Standing Starts a Big Step for IndyCar

This weekend will mark the second "double header" race weekend in the IZOD IndyCar Series. Teams and drivers will participate in a full-length race on the Streets of Toronto on Saturday afternoon, only to turn around and race again on Sunday. However, a new twist comes with the Honda Indy Toronto with the implementation of a standing start for the first of the double header races. This new addition to the IndyCar Series is a huge step for Indy's return to prominence.

...or it could be a complete bust.

Pittsburgh Pirates - This NEEDS TO BE the Year

-- by Tony Borrelli

This has to be it. I can’t stress that enough. I am in desperate need of this. My entire life and I have never seen it happen.

The Pirates need to finish .500 or better.

I’m a realist, not too be mistaken for a pessimist. I see things and have a mild optimistic outlook on the way they could turn out. That’s what I’m doing with the Pirates this year. They have me hooked again for the third year in a row hoping that this is it. I said it two years ago when they were surging, and they collapsed around the midway point because of a horrible call at home plate (THE turning point of the season). I said it last year when 'Cutch had the best month of baseball, and then the Pirates fell apart in July yet again. And now at the start of July of 2013, here I am again.

Steve Pederson Extension - How Pitt Fans Should Feel

Pittsburgh athletic director Steve Pederson has signed a five-year contract extension that will keep him at the school through 2018.

Everybody that knows me recognizes that I am not a Steve Pederson fan. I have been one of his biggest critics throughout his Pitt tenure and I was critical of him at his time in Nebraska. I am not going to go that far deep into the Nebraska fiasco but all I have to say is that anybody down in big red country will tell you that he is not a beloved figure for his alma mater. He was fired after 5 disastrous years and Pitt literally hired him back the next day. (He was also the AD at Pitt from 1998-2002).

With the news of his recent contract extension, there has been a mixture of reactions from alumni and fans about their feelings towards Pederson. I am going to create a pros and cons list of Pedersons actions while at Pitt and I want the readers of the article to tell me how they feel about him.