DK Pittsburgh Sports Friday Insider http://dkpittsburghsports.com Award-winning columnist Dejan Kovacevic covers Steelers, Penguins, Pirates, Pitt and more Thu, 01 Oct 2015 23:07:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.5 Friday Insider: The salvation that is Sprong http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/25/friday-insider-the-salvation-that-is-sprong/ http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/25/friday-insider-the-salvation-that-is-sprong/#comments Fri, 25 Sep 2015 04:02:02 +0000 http://dkpittsburghsports.com/?p=32210 Daniel Sprong won’t break camp with the Penguins. That’s not hot news as much as it is common sense. Terrific as the franchise’s top pick in this past NHL Draft has been, from development camp to the rookie tournament in Ontario to the ongoing preseason, he’s still 18 years old and still has tons to […]

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]]> http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/25/friday-insider-the-salvation-that-is-sprong/feed/ 71 Friday Insider: No bitterness for Beachum http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/18/friday-insider-no-resentment-from-beachum/ http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/18/friday-insider-no-resentment-from-beachum/#comments Fri, 18 Sep 2015 04:05:12 +0000 http://dkpittsburghsports.com/?p=30954 For all the fuss kicked up with the Steelers’ opener in Foxborough a week ago, from headsets to head-shaking playcalls, what might have gotten lost is something of potentially great significance to the franchise that didn’t happen. Kelvin Beachum didn’t sign. I thought he and management would work out an extension, and I’m guessing most […]

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]]> http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/18/friday-insider-no-resentment-from-beachum/feed/ 135 Friday Insider: Lovejoy addresses GMJR http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/11/friday-insider-lovejoy-addresses-gmjr/ http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/11/friday-insider-lovejoy-addresses-gmjr/#comments Fri, 11 Sep 2015 04:05:00 +0000 http://dkpittsburghsports.com/?p=29716 CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Ben Lovejoy is well aware of comments made by Jim Rutherford earlier this summer. Rutherford publicly questioned himself – twice, in fact – for acquiring Lovejoy in return for Simon Despres in a March deal. Lovejoy had plenty to say about this when we spoke on Thursday. I asked how he […]

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]]> http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/09/11/friday-insider-lovejoy-addresses-gmjr/feed/ 18 Friday Insider: Dupuis ‘won’t hide’ illness again http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/08/28/friday-insider-dupuis-wont-hide-illness-again/ http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/08/28/friday-insider-dupuis-wont-hide-illness-again/#comments Fri, 28 Aug 2015 04:02:39 +0000 http://dkonpittsburghsports.com/?p=27353 CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — “The smile would be there either way, even if I was just with my family and not playing hockey. It’s just that it’s a little wider now.” And to prove that, Pascal Dupuis flashed every tooth he’s got, falsies and all, then got back to peeling off his skates and sweat-stained […]

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]]> http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/08/28/friday-insider-dupuis-wont-hide-illness-again/feed/ 76 Friday Insider: Tomlin takes charge … and how http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/08/21/friday-insider-tomlin-takes-charge-and-how/ http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/08/21/friday-insider-tomlin-takes-charge-and-how/#comments Fri, 21 Aug 2015 04:03:57 +0000 http://dkonpittsburghsports.com/?p=26114 LATROBE, Pa. — For a coach who claims to not care in the slightest about public perception of the Steelers, Mike Tomlin sure does care a lot about … well, precisely that. At least inasmuch as it impacts his players. With first-round draft pick Bud Dupree pretty much losing his marbles and Antonio Brown petulantly […]

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]]> http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/08/21/friday-insider-tomlin-takes-charge-and-how/feed/ 135 Friday Insider: Penguins nearly kept Reirden http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/08/14/pirates-insider/ http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/08/14/pirates-insider/#comments Fri, 14 Aug 2015 04:02:58 +0000 http://dkonpittsburghsports.com/?p=25108 The Penguins are perfectly pleased with their coaching staff. Their stance is that Mike Johnston did an admirable job under difficult circumstances in his first season, that Rick Tocchet got the most of the team’s talented forwards and that … well, they absolutely love the job Gary Agnew did with the blue line. Agnew almost […]

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]]> http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/08/14/pirates-insider/feed/ 48 Friday Insider: Pirates’ players expected more http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/08/07/friday-insider-pirates-players-expected-more/ http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/08/07/friday-insider-pirates-players-expected-more/#comments Fri, 07 Aug 2015 04:02:41 +0000 http://dkonpittsburghsports.com/?p=24107 The Pirates’ players aren’t exactly pouting. They aren’t about to pick up their bats and balls and stomp home in disgust. But that shouldn’t be taken to mean they’re delighted by the front office’s work at the Major League Baseball trading deadline last week. Far from it, actually. If anything, they’re still hoping — actively, […]

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]]> http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/08/07/friday-insider-pirates-players-expected-more/feed/ 156 Friday Insider: No love among Pirates for shifts http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/07/31/friday-insider-no-love-among-pirates-for-shifts/ http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/07/31/friday-insider-no-love-among-pirates-for-shifts/#comments Fri, 31 Jul 2015 04:02:56 +0000 http://dkonpittsburghsports.com/?p=22442 Clint Hurdle has a term for when the Pirates buy in to a concept the coaches are preaching. He calls it, cleverly enough, ‘buy-in.’ Like a noun. More often than not, coincidence or not, the term is applied when discussing the front office’s beloved defensive shifts. As in, the pitcher and catcher have a healthy […]

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]]> http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/07/31/friday-insider-no-love-among-pirates-for-shifts/feed/ 304 Friday Insider: They were all (Pittsburgh) stars http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/07/24/friday-insider-too-much-shifting-ask-the-players/ http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/07/24/friday-insider-too-much-shifting-ask-the-players/#comments Fri, 24 Jul 2015 04:02:23 +0000 http://dkonpittsburghsports.com/?p=22308 KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Upon visiting certain cities on the sporting circuit, I’ll find a favorite spot and make sure to stop each time. Here, for me, that’s always the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, a first-class American cultural treasure. This time, I decided to invite our subscribers in the Missouri/Kansas border region to accompany me […]

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]]> http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/07/24/friday-insider-too-much-shifting-ask-the-players/feed/ 112 Friday Insider: Mario will make his money http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/07/17/friday-insider-mario-will-make-his-money/ http://dkpittsburghsports.com/2015/07/17/friday-insider-mario-will-make-his-money/#comments Fri, 17 Jul 2015 04:01:24 +0000 http://dkonpittsburghsports.com/?p=21638 The primary objective of the Penguins’ sale, according to two sources involved in the process, is this simple: Get Mario Lemieux the payday of his lifetime. And that means, according to both of those sources, that Lemieux’s friends and closest associates — including current co-owner Ron Burkle — are clearing a path to make that […]

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