04 Mar
published in category: Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday, March 4th, 2016 – 12:29 pm
Tim Benz asks Marc-Andre Fleury about the Lundqvist outburst and Fleury says that is baby stuff. His interview after the win over the Rangers.
Pens beat Rangers. Fleury, Malkin, Sullivan and Hornqvist talk about the Lundqvist meltdown. Pirates Spring Training.
04 Mar
published in category: Riverhounds on Friday, March 4th, 2016 – 9:06 am
Some “niche sports” thoughts as I watch some golf and soccer:
• The World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship, played at the Blue Monster at Doral, is our first opportunity of 2016 to see the best players from around the world in the same event. Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, and Jason Day are all in the same field for the first time this year. Since the groupings (much like the invitations) are based off the Official World Golf Ranking, that trio will play together for the first two days. Those three have combined to win five of the last six major championships contested. Even if it’s somehow a disappointing leaderboard on the weekend, the television coverage could be entertaining. Donald Trump owns the golf course, it’s Trump Doral, and the Republican frontrunner is, branding-wise, the tournament’s host. It will be fascinating to see how the broadcast handles the specter of his campaign, or an appearance from Trump himself. Rory McIlroy, when asked about the event’s host in his pre-tournament press conference, played the “I’m not an American” card. Savvy.
• We’re just over a month away from the Masters (first round – April 7th) and as is customary, a friend of mine who makes an annual late-February business trip to Vegas places our bets for us (if that’s somehow illegal, I’m lying, we just advise him……if that’s illegal, I give up). Four of us make four picks apiece, can’t pick anybody shorter than 10-1, submitted independently, so there’s some carry-over. We split any winnings evenly. Since the value isn’t there on the big three, we ended up with 3 bets on Bubba, and 2 apiece on Rickie, Oosthuizen, Adam Scott, and (to my dismay) Sergio Garcia. Every single year these knuckleheads chase the Sergio dragon. I have no idea what’s wrong with them. The rest are single bets on Brooks Koepka, Hank Stenson, Justin Rose, Hideki Matsuyama, and, my personal favorite value longshot, Danny Willett at a juicy 80-1. We always end up wishing we could change our picks closer to the event (example…Willett’s wife is due with their first child the week of the Masters, and he’s already said he’ll skip Augusta National if she hasn’t delivered by then), but it adds a little fun every year. I’m pretty sure we’re still playing with house money after the guy who does the legwork picked Bubba in 2012. So…thanks to him.
• The week of the US Open at Oakmont coincides with the meat of the group stages of both the European Championships and Copa America. That’s more than a week of morning-til-night golf and soccer on tv. It’s Grau Hanukkah, but meaningless. It’s Graunukkah.
• Speaking of Copa America, Jurgen Klinsmann stated that getting through a tough group was the goal, “then taking one knockout game at a time.” For the second consecutive major international competition, the USMNT was drawn into the toughest group of the tournament. On paper, Group A (United States, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Paraguay) is by far the most difficult to navigate, but the Americans should still advance, especially considering the tournament is being played in the US. If Klinsmann’s team fails to get out of the group, or they get knocked out by an opponent they’re favored over, the pressure will really heat up on the US manager. The Gold Cup loss to Jamaica, followed by the loss to Mexico in the Confederation Cup playoff, has many people questioning if Jurgen is the right man to be leading the team into World Cup 2018. In fairness, if you’re going to have a down period while figuring things out, the past year was the best time in the World Cup cycle to do so. Personally, I think the best case scenario would be that Klinsmann stays on in his role as technical director and is replaced by a more tactically-minded head coach. The problem, of course, is that I don’t know who that mystery tactician should be. An overachieving performance at Copa America might make that scenario moot, anyway. June will be fun.
