Panthers, Dukes Struggle To Find Themselves

Robert Morris, Duquesne, and Pittsburgh have never appeared in the NCAA Tournament together. The 2008 tournament might be their best chance. Pitt has been in often enough that their appearance would need no explanation. Robert Morris last appeared in 1992. Duquesne last appeared in 1977.

Out of those three, Pitt and Robert Morris are the closest to achieving that goal, although Robert Morris will need to win the Northeast Conference to do so.

The Colonials have hope, though. Under first year head coach Mike Rice, the Colonials squeezed out their fourth straight win Thursday night, toppling Monmouth in New Jersey 61-60. The Colonials won despite shooting just 37%. Why does a Thursday night league game matter so much to the Colonials? Well, it pushed their record to 16-6, the first time they've been 10 games over .500 since the 1989-1990 season. It also made Robert Morris 8-1 in the month of January, which is not their best overall record, but their best since they were last in the NCAA Tournament. Precedent, surely, is on the Colonials side, and considering they are just one game behind conference leader Wagner without having played the Seahawks, RMU just may be knocking on the door.

But Robert Morris' path is defined: win the NEC and you're in, maybe even as a #15 seed considering their pedigree (wins over Boston College, Navy, Lafayette, and a strong league record). Duquesne and Pitt have murkier trails to cover, and their play of late has them scratching their collective heads.

Duquesne has been particularly frustrating, to the point where coach Ron Everhart is thinking about ditching the 10/40 system that has resurrected a once forgotten program. Everhart wants to shorten his bench and sub less often, which would surely eliminate the ten-man, forty minutes of pressure basketball concept. The contemplation in such a change is being bandied about the Palumbo Center because the Dukes are 2-3 in their last five games, all against the A-10.

Granted, the A-10 is a difficult conference this year, but the road loss to 18-3 Rhode Island isnt the concern. It's the road loss to Fordham (8-9) and the home loss to Massachusetts last night (14-6) that has Everhart concerned. The Dukes are currently tied for 5th in the A-10, and as the teams continue to beat up on each other, it's becoming likely that only 3 teams will get in from the conference. Duquesne will have to get hot at the right time and either win the conference tournament or at least get into the semifinal, meaning they'll have to either beat Rhode Island/Xavier/St. Joseph's in that semifinal or boast a better record than them in the loss. That may be their best bet, because a title seems unlikely.

A title also doesn't appear to be in the cards for the Panthers, but they may be happy just to head into the Big East tournament with a marginally full roster. Mike Cook is done, but Levance Fields should be back in time to pitch in for a conference title run in the Tourney. As long as the Panthers stay afloat in the Big East and stay nationally ranked - or at the very least, on the cusp of being ranked - they'll be a shoo-in.

There are just a few things they have to avoid: laying an egg and dropping fast before the Big East Tourney begins; a one-and-done performance at any point in time at the Big East Tournament; and more injuries. A weakened Panthers team sitting on the bubble will not get any favors from the selection committee.

There's still a month of basketball left to go, but three area teams are in solid position to make a run. Let's see if they can get it done.

Wednesday's Happenings

1. Pens Come Out Flat, Lose 4-1 In Atlanta - Not much to be said about this one.

The Penguins played like a team decimated by injuries and coming off a demanding win the night before.

It wasn't until late in the third period that Pittsburgh finally started to sustain its forecheck and get some quality chances on Thrashers goalie Kari Lahtonen. Unfortunately, by that point it was already 4-0 and clearly a matter of way too little, way too late.

Still, considering the circumstances, a split on back-to-back nights, on the road, is acceptable. You would just like to see a little more intensity early in the game.

2. Pitt Beats 'Nova 69-57 - Sam Young scores 15 points, pulls down 8 rebounds and registers 4 blocked shots as the Panthers use a 22-3 run in the second-half to beat Villanova at the Pete.

Dejuan Blair had a game-high 14 rebounds in the win, while the Wildcats shot a putrid 36% from the field.

Pitt improves to 17-4 overall, and 5-3 in the Big East.

3. Johnny Estrada Doesn't Want To Play For The Pirates - The Pirates, looking for some competition for starting catcher Ronny Paulino, apparently had some interest in free agent Johnny Estrada. The feeling didn't seem to be mutual.

"This past week, I had a couple of teams that were bidding against each other, and they both wanted me to come," Estrada told reporters in Washington. "I came close to signing with Pittsburgh, but I really didn't want to sign there."

Luckily, Pirates fans didn't want him signing here either.

Penguins Win Again Despite No Healthy Players, Deportation

I'm not sure how they're doing it, and at this point I don't really care, but the Penguins just keep on racking up the wins. Injuries and visa problems be damned.

It's quite amazing, really.

Ryan Malone picked up a pair of goals, Jordan Staal notched his sixth, and Erik Christensen scored a goal that wasn't in a shootout as the Pens rallied for a huge, 4-2 win in New Jersey, while only playing with 11 healthy forwards.

Things were so desperate that Brooks Orpik, a defensemen who has not scored a goal since 2005, was skating as a left wing on the teams fourth line alongside Nathan Smith and Georges Laraque. Somehow, I don't think Ray Shero and Michel Therrien were expecting that back in September.

The Penguins jump ahead of New Jersey in the standings and put some much needed distance between them and the two New York teams who both lost tonight. The Flyers were able to escape a scare from the Kings and win in overtime to maintain their slim one-point lead in the Atlantic.

This is going to be an all out, knock-down, drag-out brawl down the stretch.

Speaking of which, it appears the shit hit the fan in the Hurricanes-Rangers game tonight.

The first period featured 66 minutes in penalties.

Carolina's Scott Walker and New York's Sean Avery received roughing minors before the puck dropped. The Rangers' Colton Orr and the Hurricanes' Wade Brookbank fought shortly thereafter.

