Kent Tekulve, the last man to throw a championship pitch for the Pirates, 36 years ago. -- GETTY

August 7, 2015

Five Qs at 5: Teke, Happless, toughness, Tomlin

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by Dejan Kovacevic • Five Qs at 5 • Penguins, Pirates, Steelers

If it’s Friday, it’s my turn again, so here we go … dariusm11: Do you remember another time when all three Pittsburgh professional sports teams have had so much team success, a horizon of potential success 3-5 years into the future and so many individual great players or MVP candidates such as Andrew McCutchen, Gerrit

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46 Comments Newest to oldest

Russian Penguin
8-7-2015, 5:16 pm
great questions and great answers!! Thanks for more insights, DK.

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Dejan Kovacevic
8-7-2015, 6:09 pm
Glad you liked!

Pistol Pete
8-7-2015, 5:25 pm
What does the title have to do with the questions?

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nut1976
8-7-2015, 5:41 pm
Pittsburgh legend teams of 70s, Pirates last WSC, Pirates pursuing another starter, Penguins toughness and goon situation, Tomlin admitting he needs every single training he can get. Does that answer your Q?

Dejan Kovacevic
8-7-2015, 6:09 pm
Ha! Stream-of-conciousness collection of keywords!

PlazMan
8-7-2015, 5:32 pm
"Still comparing that to the 1970s?"

Preach on DK! I'm pretty sure you and I are the same age (I'll be 49 this year) and if not, are very close. I don't know that any city will see the kind of success Pittsburgh had across it's sports teams like we did that decade. It's amazing how the past can be so quickly forgotten.

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Stephen Petrilli
8-7-2015, 7:02 pm
I can't remember the writer, but someone nationally defined the playoffs as the process by which the NFL determines which team would lose to Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl

jeffrey
8-7-2015, 11:46 pm
+10! I love today's teams but the 70 s were magical and surely needed as the'burgh was sinking in every other area of life. What a time to be a teenager in a great town

Greg
8-8-2015, 10:27 am
For those who are old enough, I understand that there is no way to forget the 70s. But for those of us under 40, understand that that time predates us and is thus does not hold much meaning from a personal standpoint.

Phantaskippy
8-7-2015, 5:33 pm
As coverage explodes this fall (that's a lot of games) are there plans to tweak the interface to better navigate and inform readers about new articles?

For example while I love the 5 questions, they show up in every tab, making it a slower process to look back even a day or two for an article.
If the questions last (I hope they do) will they get their own tab?

More than that I would love the navigation buttons to show if new articles, and how many are in that tab. Don't know if that is feasible, but a lot of sites get crowded and difficult to navigate as frequency of articles increase, and it is frustrating.

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Ryan Stein
8-7-2015, 5:45 pm
The interface and formatting that is used on the App is hands down the simplest and best way to go. I understand the website has to show off more graphics and such, but I find myself gravitating to the app over the website just because of the simple format and knowing that it's impossible to miss anything.

Dejan Kovacevic
8-7-2015, 6:11 pm
Really not following this. We have team pages. We also have indexed pages, arranged by content, as you suggest.

Greg
8-8-2015, 10:32 am
Dk, you need to have the site read our minds and immediately pull up the content I want. I don't like having to do this treasure hunt to figure out that clicking "pirates" takes me to content about the pirates. 😃

bryanhajos
8-7-2015, 5:40 pm
Thanks for answering my question DK. I can't wait until the Pitt vs. PSU match up. The comment section on that coverage is going to be insane.

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Breno
8-7-2015, 6:16 pm
Should probably just pre-emptively lock down comments for that.

fried003
8-7-2015, 6:26 pm
Unless they happen to meet in a bowl game - you have about 13 months to wait.

TheGreatOne21
8-7-2015, 11:21 pm
Too bad Connor and Boyd will be gone. As of now with the collection of recruits PS is amassing, and Pitt losing two top OFF stars, it may be a mismatch, but the electricity will be palpable for those that never witnessed these two teams in the past.

Derek
8-7-2015, 5:42 pm
It's fair to question whether the Penguins will be physical enough against the NHL as a whole, but even the Flyers are moving away from being the Flyers under Hextall.

He traded Rinaldo, fired Berube and hired a NCAA coach in his place.

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Dejan Kovacevic
8-7-2015, 6:11 pm
Leopards, spots, etc.

Rbilak1
8-7-2015, 6:21 pm
Columbus has Dubinsky and Hartnell. Farnham is a lightweight. They have no answer and the powerplay answer is BS. If you can put Sid or Geno out, you do it.

Derek
8-7-2015, 6:26 pm
Understood DK, but the Flyers don't have anyone on their current roster which would necessitate calling up anyone just for the purpose of fighting. (Simmonds is the remaining team leader with 4 scraps).

That may change, but Hextall has made it known he doesn't think a goon is necessary is today's game. His influence comes much more from his days with the Kings in building a team than his previous association with the Flyers.

WildcatRay
8-8-2015, 8:53 am
Not only leopards, spots, but as DK also pointed out, the spineless one remains in place.

