The beauty of commitment
As much as any players, these lifelong pirates fans are the game of baseball in Pittsburgh Deborah WeisbergStacy Innerst Summer 2013Bob Coward, dog-eared scorebook in hand, hurries through the turnstile at PNC Park for what will be his 2,600th-and-something Pittsburgh Pirates home game. A compact man who once worked as a prison guard at Western Penitentiary (now SCI Pittsburgh) on the city's North Side, Coward darts through the thickening crowd, greeting ushers and vendors as he makes his way to his seat. more >
The Seniors come to Pittsburgh
How a major golf tournament landed, suddenly, at Fox Chapel As public relations announcements go, this one was so benign, so coolly and corporately efficient, it might have been an update on pork belly and potassium futures:
Pittsburgh, Pa. and Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.—The Constellation Senior Players Championship and the PGA Tour’s Champions Tour announced today that the tournament will move to Fox Chapel Golf Club in Pittsburgh in 2012.
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The Black Diamond
The Pittsburgh Crawfords, the Homestead Grays and tricky baseballSummer 2011Before the civil war, what black community existed in Pittsburgh largely included Northern-born free blacks and runaway slaves, many of whom had traveled the Underground Railroad. more >
Eye on the ball: Centerfielder McCutchen
The path of the most exciting player on the Pittsburgh Pirates Tuesday night, Aug. 25, 2009. There are 17,049 paying customers in PNC Park. If they are baseball fans, they are getting their money's worth. more >
From the catbird seat
Reporting on Pittsburgh’s fansIn mid-November, when daylight dwindles, the sky turns flannel gray and a cold drizzle waterboards Pittsburgh, I flap my old, arthritic wings and fly south to Florida—God’s waiting room. more >
Kevin Colbert
The man behind the players Kevin Colbert grew up the youngest of five boys living in a house on Pittsburgh’s North Side. The house had one bedroom and one shower. The five boys lived in the attic, and they were orphaned by the time Colbert was 15.
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Major player
A closer look at DeJuan Blair—home-grown basketball phenomenon Spring 2009 The wiper blades arched back and forth against the SUV’s windshield, sweeping away an icy rain. Over the narrow, cobblestone streets and vacant, littered lots of the Hill District, DeJuan Blair drove his grandmother’s Buick Rendezvous. more >
Queens of the court
Pitt and Duquesne coaches bring the sports spotlight to women's basketballIf you think it’s hard to compete with the Pittsburgh Steelers on the field, imagine competing with them for a chunk of the area’s sport-obsessed, male-dominated fan base. But two exceptional women, Agnus Berenato of the University of Pittsburgh and Suzie McConnell-Serio of Duquesne University, are prying some eyes away. Between them, they aim to make women’s basketball a big-time local sport.
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The rub of the green
The oldest golf course in America is in Western Pa.? Summer 2008In the language of golf, there is always a “hidden gem.” The hidden gem is a golf course that is little known or even unknown, that someone has visited and then pronounced a marvel. The course generally has been sitting there, probably for many decades, known but to the locals.
more >The course loved 'round the world
How the beloved Oakmont Country Club course came to beThe U.S. Golf Association began staging the U.S. Open — the ultimate national championship — in 1895, and moves it year to year around the country. The USGA requires, first of all, a golf course that offers a stiff challenge, where the rough is deep, the greens fast and par is an outstanding score. It's a compliment to a course to be selected for the Open. more >
Get the message?
Sports marketing: If you're going to play, do it right When President George W. Bush tossed the ceremonial first pitch at the home opener of the Washington Nationals in April, it marked the return of Major League Baseball to the nation's capital after a 34-year hiatus. It also gave a newcomer from Pittsburgh millions of reasons to cheer for a team that plays against the Pirates. more >
Pittsburgh's claim to fame
Hall-of-famers tell of times in our city In honor of the midsummer classic's July reappearance in Pittsburgh, I pulled out some interviews I did years ago with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and Dan Fitzpatrick got many new ones of great National Leaguers of the past and their recollections of the Pirates and Pittsburgh. Many remember the eccentricities of old Forbes Field. more >