Obligatory, gratuitous Leicester City update: They’re still in first place, three points clear of 2nd place Tottenham, six points ahead of Arsenal in 3rd. There are 10 matches left in the season. Leicester have topped the Premier League for most of the season by playing the same style: organized defense, incredibly efficient counter-attack. They allow other teams to dominate possession, then hit on the break. Over their past two matches, Ranieri’s men have come up against bottom-table opponents who attempted to out-Leicester Leicester (I resisted the urge to say “outfox the Foxes”). Norwich and West Brom showed that Leicester City aren’t quite sure what to do when their opponent sits back and concedes possession to them. They needed to patiently pick their way through the buses parked in front of them, and struggled to do so. Although they still managed a draw against West Brom, and got a last-minute winner against Norwich, it may be a blueprint for Leicester’s remaining opponents. Took long enough. As it turns out, Tuesday’s home draw against West Brom didn’t even hurt Leicester in the title race. Wednesday, Spurs lost at West Ham (understandable, and kind of a harsh result), Arsenal lost at home to Swansea (inexplicable), and Manchester City were crushed by Liverpool at Anfield (City have a fight on their hands for a spot in next year’s Champions League, and that’s insane). Leicester City’s magic juju works in mysterious ways. An underdog story for the ages continues.
03 Mar
published in category: College Sports on Thursday, March 3rd, 2016 – 2:24 pm
03 Mar
published in category: Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday, March 3rd, 2016 – 1:32 pm
The number one prospect for the Pirates-Tyler Glasnow joins us live from Pirates Spring Training on his progress, when will he pitch in the majors? What does he still need to work on?
Bucs Beat Writer Rob Biertempfel live from Pirates Spring Training-Jaso did not have a good first day at first base. Other Pirates players talk to Cole about having similar experiences
Get ready for your Fantasy Baseball Draft with this podcast featuring Ken Laird and Jeff Erickson of Rotowire. How should you build your team? Who should you target in first round and late rounds?
Pirates Spring Training talk, Pitt loses on the road, Pens play the Rangers tonight, Steelers Draft. BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE TEAM SPANOS GROUP OF RAYMOND JAMES. RECENTLY HIGHLIGHTED AS THE FACE OF FINACIAL GUIDANCE IN PITTSBURGH MAGAZINE.
02 Mar
published in category: College Sports on Wednesday, March 2nd, 2016 – 10:57 pm
For college basketball fans, “Senior Night” is one last chance to give the departing upperclassmen a final ‘Thank you’ for their work within the program.
For West Virginia seniors Jaysean Paige, Jonathan Holton and Richard Romeo III, it’s more of a celebration of the men who helped to write the series of chapters that will forever be known as the “Press Virginia” era in Morgantown.
For the coaching staff, it’s a final salute to the fruits of the players’ labor, and that salute ended in a 90-62 win over Texas Tech that was never in doubt after a 15-point lead at halftime.
“It’s kind of sad in a way because those are kids that you know that every day you work so hard with and they work so hard with you as coaches,” said assistant coach Ron Everhart during an interview this week on TribLive Radio. “It’s nice to honor those types of kids that have come here, worked extremely hard, even just for saying ‘Hey, thanks for working so hard on the treadmills every day when you messed up.'”
And with this trio of young men moving on from their days in blue and gold, they depart with three widely-ranging stories.
There’s the story of the redemption of Jonathan Holton, a 6-foot-7 forward who was dismissed from the University of Rhode Island in 2012 after being arrested twice for separate offenses, then played at Palm Beach State College before transferring to West Virginia.
This season he’s tied for fourth on the team in scoring, second in field goal percentage and rebounding, and third in blocked shots, but also has gone the extra mile off the court as well as on.
“The kid has been a model citizen,” Everhart says. “He’s worked really hard and just one of those success stories in college athletics nobody ever really talks about, but it’s really a nice, nice thing.”
For Holton, it’s leaving behind a group of strangers who quickly became a second family to him.
“We all came in here and — to tell you the truth — we were all fighting for a spot,” Holton said. “We didn’t really know each other, but we clicked like that.
