Bullskin News Network - Delivering Great Sports Takes Too!

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Oh what do you know? Your Pittsburgh Penguins will be playing meaningful hockey past mid-April this year. They have officially clinched a playoff berth. Who would have ever thunk that?!?! Not many I can tell you that, we all kept hearing going into the year this team would be a lottery team and how it would be better to tank this season and try and get generational talent Gavin McKenna and that he would be the heir apparent to Crosby like Crosby was to Lemieux.

  Crosby, Malkin, and Letang proved that was not the case. Yeah, you heard that right folks - your Pittsburgh Penguins will be going to the postseason for the first time after missing the playoffs for the last three consecutive seasons. After missing the playoffs for the first time in 16 years they are back!  16 consecutive, which is second all-time in a row after the Red Wings did it for 25 years straight only to since then miss it 9 years in a row now.

  We kept hearing during the year they would not sustain it and in December when they went into a swoon that now, we are seeing the real Penguins team we all anticipated and expected, that did not happen and that should be all the credit to Dan Muse, who was a total unknown commodity when the Penguins hired him, is now a Jack Adams Finalist or about to be and rightfully should be.

 This season has been fun and more so and it is great to see a good hockey city like Pittsburgh have their team in the playoffs along with the NFL Draft going on to go along with the Pirates playing well starting the season out. Also great to see Sidney Crosby an all-time be in the postseason again along with other all-time greats Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson. Enjoy it Pittsburgh - you deserve this as does the hockey world getting to see all-time greats mentioned above in the postseason once again. We must appreciate it because knows how much longer any of them still have in the tank. 

As a lifelong supporting fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates you may be asking yourself. Why does this look like another dreadful year for getting on base? Look no further than Matthew Hague. A career .226 hitter, with only 19 hits throughout his years in the league is your answer. He had 1 stolen base and ZERO home runs. Does that sound familiar?

How offensively laughable it is that this team would select someone to manage a team when he couldn't hit a watermelon with a tennis racket himself. The pitching looks to be dialed in once again, but with clown at the helm of the hitting department it just sorry looking like another season of suffering for some runs. 

In the second game of the MLB season Pittsburgh Pirates are fielding Jared Triolo, and he is batting lead off.
It is nice to see O'Neil Cruz riding the pine, as his fielding once again mirrors a lanky little leaguer.

in their most aggressive offseason in decades they have acquired some batters for once, but Jared Triolo top of the order is nasty work.

The guy couldn't hit a watermelon with a tennis racket, and although his glove is solid this once again shows fans that management is not serious about fielding a winning team. 

Mark DeRosa who is manager of Team USA had thought prior to their game against Italy that it did not matter and no matter what they were going to march on to the Quarterfinals. NOT! He had even said that "yes we would like to win, but we already have everything clinched up" or along those lines. However that was not the case Team USA STILL had to win to move on and they did not.

  They looked awful in fact against a team that is FAR, FAR inferior to them. Granted yes they came back and made it a game and all but they were getting destroyed for much/most of the game against a team they should beat in their sleep. The fact that Mark DeRosa did not know all the stipulations going into that game is a firable offense in my eyes all the way around and should be shunned from baseball altogether especially should they not advance past Pool Play.

  Should Italy not win or Mexico not win by 5+ runs, Team USA will not advance and that will be a COLOSSAL of a disappointment beyond realism for a team that is FAR superior than just about everyone else in this WBC aside from Japan who may have a case H2H against them. USA was a HEAVY co-favorite along with Japan now they are on the sidelines waiting to see a result that will impact their now WBC fate.

  HEY MARK DeROSA YOU JUST MADE THE LIST!!!!!

We all know the NFL Draft will be held next month in the beautiful city of Pittsburgh, first time ever! With one of the biggest Draft events ever hosted here, we will indeed find out if we can host bigger events here in Pittsburgh such as Wrestlemania or even the Super Bowl.

It will surely be a cluster down there and it will be an event that will bring many, many people to Pittsburgh, some visiting for the first time ever. 

Many people will be staying outside the city as there will not be a hotel to stay in, or they will be extremely hard and pricey to come by.

 We do know one thing, with the Draft coming to Pittsburgh it will obviously bring a ton of money to Pittsburgh and help the economy but what we do not know is the burden it will have on the city of whether they will be able to host it again or host bigger events like this. 

I for one cannot wait for it to be here and be in a city of great football tradition as we all know. It will be awesome to hear names get called and see which teams are able to find "Their Guy" 

 Let's make this a great event here in Pittsburgh and make it a memorable one. One the league remembers forever and have great hospitality and respect for everyone visiting, especially if it is the only time they come to the Steel City! 

