning, sending the Panthers to ... Read More
Central Valley denies West Allegheny a three-peat, wins WPIAL Class AAA Championship
It was “Light Up” night in Pittsburgh and Jordan Whitehead provided plenty of fireworks in the WPIAL Class AAA title game to help Central Valley beat West Allegheny 35-28. The win denied West Allegheny the chance to three-peat as WPIAL Champions. Whitehead, who will play college ball for Pitt, was a force and finished the game with 286 total yards and three touchdowns. Central Valley (13-0) stormed out to a 21-0 first quarter lead by scoring three touchdowns in four and a half minutes. ... Read More