Tree of Life

25 Jan

Fixing Slow Starts

published in category: Pittsburgh Penguins, Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday, January 25th, 2016 – 1:39 pm

Pens win after falling behind again, Sullivan calls out players on slow starts. Malkin hat trick, Beau Bennett hurt again. Game cancelled Sunday. Now do you think NHL wants Crosby in All-Star Game?

fleury125

USA Today Baseball Writer Bob Nightengale joins Ken Laird and Tim Benz to talk Bob Nutting, will the new CBA help small market teams more? Can the Pirates sign Cutch to long term extension?

125pir16

Posted in Pittsburgh Penguins, Pittsburgh Pirates

 

25 Jan

Super Bowl Set

published in category: Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday, January 25th, 2016 – 12:24 pm

NFL Podcast on the AFC and NFC Championship games. Steelers complain to league about NFL.com writing article about Bengals tweets making fun of Steelers playoff loss. THE MORNING SHOW IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE TEAM SPANOS GROUP OF RAYMOND JAMES. RECENTLY HIGHLIGHTED AS THE FACE OF FINACIAL GUIDANCE IN PITTSBURGH MAGAZINE.

125nfl1

Rob Rossi on the Steelers being the favorites in the AFC next year. Super Bowl between Broncos and Panthers. Steelers sign Corner Ross Cockrell.

125nfl2

The Steelers have signed cornerback Ross Cockrell to a one-year contract extension, the team announced today. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Cockrell appeared in 15 games (7 starts) with the Steelers in 2015 and totaled career highs in tackles (43), interceptions (2) and pass breakups (11).

A Duke University product, Cockrell entered the NFL as a fourth-round (109th overall) draft selection of the Buffalo Bills in 2014 and appeared in seven games during his rookie year. He signed with Pittsburgh on September 5, 2015 after being released by Buffalo.

The Steelers also signed quarterback Dustin Vaughan to a Reserve/Future contract. Vaughan spent time on the Buffalo Bills’ practice squad during the 2015 season. He was also on the Dallas Cowboys’ active roster for the entire 2014 season, serving as the team’s third quarterback. Vaughan played collegiately at West Texas A&M.

Posted in Pittsburgh Steelers

 

21 Jan

Pitt vs. the ACC

published in category: College Sports on Thursday, January 21st, 2016 – 3:46 pm


Posted in College Sports

 

21 Jan

2015 Steelers a Success?

published in category: Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday, January 21st, 2016 – 9:21 am


Posted in Pittsburgh Steelers

 

21 Jan

Riverhounds\USL Update by Mike Grau

published in category: Riverhounds on Thursday, January 21st, 2016 – 8:49 am

January and February are undoubtedly the dog days of the sports fan’s year. The weather is lousy, the Steelers bowed out of the playoffs, pitchers and catchers are still a month away from reporting to spring training, and the Penguins continue to disappointingly grind through their eighty-two game regular season before the games really start to matter (and it’s maybe not such a sure thing the Pens will get to play those meaningful games this year). For golf fans, like me, the “important” tournaments are still a few months off. But as I’ve said many, many times before, soccer never stops. European leagues are at their midway point, domestic cups are in full swing, and Champions League play resumes with the knockout rounds next month. In that spirit, I thought I’d catch up on some Riverhounds news and notes.
Shortly after the New Year, the Hounds began shaping their 2016 roster in earnest. In addition to forwards Zak Boggs and Corey Hertzog, midfielder Alex Harlley, and goalkeeper Mauricio Vargas, head coach Mark Steffens and the front office brought in Karsten Smith, a 6’3” central defender, in an attempt to fill one of the biggest holes on their squad. The Riverhounds were sorely lacking a big, physical presence in the middle of the defense last season. Coaches and supporters alike will hope Smith is able to help rectify that problem. The other new addition is not a new face to Hounds fans. Goalkeeper Hunter Gilstrap, who played for the club from 2010-2014, rejoins the senior squad following his November return to Pittsburgh to coach the Riverhounds’ Goalkeeping Academy youth training program.
Signing new players won’t be the only source of talent acquisition for the Hounds this year. As part of the club’s new affiliation agreement with Columbus Crew SC of MLS, the Riverhounds would’ve kept a close eye on the results of the MLS Superdraft. The first two rounds of the Superdraft took place on January 14th, and rounds three and four finished the selection process on January 19th. Crew SC selected five total players over the draft’s four rounds, and it’s very likely we will see one or more of those selections get time at Highmark Stadium during the upcoming season.