The physical play boiled over when Walker drove New York's Scott Gomez into the boards a little over four minutes into the game. Avery came after Walker, which started a melee that entangled all 10 players on the ice. Carolina defenseman Tim Gleason was ejected because he was the third man in on the Avery-Walker scrum. Avery received a 10-minute misconduct.

Later in the period, Brookbank and Orr dropped the gloves for a second time.

Avery was actually called for a 2-minute penalty, a 5-minute major, and a 10-minute game misconduct on the same play. Even Chris Simon is kind of impressed by that display of goon hockey.

Pens At Thrashers on Wednesday night - 7:00.

Penguins Down To 11 Forwards For Tuesday Night

It seems someone in the Penguins organization took a gigantic leak in the cheerios of the hockey gods prior to this season, because I can't think of any other reason for this team to have such a ridiculous string of bad luck.

The Penguins, already down several key players (Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury, Mark Eaton, Gary Roberts, Tyler Kennedy, Adam Hall), will now have to open the second-half of their season with 11 healthy forwards when the team travels to the swamps of New Jersey to take on the first place Devils Tuesday night.

Most teams find it useful to have 12 forwards.

Colby Armstrong is the latest player to come down a case of the flu (mental note for next season: Flu shots) while the recently re-acquired Kris Beech can't seem to enter the country due to visa problems. He's coming from Canada. He's Kris Beech. The only terrorist act he's going to be taking part in is sabotaging whatever line he happens to center.

Armstrong, by the way, is likely to be out of Wednesday night's game in Atlanta as well. So, that's just dandy.

That leaves the Penguins with the following forwards: Evgeni Malkin, Petr Sykora, Erik Christensen, Jonathan Filewich, Jordan Staal, Maxime Talbot, Jarkko Ruutu, Ryan Malone, Jeff Taffe, Georges Laraque, and the recently called-up Nathan Smith.

Stuff From Sunday

1. The Steelers Find Their New Brian St. Pierre - I really hope they clear this move with Hines Ward before they go through with it, because, you know....we don't want him to feel slighted by anything.

2. Lock Up Sonni Abatta, Kris Beech Is Back In Town - The Penguins claimed center Kris Beech on waivers, making this his fourth stop of the 2007-2008 season.

Surely, everyone remembers Beech as the focal point of the worst trade in Pittsburgh sports history. He was also, rather infamously, rumored to have been an item with Pittsburgh news anchor Sonni Abatta, so, at least he had that going for him. Sonni, by the way, can be seen here flying the friendly skies with the blue angels. You go, Sonni.

Anyway, back to the trade......

Patrick said he was delighted with the players Pittsburgh received.

He called Beech the key to the deal and a potential franchise player whose skills are similar to former Penguins great Ron Francis.

Oy.

Jaromir Jagr goals since the trade: 197
Total career goals for Kris Beech, Michal Sivek and Ross Lupashuk: 28

Worst. Trade. Ever.

3. Pirates Brass Spends Weekend Listening To Angry Fans - On Friday afternoon, as I was winding down at work and getting ready for the weekend, I was handed two free tickets for Pirates fest, and since they were free, I decided to give it a shot and go see what all was happening.

As it turns out, not a damn thing.

To be fair, the entire event is geared towards kids...and every kid there looked absolutely miserable. I imagine it's what Disney World would be like, only instead of Mickey Mouse and Peter Pan you have giant pierogies and annoying parrots running around.
Speaking of which, those damned things have their own wikipedia page. Insanity.

Outfielder Xavier Nady was signing autographs, and looking pissed off the entire time, while closer Matt Capps was aimlessly wandering around the place with a blond bombshell hanging on his arm. On a scale of 1-10 I give her a 12. He was looking quite happy, by the way.

Saturday Morning Headlines

1. Pirates Offer Freddy Sanchez Contract Extension - Yankees second basemen Robinson Cano just signed a 4-year, $28 million deal on Friday to give you some sort of possible ballpark figure. Considering that Cano is younger, and better, than Sanchez, Freddy shouldn't see quite that much.

The Pirates have to be careful with Sanchez as he's a popular player, but isn't exactly a young core guy in which to build around.

The best move might be to trade him, unpopular as it may be.

2. TSN Reports The Blue Jackets Are Still Interested In Trading For Erik Christensen - It's difficult to see where Christensen fits in to the Penguins long-term plans (probably because he doesn't) so trading him makes sense. Especially if it lands you a 23-year old, physical defensemen like Ole-Kristian Tollefson. Just say no, however, to Duvie Wescott.


3. Robert Morris Ties Bemidji State

4. Steelers Safety Troy Polamalu Has Pulled Out Of The Pro Bowl - The Colts' Antoine Bethea will replace him.

Today's Games:

NCAA Basketball - Rutgers At Pitt: 6:00 - Rutgers enters the game having lost eight of its past ten games, and is 1-6 in Big East action. Pitt is coming off an 81-57 pillaging of St. Johns on Wednesday night.

NCAA Basketball - Saint Francis (NY) At Robert Morris: 7:00

NCAA Basketball - George Washington At Duquesne: 7:00

Does Mark Schmidt "Have-a The Buyer's Remorse-a?"

Does former Robert Morris Colonials coach and current St. Bonaventure Bonnies head-man Mark Schmidt, in the immortal words of an unnamed character from the Simpsons, "have-a the buyer's remorse-a?"

And yes, I realize that's a picture of Luigi and not the random character from the episode in question - it's the Ribwich/George Plimpton/Spelling Bee episode - but the character doesn't have a picture on the internet. So deal with it.

Back to the topic at hand...

See, Coach Schmidt left after a disappointing year for Robert Morris. They were a team expected to contend for a Northeast Conference title in 2006-2007, and with an 8-1 out of conference record to start the season, they certainly looked like they would. Until they promptly went 9-9 in the considerably weaker Northeast Conference.

Schmidt was criticized for not using his bench, often playing his starters a full 40 minutes, saying that they should be athletic enough to handle the task. Instead, his team collapsed defensively in crunch time, something that every single one of his players now admits.

