Breaking News

Voice of the Fan

Losing NFL teams not necessarily doomed in September

By Rob Maaddi The Associated Press DENVER — A losing record in October doesn’t mean playoff hopes are lost. Last year, the Patriots, Steelers and Eagles rebounded from a 1-3 start to earn a postseason berth. The Chiefs and 49ers both opened 2-3 and still reached their conference championship games. Entering Week 5, nine teams had losing records, including three 2021 playoff teams. Odds are at least one of those nine teams will bounce back and get to the postseason. The Indianapolis Colts took a first step, rallying to beat Denver in overtime Thursday night to even their ...

MLB needs change in strategy

By Jim Krug For the Mirror Editor’s note: Jim Krug has followed the ups and downs of the Pittsburgh Pirates since the late 1980s. He wrote over 150 articles about the Pirates from 2010-16 for online sports site isportsweb.com. This is the third in a three-part series examining the challenges of Major League Baseball. A tenuous but vital tenant-landlord relationship exists between MLB clubs and their independently-owned minor league affiliates entrusted with the stewardship of their valuable prospects. Unspoken resentment on the part of Major League teams seeking to dictate ...

Scheduling will hurt Penn State in long run

Full disclosure: I’ve never been a fan of James Franklin. Most will agree with me, though, that Franklin has proven over the years that he will be outcoached in big games. So now he wants to eliminate those big non-conference games to pad his won-loss record. He won’t schedule games any more against SEC teams, depriving the loyal paying fans the opportunity to see those good teams from the SEC at Beaver Stadium. A couple of thoughts. 1. I’m wondering how the new athletic director, Pat Kraft, feels about this? Now seems like a good time to seek him out on the ...

Tua never should have played

By Paul Newberry The Associated Press There’s one thing we can all agree on: Tua Tagovailoa had no business being on the field. Not in the second half last Sunday. Not in the first half Thursday night. Beyond that, it gets a lot more complicated. The Miami Dolphins quarterback was taken away on a stretcher with a concussion during a prime-time game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday, an especially frightening incident because it came a mere four days after another hard hit against the Buffalo Bills left him wobbly. “I’m sick,” former NFL linebacker Emmanuel ...

Addressing MLB draft, shift

Editor’s note: Jim Krug has followed the ups and downs of the Pittsburgh Pirates since the late 1980s. He wrote over 150 articles about the Pirates from 2010-16 for online sports site isportsweb.com. This is the second in a three-part series examining the challenges of Major League Baseball. Large-market clubs neutering the draft Prior to 2012, smaller-market teams like the Pirates had one opportunity to best their large powerhouse counterparts — outspend them in the draft. (I could make a very strong argument that today’s notion of “small market” is a myth, but that’s ...

Atmosphere at Auburn, SEC like no other

The atmosphere was electric for the Penn-State Auburn game in Auburn, Alabama. It was the first time that a Big Ten team ever played in Auburn. Penn State played great and won 41-12, but the campus was just as impressive as Penn State’s victory. I have never seen tailgating like that on the Plains. Unlike most schools, people are allowed to put tents everywhere — including on the lawn in front of the president’s house. But at the end of the day, there was no trash anywhere. The campus is beautiful, and the downtown is right off the campus and filled with cool bars ...