Pittsburgh sports
The Pittsburgh sports scene may seem a little lackluster since the Penguins were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs by the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are now playing for the Eastern Conference title. There is no NFL since the lockout was reinstated and the draft concluded. As of now, there is a schedule in the league, but it is tentative in terms of how long the lockout lasts and if/when the season does begin. So, in essence, there are a lot of unknowns.
That leaves the Pirates and the national sports scene. As of Sunday, the Pirates got back to the .500 mark this early in the season since 2002. The cynical among us may say that it’s only a matter of time before the Pirates go back to the cellar. I not only beg to differ, I will also say that this is a different Pirates team from the past and they also have a manager that knows how to get the most out of his players and is committed for the long haul.
The core of this team, Neil Walker, Jose Tabata, Pedro Alvarez, and Andrew McCutchen are what the organization is building around. What it all boils down to is the effectiveness of the pitching staff. Thus far, the staff has been doing its job and just needs some more run support now and then. The relief pitchers have been hit and miss, blowing opportunities and giving up runs at the most inopportune times. But that can be remedied as the coaching staff continues to work with them.
Clint Hurdle has been a breath of fresh air since his arrival and he is committed to the Pirates and the organization. I put him on par with Mike Tomlin and Dan Bylsma in terms of how the players are reacting to him. They are buying into what he is selling and what he is also expecting. Never doubt that a team takes on the personality of its head coach or manager. If this team just went through the motions the last three seasons under John Russell, they are working hard to get it done under Hurdle.
This means the Pirates could conceivably be the story in Pittsburgh until the Penguins open training camp in September. Maybe this year is the beginning of the turnaround and Pittsburgh becomes a three sport town again. It can be difficult watching two other organizations in the same city winning consistently and bringing home championships in recent years after you have gone 18 years without a winning season. At some point, you decide whether or not you’ve had enough. Hurdle has brought that to Pittsburgh.
We’ll be keeping up with the baseball scene this year and keeping track of how well the Pirates are doing. If you are interested in great seats at great prices, then check this out. Go to www.pirates.com/tweetoffer and enter coupon code: richbriggs. This is your opportunity to go to a game/s and get some great seats at discounted prices. Say what you want about Bob Nutting, the ownership group, and the front office; however, this is still our baseball team. The Pirates belong to Pittsburgh, not Nutting. He is just a caretaker for those of us who still love baseball, are fans of the game and love our team.
*While not a lot has been going on nationally that has invited a firestorm, there is still something to be said about certain teams that have been eliminated from the playoffs in their respective sports and why we feel the way we do. The aforementioned Tampa Bay Lightning not only eliminated the Washington Capitals, one of the Penguins arch nemesis, but they swept them. Now, the argument that has been made is Alexander Ovechkin scored five goals, but his team still lost and he needs some help. I strongly beg to differ.
The Capitals finished first in the conference, again, this past season and got crushed in the second round of the playoffs. Ovechkin is the captain of the Capitals. You get that moniker by displaying leadership and the ability to inspire your teammates. Ovechkin is a goal scorer. He is not a playmaker and he does not make his teammates better. Back in the day, Wayne Gretzky made his teammates better, even though he was surrounded by mega talent on the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980s. Of course, Mario Lemieux made his teammates better and led them to two Stanley Cup titles. Now, Sidney Crosby makes his teammates better, as he is a goal scorer, a playmaker, and a leader. And his teams have not finished first in the Eastern Conference the last three years.
I have said this in the past and it bears repeating. I firmly believe Ovechkin is overrated. All he has won are MVP awards because the talking heads and his fellow NHLers are infatuated with his hot dogging, and scoring titles. But he hasn’t medaled in the Olympics, getting shut out in last year’s Games in Vancouver, and he has never gone to a Stanley Cup Final, let alone win a Cup. That tells me a lot.
Now, while I do not follow the NBA (I used to), the Los Angeles Lakers were swept over the weekend by the Dallas Mavericks (owned by Pittsburgh native Mark Cuban) and their quest for a third straight title was extinguished. Everyone in basketball slobbers all over themselves because of the Lakers and Kobe Bryant. When he got into the league, he was immediately compared to Michael Jordan and was considered to be his heir apparent. Wrong on both counts.
There will never be another Jordan, so let’s end that right now. If Bryant had played for anyone else besides the Lakers, he might have won one or two championships, but not the five he has now. Bryant is nothing more than a scorer and shot taker. He doesn’t appear to make his teammates better, not like the greats of Magic Johnson, Dr. J – Julius Erving, Larry Bird, Isaiah Thomas, and Jordan. Bryant may be demanding, but he isn’t inspiring. Not in my book.
There are those like me who are tired of watching the same teams winning year after year. After a while, that gets old fast and we start to root hard against those teams because of the redundancy and monotony with which they win. So, having the Capitals, the Philadelphia Flyers – another arch nemesis of the Penguins, and the Lakers gone from their respective sport’s playoffs makes it easier to watch and want to follow because you don’t have those teams shoved down your throat anymore, at least for this season.
*As the school year winds down and the budget crisis continues in Harrisburg, there will be arguments about how vital sports are to the education process and how they are going to be funded – either through taxpayer dollars, fundraisers, or pay to play systems. Given how important sports are to this region, I would imagine local populaces will do everything they can to assure high school sports stay relevant and will find a way to fund them so children and young men and women can participate in athletics. Stay tuned.
*The last two weeks in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series had Kyle Busch winning at Richmond, Virginia and Regan Smith taking a very pleasantly surprising win in Darlington, South Carolina, home of the Southern 500, which is one of NASCAR’s oldest tracks and one of its oldest and most traditional races. In essence, back to NASCAR’s roots.
