DK Pittsburgh Sports Columns http://dkpittsburghsports.com Award-winning columnist Dejan Kovacevic covers Steelers, Penguins, Pirates, Pitt and more Thu, 01 Oct 2015 13:38:50 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.5 Column: And now comes the hardest part http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/10/01/column-and-now-comes-the-hardest-part/ http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/10/01/column-and-now-comes-the-hardest-part/#comments Thu, 01 Oct 2015 04:11:01 +0000 http://dkpittsburghsports.com/?p=33203 The Pirates can beat the Cardinals in the National League Division Series. I didn’t believe that in 2013, but I do now. What’s more, if the Pirates beat the Cubs in the wild card game, then beat the Cardinals, they instantly become odds-on favorites to win their sixth World Series championship. Better now? No? OK, […]

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]]> http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/10/01/column-and-now-comes-the-hardest-part/feed/ 146 Column: Neither Pirates nor city showed up http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/29/column-neither-pirates-nor-city-showed-up/ http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/29/column-neither-pirates-nor-city-showed-up/#comments Tue, 29 Sep 2015 04:44:12 +0000 http://dkpittsburghsports.com/?p=32847 “I can take getting beat,” Andrew McCutchen was saying at his stall late Monday night, his eyes drifting skyward as if still searching for answers. “But that … that’s not getting beat. That’s us losing. That’s us giving away the game.” Yeah, and the Central Division, too. Cardinals 3, Pirates 0. As in, Cardinals four […]

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]]> http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/29/column-neither-pirates-nor-city-showed-up/feed/ 596 Column: Season over? Ben finished? Not so fast http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/27/column-season-over-ben-finished-not-so-fast/ http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/27/column-season-over-ben-finished-not-so-fast/#comments Sun, 27 Sep 2015 23:43:43 +0000 http://dkpittsburghsports.com/?p=32650 ST. LOUIS — For far too long, it’s been the most fait accompli scenario in football: If Ben Roethlisberger goes down, the Steelers are done. And it just might be that they are. It just might be that, at 2:04 p.m. Central time, when the franchise quarterback was cut down to the Edward Jones Dome […]

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]]> http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/27/column-season-over-ben-finished-not-so-fast/feed/ 94 Column: A pairing like no other http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/21/column-a-pairing-like-no-other/ http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/21/column-a-pairing-like-no-other/#comments Tue, 22 Sep 2015 03:50:32 +0000 http://dkpittsburghsports.com/?p=31560 CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — It’s completely uncool in the hockey culture to leave the rink right after the coaches blow the whistle on a practice, so the timing of how and when certain players exit can be plenty telling. It was Monday morning inside the still-glistening glass of one of the Lemieux Sports Complex rinks, […]

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]]> http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/21/column-a-pairing-like-no-other/feed/ 49 Column: A defense rebuilt, now maybe reborn http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/20/column-a-defense-rebuilt-now-maybe-reborn/ http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/20/column-a-defense-rebuilt-now-maybe-reborn/#comments Sun, 20 Sep 2015 23:20:23 +0000 http://dkpittsburghsports.com/?p=31349 At 3:01 p.m. Sunday, on the occasion of the Steelers’ 83rd home opener, I swear I heard it. “DEE-FENSE! DEE-FENSE!” It emanated from above Heinz Field’s north end zone, and it wasn’t sustained for more than several seconds before all concerned had to reset a few yards from the Pittsburgh goal line. But it was […]

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]]> http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/20/column-a-defense-rebuilt-now-maybe-reborn/feed/ 66 Column: Doubting Pirates’ lineups? Seriously? http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/16/column-doubting-pirates-lineups-seriously/ http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/16/column-doubting-pirates-lineups-seriously/#comments Wed, 16 Sep 2015 04:10:24 +0000 http://dkpittsburghsports.com/?p=30633 It was simultaneously as wonderful and weird a scene as I could recall at PNC Park. In the seventh inning of the Pirates’ 2-1 loss to Cubs in Game 2 of their doubleheader Tuesday night, the smallish but especially excitable crowd of 25,914 rose in unison and roared as Jung Ho Kang was announced as […]

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]]> http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/16/column-doubting-pirates-lineups-seriously/feed/ 533 Column: What, no love for the hitting coach? http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/13/column-wheres-the-love-for-pirates-branson/ http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/13/column-wheres-the-love-for-pirates-branson/#comments Sun, 13 Sep 2015 04:01:31 +0000 http://dkpittsburghsports.com/?p=30126 Ray Searage deserves all the praise, multiplied many times over, and even then he deserves a cherry wrapped in a bright red bow on top. Hey, let’s set off a whole barge of Zambelli fireworks up there, because there might not be any individual at any level of the Pirates who’s had more of a […]

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]]> http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/13/column-wheres-the-love-for-pirates-branson/feed/ 35 Column: Filthy Patriots flip off football world http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/11/column-filthy-patriots-dig-up-more-fresh-dirt/ http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/11/column-filthy-patriots-dig-up-more-fresh-dirt/#comments Fri, 11 Sep 2015 06:11:28 +0000 http://dkpittsburghsports.com/?p=29691 FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Steelers were sloppy, sluggish, disorganized and outright dumb in losing their season opener to the Super Bowl champion Patriots, 28-21, Thursday night at Gillette Stadium. And I would say that’s being too kind, except that Mike Tomlin was way too kind afterward: “I thought it was a little bit closer than […]

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]]> http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/11/column-filthy-patriots-dig-up-more-fresh-dirt/feed/ 266 Column: Fifteen actual football thoughts for ’15 http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/10/column-fifteen-actual-football-thoughts-for-15/ http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/10/column-fifteen-actual-football-thoughts-for-15/#comments Thu, 10 Sep 2015 15:29:33 +0000 http://dkpittsburghsports.com/?p=29607 FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Is it kickoff yet? Deflate it, hate it, feel about what’s about to take to take place at Gillette Stadium however you will, but count me among the elated that, come 8:32 p.m., this sickening summer of NFL suspensions, substance abuse, court cases and emasculated commissioners will, at the very least, be […]

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]]> http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/10/column-fifteen-actual-football-thoughts-for-15/feed/ 87 Column: Hey, maybe the manager isn’t an idiot http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/07/column-hey-maybe-the-manager-isnt-an-idiot/ http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/07/column-hey-maybe-the-manager-isnt-an-idiot/#comments Mon, 07 Sep 2015 05:49:29 +0000 http://dkpittsburghsports.com/?p=29051 ST. LOUIS — I’ve checked and checked again but, to be sure, I phoned a friend at the Elias Sports Bureau to confirm it: The Pirates are 81-0, and Clint Hurdle is 0-54. It’s the most staggering of baseball splits, I know, but it’s also totally true. No, really. It’s based on an advanced Pythagorean […]

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