Schmidt bolted for a sexier conference - the Atlantic-10 - if not a sexier team. The Bonnies were in shambles last year and it was thought that Schmidt might use his A-10 roots - he was an assistant at Xavier - to resurrect the program. Naturally, it will take some time to pull such a move, and the Bonnies haven't shown much of anything this year. They're 6-12, which is better than last year, but Schmidt is up to his old tricks. Only 8 players have played with any sort of regularity, and six of them average 25+ minutes per game.

As a comparison, nine Colonials have played with regularity - eleven if you count recently healthy Iffy Ehirim and freshman Will Royal, who have swapped positions on the bench - and only four of them play 25+ minutes per game. Not surprisingly, the Colonials' defense has improved, to the point where Central Connecticut State head coach Howie Dickenman said after his team was run off the court Thursday night - "We have not played anyone as aggressive defensively this year as them. They were in our shirts. There were times our guys couldn't even pivot, they were so close. We couldn't breathe."

The Colonials can thank the man to the right for helping the on-court energy, as junior college transfer Bateko Francisco has been beyond passionate and active on the court. But that's the issue at hand.

Now, Schmidt appears to be reminiscing a bit. More to the point, he misses Tony Lee.

See, the senior guard - and his patented hook shot seen to the left - was Schmidt's prize recruit. No one wanted the scrappy 6-0 guard, and Lee has become perhaps the one player in all of college basketball to get the most of of so little. He's not particularly fast, but he's strong and rebounds like he's 6'11. He's also among the national leaders in assists per game, steals per game, and is currently battling teammate AJ Jackson for second on the team in scoring.

It's understandable for Schmidt - and for any coach - to think fondly of former players. Every coach does it, but it's usually after several years apart. For Mark Schmidt to think so fondly of Tony Lee just several months after leaving Robert Morris, it speaks of two things: 1) Obviously the two have a strong bond, 2) Schmidt may be looking at Lee's continued growth and his old team's growth with a bit of buyer's remorse.

He may have a larger contract and a higher profile conference to play in, but the on-court success isn't there. For years, Mark Schmidt tried to take Tony Lee and the Colonials to the Big Dance. Now, Lee just may be getting there without the old ball coach.

Jason Bay Still Wants Changes; Hines Ward Doesn't Like Tall Guys

Two of Pittsburgh's highest profile athletes seem to be a little annoyed this week.

First, the big story, Steelers Wide Receiver Hines Ward (seen here sending Ravens safety Ed Reed into another stratosphere) has decided to respond to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's request for a tall wide receiver to chuck passes to in 2008 and beyond.

First, here is the comment from Ben that started it all:

"I'm always going to ask for a tall receiver," Roethlisberger said in an interview with the Post-Gazette. "That's just me. Our receivers are unbelievable, but our tallest guy might be Hines. Or Santonio [Holmes]. Hines is going to say he's 6 foot, but he's 5-11."

And now, Hines...

"I don't hear Tom Brady or Peyton Manning asking for that," Ward said yesterday.

"I don't know, whatever he says. I have no idea. To me, it's a rare combination of receivers out there who are good and tall. We won a Super Bowl, we didn't have a tall receiver then. I don't see Tom Brady caring about who's tall or not. He got Randy this year, but he did it before without him.''

And...

"To me, I have enough problems to worry about than what Ben wants -- I can't give him the contract,'' Ward said, referring to Roethlisberger's wish to have a contract extension as soon as possible. "He wants a tall receiver? Why did we draft Santonio?"

Yeah, okay. I'm still not sure why Ward became so defensive, it's not like Ben came out and said that all of his receivers sucked because they're short, and the team will never win more than four games in a season unless they acquire a bunch of Manute Bol clones. He just prefers somebody big to throw to in the red zone. Hey, great, fine, good for him. Doesn't mean the Steelers need that, or will go out and get such a guy. (I recall Ben making similar comments after Plaxico Burress signed with the Giants, which resulted in a ton of pre-draft speculation being thrown around that the Steelers were going to use a first day pick on Miami of Ohio Wide Receiver Martin Nance -which would have been bat shit crazy - and it never happened.)

Hines Ward is a top-notch football player. I'm glad he plays for my team, and i'm glad he's not on the other side of the field destroying my teams linebackers every Sunday. That said, he says some really dumb things from time to time.

I do, however, agree with what Ward says about height being overrated. Because it is. That doesn't mean Ward had to go and get all insulted and cry about how Roethlisberger dissed him, or something.

Honestly, my only problem with Roethlisberger's comment is that he asked for any wide receiver, whether it be a tall one or a short one. All the receivers in the world aren't going to help you when you're constantly laying on your back.

Offensive line. Offensive line. Offensive line.


Meanwhile, the other team on the North Shore has its own player currently in a small tiff. Pirates left fielder, and two-time All Star, Jason Bay is unhappy - disappointed perhaps? - with the teams seemingly laid back approach to the off-season.

"I kind of painted myself into a corner when I said last year that there needed to be some moves made, whether I was part of that or not," Bay said at the team's annual media luncheon at PNC Park. "And there were some moves, but probably not the type I was referring to. There was a lot of management and coaching moves. I still think there need to be player moves."

And...

"I think that, for a championship-quality team, you need to make more moves. And I'm not talking about the .500 team we can be. I don't think anyone in this room is going to tell you we're a championship-quality team. There still needs to be more moves. And you know what? I'm not trying to tell people anything they don't already know."

No, no you're not. We all know that.

General Manager Neil Huntington responded with:

"We aggressively pursued many pieces for the 2008 team," Huntington said. "We can't sign free agents just to appease the public. We can't make trades when players are at their lowest value just to make ourselves feel better."

Both guys, of course, are 100% balls on accurate. The Pirates still need (much) better players, and they can't afford to trade guys like Bay, Sanchez or Laroche when their value is at its lowest possible point. That last line from Huntington, by the way, seemed like a nice subtle dig at Bay, who is coming off by far the worst season of his career.

