DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The Android app for this site is available right now on Google Play, much to my surprise. We had thought all along Apple and the iPhones would be first, but it turns out Google’s approval process is much, much faster.

I’ve created a special page to help anyone wishing to download and use this app.

My thanks again to Brisk Mobile for their exceptional professionalism but above all for the finished product. Easy to see why they’ve done work for Disney and NBC, among others.

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

A look at the week ahead on the site:

• Monday: This week’s Steelers PATs will be up by nightfall. And once they’re done, I’ll be packing up for a busy week of travel that could only be called Jets-Jets week.

• Tuesday: Tuesday 12 Qs live from St. Paul, Minn. Later, I’ll cover Penguins-Wild at Xcel Energy Center with a column very late at night.

• Wednesday: Flying up to Winnipeg. I’ll cover the Penguins’ practice that afternoon and hope to produce an interview video. Rest of the day will be mine in this very special city.

• Thursday: Penguins vs. Jets at MTS Centre. Column to follow.

• Friday: The Friday Insider will be up at 1 p.m.

• Saturday: Off. For real. Pitt has a bye week.

• Sunday: Flying over to Jersey for Steelers-Jets at MetLife Stadium. Column to follow.

As always, expect News/views entries along the way, as well. In this case, that means following any Pirates-related developments in free agency.

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

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

• For once, that’s not a photoshop over this feature. Those are real, live garments featuring our logo and colors, courtesy of a very generous benefactor who’s pushing me to market this site even if it means not wearing Winnipeg stuff everywhere I go.

So there they are, hoodies, collared shirts, a jacket, a bag, all bearing the logo.

And no, there’s absolutely no plan to sell anything like this, if only because, at the risk of sounding willfully self-deprecating, there isn’t a chance in Arizona anyone would buy it.

I’m just sharing a fun story here, as well as thanking the benefactor anew. We have some incredible support from, quite literally, all over the world.

MORE

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Major announcement on the site this afternoon: Please join me in welcoming our first corporate sponsor, Allegheny Health Network.

Beginning Nov. 1, per our contract signed today, Allegheny Health Network will be a big part of what we do, including but hardly limited to the main display advertising on the page and the main ad on our upcoming app. I’ll have public appearances such as a November concussion seminar featuring Merril Hoge, Pierre Larouche and other luminaries. I’ll have access to Allegheny Health Network’s unrivaled medical staff for information related to health matters in columns. I’ll choose an occasional topic related to sports injuries with an aim toward educating. All that and much more.

This partnership, I’m proud to say, was the initiative of John Paul, the globally renowned CEO of Allegheny Health Network as well as a longtime reader. In fact, it was Mr. Paul’s suggestion before the site launch to offer readers a three-year subscription level, later to be called the Lunatic Level. My own plan called for one-month, six-month and one-year plans. He forecast that readers would seek a longer commitment and, well, he’s a CEO and I’m not for a reason.

I’m immensely grateful to Mr. Paul, Kathy McKenzie, Lindsey Melnyk and many others who worked for weeks to put this into motion the right way, and I look forward to working with them.

This is Allegheny Health Network’s Twitter account. I ask, please, that you give a follow.

One last thing, for you the reader: Know, please, that this site is subscriber-driven and will remain so. None of this comes close to happening without the remarkable support you’ve shown. I’d never want any other development, welcome as this is, to distract from that.

So thank you, above all.

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

A look at the week ahead on the site:

• Monday: This week’s Steelers PATs will be up by nightfall. There also will be video from last night’s highly festive ‘Sports Showdown’ on KDKA-TV.

• Tuesday: We’ll chat on Tuesday 12 Qs at 1 p.m. At night, a Penguins-Devils column.

• Wednesday: News/views on Steelers in the afternoon after Ben Roethlisberger availability. I’ll also collect stuff toward a column in the evening looking ahead to the rematch with the Ravens.

• Thursday: The world’s greatest hockey team pays its only visit to town. Column on that.

• Friday: The Friday Insider will be up at 1 p.m.

• Saturday: Pitt-Duke column from Heinz Field.

• Sunday: Steelers-Ravens column from Heinz Field.

As always, expect News/views entries and video interviews to pop up along the way, as well. I’ve got a couple of other offbeat concept for this week, as well.

Pitt’s new helmet logo for today? Nah, just having some fun. — PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION, ALEX MESSMER

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

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

• The overwhelming majority of offers I’ve had to help with the site — say, oh, 99.9 percent — have been offers to write or report. And while that’s certainly taken in the right spirit, I’m going to be the only writer on here for the foreseeable future.

But the other 0.1 percent, wow, have they made a difference. Proud to say this morning that we’re adding our first two paid staffers: Annie Shean of PensNation will handle our WordPress issues on the site, and Alex Messmer of Pens Pride will handle our graphics.

Both are younger folks and, as you can guess from their affiliations, diehard Penguins fans who came to us of their own volition when, frankly, we needed it most and bailed us out. I’ll appreciate that forever and look forward to having them be part of the site for a long time.

MORE

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Building off last week’s announcement that I’ve reached an exclusive radio deal with iHeartMedia to provide regular commentary on Pittsburgh’s most powerful collection of stations — 102.5 WDVE-FM, 105.9 the X, and 970 ESPN Radio — here are the times set for two of the three weekly appearances I’ll be doing: 5:30 p.m. every Wednesday with Mark Madden on the X and 4:45 p.m. every Friday with David Todd on 970.

The appearance today with Madden will be in person at the Blue Line Grille, a fine eatery located just across Fifth Avenue from Consol Energy Center’s main entrance. If you’re headed to Penguins-Flyers, stop by and say hello!

I’ll cover the game afterward, obviously, and write a column that will go up before midnight.

There also will be a Pitt football column going up tomorrow afternoon.

Oh, and if any of you attends Point Park University, I’ll have a — can’t believe I’m about to type this — speaking engagement for students at the Downtown campus Nov. 13. They’ve even made a Facebook page for it.

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

As of a few minutes ago, we received our 5,000th subscription.

That represents the halfway mark our stated full-year goal of 10,000, and it comes a week shy of our having been online for three months. So, obviously and without hyperbole, this exceeds our most optimistic projections.

Thank you. So much.

We’ll work, on the reporting and the business end, to never let you down.

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

A look at the week ahead on the site:

• Monday: Steelers-Texans preview column this morning, followed by the game tonight at Heinz Field with another column very late at night once it’s done.

• Tuesday: We’ll chat on Tuesday 12 Qs at 1 p.m. By nightfall, the Steelers PATs feature will go up.

• Wednesday: Penguins-Flyers at night, game column to follow from Consol.

• Thursday: Pitt-Georgia Tech preview column will be up at 1 p.m.

• Friday: The Friday Insider will be up at 1 p.m.

• Saturday: Pitt-Georgia Tech game column from Heinz Field.

• Sunday: Steelers-Colts game column from Heinz Field. Might as well just spend the night.

As always, expect News/views entries and video interviews to pop up along the way, as well.

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

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

• The app is in its final testing stages and, rather than just keep telling you about it, thought I’d share some ‘mockups,’ as the techies call them. Those pics above are screengrabs off my phone, with the sliding menu to the left, the animated — and amazingly cool — intro screen in the middle, and a  sample column off to the right.

I’ll remind that this is being built by Brisk Media, our Canadian developer and a real player in this game that’s done work for Disney and NBC. And I’m only now beginning to appreciate, especially after being immersed in the project myself over the past week, what a task this is compared to how simple it winds up.

MORE