Break Out the Lumber! Bucs Win

Aki Iwamura and Jeff Clement both hit their first home runs in a Pirates uniform as the Bucs beat the Diamondbacks 6-3. Zach Duke was solid going 7 innings and allowing only 4 hits and 2 runs. Octavio Dotel pitched a perfect 9th for his first save as a Bucco. The rubber match is tomorrow at 4 o'clock. The game is not on TV in the Pittsburgh market.

Speaking of TV, I was a little shocked that the game wasn't blacked out on the MLB Network tonight. MLB loves to black out games. Did you know that Scranton is home to 4 major league teams? Yep, the Pirates, Phillies, Mets and Yankees are all considered local so whenever they are nationally televised they get blacked out, regardless if you get the teams sports network or not. Luckily we get most of them. I just can never watch the Mets. Big deal. It just seems a little strange that I am in 4 teams local market. At least I get FSN Pittsburgh so I'll stop my bitch fest.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am really enjoying watching this team early on. That may be a different story come July, or we could shock the world. Yeah, that sounds better. Go Bucs!

Game 5 - Pirates @ Diamondbacks

The Other Pens

As some of you may or may not know, I am not from around Pittsburgh but instead in the northeastern sector of Pennsylvania. While living here certainly has its ups and downs, I must say as a sports fan one of the greatest joys is being able to see the future stars of your team before they become famous. Yes, I am talking about the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Pittsburgh's AHL affiliate. I bring this up now because Friday night they clinched a spot in the AHL Playoffs Friday night with a 4-3 win over the Albany River Rats. Though AHL hockey is often considered to be less important than that of the NHL, I must counter that saying that these men want the ultimate prize (Calder Cup) just as much as their NHL counterparts. Next week the Pens embark on the road to the Calder Cup, and I will update every step of the way. The Penguins will have either the Albany River Rats or the league leading Hershey Bears in the first round, and they can avoid Hershey if they manage to win their final games of the season.

For those unfamiliar I will introduce you to the key players on the WBS roster:

(* signifies time spent in PIT this season)

Forwards:

-Mark Letestu*

-Wyatt Smith

-Dustin Jeffrey*

-Chris Conner*

-Tim Wallace*

-Eric Tangradi

-Joe Vitale

-Nick Johnson*

-Wade Brookbank

Defense:

-Deryk Engelland*

-Ben Lovejoy*

-Brian Strait

-Robert Bortuzzo

-Chris Lee

-Steve Wagner

There you have it folks, both NHL and AHL playoff mania next week for the Pens. Lets Go Pens!

Game 4 - Pirates @ Diamondbacks Liveblog

Sorry for the quick post but I won't be around for this one. The liveblog is below. LETS GO BUCS!



Really? Still in a Braves hat. Yuk!

