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Pittsburgh Sports Columns

Ben Roethlisberger is carted off the field after his knee was injured in the third quarter Sunday. -- GETTY

Ben Roethlisberger is carted off the field after his knee was injured in the third quarter Sunday. -- GETTY

Column: Season over? Ben finished? Not so fast

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DEJAN
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 turf by St. Louis safety Mark Barron, when he rolled and writhed in clutching his left knee, when he was carted off to the locker room, the 2015 season ended before it really began.

But I just don’t think so.

I really don’t think we’ve seen the last of the Steelers as a contender.

Nor, I dare say without playing doctor, have we seen the last of Roethlisberger.

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Olli Maatta and Kris Letang, the last to leave practice Monday, work on gap control. -- DALI KOVACEVIC

Olli Maatta and Kris Letang, the last to leave practice Monday, work on gap control. -- DALI KOVACEVIC

Column: A pairing like no other

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DEJAN
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, and Mike Johnston had just put the Penguins’ primary group through their paces for nearly 90 minutes. Most looked spent. The rest looked exhausted. But sure enough, no one came close to following Johnston and staff when they exited for the locker room. They kept skating and shooting at half-speed, then skating and shooting some more at lesser speeds, then pretty much just played around.

Finally, about five minutes later, a couple of vets broke the barrier.

Soon, it was a couple of minor-league vets. Hey, they’re old, too.

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Ryan Shazier and Lawrence Timmons wrap up the 49ers' Carlos Hyde in the first half Sunday. -- DAVE DiCELLO

Ryan Shazier and Lawrence Timmons wrap up the 49ers' Carlos Hyde in the first half Sunday. -- DAVE DiCELLO

Column: A defense rebuilt, now maybe reborn

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DEJAN
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 unmistakable. It was real.

And it was the first time for that particular chant since … wow, who can remember?

“Did you hear that?” Lawrence Timmons asked afterward with the sweetest, softest of smiles. “It got loud, too. I mean loud.”

I asked LT right back why it happened.

“Because they’re Pittsburgh Steelers fans, that’s why. They love their defense. And we love them right back. There’s nothing better than playing in this place when the defense is going like we were.”

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The Riverhounds and the traveling Steel Army celebrate the playoff clinching in the rain. -- USL

The Riverhounds and the traveling Steel Army celebrate the playoff clinching in the rain. -- USL

Riverhounds gain USL playoffs their way

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DEJAN
The Riverhounds are in the USL playoffs, almost against their will.

OK, so that’s a little rough, but this team — unlike any I’ve covered in my career when it comes to self-destructiveness — had to survive 20 harrowing minutes and several Harrisburg misses to prevail, 2-1, Saturday night at the Skyline Sports Complex and finish fifth in the Eastern Conference standings at 11-9-8.

Lebo Moloto and Kevin Kerr scored first-half goals a minute apart, Vini Dantas was an offensive force for the first time maybe all season, and Calle Brown was exceptional down the stretch while also benefiting from several late misfires by the City Islanders.

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Francisco Cervelli reacts after Jon Lester strikes him out to end the game Tuesday. -- JARED WICKERHAM / GETTY

Francisco Cervelli reacts after Jon Lester strikes him out to end the game Tuesday. -- JARED WICKERHAM / GETTY

Column: Doubting Pirates’ lineups? Seriously?

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DEJAN
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 a pinch-hitter.

Not because of any dramatic return he was making from injury or illness.

Not because of anything specific he’d done of late.

Heck, maybe not because of anything having to do with him.

Maybe Lydia Cotrell, among those in attendance, had the right explanation when she tweeted me the following: “The fans in my section are questioning the lineup. We were excited to see a starter at the plate.”

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Jordy Mercer and Aramis Ramirez bump fists during the Pirates' five-run third inning. -- GETTY

Jordy Mercer and Aramis Ramirez bump fists during the Pirates' five-run third inning. -- GETTY

Column: What, no love for the hitting coach?

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DEJAN
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 direct hand in this franchise’s ascent since he took over as pitching coach late in the 105-loss 2010 season.

As Neal Huntington mentioned to me recently, “Honestly, people don’t even know everything that Ray’s done for us, what he’s meant. I can’t even put it into words.”

No, but at least everyone’s always trying.

Not so with Jeff Branson.

“I’m not sure why more people don’t talk about the job he’s done,” Josh Harrison was saying after going 4 for 4 in the Pirates’ latest prodigious output, a 10-2 trouncing of the non-Miller-Park Brewers Saturday night at PNC Park. “It means so much to us as hitters to have someone like Jeff who we can trust, who can prepare us, work with us … you name it.”

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Mike Tomlin and Bill Belichick shake hands after the Patriots' 28-21 victory Thursday night. -- GETTY

Mike Tomlin and Bill Belichick shake hands after the Patriots' 28-21 victory Thursday night. -- GETTY

Column: Filthy Patriots flip off football world

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DEJAN
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 the score might have indicated.”

