Beaver County Times, February 22, 2015

The Pirates are in spring training. The Steelers are in their offseason planning phase.
The Penguins? They're in crisis.
They haven't been winning a lot lately, and they've been consistently coming up short against the NHL's better teams.
It was distressing to hear first-year coach Mike Johnston almost gush about his team's performance in last Sunday's 2-1 shootout loss in Chicago. Was he that desperate for a hopeful sign that he could find solace in an effort that produced one goal?
The Penguins have clearly slipped from the elite level of the Blackhawks. That's why Ray Shero and Dan Bylsma are gone. But it was still jarring to hear Johnston acknowledge the Penguins were happy just to keep it close against the Blackhawks.
Sidney Crosby is one of the few players who has to apologize for a season in which he's among the league's scoring leaders. But that comes with the territory.
His sputtering performance in last year's playoff series against the Rangers helped trigger the offseason overhaul that swept out the general manager, coaching staff and a good chunk of the roster.
Crosby is never more than one game away from a breakout, and it's still foolish to bet against him. But his recent lack of production is baffling.
There's a new stat that says an NHL forward's peak years are between 27 and 29. Crosby is 27. If he were showing the effects of the concussions and broken jaw, that would have happened earlier. He won the scoring title last season and was an MVP finalist.
It's a mystery, one of several surrounding the Penguins. How does a power play fail so badly when it includes Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang? How does it get zero goals when it's possible to score off two skate deflections, a goal post and a defenseman's shin? Is there a big fix-all deal out there that GM Jim Rutherford can fit under the salary cap?
The danger here is getting consumed with February hockey. It will soon be a distant bad memory, just like the snow piled outside the front door and that stupid burrowing rodent in Punxsutawney.
The 1992-93 Penguins, the best team to not a win a Cup, had a 2-7-1 streak in February and early March before setting a record with a 17-game winning streak.
The 2009 Cup-winning Penguins were five points out of a playoff spot on Feb. 15, 2009 when Bylsma was promoted to replace Michel Therrien.
February in the NHL: Learn from it, but don't get consumed by it.
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--DELIVERY FAILURE
The February sweeps period has ended for local TV. Sweeps bring out the worst in the hype-meisters who create promos. That spilled over to a sports story, KDKA-TV's profile of Johnston.
The promo promised viewers would see Johnston as they never have before. Lip synching to Lady Gaga? Assisting on surgery? Skydiving?
None of the above. The story was a standard 1-on-1 sit down with reporter Rich Walsh. It revealed that Johnston likes college football, particularly the up tempo style of Oregon, and he listed some of his favorite restaurants.
It was an OK story, but it didn't come close to matching the revelatory promises of the promo.
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--OUT OF PRIME TIME
ESPN pulled Dick Vitale off its Duke-North Carolina broadcast and used Jay Bilas as the analyst, much to the consternation of Vitale.
That's a big game, and Vitale considers him a big-game broadcaster. But he's also 75, which means ESPN is undoubtedly greasing the skids for his exit.
Younger is better in TV, which is why Tim McCarver was bumped off the national stage in the last couple of years. When the desired audience considers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine old-timers, those stories about Bob Gibson don't connect.
Missing Duke-UNC undoubtedly stung, but Vitale should get used to it.
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--MIRACLE WANTED
Moon native John Calipari's success as a college coach is undeniable. However, there isn't enough space for the debate about his methods.
He's won at Massachusetts, Memphis and Kentucky, although it might be hard to prove since the NCAA vacated the Final Four appearances of his first two schools.
Calipari is 56, still in the prime of his career. There's one more job he should take before retirement, though.
He should come home to coach Duquesne and transform the Dukes into a top 10 team. His legacy as a wizard would be minted if he could do that.

