07 Dec
published in category: Sports Talk Radio on Friday, December 7th, 2012 – 4:40 pm
Congratulations to Latrobe Hockey's Joshua Singley who leads Class AA in points. Josh has been voted the TribLIVE Radio High School Hockey Athlete of the Week.
Singley has 11 goals and 12 assists, 23 points total in only six games. Listen to Inside High School Hockey every Wednesday 3pm to 4pm on TribLIVE Radio.
07 Dec
published in category: Pittsburgh Penguins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh Steelers on Friday, December 7th, 2012 – 9:40 am
Since taking over for Paul Tagliabue in 2006, Roger Goodell has quickly become public enemy number one for most football fans. Whether it was his initially strict conduct policy that has faded in intensity over time, his mishandling of the New England Patriots' "Spygate" scandal, or the NFL lockout in 2011, Goodell has not been on good terms from the start.
Like him or not, he's the best commissioner out of the four major American sports. Or should I say, three and a half major American sports. Talk about a sad state of affairs.
But really, who's a better commish for their respective league?
David Stern? Ha! Since becoming the commissioner in 1984, Stern oversaw four lockouts of which two resulted in shortened seasons. He's also been accused of fixing the 1985 draft lottery by bending a corner of the New York Knicks' envelope before throwing it into the tumbler. Unsurprisingly the Knicks ended up with the number one pick.
Stern also led during the infamous Tim Donaghy scandal which revealed through an FBI investigation that the former referee was betting on games to affect the spread. Donaghy would later file a report stating that the league was in on the fix, reprimanding referees for calling technical fouls on certain players.
Lest we forget the recent suspension of the San Antonio Spurs for not playing their best players at the end of a six game road trip. Or what about the brawl in Detroit and the mandatory dress code for athletes?
Stern may be a bad commissioner, but he is a god compared to Bud Selig.
The commish of Major League Baseball has only seen one player strike since coming into office in 1992. However, that strike led to the cancellation of the World Series for the first time since 1904, and the subsequent relocation of the Montreal Expos after their team was dismantled in the mid-90s. While baseball has enjoyed lockout-free baseball since '94, it's been at the expense of having a commissioner with little power. Selig tried instituting a salary cap in the 90's but failed when he went up against Donald Fehr. Yes, that Donald Fehr.
Now, Selig is a puppet for MLB's owners with each new CBA finding a way to crush small market teams. Salary cap? Only in the amateur draft where small market teams can acquire star players before shipping them off to the big boys in free agency. Thanks to Bud, the league caps amateur spending while free agent spending continues to run rampant. Apparently it's OK to give Angel Pagan a ten million dollar per year contract but not Gerrit Cole.
Worse than the '94 strike was the steroid scandal in the 90's. While the steroid problem originated in the 80's, Selig and the rest of baseball turned a blind eye. Why? Because the league was going through a recovery. Fans were coming back to the park to see Sammy Sosa, Mark Mcgwire, and Barry Bonds slug it out. It helped baseball's financial terms in the 90's but tarnished the league's reputation in the process. At one point, the owners voted to keep Selig in office because they simply could not find anyone better to replace him.
And then there's Gary Bettman; the worst of the worst.
Four lockouts in a span of 20 years including one season cancellation and another on the horizon has the league teetering on the brink of extinction. Hockey fell out of the public's interest after the 2004-2005 lockout and just when the NHL started to make a comeback, the league went into more stagnation.
A big issue in the current lockout is the lack of profit from the teams. In 2011, only three teams saw positive returns in hockey revenue. That stems from a revenue sharing system that is bleeding itself dry due to a lack of interest in the southern markets. It was Bettman's idea to expand the league in the early 2000's. Thus, the Phoenix Coyotes, Atlanta Thrashers and Nashville Predators were born while the Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars continued to struggle. In it's current state, the NHL is so unstable that there is continued labor unrest. Maybe the only positive from the lockout will be a contraction of some of the teams.
So as you can see, Roger Goodell, through all of his faults, inconsistencies and favoritism of certain teams (according to you conspiracy theorists out there), it appears he wins the award for being the best of the bad commissioners.
05 Dec
published in category: Pittsburgh Penguins, Pittsburgh Steelers on Wednesday, December 5th, 2012 – 5:28 pm
Steelers nose tackle Casey Hampton told reporters before the Baltimore game that a yearly ritual at M&T Bank Stadium during pregame is accepting a hot dog from a Ravens fan.
Until this year, when Hampton's 'guy' didn't show up.
"No, he wasn't there," Hampton chuckled. "Y'all pumped it up, man, he's probably embarrassed. A big time fan didn't want nobody to see him. That's y'alls fault."
