UMT Sports Update

May 30, 2017

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Here’s an update of what’s happening in the world of sports….

National Football League

Steelers Make Roster Moves-The Pittsburgh Steelers signed safety Daimion Stafford and long snapper Kameron Canaday Stafford, an unrestricted free agent from Tennessee, has played in 62 career contests with eight starts, after being selected by the Titans in the seventh round (248^th overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft. His career numbers include 3.0 sacks, two interceptions and one fumble recovery on defense, and he has totaled one forced fumble and one fumble recovery on special teams. The Steelers also announced that punter A.J. Hughes has been released. The team’s roster is now set at 90 players.

Big Ben leads Penguins Fans in Stanley Cup Final- Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger helped fire home up the home crowd during Game 1 of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final. Rocking a Penguins’ home jersey donning his name and. Big Ben walked onto the ice to the delight of the raucous crowd at PPG Paints area., confirming legendary sportscaster Howard Cosell’s famous 1982 quote “When you play Pittsburgh, you play the whole city.”

Bucs to add Glazer, Gruden to Ring of Honor-The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will induct late owner Malcolm Glazer and Super Bowl-winning head coach Jon Gruden into the Buccaneers Ring of Honor this season, the Bucs announced Tuesday. Glazer will be honored when the Bucs play the New England Patriots on Thursday Night Football on Oct. 5. Gruden, an ESPN analyst, will be inducted at halftime of the Bucs’ Dec. 18 contest against the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football.
Vick desires to Retire as a Falcon-Former Atlanta Falcons QB Mike Vick announced that he would like to sign a 1-day contract with the team that drafted him in 2001 so he can retire with them, but Vick told CBS Atlanta in an interview that he hasn’t heard from the Falcons. Vick, the No. 1 overall pick of the Falcons in 2001, threw for 22,464 yards and rushed for 6,109 yards in his 13-year career. In 2006, he also became the first QB in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards.

National Basketball League

Cavs face Warriors in NBA Finals Thursday Night-For the 3^rd consecutive season, the Cleveland Cavaliers will face the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals Thursday, June 1 in Oakland. The defending champions Cavs face a Warriors team that win it all in 2015. It’s the first time in NBA history that 2 teams play in the Finals for 3 consecutive years. It’s also Cavs F LeBron James 7^th consecutive Finals appearance.
Fultz wants to be the NBA’s first overall pick-Former Washington G Markelle Fultz informed Boston Celtics GM Danny Ainge that he wants to be the #1 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. The Celtics have that #1 overall pick. “I want to be the No. 1 pick really bad,” Fultz added. “It’s been a dream of mine since I was a little kid, and I feel like I would fit well in Boston.”
Pistons to trade #12 pick for veteran player-The Detroit Pistons believe they can win now and are offering the 12^th overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft for a win-now veteran player.

Major League Baseball

Pirates place C Stewart in DL; recall Diaz-The Pittsburgh Pirates made some roster moves Tuesday, sending backup C Chris Stewart to the 10-day DL and recalling C Elias Diaz from AAA Indianapolis. At Indianapolis, he’s batting 281/298/388. He’s thrown out 48% of the runners who’ve tried to steal on him. Stewart is batting 225/295/350 and has thrown out four of 13 base stealers.
MLB Suspends Harper 4 games, Strickland 6- Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper has been suspended four games and San Francisco Giants reliever Hunter Strickland six for their involvement in Monday’s brawl. Both are appealing. MLB handed down the suspension Tuesday, less than 24 hours after the benches-clearing incident.
Harper Leads NL in All-Star Votes-In the wake of his 4-game suspension, Nationals OF Bryce Harper learned that he leads the National League in All-Star Game voting. Harper has a 230,436 vote lead on his teammate, Daniel Murphy, the second highest vote-getter. The 2017 MLB All-Star Game will be held at Marlins Park July 11

National Hockey League

Penguins beat Predators in Game 1 of Stanley Cup Finals-The Pittsburgh Penguins are now a step closer to repeating as Stanley Cup Champions by beating the Nashville Predators 5-3 at PPG Paints Arena. Rookie winger Jake Guentzel fired a shot by Nashville’s Pekka Rinne with 3:17 left in regulation to put the Penguins ahead to stay in a 5-3 victory to go 1-0 in the Stanley Cup Finals. Game 2 is Wednesday night.

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