The Pittsburgh Pirates for the first time in God knows how long will have a team. With the best odds to make the playoffs in 12 or so years they are poised to make some noise. 

This year's 2026 Pittsburgh Pirates have a really good rotation headlined by the reigning Cy Young Winner Paul Skenes. They have the No. #1 overall prospect in baseball Konnor Griffin. This offseason they bolstered their lineup with some bats, at the expense of Andrew McCutchen leaving with a bad taste in his mouth. 

This year may finally be a different story for the first time since those teams from 2013-2015.

They have a much better lineup and pitching staff this season. We should see them coming in hot, and although the Cubs may be the favorites to win the NL Central the Pirates could be a team that even comes as far as second in the NL Central. Dare I say it - even squeezing in over the Milwaukee Brewers who were an NLCS finalist last year. 

The Reds should fall off, they really were not that great despite making the postseason last year and the Cardinals who are not supposed to contend yet again.

This year will be different. We think people will not be twittling their thumbs until the Steelers kickoff in September, or you will not be hearing the talk shows in Pittsburgh once the Penguins season ends just talking about miscellaneous nonsense about the Steelers until fall rolls around, just to fill air time. 

The Pirates I think keep it interesting for once and maybe not a deep playoff team, but a team that finishes with a respectable record to their standards for the first time in a long time around here. You deserve it Pirates fans- buckle up because this year it might be different. 

Since the Olympics have concluded and people loved the tournament, namely the Gold Medal Game. 

We can bring a message to the table and talk about hockeys popularity starting to spark. This is a conversation we believe should have sparked/been up there with the rest of the four major sports years ago, perhaps millenniums ago! 

So many people hate on hockey and the game, but if people actually gave it a chance and would maybe even attend a game - even at an amateur levels people would start to think different.

  Out of the four major sports that being of course the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL, the National Hockey League gets the least amount of coverage and love by the rest of the population and it is quite sad. Once football season ends all the main sports networks such as ESPN, Fox to name a couple all begin to just talk NBA nonstop almost and it drives us insane. Every single year they visit where the NBA Finals will be, how about including the Stanley Cup Finals in for a change? The NHL Postseason in my eyes is the best postseason - its total nonstop action and it is such a rigorous sport. Truly a gladiator sport in a lot of senses, and what they all have to put their bodies through for maybe even 28 games if they would have to play four straight 7 game series to win the Cup. You have guys playing with broken fingers, ankle, toes - you name it! There was a lunatic last year playing with torn ligaments in his knee. 

   Hockey in person and I have attended all the sports in person is by far the most electrifying, and it is not even CLOSE. It is top notch entertainment at its finest. 

There is nothing better - I mean fighting is legal in hockey, which is not in other sports and who does not love to watch a good scrap? Like when the Tkachuk Brothers in the 4 Nations knocked them dudes senseless within the opening minutes of the game, like were you not entertained?!?! If you weren't maybe you should not be a sports fan then, I do not know maybe look into competitive bubble gum blowing. 

USA takes Gold once again, and for the first time since 1980, what a scene and a great thing for this country and the youth that is involved with hockey here in America. 

USA got outplayed for most of the game, but Hellebuyck stood tall. Hellebuyck(who coincidentally plays for a Canadian team himself, the Winnipeg Jets) dominated this whole tournament and although the Americans did not look so good at the beginning of the tournament they really did start getting things in order later on. Playing a tough game against Sweden, dominating Slovakia and then playing a tough game against Canada.

 Many will say Canada did not have Crosby and that played a factor. At the end of the day it was not about his absence. Crosby or no Crosby, Canada has so much talent and depth his absence should not mean much. 

Mike Sullivan, the head coach for Team USA guaranteed will go to the Hall of Fame as a coach now with 2 Stanley Cups to his name and now a Gold Medal. 

Canada as I have touched on prior these last two games did not look right as the Americans were starting to get things together, Canada had to get lucky to beat Czechia and then Finland.

 Now let's get back to Connor Hellebuyck who got totally robbed of MVP, this was some of the best goaltending ever at the International level and was the sole reason they won that game against Canada and why they won the Gold in the end. The save he had on Toews will be viewed in American loar forever and ever. I said at the beginning of this tournament that if America is to win it will be because of goaltending they had the best goaltending out of anyone it was shown on display this tournament, great goaltending like a great defense in football can carry you a long, long way (even if you are not more talented than whoever you have to go up against).