All of that leaves you with a rather quiet off-season, and hoping for a lot of good seasons from players so you can ultimately trade them in July. Isn't it great to be a Pirates fan?

Plan Your Weekend Accordingly...

It's time to toss the professionals aside. Who cares that they make money to play a game? All the more reason to focus on the amateur athletes who exhibit far more passion and intensity in their games.

Plus, you just might run into a handful of college co-eds that look like Tim Tebow's friend over here to the right (Editors note: Photo courtesy Barstool Sports!)...

Here are the local college events this weekend that you need to either get your sorry rear end out to see, or find a television/radio with the event on so you can properly listen in.

If hoops are your forte, then you have three different options. You can follow the crowd and go check out #17 Pitt host a weak Rutgers team coming off a surprising upset of #18 Villanova. Best bet? Tivo it - the game starts at 6pm on ESPN Classic on Saturday.

Why should you Tivo the Pitt game? Because you're going to either attend George Washington/Duquesne at the AJ Palumbo Center at 7pm on Saturday or you're going to attend St. Francis NY/Robert Morris at the Charles L. Sewall Center in Moon Township, also at 7pm on Saturday.

Attend one, listen to the other on the radio - the Dukes are on KQV 1410 AM and the Colonials are on WPIT 730 AM.

Need some stick and puck? Friday and Saturday at the Robert Morris University Island Sports center is your destination then. The Robert Morris Lady Colonials ice hockey team hosts conference foe Wayne State at 7:35 both nights.

If you're feeling adventurous or find yourself randomly in Minnesota, check out the RMU men's ice hockey game against Bemidji State in Bemidji, Minnesota. Friday's game is at 7:35 Central Time, Saturday's game is at 7:05 Central Time.

Of course, you could always watch the NHL All-Star Superskills Competition and YoungStars Game on Saturday night at 7pm on Versus and the NHL All-Star Game on Sunday at 6pm...

But without Sidney Crosby, who would do that?

Around Town

1. Penguins Lack Effort And Common Sense As Flyers Win Again - It's important to keep in mind that the Pens have done an excellent job playing through their recent rash of injuries and continuing to win hockey games. However, they simply did not show up in Philly tonight.

It was almost as if the Penguins were more interested in fighting and trying to play some sort of thuggish, goon hockey, than actually trying to walk out of there with a win. All in all, a very disappointing night. Not really disappointing because they lost, but because of how they lost.

The Flyers beat the Pens for the fourth time in four meetings this year, and move into a tie for first place in the Atlantic Division with New Jersey thanks to the Devils third period collapse against Montreal.

The Penguins were out-shot 33-24, out-hit, and spent much of the night in the penalty box, thanks in large part to Georges Laraque's ridiculous 5-minute major for sending Steve Downie head first through the corner boards with two seconds remaining in the second period.

All night the Pens lacked a consistent forecheck, struggled in their own end with turnovers and an inability to clear the front of the net, as the Flyers became the latest team to pepper Ty Conklin with over 30 shots on goal.

It's actually quite amazing the Penguins had a shot to tie the game late considering their (lack of) effort for much of the game. A lot of the credit has to go to Conklin (again) for continuing to stand on his head between the pipes. I'm not sure what he's taking or who he sold his soul to, but let's hope his play continues. They're going to need it.

The Pens now head into the All-Star break holding the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, six points ahead of the ninth seeded New York Rangers.

Considering the Injured Reserve that could probably beat a handful of NHL teams on its own, it's an impressive accomplishment.

The Pens return to action on Tuesday night at New Jersey.

2. Robert Morris Beats CCS - Colonials improve to 14-6 overall, and 5-2 in conference play, to move into second place in the NEC.

Friday's Games:

- NCAA Ice Hockey - Robert Morris At Bemidji State - 8:35

The News

1. Madison Square Garden Continues To Host Awful Basketball Teams - It's bad enough the fabled Garden has to host the abomination that is the New York Knicks, but the St. Johns Red Storm also call MSG home, and tonight they were demolished by Pitt, 81-57.

Sam Young scored 26 and pulled down eight boards in the win, as St. Johns dropped its fourth in a row.

2. Dukes Rebound, Crush Bonnies - The Dukes are off to their best start since 1980 as they improve to 12-5 overall, and 2-2 in the Atlantic 10, thanks to their 83-67 win over St. Bonaventure.

3. Mono Means One, And Rail Means Rail - Penguins forward Tyler Kennedy apparently has mono, which seems to be fitting considering the Penguins luck - or lack of it - the past couple of weeks.

4. The Pirates Center Field Job Remains Up For Grabs - In my opinion, starting Nyjer Morgan over Nate Mclouth would be a very, very bad move. In fact, even considering it is kind of scary.

5. Pirates Sign Jaret Wright To Minor League Deal - In 1997, Jaret Wright was an up-and-coming young pitcher with the Cleveland Indians. He even started game seven of the World Series as a 21-year old.

In 2004, he won 15 games for the Atlanta Braves and posted a sub-4 ERA.

The following off-season he signed a 3-year, 21-million dollar deal with the New York Yankees.

Today, he signed a minor league deal with the Pirates. Not as exciting as game seven of the fall classic.

That's not to say it's a bad move for the Pirates, they've had some success with guys like this in the past (Todd Ritchie, Mike Williams, Salomon Torres, just to name a few), it's just a little troubling that a 94-loss team has spent its entire off-season signing minor league free agents and doing nothing else.

Thursday Night Happenings:

- NHL Hockey - 7:00: Penguins At Flyers - The Pens are 5-10-1 vs. the Atlantic Division so far, and are winless against the Flyers having been outscored 16-5 in the previous three meetings. It's the Pens final game before the All-Star break, and a big one as they hold a one-point lead over Philadelphia while trailing Division leader of the day New Jersey by one-point.

- NCAA Basketball - 7:00: Central Connecticut State At Robert Morris - Kind of a big game in the NEC as Robert Morris holds a one-game lead over CCS in the conference standings. Colonials have won 8-of-10.

