March 5, 2022 4:14 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A federal judge in Philadelphia has approved new rules that seek to eliminate racial bias in the testing and payout of NFL concussion claims. The revisions could allow Black retired football players who were denied payments for dementia in the NFL’s $1 billion concussion settlement to seek to be retested or have their claims rescored to eliminate racial bias. Outrage over the use of “race-norming” in the dementia testing forced the NFL and players’ lawyers back to the negotiating table last year. Race-norming assumed that Black people have a lower cognitive baseline score. The NFL has paid out more than $800 million to date, nearly half for dementia claims. The dementia awards average about $600,000.
March 4, 2022 3:51 am
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Evgeni Malkin had a goal and two assists, Tristan Jarry made 20 saves and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1. Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper was given a game misconduct for arguing with officials with 53.7 seconds remaining in the second period after the Lightning received an extra minor penalty stemming from a scrum. Sidney Crosby, Danton Heinen, Brock McGinn and Jake Guentzel had the other Pittsburgh goals as the Penguins improved to 19-6-3 on the road. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 35 shots and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored for the Lightning.
March 1, 2022 2:13 am
Fort Cherry hasn’t been to the WPIAL Basketball Final since shortly after John F. Kennedy was inaugurated. That changes Saturday when the Rangers travel to the Petersen Events Center to face defending WPIAL/PIAA champion Our Lady of the Sacred Heart with the Class 2A title on the line. To make that happen, Ft. Cherry downed Section 2 foe Carlynton for the second time in less than a month, beating the Cougars, 46-36, the widest margin in the teams’ three meetings this year.
Sophomore Derek Erret, who averages 4.1 points a game, led the way with 16 as Carlynton locked down Fort Cherry’s leading scorers. Owen Norman (18.8 ave.) was held to 14, Dylan Rogers (16.8) managed 10 while Maddox Truschel (10.1) was shutout. Coach Eugene Briggs challenged Erret to take advantage of the situation, and the 5-9 point guard did just that, including hit four straight free throws down the stretch. The Rangers’ defense held the Cougars off the board over the final 2:45 of the game to seal the win, Fort Cherry’s 14th straight, clinching a spot in the WPIAL Final for the first time in 61 years. The Rangers had already clinched a spot in the PIAA playoffs but will now host a first-round game on Wednesday.
Wash High boys, Waynesburg and West Greene girls are also in the PIAA playoffs but will open on the road. The two remaining bubble teams from Washington County await WPIAL championship games in their classifications to see if their seasons are extended. The Burgettstown girls qualify if #2 Neshannock beats #1 OLSH Friday afternoon in the WPIAL 2A title game. The Trinity girls get a spot if #2 South Fayette tops three-time defending WPIAL champion Chartiers Valley in Saturday evening’s WPIAL 5A final. We’ll have three WPIAL championship games on WJPA-FM (95.3) over the weekend. Click for WPIAL brackets.
WPIAL Basketball Championships — WJPA-FM (95.3) or Listen Here
Friday, Mar. 4
6:45 pm 6A Girls #1 Mt. Lebanon vs. #3 Upper St. Clair S
Saturday, Mar. 5
12:45 pm 2A Boys #2 Fort Cherry vs. #1 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
4:45 pm 5A Girls #1 Chartiers Valley vs. #2 South Fayette
March 4, 2022 2:01 am
California University’s women’s basketball team jumped to a double-digit lead at the half and cruised past Edinboro in Wednesday’s PSAC quarterfinals. The West #1 Vulcans will face East #3 Shepherd Saturday at East top seed Kutztown.
PSAC Women’s Semifinals, Saturday (at Kutztown)
W1 California vs. E3 Shepherd
W2 Gannon vs. E1 Kutztown
The Cal U men trailed nearly the entire game, losing at West #1 Indiana. IUP will host the Men’s Final Four.
