Even with loss to Iowa, Penn State can reach its goals

Yes, it’s a big game.A huge game? Sure.It’s the most important day in Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium since God knows when, and it’s a big day for Penn State, too.College Gameday should be in Iowa City instead of Dallas for the frankly overrated Red River Shootout, but nonetheless, anybody who follows college football knows what Penn State and Iowa have in

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NASCAR Playoff Preview: Round 2

Who’s in and What Challenges Lie Ahead? By Brennen McCall, Racing Contributor The first round in the NASCAR Playoffs has ended and it wasn’t short on excitement and drama. Crashes, tight point battles and hurt feelings kept the excitement alive right down to the final lap of Bristol. Twelve drivers have outlasted their competitors and live to compete for a

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Donny Football Hot Takes: #4 – TJ Watt Finally Claims Defensive Player of the Year

By Donny Chedrick In 2021, Steelers linebacker TJ Watt will finally grasp the accolade that has been just beyond his fingertips for the last two seasons. TJ Watt will be the 2021 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. I could show the side-by-side stats between Watt and three-time winner, Aaron Donald, who was the victor over Watt last season. But

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Donny Football Hot Takes: #6 – All First-Round Rookie QB’s start and win a game

By Donny Chedrick So, this is another prediction that I made last year. This take failed because Aaron Rodgers dominated the league in Green Bay as then-rookie quarterback, Jordan Love, held a clipboard every week. I feel more confident this time in this year’s first-round rookie QB class. For starters, they have starters. Trevor Lawrence (JAX), Zach Wilson (NYJ) and

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Steelers Final 53-Man Roster Projections

By COMON Network Each week during the preseason, and more importantly, after each preseason contest, Kyle Dawson, Donny Chedrick and Joe Smeltzer will release their 53-man roster projections for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ final 2021 roster going into the team’s week one date with the Buffalo Bills. These are the projections for the final roster before cutdown by 4 p.m. Tuesday,

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Smeltzer’s Sunday Seven: The Top Seven Adam Sandler Movie VIllains

Every good Adam Sandler movie has a villain. As Sandler’s character tries to get the girl, win the big game or take over the company, there’s always somebody trying to make sure it doesn’t happen. On this Sunday, I will begin a new series called “Smeltzer’s Sunday Seven,” where I come up with lists, some straightforward, some obscure, some sports-related,

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Steelers Roster Projections: Post-Lions Game

By COMON Network Each week during the preseason, and more importantly, after each preseason contest, Kyle Dawson, Donny Chedrick and Joe Smeltzer will release their 53-man roster projections for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ final 2021 roster going into the team’s week one date with the Buffalo Bills. With that said, here are the team’s roster projections for the week. These are

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STEELERS 53-MAN ROSTER PROJECTIONS: Post-Eagles Game

By COMON Network Each week during the preseason, and more importantly, after each preseason contest, Kyle Dawson, Donny Chedrick and Joe Smeltzer will release their 53-man roster projections for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ final 2021 roster going into the team’s week one date with the Buffalo Bills. With that said, here are the team’s roster projections for the week. These are

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Steelers 53-Man Roster Projections: POST-HOF Game

By COMON Network Each week during the preseason, and more importantly, after each preseason contest, Kyle Dawson, Donny Chedrick and Joe Smeltzer will release their 53-man roster projections for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ final 2021 roster going into the team’s week one date with the Buffalo Bills. With that said, here are the team’s roster projections for the week. These are

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Pirates deal Clay Holmes to Yankees: Four times the Bucs got the best of the Bombers in a deal

By Joe Smeltzer The Yankees are winners. The Pirates are losers. The Yankees are rich. The Pirates are poor. The Yankees eat steak. The Pirates eat fast food. The Yankees are Kendall Jenner. The Pirates are Ms. Gulch from The Wizard of Oz.  This is the narrative, and, for the most part, it’s an accurate perception. Yet, for reasons even more

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Pirates fans: Take a break from worrying about Bob Nutting, okay?

By Joe Smeltzer Bob Nutting is the boogeyman of Pittsburgh sports.  People don’t like the guy. Bucco optimists see him as no more frugal than most of his billionaire brethren, but more people than not find him cheap more often than not. For the pessimists out there, well, Nutting makes it hard to get excited about the Pittsburgh Baseball club.

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From Waynesburg to the draft

By Joe Smeltzer With the 97th pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, the Oakland A’s selected Mason Miller of North Carolina’s Gardner-Webb Bulldogs.For Bay Area residents who have seen some of what the A’s third-round pick can do, the clips they’ve seen likely feature Miller pitching for the Bulldogs, either against a Big South Conference school or in a non-conference

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NASCAR: ROAD AMERICA

By Brennen McCall, Racing Contributor After two thrilling endings to the Pocono Doubleheader, NASCAR returns to road course racing and perhaps a new tradition on Independence Day. For what seemed like forever Daytona International Speedway hosted Cup races on the 4th of July. Teams would show up in American Flag paint schemes ready to conquer the high banks in a

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NASCAR PREVIEW: Pocono Race Preview (DH at the Tricky Triangle)

By Brennen McCall, Racing Contributor The exciting NASCAR season rumbles on after a successful return to the Music City. Now the stars of the Cup series travel north for a rare doubleheader weekend in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Drivers and teams will face one of their biggest challenges yet: The Tricky Triangle. For 50 years Pocono Raceway has been hosting motorsports

