Wednesday, 25 July 2012 06:37

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

Pirates/MLB

-The Pirates acquired pitcher Wandy Rodriguez (above) from the Astrost in exchange for minor league pitchers Rudy Owens and Colton Cain and outfielder Robbie Grossman.

-The Pirates dropped their second consecutive game in a 5-1 loss to the Cubs.

-Highlights:

-Could the Pirates give some of their starting pitchers a break?

-The minor league report.

-Actor Hal Sparks, the "real" Zoltan, will throw out the first pitch to Wednesday's game.

-The Dodgers acquired shortstop Hanley Ramirez and pitcher Randy Choate from the Marlins in exchange for pitcher Nathan Eovaldi and minor league pitcher Scott McGough.

-Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez suffers a broken left hand.

-The Rays acquired infielder Ryan Roberts from the Diamondbacks in exchange for minor league second baseman Tyler Bortnick.

Steelers/NFL

-The Steelers signed Mike Tomlin (right) to a three-year contract extension.

-Mike Wallace. Still unsigned.

-Can the Steelers pick up Todd Haley's offense?

-Blog 'n Gold finds a vintange Steelers-Dolphins game from 1973.

-The Lions signed former Steelers offensive tackle Jonathan Scott.

-Former Jets/Patriots running back and Pitt star Curtis Martin admitted he played through head injuries during his NFL career.

-The Browns signed quarterback Brandon Weedon, a first-round pick this year, to a four-year contract worth $8.1 million.

-The Patriots signed former Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe.

-A pectoral injury will sidelined Falcons linebacker Lofa Tatupu for the entire season.

-Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson restructured his contract.

Penguins/NHL

-Remembering Zbynek Michalek.

-It didn't take the NHL Store in New York long to start selling Rick Nash Rangers jerseys:

-Bruins forward Nathan Horton, who missed the final 36 games of the past regular season due to a concussion, is expectd to make a full recovery in time for the start of the next regular season. Defenseman Adam McQuaid, who suffered a concussion in the postseason, is expected to be ready as well.

-Eric and Jordan Staal showed off their new matching Hurricanes jerseys at Bauer's professional camp:

-The Hurricanes re-signed unrestricted free agent defenseman Jay Harrison to a three-year contract worth a total of $4.5 million.

-The Predators matched the offer sheet the Flyers signed unrestricted free agent defenseman Shea Weber to last week. Nashville will pay Weber $110 million over the next 14 seasons.

-The Predators re-signed restricted free agent forward Colin Wilson to a three-year contract worth a total of $6 million.

-The Blue Jackets signed defenseman Ryan Murray, the second overall pick in last month's draft, to a three-year entry-level contract.

-Ducks forward Saku Koivu carried the Olympic Torch in London.

College Football

-Penn State's Bill O'Brien is ready to deal with some major adversity.

-The site of Joe Paterno's statue was demolished.

-How will the sanctions against Penn State impact State College's economy?

-Could Penn State's bond rating be downgraded?

-UCLA coach Jim Mora says he has been in contact with a few Penn State players.

-West Virginia quaterback Geno Smith (right) has hit the weights.

-A moved to the Big 12 could mean more playing time for West Virginia's freshmen.

-Pitt fans hijacked a Twitter hashtag set up by Arizona State to allow fans to ask questions to new head coach Todd Graham. The results were not kind.

(Photos: Rodriguez-Bob Levey/Getty Images; Tomlin-Doug Pensinger/Getty Images; Nash-@RangersGal; Staals-@BauerHockey; Smith-Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)