05 Dec
published in category: College Sports on Thursday, December 5th, 2013 – 9:24 am
Brought to you by Frank Walker Law- FrankWalkerLaw.com. Daniel Dudley and Bob Hertzel wrap up the football season, the staff is staying. Plus a look ahead to Big 12 basketball.
http://files.triblive.com/podcasts/sportstalk/1205WVU13.mp3
04 Dec
published in category: Pittsburgh Steelers on Wednesday, December 4th, 2013 – 5:00 pm
Wednesday on TribLIVE Radio is Jagoff of the Week voting day, and we offer our sincere congratulations to Roger Goodell and the NFL Disciplinary Office as headed by NFL VP Ray Anderson for their victory of our prestigious weekly award. The Goodell/Anderson team won by a mere vote over Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin today.
The Goodell/Anderson party began their campaign after issuing their loss-of-draft-pick threat to the Steelers organization as part of the punishment handed down to Tomlin for Sideline-Gate. Officially, “a modification or forfeiture of draft choices will be considered after the final order of the 2014 draft has been determined.”
A modification? Will they be forced to swap picks every round with the eventual Super Bowl champion? Will their picks be announced at Radio City Music Hall by Ryan Leaf? Will they be forced to select the player Mel Kiper advises as next best on his Big Board?
And why does the order of the 2014 draft matter? If the Steelers finish 7-9 including a loss at the hands of Scott Tolzien in Green Bay, is it deemed further punishment is in order?
Your guess is as good as mine.
A good theory as any I’ve seen proposed suggests this scare tactic is merely to keep a dungeon door open in case further evidence in Sideline-Gate is revealed between now and the May draft. Such as evidence that Mike Tomlin indeed once appeared on the TV show Soul Train.
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Also on our TribLIVE Radio program today…
Longtime college hoops writer Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News joined. Check out the podcast at: http://files.triblive.com/podcasts/sportstalk/1204HOOPS13.mp3
I’m disappointed that Pitt and Penn State don’t play yearly in hoops when it seems such an easy fit. And Panthers coach Jamie Dixon sounded lukewarm about scheduling annuals after his team’s Wednesday win over the Nittany Lions, but DeCoury’s take was:
“Jamie’s schedules are what one would call ‘esoteric’. He gets criticized by national media and some fans for playing schedules that aren’t marquee or aren’t appealing. Jamie’s job isn’t to appease anyone other than his bosses and his customers. And if his bosses are willing to go ahead and schedule the games that they schedule and his customers continue to pay for the tickets, which they have, then he is fulfilling both of those counts. And his real count is to get Pitt ready to play in the ACC. There are times when he had deeper, more experienced teams when it made sense to challenge those teams more, mostly to keep them interested. This team is very young in a lot of positions and almost entirely unformed going into the year.”
In other words, if Pitt fans don’t like watching Youngstown State instead of Penn State (or better), stop going to the games. Tough to argue.
DeCourcy also gave an interesting take on former Pitt big man Steven Adams’ early NBA success, saying:
“No I didn’t think he’d be good early [in the NBA] but he is athletic and tough but he’s not asked to be more than that with the talent around him. I don’t think there’ll be a time this early or maybe ever where you could throw [Adams] the ball and expect good things to happen at the NBA level. I think he short-circuited his development. Sometimes it’s hard to recover from that.”
And in regards to claims that Pitt mis-used Adams last season (a claim I subscribe to), DeCourcy offered this rebuttal:
“No, I don’t think Pitt used him badly at all. They did what they could to try to get a lot out of him, but he wasn’t ready to deliver more than he did. And I don’t agree at all that [Pitt] is better without him. The reason they’ve looked good early is because the opposition hasn’t been great.”
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Finally… quite the Crosby finish in OT last night as the Penguins came back to knock off the Islanders 3-2. However, I continue to marvel at the season Evgeni Malkin has now begun to spin with James Neal back healthy. Geno has directly assisted or caused 6 of the last 8 Penguins goals going back to the Florida win Saturday night. Malkin is playing absolutely incredible right now. Other than a bad crosscheck or two late in the game last night. It’s a fair trade.
Ken Laird
Talk Show Host / Reporter
TribLIVE Radio at Triblive.com
M-TH 9am-1pm; F 10am-2pm
04 Dec
published in category: College Sports on Wednesday, December 4th, 2013 – 3:28 pm
04 Dec
published in category: Pittsburgh Steelers on Wednesday, December 4th, 2013 – 12:15 pm
Mike Tomlin’s full statement – “As I stated yesterday, I take full responsibility for my actions, and I apologize for causing negative attention to the Pittsburgh Steelers organization. I accept the penalty that I received. I will no longer address this issue as I am preparing for an important game this Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.”
03 Dec
published in category: Pittsburgh Steelers on Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013 – 2:11 pm
Tuesday December 3rd
Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin talked and fielded questions for 22 minutes today JUST about his sideline slide-step from last Thursday’s game in Baltimore. It really was an incredible display of “transparency” from the Steelers field boss. That’s a transparency outcome Tomlin was sure to emphasize that he desired to achieve, proof positive that Commander Goodell has a ‘transparency’ box on his NFL Punishment Checklist. It’s the same box Goodell left un-checked when smacking Belichick for 250K and a 1st-Round draft pick after SpyGate. Of course, it’s too bad Goodell has no “produce the video evidence” checklist of his own to answer to.
“Blunder” and “integrity” were the words of the day from Tomlin as he took full responsibility for his “inexcusable” positioning on the M&T Bank Stadium sideline that caused the ensuing Jacoby Pokey. “Obviously” is so last week. Then again, what’s old is often new again as Tomlin acknowledged seeing his superimposed slide on ‘Soul Train’ photos flying around social media for the past give days; it’s a pic he deadpanned that he found “interesting”.
