January 26, 2021 3:45 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t look far to find their new offensive coordinator. The club has promoted quarterbacks coach Matt Canada to the position. Canada replaces Randy Fichtner. Fichtner’s contract was not renewed after the Steelers were upset by Cleveland in the first round of the playoffs. Canada joined the Steelers a year ago following several assistant coaching stints at the collegiate level. Canada takes over an offense that sputtered down the stretch this season. Pittsburgh lost five of its final six games and finished last in the NFL in yards rushing. The Steelers also hired longtime NFL assistant Alfredo Roberts as their new tight ends coach. Roberts replaces James Daniel, who retired earlier this month after 17 seasons with the Steelers and 27 overall in the NFL. Pittsburgh is the sixth NFL stop for Roberts.
January 26, 2021 3:46 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed catcher Joe Hudson to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training. The 29-year-old Hudson has appeared in 18 major-league games for St. Louis, Seattle and the Los Angeles Angels. Hudson is a career .167 hitter with one RBI in 30 career at-bats. He will be in the mix to compete for the backup job behind Jacob Stallings, a Gold Glove finalist in 2020.
January 26, 2021 3:48 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Cactus League and Arizona community leaders have asked Major League Baseball to delay the start of spring training due to coronavirus concerns just over three weeks before pitchers and catchers are supposed to report. The Cactus League made the request in a letter to Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred obtained by The Associated Press. The letter was co-signed by the mayors of Mesa, Scottsdale, Surprise, Glendale, Goodyear and Peoria, as well as representatives from Phoenix and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. Arizona is averaging just under 7,000 new coronavirus cases per day.
January 25, 2021 3:56 am
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Patrick Mahomes threw for 325 yards and three touchdowns with most of it going to favorite targets Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill as the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs rolled to a 38-24 victory over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC championship game. The Chiefs advanced to face a familiar foe in Tom Brady and the NFC champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Super Bowl in two weeks in Tampa, Florida. Buffalo’s Josh Allen finished with 287 yards passing and two touchdowns with an interception.
January 25, 2021 3:59 am
UNDATED (AP) – Guess who’s going back to the Super Bowl? Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are NFC champions following a 31-26 win at Green Bay. Their next opponent is the defending-champion Kansas City Chiefs, who earned a 38-24 win over Buffalo in the AFC championship game. The game will be held on Feb. 7 in Tampa. Brady overcame interceptions on three straight drives by throwing for 280 yards and three touchdowns in reaching the Super Bowl for the 10th time in his career. Scotty Miller grabbed a 39-yard scoring strike with just one second left in the first half, putting the Bucs ahead 21-10. Brady struck again 66 seconds into the third quarter, hitting Cameron Brate for an eight-yard TD that made it 28-10. The Bucs earned their franchise-record eighth consecutive road victory to reach the Super Bowl for the first time since their 2002 championship season. After winning three straight playoff games on the road, Tampa Bay will become the first team to play a Super Bowl in its own stadium.
January 25, 2021 4:03 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Jake Guentzel scored the 100th goal of his NHL career with less than two minutes remaining, rallying the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers. Guentzel’s goal at 18:29 was his second of the season. Bryan Rust also scored and Tristan Jarry made 20 saves for the Penguins. Colin Blackwell and Ryan Strome scored for the Rangers.
January 25, 2021 4:29 am
NEW YORK (AP) – The New York Yankees have made a second offseason addition to their starting rotation, acquiring Jameson Taillon from the Pittsburgh Pirates for four prospects. Pittsburgh received right-handers Roansy Contreras and Miguel Yajure, infielder Maikol Escotto and outfielder Canaan Smith. A 29-year-old right-hander, Taillon has not pitched since May 2019 following his second Tommy John surgery. He joins a rotation headed by his former Pirates teammate Gerrit Cole. It also is projected to include Deivi García, Jordan Montgomery and Corey Kluber, who has a pending $11 million, one-year contract subject to a successful physical. In addition, Luis Severino is expected to return from Tommy John surgery last Feb. 27.
January 24, 2021 1:02 am
Trinity and Chartiers Valley girls basketball teams were on a collision course last March with a showdown looming in the PIAA semifinals. One week earlier, both had won second round games and their quarterfinal opponents were set. Then, PIAA hit the “pause” button on winter playoffs due to COVID-19 and, ultimately, the championships were cancelled along with all spring sports. Saturday afternoon, the two teams finally met, coached by the McConnell siblings (Kathy–Trinity, Tim–Chartiers Valley). The Colts hadn’t lost since March 10, 2018 and set a new PIAA girls basketball record earlier in the week with their 64th straight victory. That streak ended Saturday when Trinity scored a 49-42 win over the two-time defending WPIAL champion in front of about 50 fans, a crowd limited under the on-going pandemic restrictions.
We will bring you an Encore Presentation of Saturday’s game Sunday, starting at 12:30 pm on WJPA-AM (1450) and online here.
January 24, 2021 1:11 am
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Ismael Massoud had a career-high 31 points and made 8 of 10 from 3-point range, Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes earned the first ACC win of his coaching career, and the Demon Deacons beat Pittsburgh 76-75 on Saturday. Massoud’s eight 3s tied for third best in program history (Craig Dawson 11, 2002; Randolph Childress 9, 1995). Childress is currently an assistant coach for Wake Forest. Massoud made all five of his 3-point attempts in the first half and his final 3-pointer gave the Demon Deacons their largest lead at 75-65 with 4:49 left. Massoud, whose previous career high was 17 points, had a scoreless night in Wednesday’s 80-73 loss to North Carolina. The Demon Deacons (4-6, 1-6) never led until Jonah Antonio made it 60-57 with 9:45 left on the second of his three straight 3-pointers. Those 3s came late in Wake Forest’s 26-5 run that ended at 66-57 with 8:17 to go. Pitt (8-3, 4-2) was coming into the game with a three-game winning streak including back-to-back wins over Syracuse and a 79-73 win over Duke on Tuesday. The Panthers had a 10-1 run to cut the deficit to one and forced a turnover with 5.3 seconds left that gave them an inbounds play from the frontcourt sideline, but Xavier Johnson missed a pull-up jumper and Wake Forest’s Ody Oguama grabbed the rebound just before time expired. Johnson had 14 points and eight assists. Justin Champagnie had 17 points, eight rebounds and a career-high five steals for Pitt. Abdoul Karim Coulibaly added 15 points, and Au’Diese Toney scored 11.
January 24, 2021 1:13 am
MANHATTAN, Kan. — — Miles McBride scored 18 points to help No. 14 West Virginia beat Kansas State 69-47 on Saturday in the Mountaineers’ first game in two weeks because of COVID-19 protocols. Jalen Bridges added 12 points and Taz Sherman had 10 for West Virginia (10-4, 3-3 Big 12). Mike McGuirl led Kansas State (5-11, 1-7) with 15 points, and Selton Miguel had 10. The Wildcats had 28 turnovers, the most by a Big 12 team this season and the most in a game under coach Bruce Weber. West Virginia scored 26 points off those mistakes. The Wildcats got within eight points in the second half, but Sherman hit a two 3-pointers in an 8-0 run for West Virginia. Huggins said this was good because the team hasn’t been all together in 14 days.
