The Sports Monitor

Heralded running back Rushel Shell wanted to leave Pitt in the spring. So coach Paul Chryst let him go. Shell supposedly was going to enroll at UCLA, but it didn't happen. Last week, Shell wanted to return to Pitt. Chryst said no. Great move. I'm stunned that there are people saying Chryst should allow Shell back. Some are saying give him a second chance. Hey, if Shell wanted to enroll at Pitt, he's free. He has no right to be on the football team, however. What Chryst did will help more in the long run than the Panthers might experience in any hurt this fall. I applaud Chryst. There are other options for Shell close to Pittsburgh. West Virginia immediately comes to mind.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again up front: I'm a Phil Mickelson fan. I know what to expect the next three days at the U.S. Open. Mickelson is just a couple hours from teeing off in the second round at Merion. He had a fantastic round of 67 to take the clubhouse lead after the first round was delayed. That doesn't guarantee any success the rest of the tournament. Mickelson is know for his high-risk, high-reward play, which isn't the best approach to the Open. Lefty will stay near the lead, put up a bogey-bogey stretch to fall behind and find a way to get a birdie to get everyone jazzed up again about his chances. It's exhilarating and frustrating all at once. It's the Phil Mickelson Experience. Will he win? Don't think so. But that doesn't mean I won't be rooting for him. I want to see him get his breakthrough win at the Open. And after one round he has a shot. But it's usually an errant shot that takes him off co...

It had been more than two years since I had been to a baseball game. That ended Tuesday night. Gerrit Cole warming up. Pic courtesy of my lousy phone camera. And what a night to catch a game; it was a playoff-like atmosphere at PNC Park. Gerrit Cole had a smashing debut, striking out his first batter faced on three pitches. In his first at-bat, he drove in two runs. Starling Marte hit a homer, Pedro Alvarez hit one, too, and the Pirates beat the World Champion Giants 8-2. What more could you want? Burger featuring egg and bacon on a doughnut. Well, I guess the timing for the metal-detector wands, but the Pirates admitted their mistake on that one. That wouldn't have been much of a problem if there weren't 30,000 fans there. Everyone, it seemed, wanted to see Cole's first start. He hit the upper-90s, including 98 in the seventh inning. He only struck out two, but he had tremendous control -- he didn't walk a batter and had a three-ball count o...

Ever watch a high school game when one team was very, very good and the other was, well, not so good? It was that bad for the Pittsburgh Penguins Monday night. And that's putting it mildly. The Pens lost 6-1 to the Boston Bruins in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference finals. It was a must-win game for the Pens, who now trail 2-0 and head to Boston for Games 3 and 4. The only thing Pittsburgh can take from the shellacking is it hit bottom. The big problem is there might not be enough time left to save the season. Tuukka Rask was solid in goal while Tomas Vokoun and Marc-Andre Fleury were equally bad. I understand if there is a goalie switch; with the season on the line the Pens would want their top goalie on the ice. Only I think their top goalie is Vokoun. Either way, without being too simplistic, the better goalie usually wins in the playoffs. The Pens will be hard-pressed to solve Vokoun four times in the next five games.

What happens when you run into a hot goalie? Just ask the Pittsburgh Penguins. They trail their Eastern Conference finals 1-0 after a 3-0 loss to the Boston Bruins Saturday night. It also was another example of good goaltending beats a good offense. Hopefully, the Pens will be able to figure out Tuukka Rask before Monday night. If not, they face a 2-0 deficit heading to Boston. Maybe the Pens got the wake-up call they needed.