March 11, 2023 3:47 am
Former England captain Gary Lineker has been temporarily removed from his role as presenter of the BBC’s flagship soccer highlights show in the wake of his criticism of the British government’s new asylum policy. The BBC says the long-running “Match of the Day” program will now be aired on Saturday “without studio presentation or punditry.” That decision was taken after a slew of Lineker’s colleagues announced they wouldn’t appear on the show without him. Lineker has compared British lawmakers’ language about migrants to that used in Nazi Germany. The BBC considers Lineker posting such views on social media as a breach of its guidelines.
March 9, 2023 2:21 am
The PIAA Wrestling Championships is Pennsylvania’s most-popular high school championship event, and WJPA Radio has brought home the excitement for over 70 years. Class 2A started Thursday morning, including 14 wrestlers from Washington & Greene Counties. A dozen more from the two-county area are in the Class 3A brackets that opened up Thursday afternoon. This eight-session tournament runs through the finals on Saturday with all the action live on WJPA-AM (1450) and online. Mark Uriah is calling the action for the 40th consecutive year. He’s joined by Greg Warnock and Greg Smith in the booth. PIAA Wrestling Homepage
Thursday’s 2A preliminaries saw Burgettstown keep all four qualifiers alive but only Joey Sentipal reached the quarterfinals. Bentworth’s Chris Vargo and Vitali Daniels will wrestle in the quarterfinals Friday, along with Braedon Welsh of Ft. Cherry. Beth-Center, Chartiers-Houston and McGuffey each have one wrestler still alive in the consolation brackets. Three other Washington County qualifiers were eliminated while Jeff-Morgan’s Chase Frameli forfeited both of his scheduled bouts, dealing with a knee injury.
Burrell is leading the rest of the WPIAL 2A schools with four wrestlers still alive, two in the quarterfinals. Frazier and Central Valley have two quarterfinalists alive, one each for Indiana and Laurel. Mt. Pleasant and Quaker Valley have two consolation wrestlers while Carlynton, Greensburg Salem, Hopewell, Keystone Oaks and Montour have one each.
Not to be outdone, Class 3A wrestlers from the two-county area put on quite a show. Nine of the 12 qualifiers have reached the quarterfinals, including four from Waynesburg (Mac Church, Rocco Welsh, Brody Evans and Eli Makel), all three Canon-McMillan wrestlers (Tanner Mizenko, Andrew Binni and Matthew Furman) and both Trinity qualifiers (Blake Reihner and Ty Banco). Only one of the 21 qualifiers from Washington/Greene/southern Allegheny/Mon Valley area has been eliminated. Waynesburg’s Nate Jones lost twice in Thursday’s action. In addition to the nine quarterfinalists, Chris Cibrone (Peters Township) and Jake Conroy (Ringgold) are still alive in 2nd Round Consolations.
PIAA Wrestling Championships WJPA-AM (1450) Listen Here!
Friday, March 10
8:50 am 2A Quarterfinals, 2nd/3rd Consolations
2:05 pm 3A Quarterfinals, 2nd/3rd Consolations
7:20 pm 2A Semifinals, 4th/5th Consolations
Saturday, March 11
8:50 am 3A Semifinals, 4th/5th Consolations
1:50 pm 2A Championship & Consolation Finals (1st-8th place)
6:50 pm 3A Championship & Consolation Finals (1st-8th place)
March 10, 2023 3:54 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Brock Nelson scored on a breakaway in overtime and the New York Islanders rallied to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3. Nelson beat Tristan Jarry to the blocker side at 2:13 of the extra period as the Islanders swept the season series against Pittsburgh for the first time in franchise history. Anders Lee had two goals and Hudson Fasching also scored for the Islanders, who scored twice in the final 5:29 of regulation to force overtime. Ilya Sorokin stopped 33 shots and assisted on the winning goal for New York. Jake Guentzel, Jason Zucker and Josh Archibald scored for Pittsburgh. Tristan Jarry made 24 saves for the Penguins.
March 10, 2023 3:56 am
GREENSBORO, N.C, (AP) — Kyle Filipowski overcame an early ankle injury to score 22 points, Tyrese Proctor added 11 points and 10 assists, and No. 21 Duke cruised to a 96-69 win over Pittsburgh in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinals. Dereck Lively II had 13 points and Mark Mitchell added 12 for the fourth-seeded Blue Devils. Duke shot a season-high 62% from the floor in its seventh straight win — the longest active streak of any ACC team. Nike Sibande had 17 points and Guillermo Diaz Graham had 14 for Pitt.