Show for the Ages

In front of many of the great Penguins of old, the Penguins of now closed out the final regular season game at Mellon Arena in style with a 7-3 win over the New York Islanders Thursday night. Many former Pens greats were in attendance for a pregame ceremony honoring all of the Penguins who have had noteworthy careers at Mellon Arena. Each of the former Pens that were able to attend got individually honored as they walked out onto the ice for an eventual group picture with the current Penguins before the game began. Though I doubt there was a dry eye in the house after that ceremony (narrated by Paul Steigerwald and Mike Lange), the Pens still had to get down to business as there was an important game to be played. Brooks Orpik wasted absolutely no time doing so as he put the Pens on the board just 23 seconds into the game sending the igloo into an uproar and giving the Pens the lead that they would not relinquish for the rest of the game. Alex Goligoski kept the momentum going with a wrist shot powerplay goal off of a perfect pass from captain Sidney Crosby. The Pens then settled down for the next few minutes and allowed a goal from Matt Moulsen. They would not remain settled for long. Evgeni Malkin picked up the puck in his own zone with 5 minutes to go in the first and beat Martin Biron on a breakaway shot. Though this would have been enough to call a great opening period, they were still not done. With 58 seconds remaining in the period, Sidney Crosby got the puck in the zone and managed to slap one past Biron for his 49th goal of the season to put the Pens up 4-2 at the first intermission. The Isles got a rather quick goal to start out the second, but it would be the last they scored for the rest of the game. Sidney Crosby fired a wrist shot that deflected off Billy Guerin into the goal. It was initially celebrated as Crosby's 50th for the season, but further review after the game initiated by Crosby himself overturned the goal and gave it to Guerin. Guerin would get another one in the third period, giving him 21 and yet another 20 goal season. Tyler Kennedy also scored a few minutes after Guerin's first goal to give him 13 for the year. The game meant much more than just individual achievements and Mellon Memories, however. This win combined with a 3-2 regulation loss by the New Jersey Devils to Florida puts the Pens and the Devils in a tie for the Atlantic Division lead with two games remaining for each of them. (the devils do have the tiebreak, however) Most of the problems that showed in Tuesdays game were non-existant, as Fleury looked sharp (32 of 35 saves) and the Pens were able to generate momentum without problem. They played 60 full minutes of dedicated and inspired hockey and were rewarded for that work at the end with an incredibly long standing ovation that not only celebrated the Pens' win tonight but every Pens' win that was ever recorded in historic Mellon Arena. Evgeni Malkin returned to the lineup after missing the last game due to illness, however Chris Kunitz missed his second straight. Also, some "housekeeping details": Alexei Ponikarovsky was given a game misconduct after a contraversial boarding penalty. It was probably worthy of a penalty of some sort although it was clear that "Poni" had no intent to injure. Islanders goals were scored by Moulsen, Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey. The Pens are now in a dogfight with the Devils for the Atlantic Division, with the Pens having the Thrashers and Islanders remaining and the Devils having the Islanders and the Sabres left. Saturday night, the Pens travel to Atlanta to face the disheartened yet ever dangerous Thrashers that were eliminated from playoff contention Tuesday night against the Devils.

Here are some of the memorable photos from the last regular season game at the Igloo:

Sidney Crosby looks on after scoring what everyone thought was his 50th goal of the year, but he would later credit the goal to teammate Billy Guerin.

Past and present Penguins pose for a team photo before the game Thursday night.

Penguins legend and current owner Mario Lemieux takes the ice to a roaring ovation from the sellout crowd before the game Thursday night.

Another picture of Lemieux taking the ice.

Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury celebrate after a 7-3 win.

(note): the title picture is after Billy Guerin's first goal in the second period.

Mellon Arena Video 4/8/10

Chills.

Game 3 - Dodgers @ Pirates

The Bucs go for the sweep today at PNC. They haven't swept the Dodgers at home since May 31-June 2, 1999. Here is the pitching matchup:



The liveblog is below. The game can be seen on FSN. I'll be a work so it's radio only for me. It's only been two games but man, this is fun. Last night's hero Ronny Cedeno is not in today's line-up. Lastings Milledge and Jeff Clement are also getting the day off. Already John Russell is screwing with the line-up. The guy drives me nuts at times. I realize its a day game after a night game but they just had an off day on Tuesday. GFJ is at first, Bobby Crosby is at short and Ryan Church is in right. So that's a total of 3 starters sitting this one out. I do like Crosby over Cedeno but that's about it. Say it with me ... LETS GO BUCS!!!

