June 3, 2020 3:49 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh Steelers running back James Conner says he’s in the best shape of his life thanks in part to the quarantine surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Conner says the lockdown has given him time to cut out “distractions” and help him focus on bouncing back from an injury-riddled 2019. Conner played sporadically over the final eight games because of a nagging right shoulder injury, and the Steelers opted not to offer him a contract extension during the offseason. Conner says he isn’t concerned about his future and is trying to focus on the present.
June 2, 2020 3:49 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Baseball owners and players have reverted to form — the type displayed over the past half-century during eight work stoppages filled with salary squabbles. Players proposed to resume the sport in the coronavirus pandemic with a 114-game regular season and full prorated salaries, leaving each player with approximately 70% of what he had been slated to earn. That proposal was made Sunday, five days after Major League Baseball’s plan for an 82-game season with additional pay cuts that would leave each player taking in 23-47% of his original pay, with the highest earners accepting the biggest cuts. MLB claims an additional $640,000 would be lost with each extra regular-season game played. The union has said it doesn’t believe those calculations and asked MLB for more economic documents and data. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred discussed the next move with owners on Monday.
June 2, 2020 3:46 am
UNDATED (AP) – Tiger Woods is speaking out for the first time since George Floyd’s death, saying his heart goes out to Floyd, his family and everyone who is hurting right now. The 44-year-old golfer broke his silence with a statement on his Twitter account Monday night. Woods said, “I have always had the utmost respect for our law enforcement.” He said, “They train so diligently to understand how, when and where to use force. This shocking tragedy clearly crossed that line.” Floyd, a black man, died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck while Floyd was handcuffed and saying that he couldn’t breathe. His death sparked protests in Minneapolis and around the country, some of which became violent. Woods’ statement came one day after former NBA star and current Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan made his first public remarks on Floyd and the killings of black people at the hands of police.
June 1, 2020 3:44 am
BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) – Brad Keselowski came up with an accidental triumph on Sunday. Keselowski inherited his second NASCAR Cup win of the season when Chase Elliott and Joey Logano collided as they raced for the victory at Bristol Motor Speedway. Keselowski was in third with a lap and a turn remaining when he lucked into his second victory in three Cup races. Logano had cleared Elliott for the lead with three laps remaining but Elliott was stalking him while seeking his second win in three days. They made contact in the fourth turn and drifted into the wall. Keselowski slid past for the win. Clint Bowyer gave Ford a 1-2 finish with his best performance in a year. Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson was third in a Chevrolet and once again showed he’s close to snapping his 104-race losing streak. Kyle Busch and Erik Jones rounded out the top-five.
May 30, 2020 3:51 am
UNDATED (AP) – The NBA Board of Governors continues to ponder various scenarios as they prepare to resume a season still on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic. Three people familiar with Friday’s meeting have told The Associated Press that the board hasn’t developed a consensus opinion on how many teams should be back on the floor for the planned late-July resumption. The people say Commissioner Adam Silver is still collecting information on multiple options ranging from 16 to all 30 teams returning to action when the season begins again near Orlando, Florida. One person said 20 of more teams would be brought back to finish the season near Orlando, while a second person said the league would bring back any team within six games of a playoff berth. The league suspended play following the conclusion of its March 11 games.
May 30, 2020 2:13 am
WJPA’s Championship Classics for May will focus on what should be happening right now–high school baseball & softball. Teams should be concluding their regular seasons and heading into the WPIAL playoffs. But COVID-19 put a halt on all of that. So, we’re looking back over the past decade, remembering the Washington County teams that played in WPIAL championship games, some of them against Greene County squads. We couldn’t fit all of the games (13) into our Tuesday-Thursday-Friday schedule, so we added a Memorial Day Weekend Saturday feature to close the run.
Our broadcasts air at 1 pm and again at 7 pm. Championship Classics are available on WJPA-AM (1450) and online. LISTEN HERE!
Here’s the schedule for the rest of the month:
Saturday, May 30–2018 WPIAL baseball: Canon-McMillan vs. North Allegheny
May 29, 2020 3:48 am
UNDATED (AP) – NFL owners approved several rules on Thursday without accepting an alternative to the onside kick. Owners have tabled a proposal that would have offered a fourth-and-15 play as an alternative to the onside kick. Atlanta Falcons President Rich McKay said there were more clubs receptive to the onside kick alternative than in the past and it will be further explored and likely brought up again. Owners approved testing expanded use of video replay in the preseason to aid in officiating, and they also increased the number of players who may be designated for return from the injured list during a season from two to three. The owners voted to make permanent the expansion of automatic replay reviews to include scoring plays and turnovers negated by a foul, and any successful or unsuccessful extra points. Also approved was the competition committee’s recommendation to expand defenseless player protection to a kickoff or punt returner who is in possession of the ball but has not had time to avoid or ward off contact of an opponent. Another approved recommendation stops teams from manipulating the game clock by committing multiple dead-ball fouls while the clock is running. That’s an issue that came up several times in 2019, including during the postseason. Using video replay for pass interference calls was dropped after a one-year experiment that led to more uncertainty than clarity. A proposal to have a booth judge serve as an eighth official on each crew was tabled.
May 28, 2020 2:36 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Penguins will head into whatever becomes of the NHL postseason without forward Nick Bjugstad. The team says Bjugstad underwent spinal surgery to repair a herniated disk. General manager Jim Rutherford said the surgery was necessary after Bjugstad had a “setback” while recovering from a lower-body injury suffered just before the NHL went on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While Bjugstad is out, All-Star forward Jake Guentzel is on schedule to return from a shoulder injury when the NHL resumes at some point this summer.
May 27, 2020 3:46 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick thinks a potentially altered preseason schedule could benefit one of the league’s best defenses. The Steelers are returning 10 of 11 starters from a unit that finished fifth in the league in 2019. Fitzpatrick believes that continuity would be an advantage if the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts preparations for the 2020 regular season. Fitzpatrick says while he is missing the chance to hang out with his teammates during organized team activities, he believes the team will get up to speed quickly whenever players are allowed to get together.
May 26, 2020 3:52 am
UNDATED (AP) – Patrick Ewing’s son says the Georgetown basketball coach and former NBA great has been released from the hospital and is recovering from COVID-19 at home. The 57-year-old Hall of Famer who played for the Hoyas in college and the New York Knicks for 15 seasons announced Friday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus and was being treated at a hospital. Patrick Ewing Jr. said three days later on Twitter that his father was getting better and thanked the doctors and nurses who looked after him during his hospital stay. He also thanked fans for their thoughts and prayers.
