Still crazy after all these years

… have some decisions to make  The final NFL draft decisions are on the mind of Steeler GM Kevin Colbert at this time with the selection slated to start on April 27 in Philadelphia. The question is who they will take, and even more important, which positions are on their minds right now. Major concerns Conventional wisdom has the Steelers taking an outside linebacker first to improve the pass rush while then selecting a defensive back in the next round. Those would satisfy the most pressing needs on the defense, though they have some other areas of concern. So, the team has been hosting some potential picks as part of their allotment of 30 pre-draft visits. One of the pass rushers who has really interested them in Takk McKinley of UCLA, who had ten sacks last year while playing for former Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley, now with the Bruins. McKinley is slated to be a first-round pick, but he has an issue. He had shoulder surgery in February, and that...

... Biggest play in Pittsburgh sports history The Pittsburgh Pirates had not won a World Series title in 35 years, and they were huge underdogs in 1960. However, in the bottom of the ninth inning in game seven, leadoff hitter second baseman Bill Mazeroski knocked a home run over the left field scoreboard to defeat the dastardly New York Yankees, 10-9. That bat and the uniform that he wore were donated to the Heinz History Center this week by filmmaker Thomas Tull and his wife Alba of Pittsburgh. Tull had purchased the memorabilia a few years ago when Mazeroski decided to sell them. The memorabilia will be placed in the Western Pa. Sports Museum at the Heinz Center. They will be available immediately in the Special Collections Gallery in the museum. According to the Tribune-Review, "At the unveiling, Andy Masich, president and CEO of the history center, said the Mazeroski items eventually will be the centerpiece of a new-and-improved baseball exhibition. The History Center is se...

…  But, Tony Romo?  Jerry Jones tried his best, but he still could not find a team willing to trade for his backup quarterback. So, the 36-year-old QB, Tony Romo, is apparently going to retire after being released by the Cowboys tomorrow. The interesting part of this is that Romo is reputed to be the next hire by CBS Sports  to replace former Giants QB Phil Simms on the number one team with Jim Nantz. Reports ESPN first reported the move, and Sports Business Daily confirmed it. "Tony Romo will be a TV analyst with CBS next season, according to sources. A deal has yet to be signed, but CBS and Romo have reached a verbal agreement. The Cowboys QB is expected to replace Phil Simms as the net’s top game analyst, where he will be paired with Jim Nantz. CBS outbid Fox Sports for Romo’s services, sources said. Fox Sports wanted Romo to replace John Lynch as the game analyst on the net’s No. 2 broadcast team. Just a couple of weeks ago, Fox was considered the fron...

… good move?  The Georgetown Hoyas last won a national basketball title in 1984 when they had a dominant center by the name of Patrick Ewing. He was a three-time All-American and Big East and National Player of the Year during his years playing with the Hoyas. Now, with the program in dire straits, Georgetown has apparently reached out to their illustrious past and given him the head coaching job. According to ESPN Radio and the unofficial Georgetown basketball website Casual Hoya, Ewing has accepted the job after serving as an assistant coach in the NBA since 2003. Ewing has never coached in college. Ewing played 17 years in the NBA, primarily for the New York Knicks, who drafted him number 1 in 1985 He was an 11-time all-star and scored 24,815 points (21 ppg) and pulled down 11,617 rebounds (9.8 rpg). Ewing is fondly remembered by Georgetown fans for the great run that they made in the mid-80s. They won in 1984 but were upset by unranked Villanova in his seni...

… his last as a Pirate  The man who became the symbol of the resurgence of the Pittsburgh Pirates has one more year left with the team. Andrew McCutcheon is back again after being used as trade-bait by the Pirates in the offseason. That was because he had a poor year in 2016, but he could bounce back from that despite all of the naysayers. Cutch wrote in February in a "Dear Pittsburgh" letter that he was dreading the phone call that told him that he was being traded to another team. "All I knew was that I wanted to keep playing in Pittsburgh. I wanted to finish what I had started here. I knew that I hadn’t played up to my capability last season, and that I had to use this off-season to get better. And I wasn’t going to let rumors distract me from doing that. I wasn’t going to get caught up in all the noise. As far as I’m concerned, until that phone rings and I’m told otherwise, I’m a Pittsburgh Pirate for life," he wrote on theplayerstribune.com. Slipp...

… the Bucs are $71 million less than number 1 in NL-Central  In order to win in any professional sport, franchises have to spend money to attract top talent. When you are spending $72 million less than the top team in your division in Major League Baseball (MLB) and $51 million less than the second-best team, you will struggle. That is the reality for the small-market Pittsburgh Pirates, which have a payroll of approximately $100.5 million this year, according to Spotrac. The Chicago Cubs, the team that used to annually be woeful, is now paying its players $172.1 million while the St. Louis Cardinals have a payroll of $151.68 million. Fortunately for the Bucs, the Milwaukee Brewers are the true cheapskates in the NL Central at $63 million. The leading payroll for the fourth consecutive season is the Los Angeles Dodgers, which has a payroll of $225 million, according to the AP. The AP noted that the Cubs increased their payroll by $7 million this year, but last season, the one in...

… most of all, he has always been a class act  When they first joined the Northeast Conference in football, the Robert Morris University Colonials of Coach Joe Walton dominated it. From 1996 through the 2000 season, the Colonials won five consecutive conference titles. They also won in 2010 when they earned their first and only trip to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs in 2010, eventually losing to North Dakota State. However, they have fallen on tough times. In current Coach John Banaszak's three year tenure, the Colonials are just 6-25, 3-13 in the Northeast Conference The team took one positive step toward restoring that tradition last week with the hiring of former Johnstowner LaRod Stephens-Howling, a veteran of five years in the NFL who also played running back and kick returner for the Pitt Panthers. LaRod will coach the running backs and will join a familiar face in developing the offense. Mike Miller is the offensive coordinator at RMU, and he c...

… went through treatment himself  The president of the Pittsburgh Pirates recalled a very embarrassing part of his past this week while offering to use it to help one of his current players. A few days before Christmas in 2011, Frank Coonelly was stopped by police in Ross Township on the Parkway North in suburban Pittsburgh. According to an AP story in Feb. 2012 about his charges, Connelly faced "four drunk driving-related charges" as a result of the arrest. One was driving under the influence, another was driving the wrong way, the third was careless driving, and that last was driving with a blood-alcohol level that was at least twice the state's limit. Coonelly issued a statement and the Pirates' management issued one too. Coonelly said in part, "My actions that evening were irresponsible and wrong. I take full and sole responsibility for them. There is no excuse for ever driving under the influence of alcohol. My conduct that night was uncharacteristic to ...