riverhoundsPost

Columbus selected midfielders Rodrigo Saravia and Chase Minter with the 19th and 21st overall selections, respectively. With their final three picks, Crew SC looked to bolster their forward line. In 2015, Columbus rode their roster depth all the way to the final of MLS Cup. Ahead of the 2016 season, the only striker currently remaining on their roster is Kei Kamara. Admittedly, if you’re only going to have one striker, a league MVP candidate like Kamara is a good start, but it’s not enough. Crew looked to bolster that position with their last three picks. Kyle Parker (31st overall), Marshall Hollingsworth (41st), and Vincent Cicciarelli (60th) are all forwards. It wouldn’t surprise me to see a player, or players , from that group in Station Square this summer, after Crew’s preseason training sorts out the MLS club’s internal pecking order.
Another situation Riverhounds fans will want to keep an eye on is the continuing courtship of team MVP and USL team of the season first-team selection Rob Vincent. As Matt Grubba , the Trib’s Riverhounds beat writer, noted this week, Mark Steffens announced that Vincent will be rejoining DC United of MLS on a trial basis next week (as he did after Pittsburgh were eliminated from the USL playoffs last season). It is important to remember that Vincent is under contract with the Riverhounds for 2016, so, if DC United, or any other MLS club, want to retain his services, the Hounds will receive compensation, either financial or in the form of a trade. As much as I’d like to see Rob in Pittsburgh for another season, he may be ready to take the next step in his professional career. I’m not a scout, but I find it very hard to believe he couldn’t immediately help a club in MLS.

619riv15

In general USL news, the league announced their conference structure for 2016. Seven new teams have been added to the ever-expanding league. As an aside…if you’re in the mood for a little bit of a laugh, check out the map that USL put out to announce their new conference structure. It’s an absolute mess. The haphazard color coding, the misplaced cities (“that’s not where Seattle or Los Angeles are located, guys….”), the absence of West Virginia’s panhandle altogether….it’s like some hilariously layered trollish modern art project. Anyway, Pittsburgh’s Eastern Conference will now have 14 teams (up from 12 last year) vying for eight playoff spots (up from six). The team also announced that the 2016 schedule will be announced at 1 pm on January 26th.

Posted in Riverhounds

 

21 Jan

Can’t waste years in Big Ben Era by Guy Junker

published in category: Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday, January 21st, 2016 – 8:39 am

I hate January. It’s the worst month of the year. The Christmas tree sits in the corner of the living room with the ornaments and lights long since removed, and the only thing lower than the stock market is the temperature. And now we don’t even have Steeler games to offer a distraction.
Judging by most of the response to our TribLive Radio morning show, there are two schools of thought about the loss in Denver. Some feel the team really blew a great opportunity, many seem to think that they overcame a lot to get that far. Actually, both are true.