March 8, 2023 12:01 am
The PIAA Wrestling Championships is Pennsylvania’s most-popular high school championship event, and WJPA Radio has brought home the excitement for over 70 years. Class 2A starts Thursday morning, including 14 wrestlers from Washington & Greene Counties. A dozen more from the two-county area are in the Class 3A brackets that open up Thursday afternoon. This eight-session tournament runs through the finals on Saturday with all the action live on WJPA-AM (1450) and online. Mark Uriah will call the action for the 40th consecutive year. He’ll be joined by Greg Warnock and Greg Smith in the booth. PIAA Wrestling Homepage
The Class 2A field is led by WPIAL team champion Burgettstown’s four qualifiers: Parker Sentipal, Gaven Suica, Joey Sentipal and Joey Baronick. Bentworth’s Chris Vargo, Owen Ivcic and Vitali Daniels are joined by Beth-Center neighbors Tyler Berish and Jake Layhue. Chartiers-Houston, which did not wrestle a dual meet schedule, qualified Jorden Williams and Jessie Orbin. Braedon Welsh (Ft. Cherry), Lucas Barr (McGuffey) and Chase Frameli (Jeff-Morgan) round out the local entrants.
Class 3A includes a “fantastic five” from Waynesburg: Mac Church, Rocco Welsh, Brody Evans, Eli Makel and Nate Jones. WPIAL team champion Canon-McMillan has three qualifiers including Tanner Mizenko, Andrew Binni and Matthew Furman. Trinity’s Blake Reihner and Ty Banko will be joined by Chris Cibrone (Peters Township) and Jake Conroy (Ringgold).
PIAA Wrestling Championships WJPA-AM (1450) Listen Here!
Thursday, March 9
8:50 am 2A Preliminaries, 1st Consolations
3:50 pm 3A Preliminaries, 1st Consolations
Friday, March 10
8:50 am 2A Quarterfinals, 2nd/3rd Consolations
2:05 pm 3A Quarterfinals, 2nd/3rd Consolations
7:20 pm 2A Semifinals, 4th/5th Consolations
Saturday, March 11
8:50 am 3A Semifinals, 4th/5th Consolations
1:50 pm 2A Championship & Consolation Finals (1st-8th place)
6:50 pm 3A Championship & Consolation Finals (1st-8th place)
March 9, 2023 4:08 am
GREENSBORO, N.C, (AP) — Jamarius Burton scored 21 points, Federiko Federiko added 19 and Pittsburgh ousted Georgia Tech 89-81 in the second round of the ACC Tournament. The Panthers play fourth-seeded and No. 21-ranked Duke in Thursday’s quarterfinals. All the Pitt starters were in double figures. Greg Elliott scored 16 points, Blake Hinson added 12 points and Nelly Cummings had 11 points. The fifth-seeded Panthers shot 56% and made 20 of 25 free throws. Ja’von Franklin had 19 points and 15 rebounds to lead the 13th-seeded Yellow Jackets. Deebo Coleman added 17 points and Miles Kelly and Kyle Sturdivant scored 16 points each.
March 9, 2023 4:10 am
Daniel Jones turned one decent season into a mega-money contract that raises the standard in the NFL. Once the New York Giants gave Jones a deal worth $160 million over four years — $82 million is reportedly guaranteed for the first two seasons — the price tag went up for quarterbacks around the league. Way up. If Jones can join Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and six others in the $40 million-per-year club after a breakout season in which he threw just 15 touchdown passes and ran for seven more, how much money will more accomplished QBs get paid?
March 8, 2023 3:52 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby’s power-play goal 2:45 into overtime finished off a frantic rally as the Pittsburgh Penguins slipped by the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4. The Penguins trailed the Blue Jackets by four early in the second period but found a way to win for the fifth time in six games. Jake Guentzel, Jason Zucker and Danton Heinen scored in a 3:38 span early in the third period to pull the Penguins even. Crosby’s 28th goal of the season allowed Pittsburgh to escape. Patrik Laine scored his 20th for Columbus but it wasn’t enough to give the Blue Jackets their first win in Pittsburgh since November 2015.
March 8, 2023 3:54 am
The Baltimore Ravens say they are designating Lamar Jackson as their franchise player. That prevents him from becoming an unrestricted free agent this month after the expiration of his rookie contract. The nonexclusive franchise tag means Jackson can negotiate with other teams, but the Ravens would have a chance to match any agreement. If they choose not to match, they’d receive two first-round draft picks in return. If Jackson plays this season on the franchise tag, he’d make $32.4 million. Jackson becoming available could shake up NFL free agency, which opens later this month.
March 8, 2023 3:55 am
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — The New York Giants have reached a new four-year contract with quarterback Daniel Jones and put a franchise tag on running back Saquon Barkley. The Giants confirmed the deal with Jones on Tuesday night. The team reached an agreement with Jones’ representatives with with the deadline for a franchise tag minutes away. The team announced that Barkley received a nonexclusive franchise tag, which means he’s able to negotiate a contract with other teams. He will earn more than $10 million this season if he does not agree to a long-term deal before training camp.
