Pittsburg, PA
Young Pittsburgh Steelers starter makes big change after position switch
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Broderick Jones has made a significant change to himself this offseason. After knowing he would switch from right tackle to left tackle, Jones changed his workout routine and diet, and dropped from 325 pounds to 305 pounds.
“I wanted to come back a little leaner. Because it gives me a chance to gain weight going into training camp and throughout the season. Instead of coming back heavy and then having to lose weight just to gain it back, it’s just a hard process. So I just wanted to focus on coming back at a good enough weight to where I can maintain, but also gain if I have to,” Jones said.
Jones has played 121 snaps at left tackle in his rookie season, but the rest of his games since that moment have been at right tackle.
Jones admits after playing at right tackle so much, it is taking him a bit of time to get his bearings back on the left side, but it is coming back to him quickly. He played most of his games in college at left tackle, though they cross-trained him in practice.
“At first it did, but when they initially moved me to right tackle and I played it for so long and then they tried to make me like the swing tackle, it was kind of funky,” Jones said. “But I knew I would be going back to left. So this offseason, I just tried to focus on nothing but the left side and just continue to work that way. Just to try and get back the feel of the position… Being back (at LT), I feel like it’s a bigger boost for me just because I’ve been used to playing on the left side.”
General manager Omar Khan wanted to move Jones to left tackle in his second season. The consistent switching has forced Jones to learn a new movement skillset, and he has admitted he is a bit uncomfortable on the right side, even after two years of playing there.
Now, it is about getting his mental reps right, and reinforcing the playbook from the left side.
“It’s just flipping the plays in my head. Because some of our plays, they’re flip-flopped backwards,” Jones said. “So you hear them and they might be going one way, but it may be called the other way. So just staying locked in with the plays and just making sure you know them. And you know the plays, you can play at 110%.”
Jones now gets to play his natural spot and is lighter than he has ever been in his NFL career, which could be the catalyst for him to take a step forward as a player.
Pittsburg, PA
About 5 pounds of bees removed from Acrisure Stadium scaffolding ahead of Morgan Wallen concerts
Acrisure Stadium is buzzing with excitement ahead of the back-to-back Morgan Wallen concerts. Except it’s not the fans generating all the excitement — it’s about 5 pounds of honeybees.
The Fine Family Apiary in Monongahela said it was contacted on Wednesday about a swarm of bees clustered on the stage scaffolding. The apiary put the swarm in a “nuc box” and took them home before moving the bees into full-size equipment.
Owner Al Fine estimates the swarm weighed about 4 to 5 pounds and consisted of 12,000 to 15,000 bees. All said, it took less than two hours to get the job done.
Why do bees swarm?
Swarming is how honeybees propagate, Fine explained. According to Penn State Extension, during swarming, the queen and about half the workers leave their home to establish a new nest. The bees will form a temporary cluster, hanging out while scouts search the surrounding area for a more permanent home in hollow spaces like tree cavities or, occasionally, the walls of a home.
Swarms can stick around for several hours or days until they’re ready to move, Penn State Extension says. Meanwhile, the colony left behind is temporarily without a leader until a new queen is established.
With the swarm at Acrisure Stadium removed, Morgan Wallen’s show is ready to go on. The country music megastar will bring his I’m The Problem Tour to Pittsburgh on June 5 and June 6, along with multiple acts like Brooks & Dunn and Ella Langley.
On Sept. 17, multi-platinum country music star Luke Bryan will bring his Farm Tour to 1846 Farms near Latrobe.
Westmoreland County is no stranger to large outdoor concerts. Some may remember the Rolling Rock Town Fair in the early 2000s, while others may recall Luke Bryan’s stop at a farm in South Huntingdon Township just two years ago. Now the country music superstar is returning to the area.
The Unity Township farm’s general manager, Aleisha Stas, gave KDKA a tour of the family farm, which dates back to before the Civil War. She says Bryan’s team first reached out after finding the farm on social media, but she says at first, she and her family thought it was too good to be true.
“This was around April Fools, so we thought it was an April Fools prank,” Stas said. “My whole family, we were like, there’s no way this is about to happen. But this has been incredible.”
Stas says Bryan’s team is handling everything logistically from parking and bathrooms to deciding exactly where the concert will be staged.
“If we have it on this side of the property, we can hold 12,000 people,” Stas said. “And if we have it on (the other side) of the property, it can be up to 20,000. But we have not determined that yet.”
Many of those decisions will be made as September gets closer. In the meantime, however, the farm is holding off on planting in certain fields until the final concert location is selected.
And while hosting thousands of people may sound a little intimidating, Stas says her family is excited to welcome fans to the farm for what they hope will be a memorable night.
“Obviously, we’ve never had this many people here before, so it will be a new thing for all of us, but we are not worried,” said Stas. “Luke Bryan’s team are experts with this, and I think it will go great.”
Tickets for this concert are currently on sale, and they will run you about $77 per person, plus tax for general admission.
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