“I love those guys like my little brothers. I know I can go to war with each and every one of these guys and they all have my back. We’ve had ups and downs, and we’ve succeeded together and failed together.”
For Paige, it’s finally finding a home after a nomadic journey through the game of basketball that included two high schools and two junior colleges before settling in Morgantown. In his first year the team reached the Sweet Sixteen, and in his final season they have higher goals in mind.
“It means a lot,” Paige said, describing his time at WVU. “Just watching before and seeing (the team) struggle a little bit, and then being able to come in and being a part of something special, I’m thankful and blessed for that, and we’ve still got a lot to go.”
Then there’s the unsung heroes, like Richard Romeo III, a walk-on senior who was serenaded with chants from the student section with as many as nine minutes remaining in the game.
“He’s a kid that every day in practice really works hard,” said Everhart. “He’s a great kid. He’s as important as anyone else. We’re going to miss him, too.”
Soon the coaching staff relented, and Romeo checked in. With a little more than two minutes remaining, Romeo came off a screen by junior forward Devin Williams, took a pass from Tarik Phillip and knocked down a long jumpshot from the left corner.
It was only Romeo’s second basket of the season, but a moment for him and his teammates to savor. Phillip hugged him at the other end of the floor, and the WVU Coliseum roared.
“Devin and Richard are really close,” said head coach Bob Huggins after the game. “You saw Devin running around, trying to get him open, which is kind of neat. Devin’s got two points and he’s running around, trying to get Rich some baskets.”
“I think making the shot was definitely exciting,” Romeo said. “Making my last shot in here, that’s how I’m going to look at it, leaving the Coliseum. But hearing the chants means a lot as well.”
Romeo followed the 2009-10 Mountaineers to the Final Four as a fan, but he was also present to witness the program emerge from a 13-19 record in his freshman year into the nation’s top ten in his senior year.
“Each year we added a piece to the puzzle, and how it correlated and how everything seemed to fall into place is just perfect,” Romeo said about the formation of the current roster. “(Holton) has been here for three years, but he played with us for two. Jaysean has come in the past two seasons and been a great scorer for us. They’ve worked perfectly for our system.”
It is a system that is much more complicated and intricate than the “#PressVirginia” hashtag sensation that has spawned from it. But it has also become the fitting identity of a group who came together as strangers, but are now succeeding as brothers.
And the men leading that group hope to write one last chapter on their way out.
02 Mar
published in category: Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday, March 2nd, 2016 – 7:48 pm
-When he reported last year Gregory Polanco was thicker than the year before, but the difference from 2 years ago to this year is at least 20 pounds of muscle. He’s not exactly Dave Parker yet, but the piano legs are long gone.
-Dark horse for making an impact this year…Michael Morse. The guy hit .279 with 16 home runs two years ago for the World Series winning Giants. And he hit .310 last year after the all-star break. And he was pounding the ball at Pirate City. Plus he’s one of the few guys within 20 miles of Bradenton who has more than 200 major league games played at first base. You just have to hope that 34 isn’t too old.
-Age isn’t on the side of pitcher Ryan Vogelsong either. Not when he’ll be 39 in July. But he thinks his experience pitching for 2 World Series Championship teams in San Francisco, along with his time spent in Japan, have molded him into a guy who can contribute. He says the umpires in Japan had a very narrow strike zone for American pitchers and that he had to learn to pound the plate without flirting with the corners. He also says the movie “Mr. Baseball” is fairly accurate of how the game is played over there.
-The Bridge Tender Inn on Anna Maria Island has the best Black Bean soup I’ve ever eaten.
-The Pirates fondness for defensive shifting, makes playing first base all the more difficult for guys who didn’t develop playing the position. John Jaso botched a play in the first inning yesterday. He was forced to quit catching because of repeated concussions. He could talk to Pedro Alvarez, Andrew Lambo or Josh Bell about trying to make the switch to first.