 In the future the NHL needs to keep going to the Olympics because this was amazing hockey to say the least. This tournament and the last 4 Nations(which was also unbelievable) and Connor McDavid (a guy who has not won many big prizes other than a 4 Nations) came up short, yet again for the ultimate prize in the end.

Anyways start Partying like it's 1980!!!!

Canada and the U.S. are meeting for the Gold just as we all drew it up, except not how we all anticipated it going. 

The U.S. struggled early on with teams like Latvia and Denmark before pulling away like we all anticipated.

but still in games no one thought they should be in and then against Sweden yes they would be tough and we all expected that. 

On the other hand Canada had looked dominant through this entire tournament before these elimination games against Czechia and Finland. Czechia had them on the ropes and almost pulled off one of the biggest upsets everx especially in World Hockey Competition.

Czechia was up 3-2 with 3:27 left to play and on the verge of potentially getting that colossal and we mean COLOSSAL of an upset but Canada was able to come back late and force overtime. They also got lucky when Necas should have had a better shot on net late which would have sealed the Canadians fate and sent an uproar through the hockey capital of the universe until the end of time. 

Losing Crosby their Captain was a major shake up for the Canadians. Then against Finland never ever taking the lead until 35.2 seconds remaining in fact being down 2-0 at one point in that contest. 

Canada is on its heels going into this Gold Medal Game for sure and the USA looks like they may think it is their time to finally beat the Canadians for once and take Gold for the first time since 1980 dubbed as "The Miracle on Ice" and for the first time in 46 years.

Could you have imagined had Canada lost to Czechia a team that is NO WHERE near as talented as them and them not even medaling? When they were the HEAVY favorite in this tournament. Crosby or no Crosby, Canada has so much depth and talent up and down that team his absence should not mean as much, but him not being there is a help for Team USA. 

Should he not play this is USA's time to finally get one on its rivals and finally take that Gold home again.

You have to admire the commitment to tradition. 

consistency and hard work. Those are words that come to mind when you think of those Georgia Bulldogs. Consistently working towards championships, and working extra hard in the offseason towards misdemeanors, and felonies. 

Year after year they are stacking the field with talent, and NFL draft prospects that are walking felonies.

This week we saw the arrest of Chris Cole, and Darren Ikinnagbon. Not to be confused with "Cinnabon" those delicious seasonal treats. 

they were charged with reckless driving, and speeding of up to 150+ mph.

WOW! 150 miles an hour. That is some serious speed!

If only college football season would be returning to us that quickly. 

If you are someone out there that has nothing to do ant the moment and has free time out the wazoo since football is over and you have no other sporting interests, - LISTEN UP. 

Here is a good series you can binge watch until next September hits or training camp.

 It is a show called Coach starring Craig T. Nelson (who also played a coach in the film All the Right Moves) filmed in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Not too far outside of Pittsburgh and the late Jerry Van Dyke brother of actor/comedian Dick Van Dyke.

 It is a show played by a fictional Head Coach named Hayden Fox who coaches the fictional Minnesota State Screaming Eagles who later on in the show eventually becomes an NFL coach much later on for a fictional expansion franchise from Orlando.

 The show is about a coach named Hayden Fox who they show from his life on the field as a football coach and his personal life and the struggles he has. It aired from 1989-1997 and it is very good television one that football fans can enjoy until September rolls around.

Joey Porter recently had some choice words regarding his former teammate and arguably the greatest QB ever in franchise history/future HOF Ben Roethlisberger. 

Porters comments highlighting Roethlisberger as a bad teammate and "everyone knew that" are now starting to spark.

This comes after some years ago when Antonio Brown had his shenanigans going on, which many chalked up to CTE. James Harrison - another former teammate who was a guest on the show Undisputed with Skip Bayless and then Shannon Sharpe saying how he believed Roethlisberger was a good teammate.

If not for Big Ben - Porter's loud mouth never wins a Super Bowl, #7 is why Peezy has jewelry to walk around with on his fingers. Keep in mind Porters son also now plays on the team and the day that Roethlisberger does get in(which is likely to happen when his son is still on the team), what is that supposed to be like inside the organization who's brass should adore that fact? Porter also coached the team through Roethlisbergers prime years as well, for Porter to be saying any of this is really low class/low rent whatever you want to call it whenever he brought you the greatest day/run in 2005 than you had your whole playing career. Hoisting the Lombardi which is something that every kid dreams about.

HEY PEEZY- YOU JUST MADE THE LIST 

You know why- Tommy Maddox and Kordell Stewart would have never brought you that precious metal on your hand!