Big Lead Sports Bar

1/05/2010

TODAY'S HEADLINES


The streak is over: The Penguins finally ended their five-game losing skid on Tuesday night with a 5-2 win over the Atlanta Thrashers. The Pens also ended an 0-for-13 run on the power play during those five losses with a second period PP goal from Ruslan Fedotenko.

Jordan Staal led the way for Pittsburgh with two goals, while Kris Letang and Luca Caputi also lit the lamp for the Pens. Geno Malkin was held without a goal for the sixth straight game, but did assist on the Caputi goal.

Brent Johnston stopped 31 of 33 in goal for the Pens, who resume play on Thursday against Philadelphia. [ESPN]



Epic Fail: Yes, the Steelers were a massive disappointment in 2009. But few organizations can match the season the Browns just lived through, with a scary compilation of all their missteps done by Deadspin.

LaRoche turns down Giants: Adam LaRoche apparently has no self-esteem issues, because he just shot down a two-year, $17 million deal from the San Francisco Giants. So much for that reunion with Freddy Sanchez.

The Giants reportedly have not given up yet for some reason, which is likely the fact that there is only one other suitor (Baltimore) which would be a realistic landing spot for the 1B/Duck Commander. [MLB Trade Rumors]

Cowher rumors refuse to die: Every day, there's a new Bill Cowher rumor. He's putting together a staff. He's talking to Buffalo. He's ruled out Buffalo. He's talking to Tampa. Tampa's bringing back Raheem Morris. I know I'm not the first to say this, but the former coach is becoming, shall we say, Favre-ish lately. [NFL.com]

College hockey at the Igloo: Top-ranked Miami of Ohio (alma mater of one Benjamin Todd Roethlisberger), sporting a 13-2-5 record, will face off against 3-12-3 Robert Morris in the feature game of the fourth annual Pittsburgh College Hockey Showcase on Friday, Janary 8 at Mellon Arena. Game time is 8 p.m.

RMU has seven Pittsburgh-area players in their lineup. I hope Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are among them. [PittsburghPenguins.com]

UPDATE: Interesting tidbits from Andrew D. at Miami:

"Miami University (in addition to being Ben's alma mater) is also the alma mater of Stan Savran.

And the Miami hockey team includes the son of former Pittsburgh Penguin Moe Mantha. Devin Mantha is a freshman forward, but has not seen very much in the way of game action."

The Capitals rap: This has been floating around the web for a few days, so I finally gave in and posted it. As if you needed another reason to dislike the Capitals and/or their fans. [Puck Daddy]

A vote to franchise Casey Hampton: "They should try to work out a deal with Hampton. But if they can't, they should franchise him regardless of his wishes and test his resolve. Somebody that fat doesn't have much willpower, and deep down they all just want to play football." [WXDX/Mark Madden]

The 2009 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year is... Percy Harvin. Well that was anticlimactic. Mike Wallace got one vote. One! And before you scoff at the notion of Wallace being in the Harvin Ballpark, consider this: their touchdowns were even and their yardage was nearly even, despite Harvin having 21 more catches. How was that possible? Because Wallace gains an average of almost 20 yards every time he touches the ball, that's how. I'd think that would be worth more than one vote. [ESPN]

And the Pittsburghers of the Year are...
Coaches Mike Tomlin and Dan Bylsma. Again, no consideration for Mike Wallace. I'm outraged. [96.1 Kiss Freak Show]

Hinske to Braves: Former Pirate utilityman Eric Hinske agreed to a one-year deal with the Atlanta Braves, pending a physical. Hinske hit .242 with eight homers and 25 RBI between the Pirates and Yankees in 2009. I'm sure he will help the Braves as much as he helped the Pirates. [CBS]

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11 comments:

BurressWithButterflywings said...

Its not just the Capitals and their fans that I hate, I hate PuckDaddy, too.

Koz said...

What about PuckDaddy do you hate?

Anonymous said...

Puckdaddy does post everything related to the Caps crapping on the Pens. He's held photo shop expos and posted pics of caps fans displaying their crafty ways of calling Sid a whiner.

I believe he works for the caps in some capacity (post-game analysis or something), so there's an obvious bias there.

