The Pirates and back up catcher Chris Stewart have agreed to a three million two year deal with a club option for a third.  Stewart will earn 1.35 million in  2016, 1.4 million in 2017.  The club option  for 2018 is 1.5 million with a team  buy out of 200-thousand.  Stewart’s deal comes less than a week after the Pirates  avoided arbitration with starting catcher Francisco Cervelli.  Cervelli will  make 3.5 million in 2016.

With former teammate Maverick Rowan and NC State  in town to play Pitt, Lincoln Park has postponed it’s game with Shenango tonight.  The game has been moved to Wednesday night at the Midland Gym. Tip off will be 7:30.  Tonight’s games have  Blackhawk at Beaver Falls.  WBVP air time is 7:05.  Beaver will be at Hopewell. WMBA air time is 7:05

The 15-2  Pitt Panthers host the 10-8 North Carolina State Wolfpack at the Peterson Event Center tonight.  With their lost Saturday to Louisville, the Panthers fell off the AP Poll but, remains number 20 in the USA Today coaches poll. the Panthers are 4-1 in the ACC. NC State is 0-5.  The game is the return of Maverick Rowan.  Rowan lead the Lincoln Park Leopards to the 2014 WPIAL-PIAA Titles. He was also the PIAA player of the year 2014.  The 19-year-old freshman  is averaging 13.3 points per game for the Wolfpack.

Four unanswered goals from the Blues lead to a 5-2 lost last night in St Louis. It doesn’t get any easier.  The Penguins host their crosstown rival the Philadelphia Flyers Thursday at the Console Energy Center.  WBVP-WMBA air time is 6:30 pm

Linebacker James Harrison will be 38-years-old before the 2016 season begins.  He has one year left on his contract. Harrison told media members that he will take some time to decide whether he will play again.  Harrison had an outstanding season and was a mentor to the Steelers young corp of linebackers.  It is not game day it is getting ready for for game day says Harrison  He is not sure he wants to put his body through one more year of training.

Yesterday the Steelers cleaned out their lockers.  Today they have their exit interviews with Coach Mike Tomlin and then head for home.  A lot of  questions remain before the team heads to the draft room in April.   The final Mike Tomlin News Conference will be Wednesday at noon on WBVP-WMBA.

(Beaver County, PA) Beaver County radio has announced that it will host a free Black and Gold live broadcast pep rally at The Center at the Mall, in the Beaver Valley Mall, from noon to  2 P.M. on Friday January 15, 2015,  in preparation for the big divisional playoff game on Sunday. The general public is invited to attend and wear their  black and gold for the event, which will feature free food courtesy of Texas Roadhouse and Herr’s Potato Chips. Charlie Godart, star of the new reality TV show, “Hoodbillies”, along with Pat Septak and the Beaver County Radio Singers will perform Black and Gold fight songs.  Attendees will also be able to register for prize giveaways.  Mike Romigh, Host of Teleforum on WBVP and WMBA, will serve as Master of Ceremonies.  The event is sponsored by Aliquippa Giant Eagle and The Point Restaurant and Lounge.

For more information call WBVP and WMBA at 724-846-4100.

(Seven Springs, PA) The Pittsburgh Pirates front office staff held a question and answer

session with members of the Pittsburgh Pirates Radio Network at an affiliate gathering earlier today at Seven Springs Mountain Resort.  Pirates Team owner Bob Nutting opened the meeting by re affirming his thoughts that this year’s team is expected to continue the their winning ways in 2016. Nutting then challenged other Pirates team leadership present that he fully expects this year’s squad to be better than last year’s.

Pirates General Manager Neil Huntington and President Frank Coonley also addressed numerous issues at the meeting including the need for Major League Baseball to come up with a a different formula for revenue sharing and how foreign professional players are recruited and signed among others, to help make all teams be able to compete on an equal basis with each other in the future.

Coonley lauded the Pirates success of this past year pointing out several interesting observations including the fact that the Pirates, with 98 wins in 2015, had the third best record in Baseball, were one of only three teams to make the playoffs in each of the past three seasons, and yet the greater Pittsburgh area , is the second smallest market in the league.