Rich's Sports Beat

Back and better than ever!  I just learned I was turned down by an online sports writing site that I did not meet their guidelines to be one of their writers.  Well, their loss!  They just don't know good writing when they see it!  So, on that note, Sports Beat is back with a fury!  First item up, Rushel Shell, the running back with a college, at least not yet. The saga with Shell began in the spring when he decided he wasn't sure if he wanted to part of the University of Pittsburgh football program.  Head Coach Paul Chryst told him to take some time and think it over.  Shell decided to leave the program and the university.  After deciding that he didn't want to be so far away from home, as he was at UCLA at the time, Shell asked Pitt if he could return.  He got his answer from Chryst.  The answer was no.  Chryst decided he is building a program and no one is going to be above the program.  That decision left much debate as ...

It's been a while. Quite literally! My apologies to readers of my work, past and present. Now I'm back in the saddle. The year is 2012 and those followers of the Pittsburgh Pirates are in unchartered waters, so to speak. I'm speaking of the Pirates being in first place in the National League Central Division at the All-Star break. It hasn't been this exciting around the Pittsburgh region in a long time! For those who were around during the early 1990s, you understand what kind of excitement can be created by a winning baseball club. That team won three straight division titles, but could not get over the hump in the National League Championship Series. After 19 years, this franchise is back on top and the bandwagon is filling fast. For those of us who were alive for the last World Series title, 1979, we know how crazy this area can get when there is a winner in baseball. This is what those in our generation wish for the younger generations. The excitement is ...

It never ceases to amaze me the number of people who feel they are owed by the athletes who perform, those who have skill sets that only a few are blessed with. Again, Sidney Crosby has been sidelined by concussion like symptoms. There are those who feel he has been dogging it and doesn't want to play. Seriously??? Those who don't have brains, and there are many, believe me, think that Sidney is faking these problems and just doesn't feel like playing. These are the same people who can't get a job because they don't have what it takes to work for a living and they are the same people who can't live without alcohol. Okay, maybe just a stereotype, but you get the point. It doesn't take much more than common sense to understand that this young man has suffered a brain injury and this isn't something where you point ointment on it, put a bandage on it, and go back out and play. No, we are talking about the nerve center that makes the rest of the body g...

It's been a whirlwind year at the University of Pittsburgh. Former head coach Todd Graham up and left for the Arizona State football job, leaving Pitt hanging. After conducting their latest head coaching search, the Panthers selected University of Wisconsin offensive coordinator Paul Chryst to be their latest head guy. I have no doubt that Pitt got it right THIS TIME. However, the proof is in the pudding. But this business at Pitt goes back a lot longer than what has tranpired over the last year. This goes back to the middle 1980s. I have written about this before, but it bears repeating. Pitt has an institutional problem when it comes to football. Pitt stunk in the early 1970s before the program hired Johnny Majors to be their head coach. Majors recruited Tony Dorsett and built around him before leading the program to the national championship in 1976 and Dorsett won the Heisman Trophy. Majors left for Tennessee and Jackie Sherrill took over the program, leading the team t...

So, James Harrison has been suspended one game for his hit on Browns quarterback Colt McCoy and will miss Monday Night's game with the San Franciso 49ers. An important game, I might add. This is for the whiners and cryers out there. First, yes, perhaps the punishment being meted out by commissioner Roger Goodell is not consistent. You will not get an argument from me there. But, let's look at the bigger picture. I have made this argument for years. I have watched a ton of football in my day and the product has gotten worse, not better. Offensively, records are being set that boggle the mind. Defensively, it seems everyone wants to get on ESPN and SportsCenter. Whatever happened to form tackling? Yes, you know what I'm talking about. Leading and hitting with the shoulder, wrapping your arms around the chest, midsection, or legs, and holding on tight. That type of tackling. I do not see this anynmore. Now, it's launching your body for the "big hit" ...

Much has been said about the latest setback regarding Penguins center and superstar Sidney Crosby. Some out there are saying he is soft and should be playing through his injury. These are the same people, I might add, who likely do not have a brain of their own, and I say that with conviction. We are talking about the brain. This is not a limb nor is it a ligament that can be repaired by doctors and then rehabbed. This is the brain, that which controls the rest of the body. Two examples that I like to cite are that of former Steelers center, and Hall of Famer, the late Mike Webster. Webster died at the age of 50 after many trials and tribulations after his football career. Much of what he dealt with came about due to all of the shots to the head he took while playing center during his career. The other example is that of former Chicago Bear, the late Dave Duerson. Duerson, also 50, shot himself in the chest, taking his own life, and asked that his brain be donated to science to...