About Dejan Kovacevic

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Dejan Kovacevic, a lifelong Pittsburgher, is an award-winning sports columnist who has covered the Steelers, Penguins, Pirates, Pitt and, recently, his fourth Olympics in Sochi, Russia. For 2011, he was named one of the country's top four columnists by the AP Sports Editors. For 2012, he was named one of the country's top three columnists by the National Headliners. For 2013, he was named the state's top columnist by the Keystone Press Awards and top columnist in Western Pennsylvania by the Golden Quills.

Posts by Dejan Kovacevic:

Column: So, this is how it’s going to be, then?

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

So, this is how it’s going to be, then?

The 2014 edition of the Pittsburgh Baseball Club isn’t going to back into anything because it, unlike its predecessor, won’t have that choice. It won’t have any 17-games-over-.500 starting point for the pennant race. It won’t have anyone in the rear view mirror, only what’s right there in the windshield.

It’ll have to be the hard way.

It’ll have to be every foot-cracking, rib-smacking injury withstood, every bad bounce shrugged off, every blown lead overcome, every lousy loss showered away.

And all those wonderfully uplifting wins, too.

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Interview: Mike Johnston, Penguins

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Mike Johnston, the Penguins’ new coach, visited the Steelers’ HQ today for several hours, along with his top assistants, Rick Tocchet and Gary Agnew. They participated in different meetings, including one with the offense that was game-planning for the preseason game Thursday vs. Carolina. They also were taken for tours around the facility by Mike Tomlin, mega-hockey fan Kevin Colbert and Art Rooney II.

This is my interview with Johnston once they were done.

A few other related items/thoughts from my time with the staff …

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Tuesday 12 Qs: Le’Veon, Neal, Wing, Kirk, Niko

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

photoWelcome to Tuesday Twelve Qs, our chat that takes place each week at 1 p.m. live from the Steelers’ headquarters on the South Side.

The format is simple: Use the comment section below to submit an entry, no more than one per person. Submit it anytime you want. I’ll pick from those to get the thing rolling, then monitor new entries as we move along.

All topics welcome, as always.

UPDATE 1 p.m.: OK, away we go …

Josh: Very interested to see how the Steelers handle Le’Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount, considering Santonio Holmes in the past. Do you think they will act on the matter before the NFL does? The NFL process is very drawn out.

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Column: Not the game you watched

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

What a smooth, systematic and satisfying W that was Monday night at PNC Park, huh? 

Oh, not the game you watched?

Well, bear with me here, because at the fork in the stadium’s tunnel where one goes left for the home clubhouse, right for the visitors, I chose the latter for the first time in a long time in search of a wholly different perspective for what at least feels like a rather tired tale.

You know, the one that ends Cardinals 3, Pirates 2.

“You’ll take any kind of win,” Mike Matheny was saying in the visiting manager’s office, looking like he might just bust out a cigar. “But that’s a good one.”

And so it was, from the opposite perspective.

Oh, we all know what it is from the home perspective by now.

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News with Views: Panthers going green

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

News with Views, on the Pitt football team …

• Pitt will play five freshmen, Paul Chryst announced today at his first formal press conference of the season leading up to the opener Saturday vs. Delaware. One is running back Chris James, a four-star guy who has had a four-star camp, and the rest, not surprisingly, are on defense with cornerback Avonte Maddox, linebacker Quintin Wirginis, end Rori Blair and safety Pat Amara.

Those who recall Chryst playing a dozen freshmen last season might think this is a sign of the Panthers’ maturity, but that’s far from the case: Their 81 underclassmen on the camp roster — 53 freshmen, 28 sophomores — marks the highest such total of any FBS team in the nation.

“You just kind of see where guys come in, how they develop,” Chryst said. “We feel good with the guys that I listed as going.”

• At the same time, Chryst challenged his seniors — only seven starters in that class — to lead the way: “That’s a group that’s small in numbers again, but they have to help show younger guys how to prepare. Even just the value of practice reps that you give them. The seniors, you put on them that they have to have the best season of their career. And guys have to follow them.”

At the forefront will be freshly named captains, right tackle T.J. Clemmings on offense and free safety Ray Vinopal, both of whom joined Chryst at today’s media availability …

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Monday planner: Cards, Carolina, colleges

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

A look at the week ahead on DKonPittsburghSports.com:

• Monday: At noon, I’ll cover Paul Chryst’s final press conference before Pitt’s opener, then stop over at Steelers HQ for the 12:30 p.m. player availability, then by nightfall make it to PNC Park for the first game of the pivotal Pirates-Cardinals series. There will be a column on the latter.

• Tuesday: Tuesday Twelve Qs from Steelers HQ, minutes after Mike Tomlin’s press conference.

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News with Views: Hardest shot at Highmark?

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

News with Views, on the Riverhounds …

• There’s no radar gun at Highmark Stadium, but there also was no disputing Sunday among longtime observers that no one had ever struck a soccer ball successfully with as much force as Rob Vincent’s explosive goal in the Riverhounds’ 3-1 victory over FC Dallas Reserves.

Here, watch for yourself …

I know, right?

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Saturday site stuff: Worth 1,000 words

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10578028_1477009115873524_1062304959_nPHOTO-ILLUSTRATION: ALEX MESSMER

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

A weekly look at what’s new and what’s coming on our site …

• Thrilled to announce that we’ve signed a one-year agreement to buy pictures from Getty Images, which in my opinion produces the best live sports photography in North America. You’ve already seen seven such photos here. The difference now is that we’re under contract, and you’re assured of seeing their work accompanying columns on a regular basis. That will happen mostly off live games. We were going to wait a while before taking this step, but your remarkable support has us off and running.

• We’ve also signed a contract with Brisk Mobile of Canada to develop our app. Here again, Brisk is top of the line. They’ve built apps for Disney and NBC, among other prominent entities. There will be much more about this as time passes, but the goal for the launch of the iPhone version — Android will follow — is Oct. 9 to time with the Penguins’ opener. Yes, the app will be free. And if you’ve subscribed here, it will carry over there.

• The exact one-month point for the site passed at midnight last night, and here’s the most important figure of all that data: We’ve got 2,825 subscriptions, and this in the context of a full-year goal of 10,000. This blows my mind. I can only guess where we’re headed, but I’m sure right now that we’re off to a tremendous start.

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Friday Insider: What had Troy so hot?

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

PHILADELPHIA — A weekly feature aimed at rounding up a whole lot of odds and ends from a whole lot of time spent around our local teams …

• Apparently, TV only caught a moment of Troy Polamalu getting heated on the Steelers’ sideline Thursday night in the loss to the Eagles, but I’ve since heard from witness that it was really, really passionate at one point.

Below is a shot taken by DKonPittsburghSports.com subscriber Greg Conn from his seats at Lincoln Financial Field. It’s after the fact, but you can see the defense off to the left and Polamalu kind of being held off at the right …

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Column: Which Standard is The Standard?

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

PHILADELPHIA — So wait, which Standard is The Standard?

Because if it’s true what Mike Tomlin’s been saying all these years, what’s now sculpted in sterling silver outside the Steelers’ home locker room, that The Standard is The Standard, then someone seriously needs to square that up with Le’Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount being arrested on a Wednesday, then sent right out into action on a Thursday.

Oh, for real.

Bell and Blount, both taken into custody by Ross Township police for marijuana possession and, in Bell’s case, driving under the influence, were full participants in that 31-21 preseason loss to the Eagles: Bell took the opening two handoffs, no less, and wound up with eight carries for 18 yards. Blount had six carries for 26 yards. Both played well into the fourth quarter.

It was astonishing.

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