February 17, 2022 3:54 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Major League Baseball has canceled the first week of spring training games through March 4 in the first public acknowledgement of the disruption caused by the lockout. The work stoppage was in its 79th day Friday, a day after economic talks between the management and the Major League Baseball Players Association lasted just 15 minutes. Negotiators are set to resume talks on core economics on Monday, and MLB said members of the owners’ negotiating committee will attend the session, just the seventh on the central issues of the dispute since the lockout began Dec. 2. Exhibition games had been set to start Feb. 26 in Florida and Arizona.
February 17, 2022 3:53 am
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) – Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh has agreed to a reworked five-year contract with the school that runs through the 2026 season. The announcement of a new deal comes two weeks after Harbaugh interviewed to fill the head coaching vacancy with the Minnesota Vikings. The Wolverines went 12-2 last season and snapped a eight-game losing streak to Ohio State along the way before losing to eventual national champion Georgia in the CFP semifinals. Harbaugh is 61-24 with four double-digit win seasons in seven years at his alma mater. He accepted a pay cut after the Wolverines went 2-4 during the COVID-abbreviated 2020 campaign.
February 16, 2022 3:52 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Sidney Crosby scored his 500th goal and Pittsburgh teammate Kris Letang capped a late rally to send the Penguins past the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 in overtime. Crosby became the 46th player in NHL history to reach the 500-goal milestone when he beat Carter Hart from the goal line on the power play at 16:34 of the first period to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead. Crosby’s teammates poured over the bench in a raucous celebration after the 34-year-old joined Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux as the only Penguins in franchise history with 500 goals. Jake Guentzel and Chad Ruhwedel scored 18 seconds apart in the third period to erase Pittsburgh’s two-goal deficit.
February 16, 2022 2:33 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Steelers have hired Pat Meyer as their new offensive line coach. Meyer joins the Steelers after spending the last two seasons in the same position for the Carolina Panthers. Meyer replaces Adrian Klemm, who left before the end of last season to take a job at the University of Oregon. Chris Morgan, who filled in an interim basis after Klemm’s departure, was hired by the Chicago Bears this month. Meyer takes over a unit that struggled for much of the 2021 season.
February 15, 2022 2:36 am
The WPIAL Basketball Committee has set the pairings for the upcoming tournaments. Action starts Friday night and wraps up at the Petersen Events Center with the WPIAL Finals March 3-5. Following is the schedule for the 12 Washington County teams. Click for WPIAL brackets.
Friday, Feb. 18 (winners to Wednesday, Feb. 23)
6A Girls #9 Butler at #8 Peters Township, 8 pm, WJPA-FM (95.3) or Listen Here
3A Girls #9 Charleroi at #8 Laurel, 7 pm
Monday, Feb. 21 (winners to Thursday, Feb. 24)
3A Boys #11 Beaver Falls at #6 Wash High, 7 pm, WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here
2A Girls #11 California at #6 Burgettstown, 7 pm, WJPA-FM (95.3) or Listen Here
2A Girls #13 Chartiers-Houston at #4 Greens. Central Catholic, 7 pm
2A Girls #9 Apollo-Ridge at #8 Fort Cherry, 7 pm
1A Girls #10 Avella at #7 Bishop Canevin, 7 pm
Tuesday, Feb. 22 (winners to Friday, Feb. 25)
5A Girls #14 Armstrong at #3 Trinity, 7 pm, WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here
2A Boys #15 California at #2 Fort Cherry, 7 pm, WJPA-FM (95.3) or Listen Here
2A Boys #16 Chartiers-Houston at #1 OLSH, 7 pm
February 15, 2022 3:44 am
UNDATED (AP) – Gonzaga has reclaimed the No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll. The Bulldogs earned 56 of 60 first-place votes to swap places with Auburn, which had spent the past three weeks at No. 1. The Tigers fell to No. 2 after losing at Arkansas. This is the Zags’ third stint at No. 1 this season. Providence climbed to No. 8 for its highest ranking since January 2016. Wyoming, Arkansas and Alabama were the week’s new additions. The No. 22 Cowboys are in the poll for the first time since 2015.
