Blogs

Some sporting thoughts before sunrise … >> When does a collapse stop being a collapse and become something more? When the post-Meals Pirates lost 10 in a row, that was the collapse. But since they were 51-44 on July 21, a season-high seven games over .500, they’ve gone 11-30, barely winning one of every four [...]

Looking ahead to first pitch … Game: Pirates (62-73) vs. Houston Astros (46-90) Time: 8:05 p.m. Site: Minute Maid Park, Houston TV, radio: Root Sports, News Talk 104.7 FM Weather: 101 degrees, hazy Here is the official live box score, and here are the lineups … Pirates: Jose Tabata, RF Alex Presley, LF Andrew McCutchen, CF [...]

Some sporting thoughts before sunrise … >> Spent a good amount of time yesterday morning with Todd Graham, Pitt’s new coach, and I can assure you before the season’s first meaningful snap Saturday that this “high octane” stuff isn’t just for show. I’m the one walking around with a Starbucks cup in my hand all [...]

Looking ahead to first pitch … Game: Pirates (62-72) vs. Houston Astros (45-90) Time: 8:05 p.m. Site: Minute Maid Park, Houston TV, radio: Root Sports, News Talk 104.7 FM Weather: 101 degrees, hazy Here is the official live box score. Pirates: Alex Presley, LF Josh Harrison, 3B Neil Walker, 2B Andrew McCutchen, CF Garrett Jones, 1B [...]

Some sporting thoughts before sunrise … >> No injury to an athlete strikes a chord with me like one involving the lower back, as I had issues with that a couple years ago. It’s debilitating, demoralizing, and it takes a lot to get back to 100 percent. Watching James Harrison struggle against the Falcons the [...]

Looking ahead to first pitch … Game: Pirates (62-71) vs. Houston Astros (44-90) Time: 8:05 p.m. Site: Minute Maid Park, Houston TV, radio: Root Sports, News Talk 104.7 FM Weather: 103 degrees, hazy Here is the official live box score. Pirates: Jose Tabata, RF Josh Harrison, 3B Andrew McCutchen, CF Neil Walker, 2B Ryan Doumit, C [...]

Some sporting thoughts before sunrise … >> My Monday column is about the pending breakout of Antonio Brown. And yeah, it looks very pending. The kid’s been getting wows from the first day of camp, and he clearly has won the confidence of Ben Roethlisberger, no small matter for a receiver. There’s kind of a [...]

Looking ahead to first pitch … Game: Pirates (62-70) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (69-64) Time: 2:15 p.m. Site: Busch Stadium, St. Louis TV, radio: Root Sports, News Talk 104.7 FM Weather: 85 degrees, sunny Here is the official live box score. Pirates: Jose Tabata, RF Alex Presley, LF Andrew McCutchen, CF Neil Walker, 2B Garrett Jones, [...]

Looking ahead to kickoff … Game: Steelers (1-1) vs. Atlanta Falcons (0-2), preseason Time: 7:35 p.m. Site: Heinz Field TV, radio: KDKA, WDVE-FM, ESPN Radio 970 Weather: 80 degrees, cloudy Here is the official live summary, and here are the news updates on our Steelers page. Feel free, as always, to use this as a discussion [...]

Looking ahead to first pitch … Game: Pirates (61-70) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (69-63) Time: 4:11 p.m. Site: Busch Stadium, St. Louis TV, radio: Fox, News Talk 104.7 FM Weather: 80 degrees, clear Here is the official live box score. Pirates: Jose Tabata, RF Alex Presley, LF Andrew McCutchen, CF Ryan Doumit, C Neil Walker, 2B [...]