December 1, 2020 2:17 am
New York (NFL Network) – Due to continued COVID-19 concerns, the Baltimore Ravens-Pittsburgh Steelers football game has been moved to 3:40 p.m. Wednesday. WJPA-AM (1450) will have live coverage, beginning with the Steelers Network pregame show at 1:40 pm.
With this latest rescheduling, two other games have been moved as well. The Steelers will host the Washington Football Team on Monday at 5 p.m. in the teams’ Week 13 contest, originally slated for Sunday. Meanwhile, the Ravens will host the Dallas Cowboys on Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 8:05 p.m. in a game that was first planned for Thursday. TV broadcast plans will be announced later. This is the third time the Ravens-Steelers game has been moved. Originally slated to be played on Thanksgiving night, it was postponed until Sunday and then moved a second time to Tuesday.
Ravens players recently conducted a players-only meeting in which they expressed concerns regarding playing on Tuesday as they’ve been adamant about wanting a day to practice, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported. Rapoport added that other notes to come from the meeting were that the Ravens want to play, but health and safety must come first. One source said: “Can’t we have at least two days of negative tests after this outbreak before we are expected to get back on the field?” The Ravens’ facility is set to reopen Monday night with a walkthrough scheduled and there is a plan to practice on Tuesday before flying to Pittsburgh, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported.
December 1, 2020 3:57 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – DK Metcalf again made the Philadelphia Eagles regret passing him up in the draft. Metcalf caught 10 passes for 177 yards, Russell Wilson threw for 230 yards and one touchdown and the Seattle Seahawks beat the Philadelphia Eagles 23-17 Monday night. The Seahawks (8-3) moved one game ahead of the Rams in the NFC West. The Eagles (3-7-1) fell a half-game behind the Giants and Washington in the woeful NFC East. Carson Wentz held off Jalen Hurts but had another rough game. He was 25 of 45 for 215 yards, two TDs and one interception.
December 1, 2020 3:53 am
UNDATED (AP) – Gonzaga and Baylor remain the top two teams in the first Associated Press men’s college basketball poll of the regular season. The Zags received 57 first-place votes from a 63-person media panel. The Bears received six first-place votes, with Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois rounding out the top five. Gonzaga was the preseason No. 1 and lived up to the billing by rolling over Kansas and Auburn in Fort Meyers, Florida. The Jayhawks dropped a spot to No. 7 this week but were ranked for the 222nd consecutive week to break UCLA’s all-time record set from 1966-80. Villanova and Virginia plunged after losses while Virginia Tech entered the rankings at No. 16 and Richmond at No. 19.
December 1, 2020 3:52 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Major League Baseball is creating a minor league for top eligible prospects leading to the summer draft. The MLB Draft League is launching with five teams and could add a sixth. The teams are in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New Jersey. The West Virginia Team will be the Black Bears located in Morgantown. Teams will use wood bats and play a 68-game regular season that includes an All-Star break coinciding with the draft in early July. Teams are going to communities that lost franchises as MLB moved to shrink the affiliated minor leagues from 160 to 120 teams this offseason. The reduction followed the expiration of the agreement between the major and minor leagues. MLB has planned to eliminate the separate governing body of minor league baseball.
November 30, 2020 6:53 am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – The governing body for high school sports in West Virginia has canceled the state football championship games due to the coronavirus pandemic and instead declared winners in each class. The Secondary School Activities Commission made the announcement Saturday night after the Department of Education released its color-coded county map that determines whether athletic competitions can be played. St. Marys was declared the champion in Class A, Fairmont Senior in Class AA and South Charleston in Class AAA. SSAC executive director Bernie Dolan says the agency wishes there could have been championship games, but the state’s color-coded virus map did not allow the games to be played.
November 30, 2020 3:52 am
UNDATED (AP) – The NFL has fined the New Orleans Saints $500,000 and stripped them of a 2021 seventh-round draft pick for violating league COVID-19 protocols. That’s according to a person with direct knowledge of the discipline who also tells The Associated Press that the Patriots have been fined $350,000 for similar violations.
The person says New Orleans was fined as a repeat offender. The Saints are expected to appeal the discipline, which ESPN first reported Sunday morning.
November 30, 2020 3:54 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Atlantic Coast Conference has shuffled its football schedule, calling off Florida State’s game at Duke on Saturday and sending Miami to play the Blue Devils instead.
The Hurricanes were scheduled to come back from a two-week pause because of COVID-19 issues at Wake Forest. But that game was postponed because of virus problems within the Demon Deacons’ program. This will be the Seminoles’ third consecutive game to be called off. FSU’s previous two games against Clemson and Virginia were postponed on game-day morning.
November 30, 2020 3:53 am
UNDATED (AP) – There’s no change among the top eight in The Associated Press football poll, with Alabama remaining the unanimous No. 1 team again. The Crimson Tide are spending a fourth straight week atop the poll and have been ranked for 209 consecutive weeks, tying the third-longest streak in AP poll history.
Notre Dame is second, followed by Ohio State, and Texas A&M. Florida, Cincinnati, BYU, Miami and Indiana round out the top 10.
November 29, 2020 3:47 am
According to the NFL, the Steelers vs. Ravens game scheduled for Sunday has been postponed until Tuesday at 8:00. Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has tested positive for COVID-19, according to multiple media outlets. Last year’s NFL MVP is the biggest star to become infected by the virus. The Baltimore Sun and ESPN, both citing unidentified sources, reported that Jackson was among four more Ravens players to test positive Thursday. Outside linebacker Pernell McPhee was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list Wednesday, joining running backs Mark Ingram and J.K. Dobbins and defensive tackle Brandon Williams. Because of the outbreak, the Ravens have been conducting team work remotely. They were supposed to play unbeaten Pittsburgh on Thursday night, but the game was postponed until Tuesday. The Ravens have 18 players dealing with COVID-related issues as of Sunday morning, while the Steelers have four players and a coach. James Conner headlines the names placed on the reserve list Saturday night, along with Special Teams Coach Danny Smith. On Friday, the Steelers announced defensive linemen Stephon Tuitt, Isaiah Buggs and offensive lineman Jerald Hawkins were all placed on the COVID list. The game now slated for Tuesday could potentially be in jeopardy unless the cases on both teams slow down.
November 29, 2020 7:39 am
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — In a year when everything seems so unusual and different, Penn State at Michigan felt particularly strange. No fans, no buzz — and not much to feel good about these days for either team. What was also empty was Penn State’s win column coming into Saturday’s matchup, but that changed when the Nittany Lions beat Michigan 27-17. Penn State never trailed in this matchup of proud programs that have stumbled their way through this pandemic-shortened season. Even if there had been a normal crowd at the game, it would have felt different with both teams coming in under .500. For one day at least, the Nittany Lions (1-5, 1-5 Big Ten) could celebrate. However strange the circumstances, this was still a victory in Ann Arbor, where Penn State had lost three in a row. Empty was Penn State’s win column coming into Saturday’s matchup, but that changed when the Nittany Lions beat Michigan 27-17. Penn State never trailed in this matchup of proud programs that have stumbled their way through this pandemic-shortened season. Even if there had been a normal crowd at the game, it would have felt different with both teams coming in under .500. For one day at least, the Nittany Lions (1-5, 1-5 Big Ten) could celebrate. However strange the circumstances, this was still a victory in Ann Arbor, where Penn State had lost three in a row.