Game 2 - Dodgers @ Pirates liveblog

Unexplainable

From the perspective of a Penguins fan, the only thing I have to say to sum up their 6-3 loss to the Washington Capitals is "...........". Sure, I can talk about how Marc-Andre Fleury let in two incredibly soft goals before being pulled midway through the second period. Sure, I can talk about the way the Pens were unable to hold any momentum, twice getting scored on less than 2 minutes after scoring. I can even blame the officials for disallowing a Pens goal that clearly crossed the line before being whistled dead that would have made the game 4-3 late in the second. But we all know that those problems may just disappear during the Pens' next game and possibly be replaced with a set of new ones, so why even bother. For many of the current playoff teams in the conference, it is easy to spot their strengths and weaknesses, but for the Pens it is not so easy. They have undergone a long series of various problems this season that have seemed to correct themselves but then return later on. This inconsistency can be both an advantage and disadvantage as the opposition does not know what to expect, but neither do the Pens. Marc-Andre Fleury started the game with some stellar saves and it looked to be another gem performance, but then faded into the second and gave up two very soft goals to Mike Knuble and Tomas Fleischmann. Perhaps the most commonly agreed upon problem with the Pens would be with the play of their defensemen, especially in transition. This was again an issue right off the bat, with Alex Semin beating Alex Goligoski into the slot and scoring to give the Caps the early 2-0. Alexander Ovechkin also had two goals, including an empty netter with less than a second remaining in the game. This was done for the sole purpose of Ovechkin wishing to "pad his stats" and perhaps move up in the race for various individual awards for scoring and points. Despite this whole medley of problems, there were a few bright spots. Jordan Leopold scored two goals from the points just one game after scoring his first as a Penguin in overtime on Saturday. Sidney Crosby also got his 48th goal of the season on the powerplay in the second period, and is tied with Ovechkin for the league lead in goals. Matt Bradley scored the other goal for the Capitals. The important thing for the Pens and their fanbase is not to get too caught up in the flaws shown by the team tonight. With the playoffs less than a week away, the focus shall shift to entering on a positive note, though the Pens' chances of winning the Atlantic Division suffered heavily today with a Devils win, putting New Jersey ahead by 2 points and the tiebreaker with 3 games remaining. Flaws are to be acknowledged and corrected, but not dwelled upon and the most important thing to remember is "Win as a team, Lose as a team." I encourage everyone to tune in on time for Thursday's game against the New York Islanders, as there will be a ceremony to honor many of the great Penguins of old in the last regular season game at Mellon Arena. The game will also carry massive importance, as it will be nearly a must-win situation if they want to stay in the hunt for the division title.

Greed and Lies in small town PA

This is the first post in possibly many on this subject.

I heard the Pirates played a pretty good game yesterday. There isn't much outside of my family that fills me with more joy than Opening Day, and from what I hear it was a great one.

I don't pay extra money to subscribe to FSN Pittsburgh you ask?

Well yes, yes I do. The reason I have only HEARD about this game is because I happen to be one of the unlucky schmucks who had enough of Directv's customer service calls, and wanted to help a local business. They tell you when you call about their personal approach and how great it is getting local service.

A very rosy picture to be sure. Afterall who doesn't want to strengthen their local economy?

Anyway back to the point. I arrived home from work with my eyes glistening, I searched for the remote (KIDS!) and when I finally found this boxy, fragile, piece of crap and turned to the game I was stunned to see an Auto Auction. My thoughts raced and rage began to build. I called my Cable Company, SERVICE ELECTRIC CABLEVISION, to see what was wrong, there must have been some mistake.

A woman, I believe her name was Stacy answered, when I explained my problem she gave me what at the time I thought was a very fishy response. She told me FSN Pittsburgh was trying to protect their local territory. I responded that it is their channel, how does blacking the game out help them when I've gotten every single Pirates game over the course of the last year? Her response? It has nothing to do with SERVICE ELECTRIC CABLEVISION.

Well eventually I hung up trying to believe this liar. Then I went to FSN's website and found the truth. My Cable company is too cheap to pay for the games. While they charge me extra for the channel they won't pay more for extra games.

I don't appreciate taking my money and not giving me the full product in return. Most of all I do not appreciate this rosy part of the community facade the losers at Service Electric like to put on. At least other Cable Companies released statements telling why they won't be showing the games. SECV just lies to you on the phone and blames everyone but themselves for their cheapskate ways.

Here is the first email I wrote to them regarding this situation.

I pay extra to receive these games. I switched from Directv for a multitude of reasons, one of which was the fact that dealing with Directv was a hefty task and I thought I would be getting something better from a "local" provider. Even though I am paying more than I ever did with Directv I have been perfectly content with your service. Now I can't even watch what other providers are carrying? I missed one of the biggest games of the year because of this and if it isn't rectified very soon, and I miss another game because of it, I will be canceling my service and switching back to directv.

SECV must be communist to not show something as American as Opening Day!

Jones, Pirates Crush Dodgers

Garrett Freakin' Jones hit two home runs, his first bouncing into the Allegheny River, helping the Bucs beat the Dodgers 11-5. The Legend became the sixth player in Pirates history to homer twice on opening day.

Ryan Church hit a pinch-hit three-run double and Ryan Doumit had a three run homer for Pittsburgh. Zach Duke gave up 2 runs in only five innings for the win.

