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.

Strasburg Madness, Full Update Tonight

Yesterday I wrote about the Stephen Strasburg 1/1 Autographed Rookie Card selling on eBay for about the price of a decent car. Well the stakes have been raised.

That is not a joke. The card has seriously been bid up over $100,000. And it still has five days left. This is getting insane quickly.

Full update on this and other things tonight. Just wanted to pass along the craziness

The Return of Cookie Monster, Heath Miller Needs a Bodyguard

Matt Cooke has just signed a three year deal worth about $2 million per year (According to the Post-Gazette, a cap hit of $1.8 million/year) to stay with the Pens. Cooke, who had a career high in goals last year, potentially took a bit of a hometown discount, as his value would have likely been higher on the open market after July 1. The decision is not that surprising either way. Shero and the Pens needed Cooke’s grittiness and penalty killing ability, and Cooke, a player that has done his fair share of bouncing from team to team, has settled with his family in Pittsburgh, and wanted very much to stay. Pens faithful, rejoice!

Finally some humor arose out of the Ben Roethlisberger saga. Roethlisberger’s football camp for kids has been taken over by Mike Tomlin in the wake of the Roethlisberger accusations, and during a Q and A, Steelers tight end Heath Miller was asked if he too, had a bodyguard.



Miller’s response?

“No, but are you looking to help me out?”

Solid response from a classy human being.

In other crazy news, a Stephen Strasburg rookie card can be all yours!...For the low, low price of $36,000. That’s right, a Stephen Strasburg Bowman 1/1 Rookie Autograph is currently selling on eBay, with the bidding up to over $36K with nearly a week left. I’m a card collector, always have been, always will be, but I could buy a Lexus for that much. Absolutely incredible stuff.

To make this rainy, gray Tuesday a little better, Part 2 of the Pittsburgh Sports-gasm:



It's been 18 years, and I still can't figure out how they left him that open.

Late June: Where Sports Go to Die

In what can only be described as a tournament in which almost nobody deserved to win, Graeme McDowell became the first Northern Irishman to win the U.S. Open, besting the ultimate underdog, Gregory Havret by one stroke. McDowell held the lead for most of the final round, as 54 hole leader Dustin Johnson collapsed early, going 6 over through his first 4 holes. Three of the big guns were lurking all day: Els, Woods and Mickelson, but none could match the poise and consistency shown by McDowell. Hard not to root for the guy, he has become one of the most well-liked golfers on the PGA Tour with his calm demeanor and wonderful Irish sense of humor. Congrats to the new U.S. Open champ.

In unrelated news, Guinness sales rocketed up 113% yesterday.



The Pirates started something called a “winning streak” this weekend, taking two of three from the lowly Cleveland Indians. The one sport Cleveland should be able to beat Pittsburgh at, and they still can’t. God, they suck. Pedro Alvarez’s struggles continued, going 0 for 3 with an RBI. He clearly feels as if there is a lot of pressure on him, and there is. But, everything in due time. Pedro is as talented as they come, and he’ll eventually start hitting.



The NHL draft begins on Friday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The Penguins will draft players, I will talk about them.

Welcome to late June, the sports coma of the year. Nothing much happens.

Stay tuned this week or early next week, as I will be writing a 2010 fantasy football preview.

This week will also be the week of the Pittsburgh sports-gasm, so every post will end with an awesome moment in Pittsburgh sports history.

Is there a better way to start a Monday than with this? Nope.