The only handing out of food that Hampton received during the team's 23-20 win was a pancake block from Baltimore fullback Vonta Leach in the second quarter which put 'Big Snack' on his wallet. Hampton said it was a first-time happening in his 12-year career.
"Never, I ain't never been caught like that," said Hampton. "I didn't see him. That's the type of thing that happens, like [Dick] Lebeau says 'sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you.' With me, guys are giving me a hard time about it because nobody has ever seen something like that happen to me before. But, you know, it's all good man. I've been playing in this league a long time and a whole lot worse things have happened so at the end of the day, man, it is what it is."
The previous worst-hit Hampton had been on the taking end of was in the team's training camp a few years ago when he tried out as a fullback for one play. That play resulted in several Pittsburgh linebackers converging on and drilling Hampton backwards, who then vowed never to play offense again.
"Yeah, but I didn't hit the ground, though" Hampton said recalling the short fullback stint. "I don't like getting on that ground, man, I tried to put that kickstand up [when Leach hit me] but it wouldn't go down. It was kind of tough. It happens."
After the play, Hampton and Leach were seen exchanging words, but Casey said it was friendly fire.
"Oh, I know Leach," said Hampton. "From [him] playing in Houston, and I live in Houston. We were just kind of laughing. He got me right there. I told him I'd get him back, but you know it's kind of hard to get a fullback. Not too many opportunities to get those guys back."
And now Hampton's own teammates have been getting him back verbally.
"Oh, [Larry] Foote, all the linebackers," Hampton said when asked who was giving him the most grief. "They're going to give me that because I mess with everybody about everything, I'm one of those guys. When I see something on tape I'm going to let them know it happened. So, whenever somebody gets me, they're going to get me. They don't care if the hit was legit or not, that doesn't matter, I shouldn't have let [Leach] get me. Foote is like, 'You're Hamp. We're going to look soft now. We're a soft defense, they don't look at us the same.' That's just how they look at it."
05 Dec
published in category: Uncategorized on Wednesday, December 5th, 2012 – 9:24 am
Saturday night is going to be a historic one, no doubt about it. I just hope we don't lose sight of everything.
Saturday night a Heisman winner is going to be announced. The two front-runners are Texas A&M quarterback Johnny "Football" Manziel and Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o. The third and final invitee was Kansas State quarterback Colin Klein, who put Wildcats football on the map and even had them ranked number one at one point. Klein had a fantastic year, but with all due respect to him, he is going to finish in third.
Which is where things become interesting. Manziel is a freshman, and no freshman (true or redshirt) has ever won the Heisman before. Te'o, a senior, is a linebacker, and no linebacker has won the Heisman before either.
Manziel led Texas A&M to a 10-2 record in his first year as a starter and the teams first season in the SEC. Manziel threw for 3,419 yards, 24 touchdowns, eight interceptions, and added 1,181 rush yards and an additional 19 touchdowns, giving him an astonishing 4,600 yards of total offense and 43 touchdowns.
Te'o has been fantastic. He had 103 tackles, two and a half sacks, and seven intercptions. He'll win the Butkus award (given to the best linebacker) by a landslide. Even if you throw away his personal statistics, Te'o is the leader on one of the best defenses in the country, for the best team in the country.
Again, Te'o was great this year, but Heisman worthy? Let's not get crazy. This is Johnny's football trophy to lose.
Besides the fact that Manziel put up similar numbers to Cam Newton, one of the best collegiate seasons of all-time, I don't even think Te'o is the best defensive player we've seen the last seven years– heck, he wasn't even the best linebacker we've seen the last seven years.
If a defensive player is going to win the Heisman again, he better be fill up the stat sheet in every category. Te'o's 103 tackles are good, as are his seven interceptions, but he is a guy who doesn't get to the quarterback a lot (at least for a Heisman winner) and he didn't any touchdowns or play a role on special teams. It may sound ridiculous to criticize a linebacker for not scoring touchdowns or impacting the game in special teams, but if a defensive player is going to win the most prestigious college football award, he needs to be a stat sheet filler.
Te'o definitely hasn't been the best front seven player we've seen. Alabama's Derrick Thomas had an absurd 27 sacks in 1988. You could make the argument that Penn State's Lavar Arrington had a better year than Te'o in 1998. Paul Posluszny recorded 116 tackles in 2006, along with 9.5 tackles for loss, thee sacks and two forced fumbles. Those numbers are probably the most comparative to Te'o this year, and Posluszny wasn't even on the ballot. Ndamkon Suh had 85 tackles, 12 sacks, 3 blocked kicks, and an interception in 2009. If any front seven player was going to win it, it would be him.
I've even heard the argument that Te'o life story should play a factor in voting. Te'o has an incredible story. He's by all accounts on of the hardest working guys in football and had to overcome the loss of his grandmother and girlfriend in a short span of time.
