The IUP basketball teams are something all fans should be extremely proud of. Not only do they win, they win with class and they graduate their players. Tom McConnell’s women’s team won their third straight PSAC West Title over the weekend. They are now an astounding 24-2 on the season. Joe Lombardi’s men clinched the West for the tenth time in eleven years. They are 23-2 on the season. March is just around the corner and these two teams will be a tough out for whoever has to play them. It’s shaping up to be another banner year for IUP.
• Suddenly the Pens are reeling. After Sunday’s third period collapse the Penguins have dropped three in a row. They got blown out in Toronto, got off to a terrible start in falling at home to Buffalo and lost to their bitter rivals in Washington. What’s wrong? You can bet Jim Rutherford is asking that question. GMJR has already pulled off one major trade when he got Jason Zucker. Don’t be surprised if this losing streak causes him to make another big deal, instead of just a minor trade. The trade deadline is almost here. Rutherford will be active, count on it.
• It’s good to see the Pirate back on the diamond. New skipper Derek Shelton got quite a surprise when he managed his first game Saturday versus his former team, Minnesota. Twins legends Tony Oliva and Rod Carew made the trip to Bradenton to see Shelton in action. That was quite a gesture by these two all-time greats. It was also a heck of a way for Shelty to begin his tenure as manager of the Pirates.
• I’m glad to see that the Pirates and Major League Baseball have extended the protective netting at ballparks in both spring training and the home parks. It’s long overdue. Too many times we see innocent people suffer terrible injuries. Yes, the netting will take away some of what we’ve come to love when we get to sit close to the action. On the other hand, it’s all about safety and that’s priority number one. Fans will get used to it and the game will be safer. That’s all that matters.
• It’s not surprising that the Houston Astros heard a lot of boos during the first few games of spring training. Players are going to get an ear full all season long, and that’s just from the fans. The Astros deserve it.
• It’s hard to believe it’s been forty years since the greatest moment in the history of American sports. Where were you on that Friday night in 1980 when the US Olympic hockey team stunned the unbeatable Russians on their way to the improbable gold medal? I was at the studios of WDAD, then at the old location just off the IUP campus. I was visiting my college friend Andy Briggs, the night dejay for the radio station. I had just graduated from college and decided to monitor the game from the station since ABC wouldn’t broadcast it until later that night. I’ll never forget checking the wire services every few minutes to get the score. That was the only way to follow the game. Back then no one had even thought of the internet. I will never forget when the wire flashed the urgent bulletin that the young Americans had pulled off the greatest upset in sports history. It was an incredible moment. My family and I watched the game together that evening. Even knowing the US had won, I still was nervous as heck those final minutes. I’ve watched the game several times over the years and still think the Russians are going to pull it out. The Miracle on Ice will never be topped. Forty years later it’s still a game that gives us goose bumps.
• Big Ben Roethlisberger is able to throw again. The Steelers posted a short clip of their quarterback tossing a football. That’s good news. We still won’t know if Ben is himself until the team gets to training camp. Still, I’m encouraged by what I saw.
• We might know in the coming days if the NFL and its players will have a new collective bargaining agreement, and if that agreement will include a seventeenth game in the future. There seems to be mixed reaction on that added game from the players. But when all is said and done I think the players will sign off on it. They will make a lot more money under the new deal and possibly get more jobs as part of it. Money talks, so don’t be surprised if despite all their grumbling the players approve the new CBA.
• I’ve never understood why successful college basketball coaches decide to go to the NBA. John Beilein is the latest to leave a great job, Michigan, for the NBA and fall on his face. Beilein won’t even make it through one season in Cleveland. He had a great situation in Ann Arbor but still wanted to give the NBA a try. I hope that coaches who think about a similar move in the future look at what happened to Beilein, and guys like Rick Pitino and John Calipari before him. Maybe then they will realize that the grass isn’t really greener in the NBA.
• Pitt’s football and men’s basketball teams were put on probation for three years by the NCAA last week. In this case that’s not a big deal. The violations were secondary at most. If you are fan of the Panthers you have nothing to worry about with the NCAA.
