:10—Champions Live Sports and Entertainment Talk Show is BACK, bigger than ever, and kicked off its first show with members of the Penn Hills High School Indians football team and Head Coach Charles Morris, coming off a stellar 10-2 season in the WPIAL 5A-Section 3 division. Stay tuned for future shows on the only Black-owned and operated Facebook and YouTube Live venue in all of Western Pa.
:09—Sixteen years. Sixteen years. It’s been 16 years since the Penguins and Sidney Crosby did not make the playoffs, since Sidney’s rookie season. Sid, Geno Malkin and Kris Letang have provided a generation of thrills and three Stanley Cup Championships along with two Olympic Gold Medals for Sid, MVP and multiple scoring titles and some of the most amazing goal scoring shots anyone has ever seen. Thank you men for one heckuva great and amazing ride. A standing ovation for all three of you guys.
:08—That being said, it was a complete house cleaning that the new owners, Fenway Sports Group, did, firing President Brian Burke, General Manager Ron Hextall and Assistant GM Chris Pryor. It was an absolute necessity. The team is in need of younger, faster, more athletic talent than the current roster carries. The Big 3, Crosby, Malkin and Letang, will most likely return as all three had very good seasons but as far as goalie Tristan Jarry is concerned, he’s too brittle and mediocre at best and they can’t re-sign him this off-season. Word on the street is minority owner Mario Lemieux will be more hands on this off-season and during next season, a welcome addition already advocated by Fenway Sports Group.
:07—Speaking of playoffs, here’s one guy telling ya to not count out the L.A. Lakers in the West. After a 128-112 beatdown of your Memphis Grizzlies Sunday, April 16, I’m convinced this team can and will advance out of the first round and throw a scare into anyone they encounter. With a little luck and a lot of a healthy Anthony Davis and LeBron James, these guys could do some real damage out West. I’m just saying and you can quote me on that.
:06—In the East it’s gotta be either Boston or Philadelphia. I’m leaning toward Philly and their great old school center Joel Embiid and essential scorer James Harden to carry the day against everyone in the East, taking down the Celtics in six in the Conference Finals to advance to the NBA Finals. In the Western Conference I’m thinking Denver, but to be truthful I could see the Lakers running the table and facing the 76ers in the Finals. Yeah, you heard me. Say I’m wrong.
:05—After 19 games your hometown Pittsburgh Pirates are 12-7. That’s not a misprint, they really are 12-7. Andrew McCutchen has been everything ownership expected and more, leading with his bat as well as his heart and mind. Cutch is the heart and soul of this squad and they may just shock us all and hover around the .500 mark all season long. If they do, remember where you heard it first. As far as the playoffs, they may be two seasons away with a load of young talent making their debuts sometime this season. Keep your fingers crossed.
:04—Any word on Bryan Reynolds and his contract status? With his great start, winning Player of the Week for his stellar first week, Reynolds may be hitting his way right out of Pittsburgh and to a team in playoff contention in August. And if that comes true you can only wish Reynolds the best of luck and watch him blossom into a true superstar and perennial All-Star. And shake your head at the owner one more time. That’s all I got on this subject.
:03—The Tampa Bay Rays won 13 games out of the gate. This with a payroll of $74 million dollars, or roughly one-fifth the payroll of the New York Mets. How is it that they can contend almost every year on a minimum payroll and your battlin’ Buccos flounder and lose 100 games two years in a row? I’m just asking questions here. It is truly amazing and I, for one, root for them to win the whole thing when the dust clears. Wouldn’t that be a kick in the butt for all those $200 million+ teams. And serve them right.
:02—Yeah, yeah, the NFL Draft is less than a week away, hold your socks up. Most draft boards have the Steelers taking CB Joey Porter Jr. out of Penn State as their first pick and I’d be OK with it, his upside and size and speed all herald a fine CB of the future, but if the Steelers passed him over and traded down and picked, say, Calijah Kancey, defensive tackle from Pitt at 22 or 23, and then got Emmanuel Forbes, CB out of Mississippi State with their next pick, I’d be OK with that, too. Too often the draft is a 100 percent crapshoot and someone with a distinct pedigree ends up a bust and a 6th-rounder like the 195th selection in 2010, Antonio Brown, ends up a superstar (until he imploded). Some local sportscasters are saying reunite QB Kenny Pickett with WR Jordan Addison out of Pitt and USC and I’m OK with that, too; you can never have too many options or weapons on offense and if it worked with Cincy and Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase then why not the Steelers?
:01—In 2006, no local professional sports teams made the playoffs. Last year/this year, no professional sports teams starting in 2022 made the playoffs. We were spoiled by three Stanley Cup teams, two Super Bowls (yeah I count the Super Bowl played on February 5, 2006, in Detroit, oh please, relax), and the first playoffs in what seemed like a million years for the Pirates in the 2013-2015 seasons during the years in between. So, no complaints but let’s get back to playoff sports for all three local teams.
:00—GAME OVER.