NEWS AND NOTES

--Pirates 6, Rockies 4 at PNC last night. Luis Rivas had three hits and three RBI, and no West Virginia kids were arrested.

--The Penguins are first in the East in Scott Burnside's Power Rankings. Sidney Crosby refuses to touch the East Power Rankings Championship Trophy.

--ESPN AFC North blogger James Walker thinks the Steelers will sign former Brown LeCharles Bentley. That could be a bad sign for the state of the line.

--Kevin Greene is at Steeler camp as a coaching intern.

--Brett Keisel could return to special teams in some capacity this year.

--Sid is #2 and Geno #8 in ESPN's Fantasy Hockey Rankings. How that's relevant in July, I have no idea.

--Bob Smizik thinks that the Outside the Lines program could be Joe Paterno's undoing.

--The Tanger Outlet Mall in Washington, PA, is almost complete, and will be, "the premium outlet center in the eastern Great Lakes and central mid-Atlantic states region."

Take that, Grove City.

--Here's a list of MLB’s 20 Worst Trades of the Last 15 Years. Yes, the Pirates are mentioned.

--It looks like Heidi Watney is officially the Erin Andrews of Boston.

--Brady Quinn, known more for questionable internet photos than football at this point, adds another one to his resume: black tights.

--The controversial drink tax will be placed in voter's hands.

--The PG even has a Comic Con blog? Boy, they are really embracing this format.

--Here's what several bottles of Cisco will do to somebody.

--Here's the 10 Most Bizarre Restaurants In The World

--New blog alert: welcome The Suburban Rob Rossis.

--ESPN's Titletown is announced, and the winner is...Savannah, GA.. That was exciting.

--Check out this video of a guy betting weed at a casino.

--Here's the nine most memorable video game athletes.

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CHANGED CULTURE UPDATE

We're 18 games into the season, so let's get a look at where the 2008 Pittsburgh Pirates (those of the "changed culture" variety) stand:

Standings? 7-11, 1/2 game out of last place in the NL Central. Outscored 117-81.
Pitching? Their 5.26 ERA is last in the NL and next-to-last in the majors.
Fielding? Their 22 errors and .969 fielding percentage are the worst in the majors.
Batting? Their .243 average ranks 23rd, and their OBP of .309 puts them 24th.
Accountability? I think Bob Smizik summed it up quite nicely.
Adam LaRoche? Batting .137. 17 strikeouts, 7 hits.
Bautista? .175. 18 strikeouts, 11 hits.
Jason Bay? 5 RBI. 13 strikeouts, 16 hits.
Freddy Sanchez? .232.
Starting pitching? No one with an ERA below 4, including Gorzelanny at 9.35, Morris at 7.02, Maholm at 5.28.
Bullpen? Don't go there, brother.
Luis Rivas? Probably shouldn't play shortstop anymore.

OK, so the on-field product is not what some had anticipated. No surprise there, despite all the promises from management. But we can still look forward to Nate McLouth pinch-hitting in the 9th inning of the All-Star Game, the Tom Gorzelanny Bobblehead, Jalapeno Hanna Mrs. Potato Heads, the Lumber Company Bobblehead series, Matt Morris pitching batting practice to the other team during the game, REO Speedwagon, Collective Soul, booing A-Rod in person on a cool summer night, the new all-you-can-eat section, and eight nights of Zambelli fireworks. And that's a part of Pirate culture that will never change.

That Didn't Last Long

One this year's more intriguing stories, "The Great Byung-Hyun Kim Experiment", didn't last long, as he was bought out by the Pirates for the bargain price of $300,000.

Kim's sparkling spring line including 5 innnings pitched, 5 HR allowed, and a 14.40 ERA. Given one more chance to not impress the team yesterday, Kim said he was ill and got permission to leave McKechnie Field. What a gamer.

Besides Kim, the Pirates made a fleury of moves yesterday:

--Nate McLouth was named as the starting CF, but Nyjer Morgan will stick around as a backup.

--Jaret Wright, aka Turd Ferguson, was released.

--The contracts of IF Luis Rivas and utilityman Doug Mientkiewicz were purchased from AAA Indianapolis, which means pitcher Jonah Bayliss will have the opportunity to watch Pacer games on a regular basis.

--They released reliever Juan Perez.

--Acquired reliever Tyler Yates from the Atlanta Braves for pitcher Todd Redmond.

--Kevin Thompson, Elmer Dessens and Casey Fossum were also sent to Indy.

--Designated infielder Josh Wilson for assignment and reassigned infielder Jorge Velandia to minor-league camp.

--Relievers Sean Burnett, Phil Dumatrait, Franquelis Osoria, Evan Meek, Hector Carrasco and Masumi Kuwata are battling for three spots. Osoria and Dumatrait are believed to be locks.

Just a few days left until Ian Snell and John Smoltz face off in Atlanta on Monday. Can you feel the excitement building? Me neither.

Pirates acquire Yates from Atlanta, buy out Kim [PG]

Spring Training: Pirates set to buy out Kim [PG]