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US women’s team building toward upcoming Olympics

The United States Women’s National Soccer Team is trying to reestablish its dominance in the game and build some scoring power. The team is doing that now by flexing its scoring muscle at the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Women’s Gold Cup. The U.S. demonstrated some scoring power in its 4-0 victory over Argentina in its first game as Jaedyn Shaw scored twice early, Alex Morgan scored on a header, and Lindsay Horan converted a penalty kick. Shaw has the type of scoring power the U.S. has been looking for as she has scored in ...

You want debate? Define dynasty

Royalty exists in America in the unconventional form of the sports dynasty. Once this designation has been conferred upon a team, its legitimacy as a sports dynasty cannot be challenged because no formal criteria has been established for qualification. The effort to define a sports dynasty brings to mind an observation by the late Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, who conceded that he wasn’t able to articulate what constitutes hard-core pornography, but emphasized, “I know it when I see it.” At the moment when Kansas City advanced to Super Bowl LVIII, the debate began ...

Bear harvest down slightly

Earlier this month, the Pennsylvania Game Commission released the black bear harvest totals for the various bear hunting seasons throughout the state. The final tally revealed Pennsylvania bear hunters bagged 2,920 bears, which amounts to 250 bears fewer than the 3,170 taken in the 2022 seasons. The all-time record bear harvest for Pennsylvania occurred in 2019 when hunters bagged 4,653 bears. Hunters have several different opportunities to hunt bears in Pennsylvania. Bowhunters took 702 bears during the archery seasons in September and October. Also in October, the muzzleloader ...

Even majors can’t put golf back together

LOS ANGELES — The grill room at a California municipal golf course had one TV showing LIV Golf in Las Vegas, another showing the PGA Tour in Phoenix. A half-dozen people shifted eyes watching both, the former with fewer commercials on a network known more for “Young Sheldon” reruns. This is the current landscape in golf, and it figures to be that way for the rest of this year and probably well into the next one, if not longer. Consider the immediate future. Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler will be in Florida next week the same time Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau are in ...

Preseason predictions low for Bucs

Notes and observations from Major League Baseball, which opened camps for pitchers and catchers this past Wednesday: n Current preseason forecasts for the 2024 Pittsburgh Pirates are not positive. The Baseball Prospectus Pecota projected standings have the Pirates finishing last in the National League Central Division this year, with a 73-89 record — three games worse than the 76 wins that the Bucs finished with last season. The Baseball Prospectus FanGraphs projected standings also have the Pirates finishing last in the division, with a final record of 77-85. Both the Pecota ...

Trout stocking gets underway this week

After a few days of wonderful weather with temperatures approaching 60 degrees earlier this month, February was only too eager to remind us that it’s still winter by dumping a couple of inches of snow on us one night last week. As I brushed off my car the next morning, I enjoyed some satisfaction in the fact I had gone trout fishing on one of those nice days. Somehow, that made the snow-removal chore a little more bearable. This year, the statewide trout season will begin on Saturday, April 6 with the Mentored Youth Trout Day on Saturday, March 30. That means the annual ...