This week, the series will travel to Dover, Delaware, home of the Monster Mile on concrete.
That leaves the Pirates and the national sports scene. As of Sunday, the Pirates got back to the .500 mark this early in the season since 2002. The cynical among us may say that it’s only a matter of time before the Pirates go back to the cellar. I not only beg to differ, I will also say that this is a different Pirates team from the past and they also have a manager that knows how to get the most out of his players and is committed for the long haul.
The core of this team, Neil Walker, Jose Tabata, Pedro Alvarez, and Andrew McCutchen are what the organization is building around. What it all boils down to is the effectiveness of the pitching staff. Thus far, the staff has been doing its job and just needs some more run support now and then. The relief pitchers have been hit and miss, blowing opportunities and giving up runs at the most inopportune times. But that can be remedied as the coaching staff continues to work with them.
Clint Hurdle has been a breath of fresh air since his arrival and he is committed to the Pirates and the organization. I put him on par with Mike Tomlin and Dan Bylsma in terms of how the players are reacting to him. They are buying into what he is selling and what he is also expecting. Never doubt that a team takes on the personality of its head coach or manager. If this team just went through the motions the last three seasons under John Russell, they are working hard to get it done under Hurdle.
This means the Pirates could conceivably be the story in Pittsburgh until the Penguins open training camp in September. Maybe this year is the beginning of the turnaround and Pittsburgh becomes a three sport town again. It can be difficult watching two other organizations in the same city winning consistently and bringing home championships in recent years after you have gone 18 years without a winning season. At some point, you decide whether or not you’ve had enough. Hurdle has brought that to Pittsburgh.
We’ll be keeping up with the baseball scene this year and keeping track of how well the Pirates are doing. If you are interested in great seats at great prices, then check this out. Go to www.pirates.com/tweetoffer and enter coupon code: richbriggs. This is your opportunity to go to a game/s and get some great seats at discounted prices. Say what you want about Bob Nutting, the ownership group, and the front office; however, this is still our baseball team. The Pirates belong to Pittsburgh, not Nutting. He is just a caretaker for those of us who still love baseball, are fans of the game and love our team.
*While not a lot has been going on nationally that has invited a firestorm, there is still something to be said about certain teams that have been eliminated from the playoffs in their respective sports and why we feel the way we do. The aforementioned Tampa Bay Lightning not only eliminated the Washington Capitals, one of the Penguins arch nemesis, but they swept them. Now, the argument that has been made is Alexander Ovechkin scored five goals, but his team still lost and he needs some help. I strongly beg to differ.
The Capitals finished first in the conference, again, this past season and got crushed in the second round of the playoffs. Ovechkin is the captain of the Capitals. You get that moniker by displaying leadership and the ability to inspire your teammates. Ovechkin is a goal scorer. He is not a playmaker and he does not make his teammates better. Back in the day, Wayne Gretzky made his teammates better, even though he was surrounded by mega talent on the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980s. Of course, Mario Lemieux made his teammates better and led them to two Stanley Cup titles. Now, Sidney Crosby makes his teammates better, as he is a goal scorer, a playmaker, and a leader. And his teams have not finished first in the Eastern Conference the last three years.
I have said this in the past and it bears repeating. I firmly believe Ovechkin is overrated. All he has won are MVP awards because the talking heads and his fellow NHLers are infatuated with his hot dogging, and scoring titles. But he hasn’t medaled in the Olympics, getting shut out in last year’s Games in Vancouver, and he has never gone to a Stanley Cup Final, let alone win a Cup. That tells me a lot.
Now, while I do not follow the NBA (I used to), the Los Angeles Lakers were swept over the weekend by the Dallas Mavericks (owned by Pittsburgh native Mark Cuban) and their quest for a third straight title was extinguished. Everyone in basketball slobbers all over themselves because of the Lakers and Kobe Bryant. When he got into the league, he was immediately compared to Michael Jordan and was considered to be his heir apparent. Wrong on both counts.
There will never be another Jordan, so let’s end that right now. If Bryant had played for anyone else besides the Lakers, he might have won one or two championships, but not the five he has now. Bryant is nothing more than a scorer and shot taker. He doesn’t appear to make his teammates better, not like the greats of Magic Johnson, Dr. J – Julius Erving, Larry Bird, Isaiah Thomas, and Jordan. Bryant may be demanding, but he isn’t inspiring. Not in my book.
There are those like me who are tired of watching the same teams winning year after year. After a while, that gets old fast and we start to root hard against those teams because of the redundancy and monotony with which they win. So, having the Capitals, the Philadelphia Flyers – another arch nemesis of the Penguins, and the Lakers gone from their respective sport’s playoffs makes it easier to watch and want to follow because you don’t have those teams shoved down your throat anymore, at least for this season.
*As the school year winds down and the budget crisis continues in Harrisburg, there will be arguments about how vital sports are to the education process and how they are going to be funded – either through taxpayer dollars, fundraisers, or pay to play systems. Given how important sports are to this region, I would imagine local populaces will do everything they can to assure high school sports stay relevant and will find a way to fund them so children and young men and women can participate in athletics. Stay tuned.
*The last two weeks in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series had Kyle Busch winning at Richmond, Virginia and Regan Smith taking a very pleasantly surprising win in Darlington, South Carolina, home of the Southern 500, which is one of NASCAR’s oldest tracks and one of its oldest and most traditional races. In essence, back to NASCAR’s roots.
This week, the series will travel to Dover, Delaware, home of the Monster Mile on concrete.
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