http://sportstalk.triblive.com/download/Erickson806.mp3 Jeff Erickson of RotoWire joins me again for this week’s fantasy sports podcast. Among other topics we get into early NBA and NHL trends, struggling Pirates bats, Rob Gronkowski’s draft status in Tampa Bay, and the ripple effect of covid-19 NFL opt-outs and MLB cancellations.

http://sportstalk.triblive.com/download/Metzer805.mp3 Brian Metzer of the Penguins Radio network joins me to talk about the Patrick Marleau debate, Penguins issues offensively, and what we’ve learned about the Montreal Canadiens in the first two games of the preliminary round of the playoffs.

http://sportstalk.triblive.com/download/AIRmounts.mp3 Wednesday’s “Breakfast With Benz” podcast features Jason Mounts. The Army infantry captain from Washington County is a veteran distance runner. And he is targeting the Pittsburgh marathon for his return after a battle against leukemia.

http://sportstalk.triblive.com/download/MAddenMonday803.mp3 In this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark Madden joins Tim Benz to discuss the Penguins loss to the Canadiens in Game 1, the Pirates lineup is weak, Mike Tomlin is protecting JuJu Smith-Schuster.

http://sportstalk.triblive.com/download/ERICKSON73120.mp3 RotoWire’s Jeff Erickson joins me for our weekly fantasy sports podcast. We look at some disturbing early numbers for the Pirates, Joe Musgrove’s first two starts, MLB pitching injuries, and ripple effects from the Marlins covid-19 situation. Plus how opt outs are impacting the NFL, and the Antonio Brown to Baltimore talk

http://sportstalk.triblive.com/download/Sethpremontseries.mp3 Thursday’s podcast previews the Penguins’ upcoming play-in series against the Montreal Canadiens. TribLive hockey beat writer Seth Rorabaugh joins me. We examine the woes of the Penguins playoffs, the state of the Pens goaltending, bad ice concerns, Phil Kessel’s absence, and an X-Factor not named Carey Price.

http://sportstalk.triblive.com/download/JOEsound.mp3 Like the rest of Major League Baseball, the Pirates are relying on live action, piped in crowd noise to fill PNC Park during games. And their broadcasts. Joe Klimchak is in charge. He tells us how the artificial crowd noise is executed in Wednesday’s podcast.

http://sportstalk.triblive.com/download/MetzTUES728.mp3 Brian Metzer of the Penguins radio network joins me. We talk about the upcoming play-in series against the Montreal Canadiens, Sidney Crosby’s health, goaltending, potential first-round upsets, the hockey hub model, and those in sports “rooting for leagues to fail.”