Hearty CONGRATULATIONS go out to day to the Duquesne Dukes, the college basketball team of my youth, and the Alma Mater of my parents, Class of '35, and my older brother Jim, Class of '66, and their head coach of seven years, Keith Dambrot for winning the Atlantic 10 Tournament and earning an automatic bid into this year's NCAA Tournament. As we were constantly reminded by the announcers over the course of the A-10 tourney, this is the Dukes first trip to the Big Dance since 1977, the first year of the Carter Administration to put it perspective.
I'm not going to lie, I hadn't followed the Dukes much at all this season, but I was thrilled to watch them in this tournament as they beat top seed Dayton and then St. Bonaventure and Virginia Commonwealth in the semis and the finals. When I was just a tyke being indoctrinated into the world of sports by my grandfather, father, and older brothers, there were the Pirates in baseball, the Steelers in football, and Duquesne in basketball. That's was it. That was the list. So, yes, I'm thrilled for Duquesne today.
One could write a book - and my pal Dave Finoli probably already has - about what has happened to the once storied program on The Bluff, but let's forget about it for now and celebrate today. Who knows what kind of run the Dukes may have once the NCAA extravaganza tips off, but it sure is nice to see them relevant once again.
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Well, the figurative ink was barely dry on my Grandstander post of yesterday, wherein I detailed the the amazing news from the Steelers this week, first Wilson, then Pickett (see what I did there), when another bombshell was donated from South Water Street: the news that the Steelers had made a trade with the Chicago Bears and obtained quarterback Justin Fields (as speculated upon in yesterday's Grandstander). To get this former first round pick and three year starter, the Steelers sent to Chicago a bag of practice footballs, a tackling sled, and a few kicking tees.
Fields is set to be Russell Wilson's back up. He is 25 years old, and he could become the team's QB for the next decade. Of course, that might not happen either, but regardless of how it plays out, the Steelers and GM Omar Kahn have certainly not sat still during this off season. An interesting note in the paper this morning stated that since Kahn took over as GM two years ago, only 17 players from the Kevin Colbert era remain on the current 90 man roster. In addition, Kahn has let go of a bunch of scouts and personnel people and replaced them with new ones. Omar is definitely putting his stamp on Rooney U.
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Of course, when the Steelers are making one blockbuster deal after another, other sports news in The Burgh gets pretty well lost in the shuffle. Such was the case with the signing by the Pirates of outfielder Michael A. Taylor (former Twins, Nationals). It was pretty much stated that Taylor would become the starting centerfielder for the Bucs heading into the '24 season.
To be sure, Taylor is no Andy Van Slyke, but I think that he could become a significant contributor to the Pirates as the season unfolds.
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