November 11, 2020 3:43 am
UNDATED (AP) – It’s official: The NBA is coming back Dec. 22. The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association have struck a deal on rules for this coming season, setting the stage for what will be a frenzied few weeks before games resume. Teams will play a 72-game schedule. The league said a new system will be used to ensure that the split of basketball-related income continues, one of the many details that had to be collectively bargained with the union because the current agreement between the sides had a great deal of language that needed reworking because of the coronavirus pandemic.
November 11, 2020 3:42 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Pirates have named former big-league catcher John Baker their director of coaching and player development. The move is the latest step in an organizational shuffling designed to help end the Pirates’ freefall. Pittsburgh has finished last in the NL Central in each of the last two seasons. The 39-year-old Baker comes to the Pirates from the Chicago Cubs, where he spent the last five years in their baseball operations department. Baker hit .247 during a seven-year big league-career with the Marlins, Padres and Cubs.
November 10, 2020 3:51 am
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) – Nick Folk kicked a 51-yard field goal as time expired, and Cam Newton and the New England Patriots rallied to beat the winless New York Jets 30-27 to end a four-game losing streak. Newton had two touchdown runs and the second tied it at 27 with 1:57 remaining, erasing a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit. After the Jets went three-and-out, the Patriots got the ball back with 47 seconds left and went to work to put Folk in position for the winning field goal. The Jets dropped to 0-9 for the first time in franchise history, and this was an agonizing loss.
November 10, 2020 2:40 am
(WPXI) – Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Vance McDonald has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to sources and a release from the team Monday. The Steelers said that McDonald was immediately quarantined. The Steelers have not said how many others in the organization were in close contact with him. McDonald has been placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. This comes a day after Pittsburgh moved to 8-0 with a close win in Dallas. No other details were released regarding how this could impact the Steelers’ upcoming game at home against the Bengals. A Steelers staff member tested positive for the coronavirus a few days ago and was also placed into quarantine.
November 10, 2020 2:09 am
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) – Former Masters champion Sergio Garcia is the second player to withdraw from Augusta National after testing positive for the coronavirus. Garcia won the green jacket three years ago for his only major. Joaquin Niemann of Chile announced on social media last week that he tested positive. That brings the field to 94 players on the first day of Masters week. Garcia won the Sanderson Farms Championship last month for his first U.S. victory since his Masters win. He missed the cut last week in Houston. That was the first domestic PGA Tour event that allowed limited fans.
November 9, 2020 3:50 am
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – Ben Roethlisberger threw all three of his touchdown passes after shrugging off a knee injury, rallying Pittsburgh to a 24-19 victory over the Dallas Cowboys and keeping the Steelers as the NFL’s only unbeaten team. Pittsburgh is 8-0 for the first time in the storied franchise’s history despite an upset bid from the Cowboys. Garrett Gilbert was the fourth different starting quarterback in five games for Dallas. His first career start ended up being a lift for an offense on a team that still lost its fourth straight game without Dak Prescott.
November 9, 2020 3:52 am
UNDATED (AP) – Alabama is No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll for the first time this year. That extends the Crimson Tide’s record of consecutive seasons with at least one week on top of the rankings to 13. Notre Dame moved up two spots to No. 2 after upsetting Clemson in a dramatic double-overtime game. It’s Notre Dame’s best ranking since it was No. 1 at the end of the 2012 regular season. Clemson gave up the top spot for the first time this season and fell to No. 4, behind Ohio State. Texas A&M moved up two spots to No. 5, the Aggies’ best ranking since they finished fifth to end the 2012 season. Florida jumped two spots to No. 6 after beating Georgia to snap a three-game losing streak against its SEC East rival. The Bulldogs fell eight spots to a season-low 13th. No. 8 BYU, No. 9 Miami and No. 10 Indiana round out the top 10. The Hoosiers moved up three spots after beating Michigan to receive their best ranking since they were No. 10 in 1969.
November 9, 2020 2:20 am
Seneca Valley sophomore Beaux Lizewski scored late in the second overtime to win a second WPIAL soccer title in three years, ending the Peters Township season. The Indians had won two straight double-overtime playoff games to reach the final. Only the WPIAL champions advance to the PIAA playoffs. PIAA Soccer brackets
Girls WPIAL Finals WPIAL Girls Soccer brackets
1A #1 Greensburg Central Catholic over #6 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 3-2
2A #3 North Catholic over #5 Avonworth, 1-0
3A #1 Mars over #2 Plum, 1-0
4A #5 North Allegheny over #2 Butler, 2-1 2OT
Boys WPIAL Finals WPIAL Boys Soccer brackets
1A #1 Greensburg Central Catholic over #2 Winchester-Thurston, 3-2
2A #2 Deer Lakes over #1 Shady Side Academy, 2-1 SO
3A #1 Mars over #2 Franklin Regional, 2-1 OT
4A #2 Seneca Valley over #1 Peters Township, 4-3 2OT
November 8, 2020 7:36 am
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Garrett Gilbert appears set for his first NFL start for the Dallas Cowboys against the rival Pittsburgh Steelers. The NFL Network, citing unidentified sources, reported the Cowboys planned to start Gilbert at home Sunday. Gilbert’s agent, Leigh Steinberg, posted on Twitter that he was traveling to “see Garrett Gilbert start” against the Steelers. The Cowboys will start their fourth different quarterback in the past five games. Star Dak Prescott is out for the season after breaking his ankle in Week 5 against the New York Giants. Two weeks later, Andy Dalton was knocked out of a game in Washington because of a concussion and has since been placed on the COVID-19 list. Ben DiNucci started last week’s 23-9 loss to Philadelphia, but the rookie seventh-round pick was so overmatched, coach Mike McCarthy said the starter against Pittsburgh would be either Gilbert or Cooper Rush. Neither has started an NFL game, but both have been in the league much longer than DiNucci. Gilbert’s first start would come six years after he was drafted by the Rams. He has thrown six passes in his career. Dallas signed him off Cleveland’s practice squad after Prescott’s injury.
November 8, 2020 7:37 am
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — From start to finish, Authentic left no doubt he was the horse to beat in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. His dominant performance on another big stage should also end the debate about this year’s top 3-year-old, strange as the season has been because of the coronavirus pandemic. Authentic won the Classic in the same fashion he took the rescheduled Kentucky Derby two months ago, going wire-to-wire for a 2¼-length victory over Improbable that gave trainer Bob Baffert a 1-2 finish on a warm, sunny fall Saturday at Keeneland. And perhaps erased Baffert’s regret over Authentic’s narrow runner-up finish to filly Swiss Skydiver in last month’s Preakness, also shifted to the fall because of the pandemic.