The Good things: Garrett Jones. There's a lot of talk about how the Pirates will score runs this year. Hopefully Jones and company can put that to rest. GFJ also had two spectacular catches in the field.

Ryan Church. Welcome to Pittsburgh.

Andrew McCutchen. 1-4 with a double and a stolen base. The double was close to being a home run.

Octavio Dotel. Pitched a perfect 9th in a non-save situation but was fun to watch. The arm strength looked fine and he looks like a big upgrade from the closers role last year.

The bad things: The bullpen. D.J. Carrasco and Evan Meek made things a bit uneasy with a big lead. It's the first game so we'll wait and see.

Andy LaRoche. Was 0-3 while stranding four runners on base.

That's just about it for the bad things. You got to love opening day. We all know the Bucs aren't going to contend this year but wins like this gives the fans hope, plus this team is going to be fun to watch.

The Pirates are off tomorrow (good thing because Pens v. Caps is on) and will be back at PNC Park on Wednesday. Go Bucs!

One last thing. Check out Sean's Ramblings for my 2010 Pirates Predictions

Opening Day 2010- Dodgers @ Pirates Liveblog

Opening day. The best day in sports. Here is the pitching matchup. Join us in the liveblog below. If you happen to live in the Altoona or State College area, the game will not be televised on FSN Pittsburgh. This was your cable companies decision, not FSN's. Contact your cable company and demand that they pick up all of FSN's telecasts. It just won't be today. You guys will be blacked out for 35 games this season.

Your 1985 Pirates

I was looking for something the other day but found this instead. George Hendrick, Steve Kemp and Sixto Lezcano on the cover of a 1985 Pirates scorebook. Things were a lot worse in 1985 than they are today. I guess we can call them Awful Pirates. [PSaMP]



The 1985 Pirates team finished with a record of 57-104, 43½ games behind the NL Champion St. Louis Cardinals.

Pirates Announce Final Cuts - Opening Day Roster

SP Zach Duke
SP Ross Ohlendorf
SP Paul Maholm
SP Charlie Morton
SP Daniel McCutchen.

Closer Octavio Dotel
RP Brendan Donnelly
RP Evan Meek
RP Javier Lopez
RP D.J. Carrasco
RP Jack Taschner
RP Hayden Penn

C Ryan Doumit
CJason Jaramillo.

1B Jeff Clement
2B Aki Iwamura
SS Ronny Cedeno
3B Andy LaRoche
INF Bobby Crosby
INF/OF Delwyn Young.

LF Lastings Milledge
CF Andrew McCutchen
RF Garrett Jones
RF Ryan Church
OF John Raynor

The Pirates cut Ramon Vazquez, optioned Steve Pearce to Triple A and moved Joel Hanrahan and Jose Ascanio to the 15 and 60 day disabled list respectively.

Comeback Kids!

