This weekend marks our ninth anniversary of DK Pittsburgh Sports, and we'll celebrate here in this space by ... sharing our football coverage plan!
Hey, it's not like we'd take the time off, right?
Here it is, in bullet form:
• As I shared a couple months back, I'm taking the lead on the Steelers. That means I'll cover all 20 games, preseason and regular season, plus playoffs. I'll also invest more time into training camp and practices than in the past toward a couple of midweek columns, as well. I'm very much looking forward to this.
• Corey Crisan will be doing the heavy lifting as related to camp -- staying out in Latrobe, actually -- in addition to practices, press conferences and the majority of games. It'll be his first full season on an NFL beat after helping out last season, and I'm confident he's more than up to it.
• Chris Halicke will cover about half the games, flying from his home in Texas, in addition to creating each week's Kickoff preview with a new and tighter format aimed wholly at game prep and, behind the scenes, helping to manage our Steelers Feed.
• Alex Stumpf will offer in-depth looks at the people and processes within the Steelers' world, beginning in October once Major League Baseball's done.
• Matt Williamson's indispensable War Room scouting analysis of each game will be back for another year, arriving each Wednesday morning. Before that, Ramon Foster will have his written report card done shortly after each game. It's hard to top getting that type of content from a former NFL scout and a former 11-year NFL starting guard.
And maybe the most positive spinoff here is that Corey's still going to handle Pitt football, which is something he'll tell you himself he'd hoped to do. He'll be at all games, as with Cory Giger on Penn State, and he'll have 2-3 midweek features, too. One of the countless benefits of having the Steelers and Pitt headquartered in the same building.
MILITARY DRIVE: 267
Our annual Military Drive, aimed at connecting 1,000 veterans of our Armed Forces to a one-year subscription, brought 13 subscriptions bought for the week leading into a new total of 267. We're still in good shape toward the goal of getting it done by Veterans Day Nov. 11.
Here's how it works: We sell a military subscription for $20, covering a full year for any veteran. That's one-third of the regular price. However many you'd wish to donate, even if it's just one, email me directly at DK@DKPittsburghSports.com, and Dali will do the processing.
WEEKLY FUN APP HINT
When listening to any of our podcasts through our app, you can always minimize the app and partake in other activities on your device while still listening to the show you're playing. We insisted on that back when the app was launched, as we'd had a pretty good idea podcasts would be a big deal for us.
Also and somewhat related, our app's automatically compatible with your car when the phone's connected. Meaning, if you have a smart panel like Apple Carplay or something similar, you simply press play and our show's on in your car.
BACK TO BUSINESS
• Our page-view numbers for the past week were 619,720, with 34,105 different users over those seven days. Our most-read original piece was my column from PNC Park about the Pirates' jobs not being safe, at 16,119.
• On the multimedia front, our podcast downloads for the past week were 134,986, and our YouTube video views for the past week were 64,695.
• Our company social media accounts are at 50,110 followers on Twitter, 39,364 on Facebook, 23,339 on YouTube, 14,881 on Instagram ... and already 2,084 after just a couple weeks on the new Threads app!
• Can't repeat this often enough: If your subscription's expiring and you don't think you'll be able to afford it ... you can, and I'll make sure of it personally. We'll work it out. No questions asked. Promise. Just email me: DK@DKPittsburghSports.com
• We make mistakes. If you see one, email: Typos@DKPittsburghSports.com
• We're often asked about our HQ/shop merch being available online, and yes, it's right here.
• Anything you need, including lost/forgotten passwords, email: Help@DKPittsburghSports.com