-Francisco Cervelli is still one of the funniest guys on the team. When a Korean TV reporter asked him if he could talk to him about Jung Ho Kang, he said no, “I don’t like him.” Then he did the interview and called him the “sexiest man in Korea”.
-Kang isn’t allowed to go 100% yet with all drills but the fact that he is moving and looking as good as he does is amazing considering his knee injury happened barely 5 months ago.
-Jared Hughes says part of the reason he trying the BangBoom helmet while pitching is so that kids wouldn’t be timid to try using head protection because it looks funny. There is a guy who gets it.
-Gerrit Cole isn’t happy with how his salary was calculated. Neither were any of the assembled media members. With their own salaries, not Cole’s.
-The players love Clint Hurdle. In no uncertain terms.
-Infielder Gift Ngoepe is trying to become the first South African to make it to the major leagues. Spend 30 seconds with him and you will pull for him for the rest your life. Great kid. Great Fielder. He has to show he can hit.
-A piece of Key Lime Pie and a sunset on the Gulf Of Mexico can rejuvenate the soul.
01 Mar
published in category: College Sports on Tuesday, March 1st, 2016 – 2:48 pm
Head Coach Derek Schooley talks about the Colonials being ranked 20th in the country. Postseason play starts next week for them.
Robert Morris University men’s hockey returns to the nation’s Top 20 rankings in the latest USCHO.com poll after clinching the Atlantic Hockey regular season title. This is the second time this season Robert Morris has been ranked twentieth, the first time following the Colonials 4-0 shutout of a top ten Michigan team at Yost Ice Arena.
Robert Morris swept Canisius to wrap the regular season, locking up the conference title with a 6-3 win on Friday and return home to take a 6-2 victory on a milestone-filled senior night. Greg Gibson notched a hat trick Saturday, scoring five goals and one assist over the weekend. Zac Lynch matched that six-point weekend with one goal and five assists, tying the RMU all-time scoring record of 150 points, set by Cody Wydo (’15) last season. Goaltender Terry Shafer won both games in net, reaching his 40th career win on Saturday. The 2016 Mike Richter Award nominee is now second all-time in wins at RMU.
Seniors David Friedmann and Brandon Denham also had four-point weekends for the Colonials, with Friedmann tallying three goals and an assist while Denham scored one goal and three assists. Freshman defenseman Eric Israel picked up his first career goal in Friday night’s win.
01 Mar
published in category: College Sports on Tuesday, March 1st, 2016 – 2:42 pm
What makes for a successful Pitt season? Can they make a run in a weak NCAA Tournament field? Big 12 > ACC? How good of a resume does Pitt have? How high of a seed do they deserve?
– The University of Pittsburgh men’s basketball team placed four members – Cameron Johnson, Ryan Luther, Rafael Maia and Damon Wilson – on the All-ACC Academic Team, as announced by league commissioner John Swofford Tuesday morning. All four Panthers are first time honorees, while North Carolina’s Marcus Paige was named the recipient of the league’s Skip Prosser Award for the second straight year.
To be eligible for consideration, a student-athlete must have earned a 3.00 grade point average for the previous semester and maintained a 3.00 cumulative average during his academic career.
The Skip Prosser Award is presented annually to the top scholar-athlete in ACC men’s basketball. It is named in memory of Wake Forest head basketball coach George Edward “Skip” Prosser, who passed away on July 26, 2007. Prosser compiled a 291-146 career record in 14 seasons as a head coach, including a 126-68 mark in his six years with Wake Forest. Former Pitt guard Cameron Wright claimed the Prosser Award in 2014.
To be nominated for the Skip Prosser Award, a student-athlete must be an upperclassman with a grade-point average of 3.0 or better – both in his career and in the previous two semesters. Sixty percent of the award is based on academic achievement and 40 percent on athletic accomplishments.