Headlines

1. Sidney Crosby To Miss 6-8 Weeks - Well, that's about what was expected, but it doesn't make it sting any less.

2. Evgeni Malkin Is Going To The All-Star Game - Why wasn't he there in the first place, you ask? Well, if you listen to NBC's Mike Milbury, it's because Malkin "is stupid" and didn't show up for the NHL Awards ceremony last year. Seems like a logical reason to keep one of the games best players out. Wait...no it doesn't.

3. DK Talks About The Pirates New Latin America Baseball Academy In His Q & A -

The Pirates are behind the curve, sure, and there is nothing they can do to change that aspect of it. But it would be difficult to dispute that the move to build a Latin American academy is the right move, better late than never, and that it could pay off a lot more handsomely than $4 million-$5 million invested in a free agent for 2008, no matter how well that player performed.

I see a lot of these types of things happening behind the scenes, too, which is the main reason I decided to do the Building Blocks series. I got the feeling that the readership was zeroed in -- not without cause -- on the apparent weakening of the 25-man roster from 2007 to 2008, and that I was not doing enough to share the other stuff I was learning.

None of this might mean a thing. If the Pirates' new management is lousy at evaluating talent, the sweet complex in the Dominican will not mean any more than the additional scouts or the culture thing or any other directives. You still have to get the player right. And, of course, you do someday have to pay the players to make a team genuinely competitive.

But there can be no question that the academy and other facets represent a refreshing start.

4. Pitt Announces Its 2008 Non-Conference Football Schedule

On Tap For Wednesday:

-NCAA Basketball - 7:00: Pitt Travels To The Big Apple - The No. 17-ranked Panthers look to rebound from their loss at Cincinnati when they take on St. Johns. The Red Storm have lost three in a row.

- NCAA Basketball - 9:00: Dukes Return Home To Take On St. Bonnie - Duquesne blew a 14-point lead in its loss at Fordham on Saturday, and the hapless Bonnies appear to be a good whipping boy to take their aggression out on. At least, that's the hope.

News From Monday; Schedule For Tomorrow...Or Today

1. Evgeni Malkin Dominates; Capitals Still Win In Shootout - It couldn't have been a more entertaining game as Malkin and Alexander Ovechkin each scored a pair of goals and nearly fought one another in the first period.

Meanwhile, Alexander Semin beat Ty Conklin (who relieved Dany Sabourin after he gave up four goals in the first 25 minutes) with a nifty little back-hander in the final round of the shootout to give the Capitals the 6-5 win.

On the plus side, the Penguins still earn a point and reclaim the top spot in the Atlantic Division, at least for one night.

2. Better Late Than Never - Pirates present plans for their new Latin American baseball academy 25 years after everyone else does. In other news, I just bought a new betamax player and a new copy of Sgt. Pepper. It's all about keeping up with the Jones'.

All joking aside, this is long, long overdue. The way the Pirates have treated Latin American baseball players would be like a college football coach ignoring Florida, Louisiana and California. Go where the talent is.

3. I Would Have Never Guessed - The Tribune-Review drops a bombshell with the headline to Guy Junker's weekly column. Other possible headlines: Beer is good. Kittens are cute.

Tuesday's Schedule:

No games.

Headlines From Sunday And Lineup For Monday, January 21, 2008

1. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins To Host Washington Capitals At 7:30 On Versus - Thanks to the Penguins laundry list of injuries, centers Tim Brent and Chris Minard, along with winger Jonathan Filewich, were recalled from the minors on Sunday while defensemen Ryan Lannon was sent back down.

The Penguins currently have eight players with the big club who started the season in the minors, and somehow, the team keeps on winning. On the other end of the spectrum, the injuries and resulting call-ups have left the Baby Pens roster depleted of anyone capable of playing hockey. In today's game against Hershey, the Baby Pens had only three forward lines and one of them featured Paul Bisonnette, a defensemen, playing up front. They'll be bringing people out of the stands before long.

Even with the Penguins injuries, this should be a helluva game between two young, talented, and red-hot teams.

2. Ian Snell Demands NOT to be traded - Well that is certainly a new one. Usually the goal of Major League Baseball players is to get out of Pittsburgh by any means necessary. And this guy wants to stay?

“People say it’s flattering that my name is in rumors but I don’t like it. I don’t want to play anywhere else. I love Pittsburgh and I love pitching for the Pirates. I think special things are going to start happening here and I want to be a part of it.”

While I admire Snell's desire to win with the Bucs, it just doesn't seem realistic for it to happen. If they're ever going to acquire a young, middle-of-the-order hitter through a trade, it's probably going to have to involve Snell, who just happens to be the teams best trading chip at the present time. Unfortunately, he's also the teams best pitcher. So, yeah.

3. Okay, So Maybe It Was Cedric Wilson's House

4. The Red Sox May Be Interested In Pirates Catcher/First Basemen/Right Fielder/Pinch Hitter/Perpetually Injured Player Ryan Doumit -

* Boston has interest in trading for Pirates catcher/first baseman/outfielder Ryan Doumit but Huntington is hesitant to deal the switch hitter.

Headlines

1. Penguins Beat Montreal, 2-0 - Dany Sabourin turned aside 31 shots to record his second shutout of the season, while Georges Laraque set up Jeff Taffe for the games first goal (seriously, who needs Crosby?). Evgeni Malkin capped off a dominating individual performance by chipping in an empty netter for his 24th goal of the season in the closing seconds of the third period.

It shouldn't be surprising, considering the game was in Montreal, that two of the three stars were wearing the red-and-blue. We should consider ourselves lucky, usually they hog up all three.

Malkin played one of his best games of the season, both offensively and defensively, as he stepped up big time in the absence of Crosby.

As Laraque said after the game, "This is a huge win for us."

Huge indeed.

