NHL Awards Ceremony; The Most Epic Picture in Blog History

If you haven’t been paying attention to the John Isner/Nikolas Mahut match at Wimbledon, shame on you. The two resume play today for the THIRD day, attempting to break their 5th set tie, at 59-59. That’s not a typo. The match has gone on for 10 hours. Just the fifth set alone hast taken over 7 hours, which ALONE would make it the longest match in history. Really an unbelievable performance by these two.

Ben Roethlisberger made a surprise visit to his kids camp yesterday. No word on whether or not any of the kids had a chance bathroom encounter with him.

The NHL Awards Ceremony took place in Las Vegas last night. The only Penguin hardware went to Captain Crosby, who took home the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award.


I swear to all major and minor deities that this picture is NOT photoshopped. Not sure what's going on, but it's incredible.

Jordan Staal, as predicted, lost out on the Selke Award to Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings. Not truly a surprise, first time nominees seldom are awarded the Selke. The smart money says Staal won’t retire without a few of those on his mantle.

Crosby lost out on both the Lindsay Award and Hart Trophy (MVP). Alex Ovechkin walked away with the Lindsay, while Henrik Sedin of Vancouver won the Hart, with Crosby finishing third in the voting. Who cares? Couldn’t find Ovechkin or Sedin’s name on the Stanley Cup, so whatever.



Still no word on Gonchar’s potential departure.

The Pirates got crushed by the Texas Rangers last night. Bob Nutting and his cronies still won’t open their wallets, so it’s not like we should expect anything different.

The US will play Ghana in their second round matchup. 95% of the US didn’t even realize Ghana was a country.

Enjoy this wonderful Thursday while watching part 4 of the Pittsburgh Sports-gasm:

They Couldn't Take it From U.S.

For the better part of ninety minutes, it unfolded like a nightmare for United States soccer. England beats Slovenia, and the toxic mix of horrid officiating and missed opportunities had the U.S. on their deathbed as penalty time approached. Most newsmen were already writing their stories; the pundits preparing their condemnation of the referees. As it often does, it happened quickly. An Algerian odd man break denied by U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard, who launched a rush the other way. The next few seconds prove to be a blur, Jozy Altidore throws it in front. The ball squirts away from the Algerian goalie out to the waiting right foot of U.S. star Landon Donovan. What followed was perhaps the most dramatic moment in U.S. World Cup history:



What a moment for the United States. The U.S. wins their group for the first time since 1930, and advance to the round of 16.

On to other things. That Stephen Strasburg card is still through the roof.



Great read from Dejan Kovacevic at the Post-Gazette, chronicling the rise of Pirates reliever Evan Meek, who continues to have an outstanding season for the Buccos.

Rumors are continuing to swirl about the Penguins trading away the rights to defenseman Sergei Gonchar. If the Pens and Gonchar are as far away on contract talks as they seem to be, this would be a move that would definitely make sense for the Penguins. We're probably seeing the last moments of Sergei Gonchar as a Pittsburgh Penguin.

I give you part three of the Pittsburgh Sports-gasm. Raise a beer to U.S. soccer tonight.

Alvarez Debut Ruined, but Hooray Golf!

The much heralded Pirates prospect Pedro Alvarez made his MLB debut last night, and apparently nobody cared, which shows how most Pittsburghers truly feel about the Pirates. Ticket sales to last night’s game experienced a mini-spike, but still were not out of the ordinary for a weekday night game. No matter the ticket sales, Pedro’s debut was all for naught, as the Pirates were soundly defeated by the White Sox 7-2, marking their 10th straight loss. Pedro went 0-2 with a walk and committed one of the Pirates SIX errors. Jose Tabata also hit his first major league home run last night.

I think now is the point that we can start talking about Manager John Russell’s job being in jeopardy.



The Buccos finish up their series against the White Sox tonight, with Ross Ohlendorf on the hill.



And holy sweet Touchdown Jesus! The U.S. Open starts today! The long bridge between the Masters and the Open has officially been crossed. Phil Mickelson will look to win his second major of the year while Tiger Woods looks to rekindle the magic that he experienced 10 years ago at Pebble Beach.

Even if you’re not an avid golf fan, this is a U.S. Open that should be watched, if for nothing else, the beauty that is Pebble Beach. The rocky shores and beautiful ocean view make Pebble Beach a sight to behold. What a wonderful, wonderful course.

So skip work tomorrow and flip back and forth between the U.S. Open and the US-Slovenia World Cup game. You won’t be sorry.

Super Mario Golf and the Stephen Strasburg Phenomenon

Mario Lemieux continued his domination of all things sports this past weekend by nailing a hole-in-one at Oakmont Country Club. The guys from The Pensblog will probably make some “66 Buries It” joke that will be funnier than anything I’d come up with.



The big news around Pittsburgh sports tonight truly has very little to do with Pittsburgh sports, and that is the MLB debut of Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg against the Pirates. Strasburg is the most hyped pitching prospect of the last decade (maybe longer), and recently made news by having a rookie card of his sell for over $16,000.

There is an inherent danger in this amount of hype for a youngster: he may believe it. If Strasburg has a level head, which most around him say he does, he’ll simply think of himself as another guy trying to make it in the major leagues. All Strasburg would need to do to gain perspective is to call guys like Ben McDonald and Todd Van Poppel. Guys who were “can’t miss prospects” who, well, missed. It’s no accident that they’re letting him debut against the Pirates, who don’t exactly have the most intimidating lineup.

Tonight will be a very interesting game, and will garner the most viewers of any Pirate game this year. Let’s hope the Buccos can rattle him early and often.



In universal sports news, the World Cup begins on Friday in South Africa, amid much fanfare. I don’t fashion myself as any kind of soccer aficionado, but I do watch the World Cup matches. It’s undoubtedly the biggest sporting event in the world, and its intensity is infectious. It’ll be a lot of fun, and certain to have matches that are just full of drama. Gotta love it.

Go USA.