Beaver County Times, February 15, 2015

The Dapper Dan club honored Neal Huntington, giving the Pirates GM a rare and probably uncomfortable moment in the spotlight.
It's fitting in some way that he didn't get the group's main award, but settled for a separate one that honors leadership.
All things considered, Huntington likely would have chosen to skip the banquet and instead spent the evening looking for another set-up reliever to invite to spring training.
Huntington isn't interested in recognition, which is a good thing. He rarely gets any.
But after what's happened here, the Pirates' motto ought to be, "In Neal we trust."
The job he's done in getting the Pirates from a 100-loss team to the postseason has been every bit as impressive as the revival Syd Thrift staged when he was the team's GM from 1985-88. The economic circumstances are much more difficult now.
When Huntington took the Pirates job, one of his peers called with congratulations and then offered the cynical assessment, "You'd be better off with an expansion team."
The Pirates had some good but not great pieces and although it was never publicly acknowledged, a nearly total rebuild was necessary.
Yes, Andrew McCutchen was in the minor league system, but there wasn't a whole lot more.
It didn't help the public perception that Huntington's earliest days were fraught with missteps. There were contract extensions for mediocrities like Ian Snell and Ryan Doumit. When it came time to deal his biggest chip, he concocted a three-way trade that managed to send away Jason Bay for nothing significant in return from either team.
And while firing Jim Tracy was the correct move, hiring John Russell to replace him didn't make anything better.
Huntington learned and grew on the job. He's been able to combine detailed analytics with traditional scouting to find players. He can handle working with Clint Hurdle, whose personality is high profile. He understands that the MLB economic system is stacked against the Pirates, and he works within those ever-tightening limitations.
That's why there's no multi-year deal for Neil Walker as he approaches 30. It may be unpopular, but every indicator says that money should be invested in someone five years younger to maximize the peak years of a career. Failing to sign Walker earns Huntington the same level of fan criticism that signing Russell Martin in 2012 did.
Every step in Gerrit Cole's progress comes with the reality that agent Scott Boras will likely steer him out of town when free agency arrives. That's why there's promising young pitching stacked efficiently behind Cole.
Unlike some other GMs, Huntington doesn't have the luxury of doing things a year at a time. The reality of working in this market means his focus is always expanded to look ahead. You wonder if ownership appreciates how difficult this task is.
The Pirates are one of five teams to reach the postseason in each of the last two seasons. They have a chance to get in the playoffs for the third straight year. They haven't done that since 1990-92. Unlike that run, there isn't the sense of an impending crash because mass free agency defections loom.
The man most responsible for that success is also the one least interested in taking credit for it.
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--THE FAN-NAVERSARY
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the launch of 93.7 The Fan (KDKA-FM).
The success of the station is reflected in its staggering commercial load. It's bringing in revenue, but it's also an expensive proposition because of the staffing needed to execute the format. Even the late night and weekend time fillers get union scale.
The Fan has become the go-to spot for sports talk, which was expected once full-time sports radio went on the FM dial without signal issues. Yet it still doesn't have a signature show that qualifies as a must-listen, the way Myron Cope did a generation ago.
There have been changes along the way. Paul Alexander, Jon Burton, Vinny Richichi and John Seibel have all departed from the original show lineup.
That initial group also included the notorious update specialist Kalena Bell, whose lack of knowledge painfully stood out on a station aimed at hardcore fans. She's the one who famously said that "Sidney Crosby made two goals," that "Charlie Morton earned three runs in five innings" and "Tiger Woods had 75 points on the second day of play."
At last report, she was pursuing acting and commercial opportunities in Seattle.

Beaver County Times, February 8, 2015

It's been a week since Pete Carroll made the transition from successful football coach to national punch line.
With one truly bad decision in one game, he's become the national symbol for screwing up on the job, a human version of New Coke.
"Yeah, our company was doing pretty well, but then they hired a new manager and he Pete Carroll-ed us right into Chapter 11."
Even non-football fans know who Carroll is, for the wrong reason.
It can't be easy. You can bet that Carroll is meeting with PR experts on the best way to handle this sudden unwelcome notoriety. He had a sit-down with Matt Lauer on NBC's "Today Show," by midweek, probably the first step in the effort to rehab the image that took a hit when his boneheaded call led to losing the Super Bowl.
The ultimate fix would be winning Super Bowl 50, but that's far from a sure thing and it's still 51 weeks away anyway.
Sometimes when your biggest mistake comes on the biggest stage, you wind up wearing it.
Bill Buckner played 22 seasons in the major leagues, hit .289 in that career and even won a batting title. But he's forever the guy who let the ground ball go through his legs to turn the tide in the 1986 World Series.
Ralph Branca appeared in 322 major league games, but it all comes down a single pitch, the one that Bobby Thomson hit to win the 1951 playoff for the Giants.
The 133 field goals that Scott Norwood kicked for the Bills don't matter. The attempt that's remembered is the one from 47 yards that sailed wide right in Super Bowl XXV.
That single moment can provide a spotlight that warms for a lifetime. Just ask Bill Mazeroski and Franco Harris.
But if your signature moment is a blunder, it can be an albatross that never quite goes away.
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--ON FURTHER REVIEW...
While there's no denying the pass vs. run decision was awful, let's also remember that quarterback Russell Wilson had no business throwing the ball into traffic.
If the play wasn't going to unfold with an uncontested game of catch between the quarterback and receiver, the ball needed to be thrown where no one could get it. Stop the clock, regroup and try again.
Let's also acknowledge that Patriots rookie Malcolm Butler made an excellent play. It seemed as though "undrafted" was threatening to become his new first name, attached to him as though that status made the play call even more egregious.
Donnie Shell was also undrafted. He played in five Pro Bowls, and has been in the final 15 for Hall of Fame consideration.
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--OH, BEAU
Beau Bennett finally got his name off the Penguins' injury list and then managed to work his way into Mike Johnston's doghouse in no time.
It's probably this simple for Bennett: He has to find a way to be more conspicuous on the ice.
If that doesn't happen, they'll probably wind up trading him. If that happens, it will continue the Penguins' lousy record of finding and developing forwards.
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--MISSED OPPORTUNITY
The easiest thing in the world is spending someone else's money. So here goes.
You may be aware of Mayor Bill Peduto's participation in the hokey but popular CBS-TV show "Undercover Boss." The formula is employees who have been overlooked or undervalued get some bonus to either further their education or get some necessity they couldn't otherwise afford.
The Pittsburgh episode led to a stink over who was providing the $155,000 to make the dreams come true. The specific sticking point was the $25,000 given by Visit Pittsburgh, a tourism agency that may have been paying its share with tax dollars.
When that happened, it would have been a noble gesture if any (or all) of the local sports franchises had offered to cover that modest shortfall. After all, what's 25 grand when you sell water for $3 a bottle?
The local teams all have very profitable venues that were funded largely with public money, buildings that are not on the local tax rolls.
Offering to cover the payment would have been the kind of image bolstering that the teams usually embrace.
For either $25,000, or some share of that amount, they could have purchased a million dollars worth of good publicity.