2. Dukes Dominate Early, Get Dominated In The Middle, Almost Win It In The End - For the first 12 minutes of the game, Fordham looked like a Division III team as it haphazardly tossed the ball around the court, off the roof, into the stands, and couldn't keep up with a Duquesne team that completely controlled the tempo of the game. I swear there was Benny Hill music being played on the FSN broadcast. The Rams eventually woke up and dominated the next 15 minutes of clock and held off a solid Dukes rally for the one-point win.

3. Pitt Losses In The 'Natti; Les Nesman Approves - Sam Young scores 24 and picks up 9 rebounds, but it's not enough as the unranked Bearcats topple No. 16-ranked Pitt. Ronald Ramon shot a miserable 2-of-8 from the field, which certainly didn't help the Panthers cause.

4. Robert Morris Beats St. Francis (PA) By Ten - Colonials win by ten, 65-55, and improve to 13-6 overall and 4-2 in the Conference. St. Francis continues its disaster of a season and falls to 3-15.

5. The Home Of Steelers Wide Receiver Cedric Wilson May Or May Not Have Been Involved In A Police Standoff - That's something? Right?

Three Local Programs Vie For Tourney Bids

Western Pennsylvania is not exactly a basketball hot-bed, but come March, there very well might be three local college teams dancing into March Madness.

The Pitt Panthers have the easiest road in, considering the Big East usually pots several teams in the Big Dance. Pitt needs to likely snag nine conference wins to lock themselves into the Dance, but they've done well without Mike Cook and Levance Fields, jumping out to 3-1 in the Big East to lead the conference in a virtual tie with Georgetown, Louisville, and Notre Dame.

Add on their 14 wins already, an RPI at 4, and a non-conference strength of schedule at 64, and the Panthers look to be in good shape.

For the Duquesne Dukes and Robert Morris Colonials, it's going to be a bit more of an adventure.

The Dukes have roared out to an 11-5 record, but outside of a win over Cal-State Northridge at the Drake Tournament in Iowa, they lack a significant win. That means they'll need an impressive performance in the Atlantic 10 (aka the A-14). The Dukes haven't started off well in that department.

While the Tournament committee will overlook a two-point road loss to high-flying Rhode Island, they will be absolutely aghast at a one point road loss to Fordham where the Dukes were up by double digits only to spit it all away. Duquesne will need to dominate the St. Bonaventures of the A-14 and hope that the Rhode Islands and Daytons continue to pull away. The continued parity in the league - all but Charlotte have already lost in conference play - will NOT do the Dukes favors. They need to be in the Top 4 in the conference with some wins over the Top 3 in order to get an at-large bid.

Of course, they can always just win the whole damn thing.

That's what Robert Morris will need to do. Even though the Colonials have a signature win - an upset on the road over Boston College - the 13-6 Colonials sit in a one-bid conference. There is no way that Robert Morris will snag an at-large bid. Maybe, just maybe, if they win out and lose the conference championship game, but that's far from realistic. Instead, the Colonials will have to first make the NEC tournament and then sit in as a one through three seed to truly have a shot. They've had a pretty rough run as the four or five seed, so if the Colonials can get to the point where they've established themselves as the elite of the Northeast Conference, they'll be better off.

There's a lot of basketball left to be played, but all three teams are currently positioned well to go dancing.

So, What Do The Penguins Do Now?

We're still waiting to here the official word from the Penguins on how long they're going to be without the best player in the world, but early indications seem to be anywhere between 4-6 weeks. That's a long time to be without such a central part of your franchise, especially in a tight playoff race where only six points separate the #2 seed from the #9 seed.

The concern, in my view, is that the Penguins weren't really filling the net with great regularity with the best player in the world. That's not to say they were struggling, either. Just...kind of in the middle.

After last night's game against Tampa Bay, the Pens sit at 15th in the NHL with 2.76 goals per game, and 19th in the league with 28.4 shots on goal per game. That's about as middle of the pack as you can get. Take Crosby out, and things look kind of bleak offensively.

The good news is, the Penguins have some good depth at the center position and still have a number-one guy they can turn to in Evgeni Malkin. Seriously, he's pretty good.

The bads news, however, is this makes the Penguins lack of quality wingers and scoring depth even more glaring. Take Crosby out of the line-up, and the next Penguins forward in the points race (after Malkin) is Petr Sykora all the way down at #110 with 13 goals and 27 points. That's kind of a problem.

At least when Crosby is in there the Penguins can somewhat mask their lack of wingers by tossing Malkin on Sid's line and letting the two of them make their magic. When you force Malkin to be the top guy, he doesn't have himself skating next to him.

So, what to do, what to do?

The thing NOT to do is sell the farm for some rental like Mats Sundin, instead going after a steady top-6 winger that can end the season with 20-25 goals. In other words, the type of move the Penguins need to make with or without Crosby. And as luck should have it, there are not only a few guys like that available, but some of them have been connected to the Penguins in trade talks even before the shit hit the fan with Sid's ankle.

1. Vaclav Prospal - Left Wing - Tampa Bay Lightning: A free-agent at the end of the year on one of the worst teams in the league. He's a likely choice to be on the block leading up to the trade deadline.

2. J.P. Dumont - Right Wing - Nashville Predators: Dumont's name has come up often this year, i'm not sure if he's a legitimate possibility, or if people are just connecting general Ray Shero with his former team and picking a name that is likely to be dealt. Either way, he's a steady 20-25 goal scorer and would be a welcome addition.

3. Antoine Vermette - Left Wing - Ottawa Senators: Vermette's name come up quite a bit in the off-season, he's high on talent, somewhat short on production, but would be the best long-term option.

Of course, that's not to say any and all improvements have to come through a trade; Jordan Staal getting over his sophomore slump (offensively) and Petr Sykora not disappearing for weeks at a time would also do wonders for the Pens.

On The Schedule Today

NCAA Basketball: Duquesne At Fordham - 2:00 P.M.

NCAA Basketball: Pitt At Cincinnati - 4:00 P.M.

NCAA Basketball: Robert Morris At Saint Francis (PA) - 7:00 P.M.

