February 17, 2023 3:51 am
DUNEDIN, Fla. (AP) – Commissioner Rob Manfred says Major League Baseball can produce games digitally in conjunction with MLB.TV if Bally Sports regional networks are no longer broadcasting them. He says this is a chance to address the game blackouts that inspire so much anger among fans. Diamond Sports Group is the parent company of 19 Bally Sports networks. It skipped about $140 million in interest payments due Wednesday, starting a 30-day grace period that could be the prelude to a bankruptcy filing. Manfred acknowledged some teams could be at risk of losing revenue. He says MLB is prepared to help those teams.
February 17, 2023 2:36 am
NEW YORK (AP) – The famed broadcaster and former St. Louis Cardinals star Tim McCarver has died. He was 81. During 60 years in major league baseball, McCarver played in two All-Star games and on two World Series championship teams. He was the preferred catcher for Bob Gibson in the 1960s and Steve Carlton in the 1970s. He later had a long run as one of the country’s most recognizable, incisive and talkative television commentators. For years, he teamed with Joe Buck on Fox sports telecasts. The Baseball Hall of Fame honored his on-air work in 2012.
February 17, 2023 3:50 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Tiger Woods had a loud and successful return to PGA Tour competition. Woods finished with three straight birdies for a 69 in the Genesis Invitational. That leaves him five shots behind co-leaders Max Homa and Keith Mitchell. Woods is playing for the first time against the world’s best since he missed the cut in the British Open last July at St. Andrews. He looked to be losing ground with two bogeys in three holes, leaving him over par through 12 holes. And then he was flawless at the end. Woods says he hasn’t heard such noise in a long time.
February 15, 2023 2:23 am
The WPIAL unveiled the 2023 basketball playoff tournaments Monday afternoon. Burgettstown, Wash High and Waynesburg girls won section championships. Ft. Cherry, Peters Township and Wash High boys claimed section titles. The 12 playoff brackets (6 girls, 6 boys) will feature 25 Washington & Greene County teams, including both girls & boys teams from Avella, Burgettstown, Carmichaels, Chartiers-Houston, Ft. Cherry, McGuffey, Peters Township, Trinity and Wash High. WPIAL Brackets CLICK HERE
Thursday, Feb. 16
2A Boys #17 Bentworth at #16 Laurel, 6:50 pm WJPA-AM (1450) Listen Here
2A Boys #18 Carmichaels at #15 South Side Beaver, 7 pm
Friday, Feb. 17
2A Girls #10 Ft. Cherry at #7 Chartiers-Houston, 6:50 pm WJPA-AM (1450) Listen Here
2A Girls #12 Winchester Thurston at #5 Burgettstown, 7 pm
2A Girls #13 California vs. #4 Greensburg Central Catholic, 7 pm at Gateway
2A Girls #16 Carmichaels at #1 Shenango, 7 pm
2A Girls #11 Aliquippa at #6 Wash High, 7 pm
5A Boys #15 Trinity at #2 Penn Hills, 6:50 pm WJPA-FM (95.3) Listen Here
5A Boys #16 Penn-Trafford at #1 Peters Township, 7 pm
1A Boys #13 Avella vs. #4 Geibel Catholic, 6 pm at Charleroi
1A Boys #12 Mapletown vs. #5 Neighborhood Academy, 8 pm at Charleroi
1A Boys #10 Jeff-Morgan vs. #7 Aquinas Academy, TBD at Peters Township
Saturday, Feb. 18
3A Girls #13 McGuffey at #4 Avonworth, 11:50 am WJPA-FM (95.3) Listen Here
3A Girls #14 Charleroi at #3 Neshannock, 12 noon
3A Girls #9 Seton-La Salle at #8 Waynesburg, 12 noon
Monday, Feb. 20
3A Boys #16 McGuffey at #1 Steel Valley, 6:50 pm WJPA-FM (95.3) Listen Here
3A Boys #9 Seton-La Salle at #8 Wash High, 6:50 pm WJPA-AM (1450) Listen Here
1A Girls #10 Avella at #7 Riverview, 7 pm
1A Girls #9 Leechburg at #8 West Greene, 7 pm
6A Girls #9 Butler at #8 Peters Township, 8 pm
Tuesday, Feb. 21
2A Boys #12 Burgettstown vs. #5 Eden Christian, 5:50 pm at Mt. Lebanon WJPA-FM (95.3) Listen Here
2A Boys #9 Chartiers-Houston at #8 Shenango, 6:50 pm WJPA-AM (1450) Listen Here