Beaver County Times, February 1, 2015

Super Bowl week ends tonight with the actual game and, darn it, we don't know Marshawn Lynch any better than we did a week ago.
We don't know who his favorite Avenger is, who might be his celebrity crush, who he thinks is the best dancer on the Seahawks, whether he plays golf or what his favorite Katy Perry song is. (All actual questions posed to players and coaches during the week).
That's our loss, but they're going ahead with the game anyway.
Lynch is the media-phobic Seattle running back. He was fined during the season because he didn't make himself available for questions after games. To avoid that fate during the week, he showed up for the daily media sessions, but never answered anything.
When he didn't have a stock answer for every question, he complained about the process. His antics became a sideshow within a sideshow.
The NFL is caught in the middle on this issue. If participation wasn't mandatory, more players than Lynch would skip the process. On the other hand, how were the NFL's interests served by Lynch's bizarre performance?
If the league was really serious about the process, it wouldn't credential the non-sports media who are on hand for self-promotion and general foolishness. So the NFL doesn't mind if people from Comedy Central and "The Tonight Show" act silly, but they get bent out of shape when Lynch derails the process.
The daily media sessions tilted toward the trivial long ago. Coaches aren't about to reveal anything of significance. Players mostly say the right cliches about having to be at their best in all three phases of the game, yada, yada, yada.
As far back as Super Bowl IX, cracks appeared. Fred Dryer, a player not participating in the Super Bowl, got a media credential via Sport magazine, called himself Cubby O'Schweitzer and asked Chuck Noll, "Is the zone defense here to stay and, if not, where is it going?"
Some players manage to have fun with it. When the Steelers went to that first Super Bowl, veterans Ray Mansfield and Andy Russell regaled reporters with tales of the bad old days, when the team practiced on a South Park field that had previously been used by the horses from Allegheny County's mounted police force. When the bell rang to end media availability, Mansfield was disappointed because he still had more stories to tell.
Few players embrace media availability like Mansfield did, but few have a pathological aversion as strong as Lynch's. For the cranks and eccentrics who want to skip it, let them. We're guaranteed freedom of the press, but freedom from the press is a sacred right, too. Nobody gets summoned to Super Bowl media scrums by subpoena.
Steve Carlton had a Hall of Fame baseball career and went years without doing interviews. It was understood that Carlton wouldn't talk, so everyone adapted. It was no big deal. Carlton won a lot of games, and newspapers and broadcast stations stayed in business.
If Lynch didn't want to participate, he shouldn't have been dragged there. This is a guy who thinks it's appropriate to celebrate touchdowns by grabbing his crotch. You'd think the NFL would want to steer him as far from the spotlight as possible.
Millions will watch the game tonight even though they don't know who his favorite Avenger is.
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--DETAILS, DETAILS
After signing a $210 million contract with the Nationals, Max Scherzer made it known he would be moving his permanent residence to Florida.
There's no state income tax there.
If you have $210 million, do you really need to sweat the tax bill?
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---FAMILIAR FACES
Since people complain about the way the NFL recycles head coaches, it's worth noting that both of today's coaches fall into that category.
Bill Belichick coached the Browns for five seasons and was head coach in name of the Jets twice without actually coaching a game. Then he moved to the Patriots, where he replaced Pete Carroll, who had also coached the Jets previously.
Those who regard Belichick as a cheater might also note that Carroll went to the Seahawks because the NCAA was about to levy big sanctions against Southern California for infractions during his time as the school's head coach.
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--CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
Paul Zeise will take over the 6 to 10 p.m. show on 93.7 The Fan (KDKA-FM) beginning Monday.
If you listen, be assured there's nothing wrong with your radio. He's a little loud.