NHL Hockey: Penguins At Montreal - 7:00 P.M.

Yesterday In Pittsburgh Sports

1. Pens lose game, and a whole lot more: Lightning drop penguins 3-0; Ty Conklin makes a lot of saves but can't save Sidney Crosby from the dreaded high-ankle sprain.

2. The Steel Curtain losses a member

3. Pirates agree to terms with Xavier Nady and John Grabow for the 2008 season. Freddy Sanchez appears to be headed for arbitration.

Sweet Merciful Crap

Well, tonight's Penguins game was pretty much the worst case scenario. Not only did they get blanked at home, 3-0, by one of the worst teams in the League (that would be Tampa Bay), but they also lost all-everything center, icon, and male model Sidney Crosby to the dreaded, horrible, and seemingly lingering high-ankle sprain.

We could be looking at 4-6 weeks, people. That's. Not. Good.

It's times like these where panic, while a natural reaction, isn't always the best course of action.

So, that said, let us all now turn to Charlie Steiner for some much needed advice.




My thoughts exactly.

Oh, in case you were keeping track: Ty Conklin faced 34 shots tonight. That's entirely too many.

Who's The New Guy?

Hi everybody!

Hi, Dr. Nick!

I'm the new guy. See, the dude that runs this tremendous website has asked me to write once and a while about some things that deserve some more attention. Things like the resurgent Duquesne Dukes basketball team, the Robert Morris Colonials' hoops team, and Robert Morris hockey, among many others.

So, why am I so special? I love small schools. I'm heavily involved with Robert Morris sports and you want more Colonials stuff, just click the "Colonials Corner" link over on the right. But I also drift to the MAAC instead of the MAC, the SWC instead of the SEC, and to teams with names like High Point, Lipscomb, Morehead State, and more.

That's what you'll get here. It'll be predominantly Pittsburgh area collegiate sports, and while March Madness is just a roaring month and a half away, it won't just be basketball. I'll bring in plenty of collegiate hockey to the table, too.

The Penguins are selling out left and right, so instead of braving the cold and the lunacy of downtown Pittsburgh, drive out west to Neville Island and check out Robert Morris hockey. It's cheaper, you don't have to fear for your life, and you just might run into Mario Lemieux. At worst, you run into a couple of college coeds.

I hope you enjoy the added coverage. If you have any questions, comments, concerns...use the comments! They're fun. Or, if you must, email me at herrmorpheus22@yahoo.com

Spring Training A Month Away; Pirates Season Reaches Its Peak

Call me cynical, but this may very well be the highlight of the Pirates season. Right here. The anticipation of spring training. Reason being, once we actually get to spring training, we may realize the harsh reality that this is the same team we watched last year. Exactly. Well, not exactly; Salomon Torres will be pitching for the Brewers and Josh Phelps will be coming off the bench in St. Louis...but other than that?

Same team.

It's difficult to think the team that lost 94 games and finished 23rd in the Major Leagues in runs scored is going to somehow improve, even in the JV Division that is the National League Central.

Of course, none of that is stopping the players from expressing their enthusiastic optimism. Closer Matt Capps, for example, is even encouraged that the same cast is returning for a new season.

"I like it," closer Matt Capps said. "I think it's a great sign of commitment on their part. It shows they believe in what we're all capable of doing. I believe it, too. There are some good players in here, and a lot of us can do better than we did last year."

Sign of commitment, eh? That's one way to look at it. I suppose he's right, in that a lot of players can do better than last year (*cough* Jason Bay *cough*) , trouble is, a lot of players who had career years can also do worse (*cough* Xavier Nady).

I'm not trying to dump on new General Manager Neil Huntington just yet, simply because he hasn't really done anything to make me dump on him...actually, he hasn't really done much of anything to make me form an opinion either way.

It's just a little troubling to look at the roster and see that Nate Mclouth may very well be the best all-around position player on the team.

Pirates Find New And Creative Ways To Make Their Fans Hurt

You really have to hand it to the Pirates, not only do they make us suffer through embarrassing season after embarrassing season, but now they have to go and make us remember the nightmare that started it all. October 14, 1992: The day the Pittsburgh Pirates ceased to exist.

The Pirates today announced the hiring of Sid Bream to be an assistant coach with the State College Spikes, their rookie league team in the New York-Penn League.

Bream, the object of fans' ire for scoring the winning run against the Pirates while playing for the Atlanta Braves in Game 7 of the 1992 National League playoffs, was hired as coach of the New York-Penn League entry. He played for the Pirates from 1985-90.

The only questions remaining are: Wasn't Stan Belinda available to be bullpen coach? No Francisco Cabrera for bench coach? Will Cam Bonifay be returning as some sort of assistant in the front office?

Pens Beat Rangers; Ty Conklin Stops The Kitchen Sink

Interesting game. Georges Laraque and Colton Orr dropped the gloves and whaled on each other seven seconds into the first period. Evgeni Malkin scores two goals in the first eight minutes and chipped in an empty-netter late to notch a Hat Trick on hat night. And the Rangers dominated the other 53 minutes.

Well, they dominated it, but not as much as Ty Conklin did as he turned away 43-of-44 Rangers shots.

44 friggin' shots.

As I said the other day, I believe the Penguins recent hot streak is completely built around the ridiculous play of their third string goalie. It's both impressive and concerning at the same time.

In his 11 starts this year, Conklin has faced at least 30 shots eight times. Twice he's faced 40 shots. By comparison, Martin Broduer has faced 30 shots 11 times...all season. How much longer can Conklin, or any goalie for that matter, continue to hold up under such a barrage of rubber? Hopefully long enough for the Penguins to add some defense before the deadline.

The problem after the first period seemed to be that the Penguins were trying to make perfect, highlight reel plays - and force pucks to Malkin in an effort to get him the Hat Trick - instead of simply playing hockey. It almost cost them as the Rangers pummeled Conklin with 19 shots in the second period (to the Penguins two) and doubled them for the game. Thankfully, Conklin was up to the challenge. Again.