February 15, 2022 3:43 am
BEIJING (AP) – One of sports’ fiercest and longest-running grudge-matches will resume Thursday when the American and Canadian women’s hockey teams faceoff at the Beijing Games with an Olympic gold medal on the line. The game will mark the sixth time out of seven Olympics the cross-border rivals will play for the title. Canada has won four times. The United States is the defending champion after a thrilling 3-2 shootout victory in 2018 in Pyeongchang. The test for the U.S. is finding a way to contain Canada’s dynamic offense. The Canadians are 6-0 and have outscored opponents by a margin of 54-8. Canada defeated the U.S. 4-2 in the preliminary round.
February 14, 2022 3:54 am
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) – Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald were two huge reasons why the Los Angeles Rams reached the Super Bowl, and they were responsible for the team’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals. The Rams are Super Bowl champs for the second time in team history after Kupp grabbed a late touchdown pass and Donald came up with two big defensive plays in the waning moments of a 23-20 comeback win over the Bengals. Cincinnati’s defense had been the story much of the game, keeping the Rams out of the end zone in the second half until Matthew Stafford engineered a 15-play, 79-yard TD drive that ended with Kupp’s one-yard TD reception with 1:25 remaining. Kupp had four receptions for 39 yards on the championship drive. Donald closed out the win. On the Bengals’ final drive, he stopped Samaje Perine a yard short of a first down. Donald clinched it on the next play by wrapping up Joe Burrow on fourth down, forcing the Cincinnati quarterback to heave a soft, floating pass that fell incomplete. Donald had two sacks and Kupp hauled in eight passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns to earn Super Bowl MVP honors. Stafford atoned for his two interceptions by throwing for three scores, completing 26 of his 40 passes for 283 yards. Burrow was 22 of 33 for 263 yards, one TD and no interceptions. He also was sacked seven times, tying a Super Bowl record set by Roger Staubach in Super Bowl 10. It’s the first Super Bowl championship for a Rams team based in Los Angeles. Their other Super Bowl win came as the St. Louis Rams in 2000. The Bengals are now 0-3 in Super Bowls.
February 14, 2022 3:56 am
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – Brian Boyle scored the tie-breaking goal early in the third period, Tristan Jarry made 28 saves and the Pittsburgh Penguins kept rolling with a 4-2 win over the New Jersey Devils. Mike Matheson, Bryan Rust and Jake Guentzel also scored for the Penguins, who won their third straight overall and sixth straight on the road. Pittsburgh improved to 7-1-3 in its last 11 games. Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier scored for the Devils. New Jersey had scored seven goals in each of its last two games, both road wins. But the Devils nonetheless fell to 3-8-0 in their last 11.
February 13, 2022 1:14 am
The WPIAL Basketball regular season ended Saturday. The playoffs will include a dozen Washington County teams (8 girls, 4 boys) while Greene County is sending nine teams (four girls, five boys). Following is a breakdown of season records and expected seeding in the WPIAL tournaments for the Washington County teams The League will release official brackets Monday afternoon.
GIRLS
6A Peters Township (11-10). The Indians finished in fourth place in Section 2 and should expect to be the #7 seed, taking on the #2 North Allegheny or Mt. Lebanon in the quarterfinals.
5A Trinity (17-4). The Hillers have lost twice in the last three games to the third & fourth place teams in Section 1. Trinity will likely be seeded fourth after going unbeaten through Section 3. There are 16 teams in 5A bracket.
3A Charleroi (14-8). The Cougars finished third in Section 2 behind Waynesburg and South Park. Charleroi will likely be seeded 6th or 7th. The section leaders should receive byes to the quarterfinals in the 12-team field.
2A Burgettstown (17-2), California (13-9), Chartiers-Houston (10-10), Fort Cherry (15-6). This bracket will have as many as 19 teams. Burgettstown should expect to be in the top 5 seeds, Fort Cherry in the 6-8 range. California will likely be in the 9-12 group while Chartiers-Houston should expect to play in a preliminary round game.
1A Avella (10-11). The Eagles finished tied for third with Mapletown with both likely in the 8-12 range and will play in first round games with the winners facing top 4 seeds in the quarterfinals.
BOYS
3A Wash High (15-2). The Little Prexies should be seeded 3rd or 4th though a loss to Monessen Saturday might have dropped them another notch or two. Wash High would host two rounds if seeded in the top 4 in the 16-team bracket.
2A California (6-14), Chartiers-Houston (9-13), Fort Cherry (19-2). Look for Fort Cherry to be seeded 2-4 and be set to host through the quarterfinals. The Trojans and Buccaneers will likely be seeded in the 12-16 range and face section champions in the first round of the 16-team field.