I think the difference with Harvin and Wallace came down to Harvin's return game. He averaged like 27 yards per kick return with two TDs.

It still should have been closer than that. Wallace has barely gotten mentioned. And consider that Wallace had that season from the 3rd WR spot on the depth chart.

HomeRunFromBehindTheMeatballs said...

Nice to see Caputi making an immediate contribution!!!

Hahaha, great quote from mark madden too! The Steelers CANNOT replace hampton next season if they let him walk. Ziggy is going to be more of a DE, & will not be a 3-4 NT in the NFL.

No love for Mike Wallace again!! You'd have thought the vote would have been a little bit divided. That being said... they're receiving numbers are close & harvin adds KR #s to the mix. Tough break. A terrific rookie year nonetheless! Congrats Mikey!

Steve said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Steve said...

Caputi scored in his first game last season too and then didn't do much else after. I hope this stint goes better for him.

Puck Daddy is like a lot of closet Penguins haters and uses other ways to make his opinion known without flat out saying he hates them. Sort of like when Edzo said Talbot's first goal in Game 7 of the Cup Finals shouldn't have counted because Staal's dump in/pass was behind the red line and should have been a "penalty" (I didn't know you got a penalty for icing the puck), he made comments only about the officiating when the Pens got a break and how Crosby should have been penalized on the hit by Franzen because he held Franzen. Yes, if you replay the game he actually said it. Olczyk is very bitter about his days as Pens coach and I hope the Pens can get back to the Cup Finals again to knock of his Blackhawks just to watch his head explode...his and Hossa's that is.

BurressWithButterflywings said...

Steve,

I am glad I am not the only one who sees EdZo's bitterness. People tell me that I am crazy and I imagine it. I remember him crying about that first goal and the too many men on the ice ( on which we didn't score) as well. He never pointed out anything the Wings did wrong though. There were so many people who wanted Malkin suspended for the fight after game 2, but totally ignored the fact that Zetterberg clearly threw the first punch at Talbot after the Osberry Flop.

It's funny how when some teams and players are on top, people kiss their butts ( see Manning, Peyton or James, Lebron) and some are just absolutely hated for being good.

I found it funny that both FSN and ESPN's 2009 Year End Highlight Reels showed only one play from SB XLIII and one play from the SCF, and of course ended with a 15 second shot of the Yankees celebrating. Nevermind sports history being made in Pittsburgh in 2009.......

Ryan said...

How can you say that Cowher is acting like Favre?

Cowher is not the one responsible for generating this media spin, it's Chris Mortinsen and his lap dog at ESPN Adam whats his name stirring the pots.

Cowher has repeatedly said he's not even thinking about coaching next year until this season is over.

The same cannot be said for Favre who continuously was working out with local high school kids, and being wishy washy to the press about wanting to play again.

Cowher is clearly waiting for Carolina to open up, which it did not this season.

Nothing against Buffalo or Tampa, but do you see those as cities where Cowher would want to go and coach? He's got tunnel vision for Carolina and until that opens up, I look for him to be sitting pretty at CBS.

Steve said...

Burress - Lots of bitter ex-Pens around the league. McGuire is probably tops on the list, as he will go out of his way to un-justly suck up to and compliment any other team and players the Pens happen to be facing and because of it, we have all learned that Crosby isn't even qualified to carry Richards stick and should be humbled just to skate on the same ice as the greatest leader in the history of the game.

BurressWithButterflywings said...

Hey come on Steve,

Mike Richards is the reinging League Leader in Leading with Leadership in the Leader category of Leading. If there was a Hart Trophy solely based on Leadership, Ricahrds would surely be the leading vote-getter amongst any other leaders who lead with leadership. I don't think anybody doubts that much.

He is also very good at leading the Flyers to the golf course after playing the Pens the past few years, too.

Louis Lipps is my homeboy said...

Yeah, Harvin's return skills won him ROY (and the fact that he was a bigtime college star probably didn't hurt).

Congrats to him though, he deserved it. But I'm perfectly happy with our rookie receiver.

Puck Daddy, as some have mentioned, ALWAYS shits on the Pens.