Another Pens defenseman goes down
Free agent signee Jay McKee suffered an infected finger and will miss 2 to 4 weeks. He makes the 5th iunjured defenseman, only Mark Eaton has remained healthy. Head coach Dan Bylsma says Sergei Gonchar could return against Ottawa Thursday night and that Brooks Orpik is on his way back. Forward Max Talbot hopefully will play, "obviously it's a long rehab period and it's frustrating at times to have to watch the team." Talbot says he's not coming back early due to other injuries. Defenseman Kris Letang started his rehab process returning to practice Wednesday with a no-contact red jersey.
Sidney Crosby will carry the Olympic torch Wednesday night in Nova Scotia--hear what Crosby had to say podcasted to the right
Former Pirates manager Jim Tracy wins the National League Manager of the Year Award after leading Colorado to the playoffs. Tracy also received a 3-year contract Wednesday.
The Pitt football game against Cincinnati December 5 at Heinz Field will kickoff at noon and be nationally televised on ABC.
The Pitt game at West Virginia Friday, November 27th will be a 7p kickoff on ESPN2.
Panthers sophomore receiver Jonathan Baldwin was named the Big East Offensive Player of the Week after 5 receptions for 142 yards and a touchdown in Pitt's win over Notre Dame.
Penn State linebacker Navarro Bowman was named the Big 10 Defensive Player of the Week, The junior linebacker returned an interception 73-yards for a touchdown against Indiana. Bowman added 12 tackles and a sack.
Pitt senior guard Jermaine Dixon will miss this week's games with Binghamton and Eastern Kentucky as he continues to rehab from foot surgery in September.
Duquesne junior Damian Saunders has been named the Atlantic 10 co-Player of the Week after 17 points and 19 rebounds against Nicholls State Friday night.
Pirates place two in the top 10 of the National League Rookie of the Year voting. Andrew McCutchen finished 4th and Garrett Jones ended up 7th. Marlins outfielder Chris Coghlan won the award with Phillies pitcher J.A. Happ, second.
3rd Pittsburgher to play for Pens tonight
Hopewell grad Nate Guenin will join Ryan Malone and Bill Thomas as natives who have played for the Pens. The defenseman was recalled after head coach Dan Bylsma told us Alex Goligoski will be out two to three weeks with a "lower body injury". Guenin saying, "I think of all the guys who played the games growing up here. It's pretty exciting to get back here and play before the family and friends who supported you growing up." "It doesn't seem like it gets any easier," Sidney Crosby said about the injuries. "We've been faced with that for awhile now and the best thing is to keep it simple and find a way to win."
Ryan Whitney returns to Pittsburgh
The former Pens defenseman telling us he doesn't think he was liked as a player here, but it's exciting to be back and see some of his friends. Whitney talks about the Pens injuries and his memories of Mellon Arena in the short Q&A interview podcasted to the right.
Panthers hold off Fighting Irish 27-22
Quarterback Bill Stull has another strong performance in front of a national TV audience as The Pitt Panthers (9-1; 5-0 Big East) we're able to hold off a hard charging Notre Dame team 27-22 in front of 65,374 at Heinz Field. Notre Dame (6-4) rallied from a 27-9 fourth quarter deficate to get within 5 points of Pitt, but we're unable to collect a two point conversion after Notre Dame's Golden Tate returned a punt 87 yards to make it close. Pitt was anchored by strong performance by Johnaton Baldwin who hauled in 5 catched for 142 yards and freshman running sensation Dion Lewis who collected 154 yards and a touchdown. The Panthers next will face bitter rival West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl on November 27th
Panthers Too Much For South Florida...
Bill Stull started the game 11-11 including a perfect 40 yard touchdown pass to Jonathan Baldwin in the second quarter as the Pitt Panthers (#20/19; 7-1; 4-0) dominate South Florida (5-2; 1-2) 41-14. Pitt was so dominate in the 1st half, they never punted…committed ZERO penalties…had no turnovers…and were six of seven on 3rd down. Not to be overshadowed in the game was Freshman running sensation Dion Lewis who collected 116 yards on the ground including two touchdowns. Pitt now receives a well deserved week off before hosting Big East basement dweller Syracuse in two weeks.