Trib Sports Radio 15

When you look at how the Cowboys season unraveled when Tony Romo got hurt, or the Bengals without Andy Dalton, you can appreciate what the Steelers did with Ben Roethlisberger missing 4 starts. They were 3-1. They went 5-1 in games in which the starting quarterback didn’t finish the game. And that’s just the quarterback position. They were using their third of four placekickers by the season opener, lost two-fifths of the starting offensive line, their top two running backs, and their team MVP wide receiver. We all get sick of the “next man up” mantra week after week but even the most calloused observer has to admit they lived up to that this year.
Even with that they needed help from the Jets to get into the playoffs and help from a self-destructing Bengals team to advance. Maybe they did go further than anyone should have reasonably expected.
But does any of that matter when there is less than 10 minutes left in a playoff game that you are winning, you have the ball and are driving, and you can’t finish the deal? That’s where the folks who think they blew a great opportunity are right. They overcame many obstacles to put themselves in a good position to get to the AFC Championship game against a Patriots team that has shown some vulnerability late in the season. And the they let it slip through their fingers.
The team feels that way themselves. The locker room was devastated afterwards. Mike Tomlin shed tears. He still appeared to be down four days later for his season ending press conference. They know. And I’m beginning to agree with them. Immediately after the game I thought they had given it a good fight. As the week has gone on, I’m leaning toward they squandered a great chance.
And it’s all because of the quarterback. The quarterback is everything. Since Ben Roethlisberger was drafted, he or Tom Brady or Peyton Manning has been in every Super Bowl but one. In 50 years of Super Bowls, only two Steeler quarterbacks have won. And I’m not counting on a third one to come along anytime soon after Ben. That makes the end of another season all that more difficult to take. The window is closing on the Roethlisberger era. It’s not shut yet but there aren’t any guarantees. Right now it’s hard to take solace in the expectations that this team should be good again next year. In the end, the Steelers overcame a lot but ultimately failed to take advantage of what they had accomplished.

121ben

On the bright side, with a little more time on my hands this weekend, maybe I’ll get that tree out of the living room.

Posted in Pittsburgh Steelers

 

21 Jan

TOMLIN SHOWS A HUMAN SIDE IN DEFEAT by Tim Benz

published in category: Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday, January 21st, 2016 – 8:12 am

On the sidelines, Mike Tomlin is anything but stoic. The cameras and microphones frequently capture that. In fact some have argued he gets too emotionally invested in games and fails to let strategy be his guide instead of his heart or his gut.

tomlin2

But away from the sidelines “stoic” is a fair label. And if you prefer a different adjective with a less negative tone: polished…calculated…rhythmic…robotic…nonplused…precise. Sure. Any of those work too.

That’s why when reports came out that Tomlin had tears in eyes in the locker room after Pittsburgh’s 23-16 season ending playoff loss in Denver Sunday, it was tough to believe. We hadn’t heard that kind of conversation after his first year when the team lost at home in the playoffs. Nor did we hear such discussion after his club was shockingly gutted by Tim Tebow to end the ‘11-’12 season. Heck, there didn’t even seem to be much sign of sadness after the Super Bowl loss to Green Bay!

But if you saw Tomlin’s season ending press conference Wednesday, you may have picked up on some residue of that emotional let down from the Denver loss. Want a few more adjectives for Mike Tomlin which were fit to describe him during that half hour Q&A? How about: wistful…introspective…reflective.

And here’s another one…sad.

We’ve seen Mike Tomlin react a bunch of ways when questioned by the media over the last nine years. He’s been defensive. He’s been dismissive. He’s been curt.

But I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him this…what’s the word I’m looking for, here…human?!

Tomlin began his 2015 season wrap up with an unscripted six minute monologue thanking everyone from the Rooney family to the travel support staff. He also included a verbal thank you card to the fan base, seizing on the “#SteelerNation” monicker, by emphasizing how impressed he was when so many of the organization’s fans took over the stands in San Diego as the Steelers won in the final seconds earlier in the campaign.

“The type of support we got…was amazing. And boy didn’t we need it,” Tomlin said with his voice actually breaking a little bit. “We don’t take it for granted. We appreciate it. It inspires us.”

Why was this Denver loss so difficult to take? How come it was affecting Tomlin so clearly half a week after the fact when he seemed to compartmentalize a Super Bowl defeat in Dallas before he even got showered?

The Steelers did overcome a lot. Much of it “self inflicted”, as Tomlin said with a smile a few moments later. The pot suspensions and some of the upset losses absolutely qualify as that.