Because Bettman will not exhibit any real backbone, hold his referees accountable to the rules and the owners to truly putting the game ahead of clutching, grabbing and slashing, teams are left to police things themselves. The Pens do not have a Rick Tocchet to go up to the other team's captain and tell them to knock off the cheap stuff or else.

It makes the Pen's chances dubious at best.

Johnny23
8-7-2015, 5:44 pm
Glad to see you will be covering Pitt this will be a great year with a new coach and staff. I have my Pitt season tickets and geared up for the season to start H2P!

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mweiner95
8-7-2015, 5:53 pm
Don't forget the great Pitt football teams in the mid to late 70's also.

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fried003
8-7-2015, 6:28 pm
The '81 team was the best IMHO; better than the '76 team.

TheGreatOne21
8-7-2015, 11:23 pm
Yes, and nothing like Dorsett era. His Junior year, they had not still won, and blew a win at the end of the game with missed short field goal. Finally his senior year at the end of the year at 3 Rivers, (two in a row there because believe it or not, the stadium could hold the biggest attendance) PItt finally emerged

Stephen Petrilli
8-7-2015, 6:00 pm
Second that!

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Stephen Petrilli
8-7-2015, 6:02 pm
And Penn State as well

JohnKr
8-7-2015, 7:13 pm
It stinks Penn State basketball won't be covered, but alas, the demand probably just isn't there.

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Dejan Kovacevic
8-7-2015, 8:03 pm
Ask people in Happy Valley to rank the No. 2 sport up there, and you'll get mostly hockey because of Pegula Arena and the quality of the program.

Wild Bill
8-7-2015, 9:41 pm
When you're right, you're right. Very tough ticket at Hockey Valley.

Flyinorvi
8-8-2015, 1:20 pm
You will hear wrestling as well!

Matt Gill
8-8-2015, 1:27 pm
DK is right. As a grad and lifelong fan, I'd say an argument could be made that men's basketball currently ranks no higher than #5 on campus. Aside from football and hockey, wrestling and women's volleyball are selling out arenas and winning national titles. Also, we boast a grad on last month's World Cup winners!

JD Phillippi
8-7-2015, 8:30 pm
Talking about players becoming coaches Jim Bouton mentioned someone in "Ball Four" (name totally escapes me, maybe a fellow lunatic can fill the blank), great hitter, became a hitting coach, tried to explain to one of his players what he wanted them to do, failed, then grabbed a bat, hit the ball and said "There, do that". I think that's why you see more journeyman types as successful managers rather than big stars.

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jackpat54
8-7-2015, 8:37 pm
Ted Williams

JD Phillippi
8-7-2015, 8:58 pm
D'oh! Of course. Thank you.

Bubba Banjo
8-7-2015, 9:00 pm
TEKE!!! The man!!!

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rk98
8-7-2015, 9:05 pm
The 70s Pirates should be considered one of the greatest 'all-decade' teams. 6 division titles and 2 World Series. And in their down years, they were dealing with the death of Roberto (73) and then battling the Phils in the late 70s.

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TheGreatOne21
8-7-2015, 11:26 pm
Agree RK, the amount of hitters in their farm system that came up to join Clemente and Stargel was unreal: Hebner, Robertson, Clines, Oliver, Zisk, Stennet, Mota, Cash, just to name a few.

scottwvu
8-7-2015, 10:06 pm
Your WVU coverage will keep me as a subscriber after baseball season. Excited to hear you're expanding coverage.

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WVU1983
8-8-2015, 1:11 am
Go Mountaineers!

Greg
8-8-2015, 10:20 am
Here here! Quality mountaineer coverage is lacking in Morgantown and the rest of wv. Would love to see it here.

kmaze6
8-7-2015, 11:18 pm
Thank you for answering my question I appericiate it

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TheGreatOne21
8-7-2015, 11:19 pm
DK, concur on the Pens and being attacked. People say that is not happening much but that is not so during regular season. Sure fighting is fading out, but the potential for any team to decide, just as Washington Caps and some other teams use to against Mario and Jagr and slash and literally smack their heads with cheap shots, still exists.

And it will happen. There will be night where they will light it up, and cheap shots will be blatantly flying. As of now, I do not see ONE person on this team that is a deterrent.

Unlike last year, I don't even see a collective group that could deter as did Downie, Bertuzzo, and Dupres, Adams, Comeau (would hit).

I love the team overall now, but still, how can this not be addressed; And unless a major heavy weight, not even one tough guy added will be enough.

I rather have a pack of Wolves, than one Lion, unless that Lion is Bruce Lee Clone.

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Michael
8-7-2015, 11:22 pm
For the 1970s, I think you have to add Pitt into that mix of great talent: Tony Dorsett, Hugh Green, Rickey Jackson and others. National Champions in 1976 and I believe they won 10 or 11 games a year the following three seasons.

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ritt9934
8-8-2015, 1:23 pm
Thanks DK for letting my questions be one of the 5! Again awesome site, and have been telling a lot of my Military buddies that are from Pittsburgh about your site. Keep up the great work and I look forward to reading it for next three years and more.

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Five Qs at 5: Teke, Happless, toughness, Tomlin

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