Notes…
-TE Mike Cruz Caught his first career TD late in the 1st quarter
-RB Dion Lewis now has 1,029 rushing yards for the season…the fourth Pitt freshman to break 1,000 yards rushing in his rookie season
-Lewis’ 2 TD’s give him 72 points for the season…tied for 3rd all time with Larry Fitzgerald
-WR Jonathan Baldwin had a career high 144 yards receiving.
Pittsburgh number 1 sports city
Pittsburgh, with the Super Bowl-winning Steelers and Stanley Cup-winning Penguins leading the way in 2009, is No. 1 in Sporting News’ 16th annual Best Sports Cities rankings.
The SteelCity dethroned 2008’s No. 1 Boston, which had finished atop the list three of the past five years but dropped to third, behind No. 2 Philadelphia, on the 2009 list. Rounding out the top 10 are No. 4 Chicago and No. 5 Los Angeles, No. 6 New York, No. 7 Phoenix, No. 8 Miami, No. 9 Dallas-Fort Worth and No. 10 Detroit.
Hear comments from the Sporting News editor and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl from the news conference podcasted to the right.
LB Harrison cut as Steelers shore up special teams
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- He's watched game tapes, analyzed and criticized, and now coach Mike Tomlin is doing something about the Pittsburgh Steelers' miserable kickoff coverage....
Polamalu questionable 'at best' for Chiefs
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Pittsburgh Steelers apparently won't be without injured safety Troy Polamalu for more than one game....
Hurry up! Steelers playing catch-up to Bengals
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Chad Ochocinco, always the self-promoter, planned to send mustard to the Steelers' defensive backs last week before coach Marvin Lewis halted the condiment giveaway. The Bengals receiver's implied message was that Pittsburgh would be playing catch-up after taking on Cincinnati....
Bengals beat Steelers 18-12, lead AFC North
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Finally after 40 years of being pushed around and dominated by the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cincinnati Bengals refused to be bullied any more....
OTTAWA (AP) -- Chris Phillips scored twice in his 800th regular-season game and Pascal Leclaire made 25 saves, leading the Ottawa Senators to a 6-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night....
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Bill Guerin ended Pittsburgh's eight-game streak without a power-play goal by scoring in the first period, Jordan Staal scored short-handed and the Penguins wrapped up Anaheim's winless four-game road trip by beating the Ducks 5-2 on Monday night....
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Pascal Dupuis scored his second goal of the game 1:24 into overtime and the Pittsburgh Penguins welcomed back star forward Evgeni Malkin by snapping their four-game losing streak with a 6-5 win over the Boston Bruins on Saturday night....
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Niclas Bergfors had a goal and two assists and the New Jersey Devils closed within a victory of tying the NHL record of 10 consecutive road victories to start a season, beating the slumping Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 on Thursday night....
BOSTON (AP) -- Tim Thomas stopped 27 shots for his second shutout of the season, and Sidney Crosby was held without a point for the fifth straight game as the Boston Bruins beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 on Tuesday night....
PITT NEWS
Big East Roundup: No. 13 Cal falls to the Orange
Scoop Jardine scored a career-high 22 points, Wes Johnson had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Syracuse raced past No. 13 California, 95-73, last night in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic.
Florida could take the Panthers downtown
The Pitt women's basketball team will step way up in class in terms of competition tonight when the Panthers (1-0) play host to Southeastern Conference contender Florida.
Bench helps Pitt down E. Kentucky
The most decisive stretch in last night's game between Pitt and Eastern Kentucky came in the final seven minutes of the first half.
NFL union pans reporting on teammates' concussions
The NFL Players Association opposes commissioner Roger Goodell's call for players to tell their teams' medical staffs if they think a teammate shows symptoms of a concussion, saying that is not an adequate solution....