It has often been referred to amongst Pens fans as their "on-switch" or their "extra level" when talking about how the Penguins sometimes have the ability to raise their game to new heights near the end of games. Some days they flip that switch very early in games and put it away, some games they are too late and can not raise their game enough, but their timing was impeccable on Saturday as they "flipped the switch" just in time to tie the game up with 74 seconds remaining and win 4-3 in overtime. Nearly the entire game was a comeback, as the Pens did not take the lead until Jordan Leopold scored his first goal as a Penguin little over halfway through overtime. Leopold, who was a trade deadline acquistion from Florida, picked up the puck in the neutral zone off a Sidney Crosby backcheck and took the puck into the corner boards. He then made a spin move around Thrashers' defenseman Mark Popovic and threw a shot on net that trickled its way past Johan Hedberg to give the Penguins the win and 2 points to stay tied with the New Jersey Devils for the Atlantic Division. (Devils beat the Hurricanes 4-0 Saturday) While Leopold sealed the deal, it was the return of center Evgeni Malkin (who missed 7 out of 8 with foot injury) and defenseman Sergei Gonchar (who missed 4 with strep throat) that was the driving force for Pittsburgh. After giving up a late goal at the end of the first to Maxim Afinogenov, Malkin tied the game up with a quick snap shot powerplay goal that tied the game up midway through the second. While the Thrashers did manage another late goal at the end of the 2nd (Tim Stapleton), the Pens would again have an answer. Sidney Crosby threw a shot off Hedberg's pads that bounced right onto Tyler Kennedy's stick, who put the puck into an empty net to tie the game up 3 and a half minutes into the third. This joy would be short-lived, however, as Rich Peverley scored 1:04 later to put the Thrashers up again. It appeared to be another tough loss in the making for the Pens, as the Thrashers began to fall into an "infamous" trap defense (same used by Devils and Lightning). That was, until, Jim Slater got called for holding, giving Pittsburgh one last powerplay to tie the game up. That turned out to be all they needed. The play started with Evgeni Malkin dashing into the zone, but rather than take the shot, he dropped it back to Sergei Gonchar for one of his signature "cannon" slapshots. Gonchar beat Hedberg low side sending Mellon Arena into a frenzy and igniting the passion shown by many fans in overtime. This was a crucial win for Pittsburgh, who was surrounded by some doubt after their lackluster performance against Tampa Bay. This win may help to break some of that doubt, though there is still work to be done within the division. Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves for Pittsburgh, including one where he denied Maxim Afinogenov an empty goal on the powerplay. Though the story of the game centered around the return of Malkin and Gonchar, the Pens may not yet be in the clear on the injury front as forward Chris Kunitz left the game with an undisclosed injury. Atlanta faced similar problems, losing Bryan Little in the beginning of the 2nd. Hopefully both of those players and their teams will overcome those difficulties in the last week of the season. The Penguins have 4 remaining games on their schedule, the next being Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals coming perhaps to their last game at Mellon Arena (except for the possibility of a playoff series) Even though Washington has clinched the number 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, expect their best performance in this final regular season matchup between these two rivals

Pirates @ Phillies Liveblog

The Pirates play their final two spring games in Philadelphia. Wouldn't it be great if they played each other more in the REGULAR season? The game is on FSN and is also free online at MLB.tv for those of you out of the Pittsburgh market. We are doing one last liveblog before things count. Join us below. Go Bucs!

Missing in Action

It is often a tradition at Mellon Arena for fans to wait outside by the parking lot and wait for the team to arrive. Unfortunately, many are still waiting. The Pittsburgh Penguins lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning Wednesday night 2-0 in a game where their offense was non-existant and their defense flawed as well. The team looked as if they were uninterested at times, and this lack of motivation and effort combined with a strong game from the playoff-desperate Lightning was only a recipe for disaster for the Pens. Mike Smith faced only 27 shots from the Pens, and many of those were not realistic scoring chances. On the other hand, Fleury saw only 17 shots, but many of them were on breakaways and powerplays, including an extremely impressive wrist shot from young phenom Steven Stamkos late in the first to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead. "NHL Pest" Steve Downie would score the second for Tampa very early in the second, and that would be all the scoring for the rest of the game. The Pens looked the polar opposite from their strong weekend performance, where they were crisp and had a jump in their step. Not only was there a lack of scoring, but this was a rather chippy game that included a scary hit from behind on Ruslan Fedotanko and a long fight between Bill Guerin and Lightning enforcer Zenon Konopka. (yes, his name IS Zenon) It was a frustrating performance for the Pens, who were again without Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar. Dan Bylsma, who was visably irritated throughout the game, called a players only meeting after the game perhaps to address the issues that so frequently plagued the Pens tonight. The important thing for Pittsburgh is that they find a way to put this one behind them and move on to the rest of their schedule. They have only five games remaining, the next being Saturday afternoon at home against the 9th place Atlanta Thrashers.

Pens, Letang Agree On Extension

Pittsburgh has signed defenseman Kris Letang to a four-year contract extension. ESPN is reporting that the deal is worth $3.5 million per year. Letang, who is only 22 years old, was to become a restricted free agent. Now let's get Matt Cooke signed. Go Pens!

Dispelling the Steeler Myth

There has always been a special aura about the Steelers, that they do things the right way. In many cases this may be true. They don't usually overpay guys, but they do give their players every opportunity to succeed. The Rooney's treat their guys great and in many cases that is probably returned in the form of on-field performance and loyalty.

There is also a myth that has run rampant amongst Steelers fans, and the media in particular though. This myth is that the Steelers only work with players of the highest quality and top notch character. I think it's about time this myth gets laid to rest.