But the vast expanse of injuries weren’t the Steelers fault. Neither was the tough schedule.
So maybe Tomlin feels particularly attached to this club because it so clearly sums up a lot of the traits he holds dear. This 2015 group actually brought to life some of the mechanical cliches he likes to spit out: “Next man up…Iron sharpens iron…A team of been there, done that guys.” These 2015 Steelers truly embodied those sayings and put “the Tomlin” in “Tomlinisms.”

Or maybe Tomlin just feels jipped. He had a good team that caught a couple late breaks and was on the verge of the AFC championship game when it lost its best WR to a cheap shot from a dirty player. And its QB got his shoulder hurt by the same guy. And his 5th string running back finally made a mistake with a costly fumble.

And maybe that just hurt more than getting skunked by Aaron Rodgers five years ago.

Steeler fans seem to acknowledge that this team paddled hard upstream for the most part this season. A lack of angst and outrage over this playoff exit has been deafening in its silence from the majority of this fan base. Calls for firings, or releases, or trades have been mollified and replaced with expressions of thanks and encouragement. But Tomlin didn’t sound like a person who is taking comfort in gratitude for “giving it your best shot.”

“I’m disappointed. I think we all are,” Tomlin said. “We appreciate the support we get from others. The acknowledgement of the fight and all that. But we go into the journey with that understanding. That it is going to be difficult. That there is going to be a fight. We appreciate the support but at the same time, when we said ‘to be world champions is our goal’ we meant it. And it isn’t us this year. So there is disappointment associated with that.”

tomlin121

If Tomlin does have an equal when it comes to putting out an emotionless facade for the media amongst his players, it’s Heath Miller. The veteran tight end plays with as much heart as anyone on the team, but when he speaks you sometimes wonder if he has a pulse. Yet even he had some water welling up in his eyes when describing the end to the season

“That Cincinnati game (on 12/13) at their place on the road. We binded together as a group and fought together. It wasn’t about individuals. It was about getting the win,” said Miller quietly. “At that point I thought we had something special.”

It seems safe to say that Tomlin felt the same way. And it was refreshingly different of him to let us notice.

Posted in Pittsburgh Steelers

 

20 Jan

End of Season Tomlin Press Conference

published in category: Pittsburgh Steelers on Wednesday, January 20th, 2016 – 1:34 pm

End of Season Mike Tomlin Press Conference. Then Ken Laird, Josh Taylor and Tim Benz recap and debate what he said and did not say.

st tomlin

What team should you root for-Broncos or Patriots? Steelers Offseason issues. Should Steelers cut Heath Miller to make cap room? Randle-El says he wished he never played football.

THE MORNING SHOW IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE TEAM SPANOS GROUP OF RAYMOND JAMES. RECENTLY HIGHLIGHTED AS THE FACE OF FINACIAL GUIDANCE IN PITTSBURGH MAGAZINE.

The Steelers have signed offensive center/guard Chris Hubbard and fullback Roosevelt Nix to one-year contract extensions, the team announced today. Financial terms of the contracts were not disclosed.

Hubbard has appeared in eight career regular-season games with the Steelers (2014-15) after spending his 2013 rookie season on the team’s Practice Squad.

Nix joined the Steelers as a Reserve/Future signee on January 9, 2015. He played in 15 games, making three starts, as a first-year player and recorded eight tackles and one forced fumble on special teams.

The 10 players signed to Reserve/Future contracts are S Jordan Dangerfield, OT Matt Feiler, C/G B.J Finney, DB Isaiah Frey, TE Xavier Grimble, DE Caushaud Lyons, RB Rajion Neal, WR Shakim Phillips, RB Abou Toure and S Ray Vinopal.

Nine of the 10 Reserve/Future signees ended the Steelers’ 2015 season on the team’s Practice Squad.

Vinopal, a University of Pittsburgh product, signed with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent following the 2015 NFL Draft and was released prior to the regular season.

Posted in Pittsburgh Steelers

 



Podcasts