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Pittsburgh Sports News & Views

Source: Pirates NOT in on Price trade

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

So the Pirates and everyone besides the A’s lost out on Jon Lester. That gets the day off to a rollicking start, at least for Billy Beane, who for a day wins the hearts and minds not only of the statheads but also the headline-writers. He’ll still have zero wins in the category that counts.

Just saying. Not judging the trade itself.

I’ll follow the activity all day leading up to the actual 4 p.m. deadline. Feel free to join the fun in the comments below.

The fountain of information on a day like this is MLB Trade Rumors, but I’ll be looking to update links under the names of those prominent players dealt to the hometown sources. Oakland, for example, is covered wonderfully by San Francisco Chronicle beat writer (and fellow Crowded House fan!) Susan Slusser, so that’s the link up there under Lester.

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Exclusive interview: Paul Chryst

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Paul Chryst will enter his third year as head coach of Pitt football when his players open training camp Monday on the South Side. Chryst, 48, has overseen seasons of 6-7 and 7-6, qualifying for bowl appearances in each.

Expectations are low for 2014, at least in some circles, with the ACC’s preseason media poll placing Pitt sixth in the seven-team Coastal Division, and that no doubt has plenty to do with the graduation loss of all-universe nose tackle Aaron Donald, a first-round draft pick of the Rams, and quarterback Tom Savage (drafted by Texans) and wide receiver Devin Street (Cowboys).

On the sunnier side, wide receiver Tyler Boyd was named to the Biletnikoff Award watch list, and running back James Conner was named a Doak Walker Award preseason candidate. Those two, plus mobile QB Chad Voytik, offer hope for an offense that could be both tough and dynamic.

On Tuesday afternoon, I interviewed Chryst on an array of topics:

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News with views: Steelers’ reporting day

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

LATROBE, Pa. — “This team, as far as energy and all the young guys, it feels like ’04-’05.”

That was Ike Taylor, among the handful of veterans who held court with the media on the Steelers’ reporting day at Saint Vincent College on Friday afternoon. And for better or worse, he was making that statement from experience.

I’m not sure if Ike is right. He can’t be sure, either. But I know that his statement seemed to sum up the sentiment of a whole lot of folks up here in the rolling green hills of Westmoreland County. The talk is of speed. Of energy. Of fun.

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