But enough of the negatives,this team is winning, and winning a lot, and that's a good thing.

Aside from giving the Penguins an eight point edge over the Rangers, I believe this win puts the Pens in first place in the Atlantic based on the third tie-breaker. So, yay for that!

Also of note, Sidney Crosby registered two assists tonight and moved into a tie with Vincent Lecavalier for the league scoring lead.

And Malkin, with his Hat Trick, gave a solid one-fingered salute to the people who continued to pass him over for the All-Star game.


Next up for the Pens: Tampa Bay comes to the Igloo on Friday night.

Pitt Downs The Hoyas

When Levance Fields and Mike Cook went down with injuries a couple of weeks ago, a lot of Pitt fans felt the season was in jeopardy, and who knows, perhaps it still is. But it doesn't seem that way right now.

Pitt just knocked off the No. 6 ranked Georgetown Hoyas, 69-60, and improved to 15-2 overall and 3-1 in the Big East. Not a bad mark, Mr. Dixon, not a bad mark at all.

Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin each threw down 18 points for the Panthers, while Ramon hit 4-of-6 from behind the arc.

Perhaps talks of the Panthers' demise were a tad premature?

Everyone Is Piling On The Cowboys

Goodness, I haven't seen this much schadenfreude directed at a sports team since...well...i've never seen this much schadenfreude directed at a sports team. Everyone, it seems, is using today to point their collective fingers at the Dallas Cowboys and laugh, laugh, laugh. Members of the Giants, the media, fans...everybody. And I can't say it's unwarranted.

The object of sports, obviously, is to win championships. That's what your goals should ultimately be, because anything less, and you become the Pirates.

That said, championships are hard to win. Teams, cities and fans wait decades or lifetimes to see them. Players have hall of fame careers and never get to experience one. The chance to play for one should be grasped, and not squandered away so easily, because you never know when the opportunity will present itself again. If it ever does. And, to me, this is what happened with Dallas on Sunday. They wassted it.

The Dallas Cowboys had what should be considered a golden opportunity to play for a championship. The number one seed, with home field advantage, in what is considered to be a weak NFC. And they blew it. Becoming the first number one seed in the NFC to go down in the opening round in 18 years. As far as choke jobs go, this one is epic.

This isn't about partying in Mexico with your skanky girlfriend, this is about how the entire team approached the playoffs. Patrick Crayton spent the week trash talking, and then proceeded to drop everything thrown his way (and a punt for good measure). Owner Jerry Jones was passing out tickets to the NFC Championship game before the divisional game was even played. That's almost as bad as Bill Cowher making Super Bowl plans before the '01 AFC Championship game. Almost.

This is a Cowboys franchise that hasn't won a playoff game in 12 years, and in the process, has lost playoff games to notable NFC powerhouses Carolina (twice) and ARIZONA. For them to seemingly take a playoff game so lightly is mind boggling. It's almost as if they felt by just showing up they were entitled to walk all over an inferior Giants team that didn't belong on the same field as them. And that's how they played. The Giants defensive line beat the Cowboys offensive line like mules, Jason Webster (who?) shut down Terrell Owens, Tony Romo became increasingly frustrated and rattled as the second half progressed.

The only thing more amazing than the Cowboys choke job is the fact Eli Manning is now one game away from the Super Bowl. Really. I'm surprised no one has began playing up the potential Super Bowl match-up of Eli Vs. The Chargers...then again, nobody expects the Chargers to even give the Patriots a game. So perhaps that's why.

Penguins Vs. Rangers: Big Game

On Monday night there is only one game on the NHL slate, and it's a pretty big game, at least as big as a regular season game in January can be.

Penguins Vs. Rangers

It's a key game in the East as the Penguins enter with a six-point edge over the Rangers, who are the only Atlantic team on the outside of the playoff picture in the conference. It's the classic four-point game, as a win for either team would either push the Penguins advantage to eight points, or close the Rangers deficit to four points.

Unfortunately for the Pens, games within the Atlantic have been their achilles heel on the season as they have gone a dismal 4-10 Vs. the rest of the division.

The Penguins have won eight of their past nine games and haven't been able to distance themselves from the rest of the division, or catch the Devils, mainly because everyone else keeps winning right along with them.

Each team over the past ten games:

New Jersey: 8-2-0
Pittsburgh: 8-1-1
Philadelphia: 7-1-2
New York Islanders: 5-2-3
New York Rangers: 4-5-1

Probable Goaltenders:

Ty Conklin Vs. Henrik Lundqvist

Hopefully Conklin continues his freakish, out-of-his-mind play, because Lundqvist has owned the Penguins in his young career, posting a .919 save percentage and a 10-4-2 record in 16 career starts against Pittsburgh.

The Rangers, by the way, are like the Craig Patrick All-Stars, as they have done a nice job collecting useful (or great) players that Patrick gave away during his final, forgettable days as the head man in the Penguins front office.

Big game, should be a good one.

Now That Is A Disappointing End To A Season

If you thought the Steelers going one and done was a disappointment - and let's face it, it was - imagine if the Steelers went in as the favorites to win the conference and possibly overthrow the Patriots buzzsaw, only to absolutely mess the sheets and drop one like the Dallas Cowboys just did.

And here's an interesting stat for you: Every team in the NFC, with the exception of the Detroit Lions, has won a playoff game since the Dallas Cowboys last won one (thanks, Ed).

I have a feeling that we're going to be hearing an awful lot about Mexico this week. Just a hunch.

Penguins Vs. Thrashers: Exciting Game

It's a shame the people who run the NHL market their sport like they're a bunch of monkeys, flinging fecal matter at one another while eating bugs off of each others ass. There's a lot of talent out there that should be exploited and shoved down our throats like the other sports are ever so good at.

For example, tonight we saw the following match-ups: Penguins Vs. Thrashers, a game that featured two of the best players in the world in Sidney Crosby, the defending league scoring champion, a