I couldn’t disagree more, and I’ll detail precisely why in a bit.

For the moment, though, I just want it on record — and hey, bold-face, underline and add endless emojis for emphasis if that’s your thing — that New England won on merit, and that the Steelers should have no excuses for their own performance.

We clear on that?

Good, because unfortunately there’s this, too: The Patriots didn’t win fair and square.

They cheated.

Again.

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The Steelers and Patriots kick off at 8:32 p.m. Thursday at Gillette Stadium. -- GETTY

The Steelers and Patriots kick off at 8:32 p.m. Thursday at Gillette Stadium. -- GETTY

Column: Fifteen actual football thoughts for ’15

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DEJAN
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 paused by a ball being booted high into the New England night sky.

I’ll love it. No lie. No apology.

For three hours and change, I’ll focus on actual football. And it will be fantastic.

It’ll take me back to childhood, when I fell in love with Mean Joe, with beating the Browns and Bengals, with Chuck Noll giving our city cause for pride as we watched our classmates and their families migrate toward more job-friendly climes, with the most complete athletes on our planet, with John Facenda narrating the script, with Montana and Marino, Terry and Troy, Earl and Emmitt, Jerome and Jerry, and countless other giants of the game.

It’ll take me back to football.

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Clint Hurdle is on the verge of managing the Pirates to their third consecutive playoffs. -- GETTY

Clint Hurdle is on the verge of managing the Pirates to their third consecutive playoffs. -- GETTY

Column: Hey, maybe the manager isn’t an idiot

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DEJAN
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 metric that mathematicians at the renowned Institute of Pittsburgh Public Perception refer to as the Very Last Bad Thing I Saw. I’m pretty sure most are familiar with their work but, if not, here are some recent case studies to consider:

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Matt Carpenter rounds third base after his seventh-inning home run off Arquimedes Caminero. -- GETTY

Matt Carpenter rounds third base after his seventh-inning home run off Arquimedes Caminero. -- GETTY

Column: Pirates’ focus can’t, won’t change

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DEJAN
ST. LOUIS — At 6:02 p.m. Central Daylight Time Saturday, when Gregory Polanco swung through a Trevor Rosenthal fastball to finish the Pirates’ 4-1 loss to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, their yearlong goal — stated loudly, proudly from the first day balls were rolled out in Bradenton — hit a hard wall.

“Just missed it,” Polanco would fairly whisper afterward, fully aware he’d represented the tying run. “I saw it, I felt good … so close.”

So close, indeed.

These Pirates won’t win the division, as they’d set out to do.

Not 6 1/2 games back, with three weeks on the schedule.

Not against this very special St. Louis team that’s steaming toward 108 wins.

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J.A. Happ held the Cardinals scoreless for seven innings in the Pirates' 9-3 win Friday. -- GETTY

J.A. Happ held the Cardinals scoreless for seven innings in the Pirates' 9-3 win Friday. -- GETTY

Column: Happ ‘just wanted to be a part of this’

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DEJAN
ST. LOUIS — Looking back now on the Pirates’ previous visit here, they might as well have stashed J.A. Happ in the equipment trunk.

He was the dog-eared book discarded after the first chapter.

The toy from the bargain bin that the kid tried once, then tossed under the couch.

It was a month ago Friday, actually, that Happ took the mound against the Cubs at PNC Park, to the anticipation of approximately no one. He’d just been acquired from the Mariners at the trade deadline at the same time the Royals and Dodgers and Mets and all the teams that truly care about winning paid higher prices for their bona fide Buzz Lightyears. Fans were furious. Media were no different.

One wag who shall go almost unnamed called the trade ‘garbage.’

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Fans in the outfield seats leap for a home run by the Brewers' Adam Lind in the fifth inning Wednesday. -- GETTY

Fans in the outfield seats leap for a home run by the Brewers' Adam Lind in the fifth inning Wednesday. -- GETTY

Column: Locke’s fate doesn’t matter, never did

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DEJAN
MILWAUKEE — It’s safe to assume that what all of Pittsburgh’s angst-ridden baseball fans would prefer to read this morning, above and beyond anything, is this: Jeff Locke and Neal Huntington carried on a lengthy conversation in a side corridor of Miller Park’s visiting clubhouse late Wednesday night.

This, of course, came after Locke’s latest dud — 3 2/3 innings, five runs, nine hits — that cost the Pirates a 9-4 annihilation at the Brewers’ hands Wednesday night.

And it didn’t appear to bode well for the beleaguered lefty, any more than when Clint Hurdle flatly declined to discuss his immediate future in the rotation.

“You know what?” the manager came back when that was raised. “Those are conversations we have internally, not something we’ll pop up after a guy leaves after 3 2/3 innings. We’re continually looking to improve our team, whether it’s a position player or starting pitcher.”

That’s not exactly a banishment, but if you picked up any heck-yeah-he’s-my-guy tone in there somewhere, that makes one of us.

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