2A Boys #3 Ft. Cherry vs. #14 Clairton, 6 pm at South Fayette
5A Girls #13 Latrobe at #4 Trinity, 7 pm
February 16, 2023 3:44 am
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Zakai Zeigler and Santiago Vescovi each scored 15 points and No. 10 Tennessee took down newly minted No. 1 Alabama 68-59. Playing its first game as the top-ranked team since the 2002-03 season, the Crimson Tide led just once in the early going and committed 19 turnovers. Unlike football, when Tennessee fans stormed their home field after beating No. 3 Alabama 52-49 in October, this sellout crowd stayed in the seats when it was over. “Rocky Top” loudly blared as the Volunteers ended a two-game skid. Tennessee is 20-6 and Alabama is 22-4. Alabama became the last Power 5 men’s team to lose a conference game this season. The Tide reached No. 1 in the latest poll by The Associated Press on Monday.
February 16, 2023 3:45 am
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Alex Bowman won his third career Daytona 500 pole and will be joined by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson on the front row for NASCAR’s season opener. The Hendrick dominance is no surprise. Bowman is on the Daytona 500 front row for the the sixth straight time and the organization has produced a pole winner in eight of the last nine years. Jimmie Johnson and Travis Pastrana both qualified for the race. They were among six drivers competing for four open spots in the Daytona 500.
February 15, 2023 3:46 am
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – Casey DeSmith made 38 saves and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the San Jose Sharks 3-1. The Penguins’ top line of Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Rickard Rakell each had three points. Crosby reached 41 assists on the season. Timo Meier scored his 31st goal late in the third period for the Sharks. Aaron Dell made 24 saves in his third start for San Jose this season. He has yet to earn a win. Erik Karlsson and Alexander Barabanov both had their four-game point streaks snapped.
February 15, 2023 3:44 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Blake Hinson made six 3-pointers in scoring 21 points and Pittsburgh left Boston College behind in the second half to win 77-58 and take a half-game lead in the ACC. The Panthers won their sixth straight game, set a program record for most ACC wins in a season, and gave themselves at least a 24-hour perch alone atop the conference standings. No. 7 Virginia, a half-game back, plays at last-place Louisville on Wednesday. Mason Madsen made four 3-pointers and scored 14 points for the Eagles.
February 15, 2023 3:49 am
The consolation prize for the Philadelphia Eagles’ coordinators following their Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs was head coaching jobs for Jonathan Gannon and Shane Steichen. Gannon replaced Kliff Kingsbury in Arizona and Steichen replaced Jeff Saturday in Indianapolis. This wraps up the annual head coach hiring cycle that featured just five openings this year. The hires come less than 48 hours after the Eagles’ 38-35 loss to the Chiefs in Super Bowl 57. Left out again in this year’s round of head coaching hires was Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
February 14, 2023 3:53 am
Sunday’s Super Bowl was the third most-watched television show in history, with an estimated 113 million people watching the Kansas City Chiefs rally to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles. Fox said Monday that the preliminary numbers include the broadcasts on Fox and Fox Deportes as well as streaming on Fox and the NFL’s digital sites. The figures are via Nielsen’s Fast National data and Adobe Analytics. Final Nielsen data will be available on Tuesday. Rihanna’s halftime show averaged 118.7 million viewers, making it the second-most watched in Super Bowl history behind Katy Perry’s 2015 performance.