Ben Roethlisberger's travails have been well documented by now so they basically go without saying. The guy is immature, and from most accounts just a flat out jackass when it comes to decision making and how he treats people.

Santonio Holmes had big questions about his character and maturity coming out of Ohio St. and these questions, at least in my mind, still need answered. He has been caught with illegal drugs in his possession, and now is accused of assaulting a woman at a night club with a glass full of liquor.

Jeff Reed is another one who seems to like his alcohol a bit too much. In addition to being the first tough guy I know of to take on and beat up a paper towel dispenser at Sheetz, he has been charged with resisting arrest, public drunkenness, disorderly conduct and assault. Maybe he should have a few shots before taking the field so he can find the beer muscles to get in front of the guy with the ball during returns.

Then there is James Harrison who was accused of slapping around his girlfriend.

These are all core, key guys. The Steelers front office is about winning first, not great PR. Sure they like the image but the bigger image is the 6 Lombardi's on display. They only have a zero tolerance for guys like Cedric Wilson and Gary Russell. When it comes down to brass tacks the Steelers are about winning, and that's probably how it should be.

Can we please just stop saying how high class our team is, because they aren't.

Welcome to the Sidney Crosby Show

Seven games left in the season, division title on the line, and in a fight against a desperate Toronto team laying everything on the line: Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Sidney Crosby Show. He had two pivotal goals and one in the shootout to lead the Pens to a 5-4 shootout victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs Sunday afternoon at Mellon Arena. This, combined with a New Jersey loss to the Flyers, gives the Penguins a two point lead in the Atlantic Division with only 6 games remaining. (Devils have 7) It was a game of "cat and mouse" the entire game with each team exchanging goals all the way until the shootout. Tyler Kennedy put the Pens on the board first with an important goal midway through the first to tie the game up after Colton Orr of the Leafs scored earlier in the game. Kennedy's goal came after Mike Rupp managed to box out two Leafs defenders in the corner boards and pass the puck out to an open Kennedy for the score. The pattern would continue when Phil Kessel managed to put a long wrist shot past Fleury to give Toronto a 2-1 lead and the majority of the momentum. It was up to the captain to turn things around, and he wasted little time doing so. His first goal of the game came after Brooks Orpik wristed a long shot on J S Giguere and Crosby was there to dig out the rebound and poke it home for the score. Just over 3 minutes later, Crosby would score yet again after taking a pass from Orpik in the offensive zone and beating Giguere just over his blocker to put the Pens up 3-2. Unfortunately for the Pens, however, there was still some work to be done. The Leafs managed to tie it and take the lead on a pair of goals from Carl Gunnarsson and Tyler Bozak in the second and third periods respectively. It appeared for a long time that this would be the way things would end until the Pens changed all that with 2:48 to go in the third. Jordan Leopold slapped a shot towards Giguere ,but instead of a routine save being made, Matt Cooke jumped in front of it and made an extraordinary deflection between his legs to tie the game up and eventually send it into overtime. It looked like the Pens would pull it off at the end of overtime as they got a 4 on 3 powerplay in the final minutes, but a few acrobatic saves from Giguere kept it tied and sent the game into a shootout. Crosby cemented his status as first star of the game by beating Giguere high side to give the Pens the shootout lead. Pascal Dupuis also scored in the shootout and Fleury stopped both attempts thrown his way by Kessel and Nikolai Kulemin. Despite allowing 4 goals, it was a strong performance by Fleury, who made 25 saves and picked up his 35th win of the season. Crosby also had a good stats night getting his 47th goal of the season putting him ahead of Alexander Ovechkin and Steven Stamkos for the league lead. Crosby's performance was extremely important considering the absence of co-star Evgeni Malkin, who missed his 4th straight game and 6th out of the last 7. Sergei Gonchar also was absent due to illness, missing his 3rd straight. Another individual performance worth noting was that of Brooks Orpik, who recorded 3 assists and was a +1 for the game. This win capped off an important weekend for the Pens, who got 4 out a possible 4 points, clinched the playoffs, and seized the division lead from the Devils. The Pens will hope to keep their momentum going on Wednesday, when young superstar Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning come into town.