Farewell Modano

Today NHLer Mike Modano retired at the age of 40 and as a member of the Detroit Red Wings after 21 seasons in the NHL.  Modano is consider by a lot of people as the best American hockey player the game has seen.  He holds the records for most points and goals by an American and second most games played.  Drafted in 1988 as the 1st overall pick by the Minnesota North Stars, Modano led them to a Stanley Cup final in 1991 in which they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins.  He is one of the people responsible for making hockey in Dallas, Texas popular after the move from Minnesota in 1993.  Not only did he bring the city a Stanley Cup in 1999, but he also made hockey a sport kids wanted to play in the Dallas area.  He played his last season in Detroit in which he missed half the season due to injury.  It's safe to say that his next stop in the future will be the HOF as where he should be for what he did for hockey and Americans who play hockey.

602

Today marks a milestone in baseball history and that milestone is the most saves ever by a closing pitcher.  This feat was made by New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera when he closed out the game against the Minnesota Twins beating them 6-4.  Rivera is the highest paid closer/pitcher in the major league by getting paid 15 million a season.  His contract is up next year and who knows if he will continue his career after that since he is already in his 40's even though he does not look or play like he is.  Congrats to the Yankees and Rivera for this amazing milestone!

And the losing continues...

On Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Pirates lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 which handed them their 82nd loss this season.  This is now the teams 19th losing season in a row spanning from 1993-2011 and making them the most winningless team in sports history.  The season gave some hope to Pirate fans with getting over the .500 mark by seven games at one point and even sharing first place in the NL Central in July.  But after their 19 inning lost to the Atlanta Braves the Pirates were 14-35.  Was it that loss that took some momentum or just the team running out of gas?  Needless to say this years Pirates brought back hope for baseball fans in Pittsburgh with the new talent and manager.  Maybe just maybe next year is their year to break the losing streak and to clinch a spot in the playoffs.

NFL start/Steelers

Good afternoon everyone! As most of you know the NFL season starts tonight with Saints @ the defending Super Bowl champs Packers. But what I am going to talk about is the Pittsburgh Steelers and how their offseason could affect this season.  The Steelers had some good and bad publicity the past few months. Lets start off with the good.  In July, Roethlisberger got married.  Now in the past offseasons Ben had some trouble staying out of the news for not so good things like his motorcyle accident or his legal accusations but still performed on the field beyond expectations.  But will his recent public marriage end up hurting his stats?  In my thoughts I am going to say no for all he has been through I feel this might even be his best season yet.  Another good thing that happened was Hines Ward winning Dancing with the Stars.  It let the city be proud of their team/player in Hines and showed everyone what Steeler Nation was about.  But with the good comes bad and for Ward that occured in Georgia when he was arrested for a DUI.  With Hines being the veteran he is I feel it will not hurt his game at all this season.  Lastly, two people who stirred some controversy were Rashard Mendenhall and James Harrison.  Mendenhall went on a Twitter rant this past summer over 9/11 and Osama Bin Laden.  This left people who were once fans of the RB kind of taken back and changed their views on him.  Another person who let their words get the best of them was Harrison during a Men's Journal interview.  He made statements toward the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell about how is a "crook" and used some profanity to describe him.  Harrison later went on to say that the interview quoted him wrongfully and that he was sorry for some of the things he had said.  Even if you agree with him on the subjects of the interview do you think it will affect his play or how the league looks at him?  Will we be seeing even more fines or even suspensions for Harrison?  So after stating these things how do you all think the Steelers will do this season?  Personally, I feel they are a top three team in the AFC but we will all just have to watch and find out! 

Intro

Hi everyone! My name is Kelli Zill and I am from Pittsburgh, Pa.  I graduated from Carlynton High School and I am currently a Sophomore at Slippery Rock University studying Sport Management.  I am a big supporter of Pittsburgh sports teams especially the Penguins and Steelers.  No matter how they do you will always find me supporting my teams!  My career interests are in Marketing/Public Relations for an NHL team or perhaps working for an international team because of my love of traveling.