Mike Prisuta’s Sports Section
A weekly look at the games people are playing and the people who are playing them.
Pens Look Back and Ahead to Cap ‘Summer of Stan’
The puck drops for the opening of training camp on Friday, and once that happens the Penguins must transition from “champions” into “defending champions.”
Steelers’ Defense Is Creating a New Identity
When a team blitzes as infrequently as the Steelers did against the Redskins –– you have to start wondering if the Blitzburgh tradition is one the Steelers are interested in upholding.
Evolution a Bigger Deal for Steelers Than Opening Night
The Steelers can and should get better as the 2016 season progresses, as they did in 2015 despite obstacles that included the use of three quarterbacks and four kickers.
Kaepernick Got It Wrong While Exercising His Constitutional Right
The 49ers' quarterback has already apparently forgotten what Steelers left tackle and former U.S. Army Captain and Afghanistan veteran Alejandro Villanueva has vowed never to forget.
Le'Veon Bell Talks The Talk But Can’t Walk The Walk
The Steelers running back emphasized his latest suspension resulted from missed random drug tests, and not a relapse into the marijuana-induced haze that got him jammed up last season. But if you lack the maturity to grasp the consequences of your actions (or, in this case, inactions), does it really matter?
Harrison, Steelers Can’t Escape Latest NFL – Players' Union Spat
The National Football League Players Association's ongoing war with the NFL in general, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in particular, continues to escalate –– and this time Harrison is among those being asked to lead the charge.
Winning Half of the DB Battle Not Enough for Steelers
When talking about his rookie defensive backs, Mike Tomlin's is dishing out praise for No. 2 pick Sean Davis while No. 1 pick Artie Burns isn't even in the conversation.
Can Steelers' Defense Keep Up With Its Offense?
It’s rarely the defense’s day when Ben Roethlisberger commands the proceedings the way he has been ever since he first reported for his 13th NFL training camp.
Optimism With An Asterisk As Good As It Gets In Steelers Training Camp
Although NFL teams never simply pick up where they left off the previous season, there’s reason to believe the 2016 Steelers could resemble the team that came agonizingly close to knocking off the eventual Super Bowl Champion Broncos in Denver last January.
Up-and-Down Bucs Survive First Half With Hope Intact
The Pirates did just enough in the days before the All-Star break to embrace the second half of the season with anticipation if not expectation.
Bucs' Biggest Problem Easier to Identify than Solve
As the Pirates try to climb out of a demoralizing slump, one factor has emerged as the team's biggest shortcoming.
Perspective Accompanies Long-Awaited Second Crosby Cup
The Pittsburgh Penguins may be more poised to establish a dynasty in 2016 than they were in 2009.
Mike Sullivan Embraces Pittsburgh Along with The Cup
When Sullivan showed up in December and began going about the business of delivering to the city its fourth Stanley Cup, he also found out what Pittsburgh sports are really all about.
Pens Suddenly Adamant About Defense Winning Championships
It’s trench warfare on ice in this year’s Final. And the Penguins aren’t just surviving, they’re thriving.
Pens-Sharks Cup Final Lacks Mystery But Not Intrigue
Game 1 turned out to be as revealing, potentially, as it was riveting, for the Sharks as for the Pens.
Resurrected Penguins Writing Their Story Their Way
These Penguins have been downright unrecognizable, individually and collectively, on the way to the Stanley Cup Final.
Crosby’s Long-Awaited Signature has Pens Pondering The Possibilities
For Sidney Crosby and for the Penguins, happy days are here again. But the emotion of the moment won’t mean much if Crosby and the Penguins aren’t able to build upon it as the series progresses.
Imperfect Penguins More Than Good Enough So Far
What’s delivered the Penguins into their first Eastern Conference Final since 2013 is the realization that imperfections need not be deal-breakers if you just keep coming.
Pirates Still Searching For Response to Arrieta-Caliber Dominance
The Bucs’ wild-card failures the last two seasons have cast a shadow of doubt if not impending doom over a season that otherwise ought to be ripe with promise.
A By-The-Numbers Draft Has Its Advantages For Steelers This Time
For the Steelers, this is a draft that’s long on need but short on intrigue.
Third Time Against Rangers Off to Charming Start for Pens
The culture change Sullivan has orchestrated with the Penguins has been confirmed.
For Penguins, A Great Offense Begins with a Better Defense
The Penguins are a different and truly dangerous team this postseason.
Pens After Even More, Not Merely More of the Same
This Penguins squad is a different animal from predecessors that expected to win on talent alone.
Is Phil Kessel The Final Piece of Penguins' Playoff Puzzle?
Slowly but surely, the Penguins have become a group that excels individually and collectively at not being denied.
Max Talbot: Long Way from Lifting the Cup But He's Still Playing
The game’s asking a lot from Talbot these days, but Talbot’s a hockey lifer and he’s still willing to give what’s required.
March Madness: Does Your Bracket Look Like Mike's?
Sports blogger Mike Prisuta's brackets have more than a few upsets, including a stunner that will have some local fans booking last minute flights to Houston.
Pirates 2016: In Clint They Trust
A team that doesn't spend enough money to achieve its goals is blessed with a manager who may take them to the promised land anyway.
Pens Did What They Could/Should Have at Trade Deadline
Between the lack of assets to trade in the first place, salary-cap complications and an apparent need to bolster the defense that became glaring once Ben Lovejoy got hurt, there wasn’t much General Manager Jim Rutherford was going to accomplish.
Steelers' Heath Miller: ‘As Unselfish As They Get’
For the best tight end in franchise history, there’s dignity in his decision to walk away despite having gas left in the tank.
Why March Madness will be More Maddening than Ever
This might even be the year when filling out the brackets based on mascots and color schemes is potentially as legitimate a method of selection as any other handicapping tool.
Super Bowl Predictions: Can I Have That One Back?
Denver's upset win over Carolina -- predicted by hardly anyone (including yours truly) -- should be interpreted as good news for Steelers' fans.
It's Simple This Time, Super Bowl 50 Won't Even be Close
The Panthers are going to get to the Broncos eventually. When that happens, Peyton Manning is going to be forced to throw it. And once that happens, it’s going to get ugly.
Desperate for Momentum - Have Pittsburgh Penguins Found It?
Fans have reason to be optimistic despite a season that's included the firing of a head coach and his successor losing his first four games.
Despite Playoff Exit, Arrow Pointing Up for Steelers in Offseason
The reaction after the loss to Denver was decidedly different than other season-ending defeats.
Despite Win, Saturday Was Not Steelers' Finest Hour
There remains plenty for the Steelers to be embarrassed about, despite their having survived and advanced.
Steelers' Fortunes May Rest on One Struggling Wide Receiver
Martavis Bryant is just a piece of the puzzle, but the way this team is constructed, he’s a critical piece.
About This Blog
Mike Prisuta is a veteran of Pittsburgh sports reporting since 1985.
Mike can be heard Monday through Friday talking sports with Randy Baumann and the DVE Morning Show.
His favorite sport is whatever’s in season.
Follow him on Twitter @DVEMike