The mission statement for the Heisman Trust also speaks of giving the award to those who "symbolize the fostering of a sense of community responsibility and service to our youth" and those who "epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard work". These quotes, they say, show that the Heisman is not only an award for the best football player but the best football player who is also the best person. Those who say that must forget that just a few years earlier Cam Newton was arrested for stealing another student's laptop and kicked off the Florida football program. What a guy!
The Heisman is a football award. I trust that the voters will keep this in mind when they look at the three players and understand Johnny Manziel was the best player this past season.
04 Dec
published in category: College Sports, Sports Talk Radio on Tuesday, December 4th, 2012 – 9:00 am
E-mail Sportstalk@Tribweb.com with PITT in the subject headline and your name and address in the body of the e-mail to win tickets to the City Game tomorrow night at Consol Energy Center between the Panthers and the Dukes. Winner's names will be left at Will Call so that you can pick up your tickets. We are giving away 10 pairs today!
30 Nov
published in category: College Sports, Sports Talk Radio on Friday, November 30th, 2012 – 8:43 am
E-mail Sportstalk@Tribweb.com with PITT in the subject headline and your name and address in the body of the e-mail to win tickets to the City game at Consol Energy Center December 5th. We are giving away four pairs of tickets to the City game today between the Panthers and the Dukes today. Winners will be selected at random from the the e-mail entries.
30 Nov
published in category: Pittsburgh Steelers on Friday, November 30th, 2012 – 8:39 am
Without Ben Roethlisberger, the Pittsburgh Steelers are given little to no chance of beating the Baltimore Ravens this Sunday and it's easy to see why. The Ravens have won four straight games against the Steelers with Ben Roethlisberger starting in three of those games. On top of that, the Ravens have won their last 13 games at M&T Bank Stadium.
We already know the Steelers' defense needs to replicate its performance from two weeks ago when they held Baltimore to six points. So what should be the game plan for the Steelers' offense heading into this weekend?
One thing we know wont work is having Charlie Batch or an injured Ben Roethlisberger drop back to pass 40 times. Batch is 38 years old and Roethlisberger's arm strength after his recent shoulder injury doesn't exactly open the playbook. There's also a shakeup in the offensive line where Maurkice Pouncey could play left guard, Doug Legursky at center, and either Kelvin Beachum or Ramon Foster at right tackle. Those moves, combined with the road atmosphere might make pass protection just a little more difficult than usual especially since Paul Kruger abused Mike Adams and Byron Leftwich in Pittsburgh two weeks ago.
So, despite getting Antonio Brown back and having (hopefully) a more focused Mike Wallace, the Steelers will not be allowed to rely on the pass. If they have any shot of winning this game, they must pound the ball.
Steelers fans, particularly the older crowd, always clamor for old-fashion ground and pound offense. "Four yards and a cloud of dust." This should definitely be one of those games. In fact, unless they are trailing by more than two touchdowns, the Steelers should never go four wideouts in the first half. Not when they have a big running back and potentially a huge offensive line, if they start the right players.
Speaking of which, here is my offensive line assuming everyone is healthy. From left to right: Max Starks, Willie Colon, Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro, Ramon Foster. That's a big offensive line, one that is accustomed to pulling and run blocking. Willie Colon has been masterful at pulling this season while David DeCastro became a first round pick because of his run blocking at Stanford. If experience is an issue for DeCastro, replace him with Pouncey and put Legursky at center. Throw in 6'8 350 pound Max Starks, full back Will Johnson, and 230 pound running back, Jonathan Dwyer, and you've got an offense than can wear down the 26th ranked rushing defense which quiets the crowd and keeps Flacco from using his no-huddle offense.
To make matters worse for the Ravens' defense, Ray Lewis's backup, Dannell Ellerbe, has missed practice this week with knee and ankle injuries. If he is unable to go, the Ravens will need to rely on a third string player to play middle linebacker.
The situation the Steelers face this weekend is extremely tough to say the least. Sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures but, this is not one of those times. This should be a very conservative game for the offense on the assumption that the defense can hold Joe Flacco and Ray Rice in check. Would it be an easy game plan to execute? No. The Ravens still have a very good defense, one that isn't fully reflected by statistics. However, a strong running game gives the Steelers their best chance to win while trying to put this game on the quarterback could be a huge mistake.
29 Nov
published in category: College Sports, Sports Talk Radio on Thursday, November 29th, 2012 – 8:57 am
E-mail Sportstalk@Tribweb.com with PITT in the subject headline and your name and address in the body of the e-mail to win Pitt basketball tickets and a parking pass to the game December 8th at the Pete against North Florida at 7pm. Winner will be selected randomly from e-mail entries.