PSAC Men’s Semifinals, Saturday (at Indiana)
E1 Millersville vs. W2 Mercyhurst
E3 Shippensburg vs. W1 Indiana
March 4, 2022 3:54 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem and chief union negotiator Bruce Meyer met for 1 1/2 hours Thursday and discussed the major issues in the stalled talks to reach a deal that would end Major League Baseball’s lockout. Union general counsel Ian Penny and MLB Executive Vice President Morgan Sword also participated in the session. Negotiations broke off Tuesday after the ninth straight day of meetings in Jupiter, Florida. That led baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred to announce that opening day on March 31 and the first two series for each team this season had been canceled.
March 3, 2022 3:46 am
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – University of Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett is one of the top quarterback prospects at this year’s NFL scouting combine. But all the buzz isn’t about his accuracy, mobility or savvy. It’s about how big – or small – his hands are. Especially teams that play in cold weather often shy away from QBs who have smaller hands because of concerns about them fumbling the football. But there have been plenty of quarterbacks who proved size doesn’t matter all that much. That includes Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. And there’s a long list of large-handed QBs who never got the upper hand.
March 2, 2022 3:48 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Freshman guard Trevor Keels scored a career-high 27 points, Paolo Banchero added 21 and Duke clinched at least a share of its 13th Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title under Mike Krzyzewski with an 86-56 win over Pittsburgh. The Blue Devils (26-4, 16-3) wasted little time making sure Krzyzewski would pick up his ACC-record 201st road win, taking a 13-point lead before the game was four minutes old and cruising. John Hugley led Pitt with 19 points. The Panthers were never in it while losing their third straight.
March 2, 2022 2:45 am
JUPITER, Fla. (AP) – The upcoming Major League Baseball season just got a little shorter. Commissioner Rob Manfred says the sport will lose regular-season games over a labor dispute for the first time in 27 years after acrimonious lockout talks collapsed in the hours before management’s deadline. Manfred said he is canceling the first two series of a season that was set to begin March 31, dropping the schedule from 162 games to likely 156 games at most. Manfred said the league and union have not made plans for future negotiations with the lockout in its 90th day.
February 28, 2022 10:51 pm
Wash High and West Greene fans were finally able to exhale having picked up PIAA basketball playoff bids. The Little Prexies lost a quarterfinal matchup to Shady Side Academy but earned a trip to states when the Bulldogs downed Aliquippa, 56-51, in the semifinals. Wash High will visit either the District 10 champion or the winner of the District 5-8-9 regional. The #2 Pioneers had a first-round bye, then were upset by #7 Bishop Canevin in the quarterfinals. The Crusaders dragged West Greene into the PIAA playoffs by beating #3 Union, 49-43, in the semifinals.
The Fort Cherry boys and Waynesburg girls already held tickets to the state tournaments. The Rangers are still alive in the WPIAL 2A boys bracket, facing Section 2 foe Carlynton Tuesday night in the semifinals. The two split their home-and-home regular season series. We’ll have that game on WJPA-FM (95.3) Tuesday. Airtime is 7:45 pm. Waynesburg reached the semifinals of the 3A girls bracket before falling to perennial power North Catholic. The Raiders either visit the District 10 runner-up or the District 5-8 winner.
Two other Washington County teams are still alive, but need some help to reach the state playoffs. The Trinity girls qualify one of two ways: a McKeesport win over South Fayette in the semifinals or a South Fayette win in the WPIAL championship game. Burgettstown’s girls team makes the state tourney if #2 Neshannock beats #1 OLSH Friday afternoon in the WPIAL Final. Click for WPIAL brackets.
Tuesday, Mar. 1 (winner to 2A Boys Championship game)
2A Boys #2 Fort Cherry vs. #3 Carlynton at West Allegheny, 7:45 pm, WJPA-FM (95.3) or Listen Here
February 28, 2022 10:54 pm
California University of Pennsylvania will host PSAC basketball tournament action tonight and Wednesday. The Cal U men, seeded 4th in the west, downed #5 Slippery Rock, 72-55, and will face IUP, the top seed in the west, Wednesday evening. The Vulcan women, the top seed in the west, will host a quarterfinal game Wednesday against IUP. The semifinals/finals will be held Saturday & Sunday–the men playing at the highest remaining west seed, the women hosted by the highest seed in the east.
