Of course, the most newsworthy one in Pittsburgh was Hines Ward saying Good-bye and announcing his retirement. I had already commented on that one, but I had to include it here once again, just to go along with the theme.
A day or so later, Duquesne's best basketball player, T.J. McConnell, announced that he was leaving The Bluff in order to be able to compete at a "higher level." Not good, and just to stir the pot even further, two other Dukes players said that they would also be transferring. Today, the University one-upped the players by saying Good-bye, and by that I mean firing, coach Ron Everhart. Everhart is the first Duquesne coach with a winning record in a couple of generations.
As a wise friend of mine tweeted earlier this evening, Duquesne basketball is in "disarray." I am 60 years old, and you have to be pretty much my age to remember when Duquesne basketball was the #1 program here in Pittsburgh and relevant on the national stage. With parents and an older brother who are Duquesne alums, I grew up in a Duquesne family, and rooted for the Dukes, with my own memories stretching back to the days of the Willie Somerset era. There are people who have lived in Pittsburgh for 30 years and can't imagine that the Dukes were once the Kings of Hoops in Pittsburgh, while basketball was almost an afterthought at Pitt. Hell, you can make the case today that even Robert Morris, although they play in an inferior conference to the Atlantic 10, is a stronger program than Duquesne. Chick Davies and Red Manning, not to mention Frank Miniotas(!), are rolling over in their graves.
It's kind of sad, really, and you can't have a whole lot of hope that whomever Duquesne brings in to succeed Everhart will have much of a chance to bring the program back to glory. Hope I'm wrong on that.
A possible Good-bye, for the short term, for Pedro Alvarez? News reports surfaced today that Pedro now has a "balky" left knee. The cynical among us see this as a chance to put Pedro on the DL to start the season, which would then be the conduit to send him to Indianapolis to start the season under the guise of a "rehab assignment."
Hello to Eric Bedard as the Pirates Opening Day starting pitcher. With A.J. Burnett on the shelf, I suppose that there was some sentiment for Jeff Karstens, based upon his season in 2011, to get the nod, but what the heck. I'm too lazy to look it up, but when was the last time that the Pirates had a pitcher get the Opening Day assignment two years in a row?
A possible Hello to 49 year old Jamie Moyer in Denver. I have to tell you that I, for one, am pulling for him to make the Rockies squad. He is 49 years old, coming off of Tommy John Surgery, and in recent years appeared to have trouble throwing a baseball through a wet paper bag, but he was still an effective pitcher. I would love to see him pitching again in 2012.
Finally, Good-bye to Chipper Jones who announced that he will be retiring after this upcoming season at age 40 and with 21 seasons in the big leagues, all with the Braves. It is sometimes easy to develop a dislike for players on the "other team", particularly when that team beats your team, but I never felt that way about Jones (nor, for that matter, the Braves in general in the Bobby Cox era, notwithstanding the 1991 and 1992 NLCS). He always seemed to be a classy guy and good guy. And what a ballplayer! Through 2011, he sports a .304 BA with over 2,600 hits, 454 HR, 1,561 RBIs and an OPS of .935. I hope he goes out in 2012 with a nice year and maintains those lifetime .300 and .900 numbers. Next stop: Cooperstown, NY.
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