Just two days after losing kicker Shaun Suisham for the season to a knee injury, the Pittsburgh Steelers have settled on a replacement, signing veteran free agent Garrett Hartley, according to his agent, Erik Burkhart. Congrats to @GHartley5 on signing with the @steelers ! He has continued to work hard at his craft and is ready for a big season. — Erik Burkhardt (@ErikBurkhardt) August 11, 2015 Hartley, 29, made two appearances with the Cleveland Browns in 2014, making all three field goals ... Read More
Gannon No. 1 in PSAC West preseason poll
The Gannon Golden Knights have been picked as the preseason favorites to win the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference’s Western Division. The 2015 PSAC preseason football poll, which surveys the league’s head coaches, chose Gannon (9-2) to repeat as champions after sharing the title with Slippery Rock in 2014. Senior running back Brock Jones will return to lead the Golden Knights powerful rushing attack. Gannon led the PSAC West with 239.6 rushing yards per game last season. Slippery ... Read More
Steelers kicker Suisham out with ‘potentially significant’ injury
In the NFL preseason, the results of the games are often less important than the post-game injury report. That could be the case for the Steelers, who lost 14-3 to the Minnesota Vikings in the Hall of Fame Game on Sunday night, and also lost kicker Shaun Suisham to an injury. Suisham was injured making a tackle in on the opening kickoff of the third quarter. The Steelers announced that he had suffered a left knee injury and was questionable to return. He did not kick again in the game. ... Read More
Several Steelers inactive for preseason opener
Several prominent Steelers players will be held out of tonight’s game as the Black and Gold make their 2015 debut against the Minnesota Vikings in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio. On offense, the Steelers will play without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and wide receivers Martavis Bryant, Darius Heyward-Bey and Markus Wheaton. Third-year backup Landry Jones is expected to start at quarterback. Wide reciver Antonio Brown, center Maurkice Pouncey and running back Le’Veon Bell, who were ... Read More
Pitt guard Josh Newkirk to transfer
Junior guard Josh Newkirk, who had microfracture surgery on his left knee on May 6, will not rejoin the Pitt Panthers this fall as expected. Instead, Newkirk will return home to Raleigh, North Carolina to continue his rehab and is expected to transfer to another NCAA Division-I school. "Josh is looking to get closer to home while he recovers from knee surgery and we are in full support of his decision," said head coach Jamie Dixon in a statement. "He has been an excellent student and ... Read More
Pens mailbag: Why Matt Cullen, is Franson a fit, and more
Why did the Pens sign 38-year old center Matt Cullen? Penguins GM Jim Rutherford gave lip service to Cullen being the type of player that he wants in his locker room after signing Cullen to a one-year deal last week. But as the Penguins witnessed last season with Craig Adams, all the intangibles in the world don’t add up to squat if the player can’t produce on the ice. Well, Cullen may be 38, but he’s far from unproductive. Over the last two seasons with Nashville, he averaged .122 goals ... Read More
Hounds beat Toronto, regain playoff position
The Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughan, Ontario – home of Toronto FC II – has only been open for a month, but the Pittsburgh Riverhounds have already claimed two victories on their Eastern Conference rival’s home ground. The Hounds helped open the stadium with a 2-0 victory on July 8 and did the double on Saturday with a 3-1 win over the Reds. Midfielder Rob Vincent got the scoring started off in the 11th minute when he took a short flick from Stephen Okai and fired one of his trademarked ... Read More
USWNT match means nothing — and everything
When the US Women’s National Team takes to Heinz Field under head coach Jill Ellis on August 16, the match won’t mean anything. The international friendly against Costa Rica isn’t likely to be competitive. Las Ticas, as the Costa Rican women are known, just participated in their first World Cup. In a match that mattered last October, the U.S. cruised to a 6-0 victory. Even if it suddenly becomes something of a match, the outcome means little to the American squad. Mostly, it will be a ... Read More
Pirates to skip Happ’s turn in rotation
They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression. For Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander J.A. Happ, that’s proving to be true. After a disastrous Pirates debut on Tuesday, Happ, who was acquired from the Seattle Mariners for Triple-A right-hander Adrian Sampson at the trade deadline, will be skipped in the starting rotation by Pirates manager Clint Hurdle according to multiple media reports. An off day on Monday will allow the Pirates to flow from this weekend’s series against ... Read More
Summer of Jim: Pens GM making all the right moves in 2015
Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford faced a lot of criticism in his first year on the job. Many commenters (including this columnist) felt that Rutherford did not adequately manage his assets or the salary cap in order to put his team in the best possible position come playoff time. It was an easy criticism to make. The Penguins had so little salary cap space that they were forced to play with five defensemen for a long stretch at the end of the season, while minimal ... Read More