Expect “obviously” to come back in a big way next week with the Bengals coming to town.
Other than center Fernando Velasco’s torn achilles, left tackle Kelvin Beachum’s questionable knee, right guard David DeCastro’s questionable foot, and Mike Adams’ questionable health & play AT left tackle, the Steelers O-Line looks to be in good shape here on Dolphins’ Week.
Pro Football Focus grades and ranks every player in the league on every play. Through 13 Weeks, their highest ranked Miami Dolphins’ at their respective positions among all NFL peers: DE Cameron Wake (4th), DT Randy Starks (6th), CB Brent Grimes (6th), QB Ryan Tannehill (7th), WR Brian Hartline (11th), and C Mike Pouncey (12th).
Mike Wallace is PFF’s 85th ranked WR, by the way.
After reading that list, visions of Wake and Starks feasting on the Steelers’ O-Line are running through my head.
Then again, my colleague Mark Kaboly told us today on TribLIVE Radio that he expects new C Cody Wallace “to be fine.” Consider me skeptical.
The 5-7 Steelers “obviously” need to win out themselves, but aside from this difficulty the most important game the team needs to fall their way may be Baltimore at Detroit coming up in two weeks on Monday Night Football. The Ravens at 6-6 will likely win this week at home against Minnesota, and their finale at Cincinnati could feature a Bengals opponent resting players with the AFC North already wrapped up.
The good news, though, is that Baltimore will still face New England and it looks to be a Patriots team with everything (i.e. home field advantage) to play for as they chase the Denver Broncos in playoff positioning.
The Pirates move to acquire a new backup catcher in Chris Stewart makes sense in that it’s an upgrade over Michael McKenry. Stewart is a clearly better defensive backstop. However, it’s not clear to me that possible catcher-of-the-future Tony Sanchez is better served playing in AAA Indianapolis as opposed to facing big league competition all year in Pittsburgh. Yes, he’ll get more reps in Indy. However, his bat off the bench is far superior to Stewart’s. And this team needs offensive help more than it needs twice-a-week defensive catching prowess.
Pens-Isles tonight has entertainment potential given last year’s playoff series… but given that New York has lost six straight and have managed to go 2-10-1 in their last 13, I’m already looking ahead to San Jose and Boston later in the week.
Ken Laird
Talk Show Host / Reporter
TribLive Radio at TribLive.com
M-F 9a-1p
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03 Dec
published in category: Sports Talk Radio on Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013 – 10:03 am
Head Coach Justin Evans joins Mike Grau to talk about all the big offseason moves for the club.
http://files.triblive.com/podcasts/sportstalk/1203RIVER13.mp3
The Pittsburgh Riverhounds of USL PRO have formed an affiliate partnership with the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer, it was announced today by Riverhounds CEO Jason Kutney.
The deal will enable Houston to loan a minimum of four MLS-contracted players to Pittsburgh for the 2014 USL PRO season.
Kutney says the affiliation is more proof that the USL PRO team is working to reach the top level of soccer in the United States.
“In partnering with a top MLS side like Houston Dynamo, the Riverhounds are now on a path to the top, both on and off the field,” says Kutney.
“In doing our homework, we found Pittsburgh to be a very professional organization and a club that will provide the right environment for our young players to develop,” says Dynamo President Chris Canetti. “In particular, we like their ownership structure, new downtown stadium, training center and technical philosophy.”
The partnership between USL PRO and MLS, now entering the second year of a multi-year affiliation, has had immediate impact for teams in both leagues.
“The partnership between the Dynamo and Riverhounds is a great step forward as we move into the second year of USL PRO’s partnership with Major League Soccer,” USL President Tim Holt said. “The Dynamo’s Brian Ownby was a standout for Richmond last season, and this partnership will offer more opportunity for Houston’s young players to gain valuable experience with a club that is swiftly rising in USL PRO. In the past year, the Riverhounds have become a model franchise, and we believe this will accelerate their growth in their local market, and offer their fans an outstanding product on the field.”
“It’s an exciting time to be a soccer fan in Pittsburgh,” says Riverhounds Head Coach Justin Evans. “Houston has been a top team in Major League Soccer since they joined in 2006 and I think affiliating with them definitely shows the positive ambition of our club.”
Evans also looks forward to working with Dynamo Head Coach Dominic Kinnear.
“Dom and I have known each other for many years. I’m excited to be able to work hand in hand with such a great person, coach and soccer visionary.”
“Justin has a good reputation and had a good playing career in MLS,” says Kinnear. “Our players will be fortunate to be play under an established coach.”
Added Kutney, “We are committed to top-level soccer development, resources, and experience in Pittsburgh, regardless of league or level.”
03 Dec
published in category: Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013 – 9:29 am
Tim Williams of Pirates Prospects joins Mike Grau to talk everything Bucs.
http://files.triblive.com/podcasts/sportstalk/1203BUCS13.mp3
The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired catcher Chris Stewart from the New York Yankees in exchange for a player to be named. The announcement was made by Pirates Senior Vice President, General Manager Neal Huntington.
Stewart hit .211 (62-for-294) with six doubles, four home runs, 25 RBI and 28 runs scored in a career-high 109 games last season with the Yankees. He also threw out 17 runners attempting to steal against him, which was tied for the fifth-most among American League backstops.
Since making his big league debut in 2006, Stewart has hit .214 (138-for-645) with 24 doubles, eight home runs and 51 RBI in 255 games with the White Sox (2006), Texas (2007), San Francisco (2011) and the New York Yankees (2008, 2012-13).
To make room for Stewart on the 40-man roster, the Pirates have designated catcher Michael McKenry for assignment.
02 Dec
published in category: Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday, December 2nd, 2013 – 1:45 pm