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NASCAR PREVIEW: NASHVILLE

By Brennen McCall, Racing Contributor Ask anyone what the city of Nashville is known for. “Music” would probably be the first answer they give you. Folks who travel to the Music City go there for a party. The bars, food, music, and nightlife probably sum up a typical weekend trip. But, that music may want to play a little louder

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NASCAR PREVIEW: CHARLOTTE

By Brennen McCall, Racing Contributor Memorial Day weekend is one of our country’s most patriotic celebrations. It’s a time to reflect on those who gave their lives so that we may live in freedom. Families gather around the grille in fellowship with a beer in hand. If there’s a TV on at any point in the afternoon, it will probably

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NASCAR PREVIEW: KANSAS

By Brennen McCall, Racing Contributor Kansas Race Preview This weekend NASCAR travels to Kansas Speedway just outside of Kansas City. The 1.5-mile tri-oval hosts two race weekends every year and usually puts on a decent show. Built back in 2001 near the peak of NASCAR’s popularity, Kansas Speedway has seen a surprising number of hard crashes in its 20 years

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NASCAR PREVIEW: TALLADEGA

By Brennen McCall, Racing Contributor Few names in sports seem to resonate when it rolls off the tongue. Talladega Superspeedway is such a name that is synonymous with American stock car racing. The 2.66-mile tri-oval boasts blistering speeds, massive pileups and spectacular airborne flips that turn 3400-pound racecars into feathers. It’s a frightening prospect for the average human being, but

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NASCAR PREVIEW: RICHMOND

By Brennen McCall, Racing Contributor The three-quarter mile D-shaped oval of Richmond Raceway is the latest stop on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule. It’s the third short track in three races. Richmond is known as “The Action Track” given for its multi-groove racing and short track tempers. Richmond has been hosting NASCAR races since the early 1950s and has become

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NASCAR Race Preview: Martinsville

By Brennen McCall, Racing Contributor The NASCAR Cup Series stars shake off the dirt from Bristol and recharge from the Easter off week and head to the shortest track on the schedule. The flat, half-mile oval of Martinsville Speedway is one of NASCAR’s oldest venues, hosting just the sixth race ever run in what would become the NASCAR Cup Series

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NASCAR Preview: Bristol Dirt Race

By Brennen McCall, Racing Contributor The Bullring. Thunder Valley. The World’s Fastest Half-Mile. The Last Great Coliseum. Nicknames like these are descriptive by nature. Pointing out something specific to help define a person or thing. Sometimes nicknames can become more well-known than their real counterparts. Sport venues across the country have nicknames given to them by the community they stand

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JuJu’s prevalence both impressive, and puzzling

By Joe Smeltzer There won’t be many one-year, $8 million deals that will get the reaction that this one does. The words “polarizing” and “JuJu Smith-Schuster” go together like milk and cookies, so it’s appropriate that his surprising new contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers has a lot of people talking, with many spewing contrasting opinions. Is Smith-Schuster loyal for reportedly

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NASCAR PREVIEW: ATLANTA

By Brennen McCall, NASCAR Contributor Race Preview: Atlanta Martin Truex Jr. rallied from scrubbing the wall early to earning his first victory of the 2021 season. Phoenix proved all day to be a bit of a challenge for drivers particularly with passing. The PJ1 traction compound on the top side of both corners was the dominant groove which forced every

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NASCAR PREVIEW: PHOENIX

By Brennen McCall, NASCAR Contributor The 2021 NASCAR season continued its trend of unpredictability in a thrilling race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this past weekend. The fourth race of the season saw its fourth different winner. Kyle Larson is no stranger to winning. The dirt racing prodigy has found victory in NASCAR’s highest level on six occasions before receiving

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NASCAR PREVIEW: LAS VEGAS

By Brennen McCall, Racing Contributor Viva Las Vegas! The surprisingly unpredictable NASCAR season continues from the beachy shores of Florida’s East Coast to the hot sun of America’s Western deserts. Three races have now seen three different winners. Young gun William Byron took only his second Cup Series victory last week at Homestead earning him a spot in playoffs. While

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Daytona 500 Preview

By Brennen McCall, Guest Contributor It’s that time of year again. A new NASCAR season is upon us and the green flag will fall for the Great American Race. It’s the Super Bowl of stock-car racing. There is no offseason for NASCAR teams as they spend the winter months preparing their cars for the new year. The best equipment is

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Taillon’s Time in Pittsburgh Was Marred by Misfortune

By Joe Smeltzer Every notable Pirate that’s went somewhere else over the past several years has a different story. Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte left having reached their full potential. Pedro Alvarez and Josh Bell left showing flashes of greatness, and nothing else. Pitchers Gerrit Cole and Tyler Glasnow left a system that failed them, and now… look at them.

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Donny Football Hot Takes: #3 – Cleveland wins the AFC…not just the North

By Donny Chedrick Get your pitchforks ready, Pittsburgh. I know this one is going to make people mad. It wasn’t just the 48-37 win the Browns put on the Steelers in January at Heinz Field. It wasn’t just the next game when Cleveland didn’t “get clapped” by eventual AFC champ, Kansas City, narrowly falling in that game. It’s the whole

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