Ray Jr. on Sports

1. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) The Atlantic Coach Conference announced its inaugural ACC Network Extra schedule Thursday afternoon. The University of Pittsburgh will have 40 events broadcast throughout the fall season.
2. These are one of the many reasons why Pitt joined the ACC: The TV coverage-in not just football and basketball & it will get even better when they establish their ACC Network with ESPN starting 2019. I think Pitt did well.
3. The Pitt football team finally introduced their alternate uniforms that they will be wearing this season. I am truly excited to see them wearing their 1976 National Championship Unis (basically what they wore from 1973-1996) and the players were truly excited when they saw them for the first time as well.
4. I honestly think that Pitt should make the throwback unis their permanent home jerseys and the away unis and blue helmets the alternates. That version of Blue & Gold has always defined Pitt athletics. Hey, the Pittsburgh Penguins did it, why not the Panthers?
5. One more point about those throwback unis: Pitt will wear them During their Homecoming Game October 8^th Georgia Tech at Heinz Field. I don’t agree that they should only wear these one time, they should wear them vs. Penn State Sept 12^th. But it is what it is.
6. Not much else going on in College football except that Michigan Football HC Jim Harbaugh and the school agreed to a $2 million per year-life insurance policy in June. He’s certainly earned it after leading the Wolverines to a 10-3 record in 2015-which was his first season.
7. Well, it’s certainly the first of such an agreement that I’ve ever heard of for a college coach, but the team has already invested a lot of money into Harbaugh with that $44 million contract, so I guess $2 million more won’t hurt. I’m sure the school is hoping that they’ll get a national championship out of this in some way.
8. As for Major League Baseball(MLB) Apparently the Pittsburgh Pirates have found life after sweeping the San Francisco Giants this week. The game that stood out was Wednesday’s game when they rebounded from a 4-0 deficit to win 6-5. That’s pretty huge in my opinion.
9. And what made that Pirates win very significant was the fact that CF Andrew McCutchen gave the Pirates the lead on a 2-run HR. That could be a turning point in his season as he’s now hitting .248 and it tied for the team lead with 17 HRs. I hope Cutch keeps it up.
10. 3B Jung Ho Kang has also picked it up for the Pirates as he’s hit 3 HRs since Friday. He and McCutchen will be a tremendous boost to the Pirates if they can keep it going. They can certainly change games with a swing of the bat.
11. As for the team itself, they’re currently 62-56, 13 games back from NL Central-leading Chicago, but a more realistic 1 game back from the 2^nd NL Wild Card spot. They need to do whatever it takes to get that spot.
12. The Pirates can also benefit from the Aug 31^st Trade Deadline-provided they keep it going. You know I would add some players for the stretch run. I think another starting pitcher and reliever would do. And please call up prospect Josh Bell, for goodness sake.
13. Speaking of those Cubs, MLB just needs to give them the division title right now as they’re playing in another orbit. They’re 8-2 in their last 10 games with a 77-43 record. That’s good enough for the best record in baseball. The 72-60 AL West-leading Texas Rangers have the AL’s best record.
14. Here’s an update on former Pirate Pedro Alvarez-who’s now playing for the Baltimore Orioles: .258, 18, 42. Yes we’ve seen better stats from him in Pittsburgh, but you know what’s improved? His batting average. Looks like he’s developing more patience and discipline at the plate. Good for him.
15. And as for former Pirates P JA Happ, who’s with the AL East leading Toronto Blue Jays? He’s 17-3 with a 3.05 ERA. If he ends up winning the Cy Young Award, I’ll be happy for him, but also perturbed-because he should’ve been doing that for the Pirates. Oh well.
16. As for the NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers LB James Harrison and 2 others have agreed to meet with NFL investigators as demanded by the league, which threatened suspension if the players fail to do so regarding steroid allegations stemming from an Al-Jazeera report in January.
17. A lot of folks don’t agree with these players for doing so, but I do. Here’s why: If they’re innocent, then what does it hurt to meet and talk? Especially in Harrison’s case. He’s 38 and he doesn’t have much of an NFL career left-a suspension would just make it shorter.
18. As for the Steelers themselves, they made some impressions during their first Preseason game, especially CB Doran Grant who intercepted a pass and returned it for a TD and backup QB Landry Jones looked a little more confident, but let’s be honest folks, it’s only Time will tell.
19. As for the Summer Olympics, the US Track and Field women dominated Wednesday night as Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin swept the women’s 100m hurdles. A first in Olympic history. Congrats to them.
20. Here’s the latest medal count: The US is dominating with 95 total medals and also lead with 32 Gold, 32 Silver and 31 Bronze medals. And there’s still a couple of days left. They’re looking like the 1984 US team that had 174 total medals. Now that’s

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