Take Madness: Round Two, Part Two

Today is the second matchup of the second round of Take Madness, The Pitt News Sports Desk’s take on March Madness.

In today’s edition, two representatives from the Sleepers division and two from the Personality Hires division will clash in the hopes of advancing to the Final Four. 

Readers can vote for their favorite take @PittNewsSports on Instagram and X, where a poll will be posted for 24 hours. The writer with the most votes will move on to the next round.

Sleepers Region: No. 1 Danny Shanholtzer vs No. 2 Mitch Bloom

The Pittsburgh Pirates will win the NL Central in 2026 // Danny Shanholtzer

I have seen enough. The Pittsburgh Pirates will win the National League Central division. At the time I am writing this, the Pirates’ record is 6-4. Although there are still over 150  games left in the marathon of the MLB season, this team has already shown me they have all the capabilities to win the NL Central — and potentially make a run in October.  

The Pirates are fourth in the Majors with 12 home runs as a team, trailing only the Dodgers, Astros and Braves. In 40% of the Bucs games so far, they have scored at least seven runs. The Pirates are 3-0 so far in games that were decided by one run this year. Last season, their record in one-run games was 25-35. 

This early improvement in close games is a promising indication of the ability of the 2026 Pirates to win on the margins. General manager Ben Cherington has made the Pirates better by bringing in first baseman Ryan O’Hearn, second baseman Brandon Lowe and outfielder Jake Mangum. O’Hearn and Lowe both have three home runs in the early part of the season, and Mangum is a solid defensive option off the bench. The trio are all veterans and create depth within the lineup on a daily basis. 

Outfielder Oneil Cruz and rookie shortstop Konnor Griffin also make the Pirates a dangerous team. Cruz is a tremendous athlete with easy power, with four home runs in his last five games. The 19-year-old Griffin, meanwhile, has superstar potential. The top prospect in baseball just recently got called up for the Pirates’ home opener after tearing up the minor leagues, posting a .336 batting average in 127 total games. He has already gotten his first hit in the majors, an RBI double in the home opener. If Cruz and Griffin stay hot, the two of them can add a whole new dimension to the Pirates team.

The pitching staff is also electric. Although the Pirates are fourth in walks per game in the MLB at the time of this article, it will not stay that way. Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller, Braxton Ashcraft, Carmen Mlodzinski and Bubba Chandler can keep the Pirates in any game. Additionally, Jared Jones is slated to return to action in early May. These starters have the ability to limit big innings. In the bullpen, Gregory Soto and Dennis Santana will continue to mow hitters down. 

Through 10 games, the Pirates have won close games, exploded on offense and pitched well enough to stay competitive. The Pirates will continue to do this and win the NL Central.  

Braylon Mullins’ game-winning three is the greatest buzzer beater in March Madness history // Mitch Bloom

Close your eyes for a second and picture yourself standing 35 feet away from the hoop, down two points against the No. 1 team in all of college basketball. Now watch attentively as the clock ticks down by the second until it reaches 2.1 before releasing the ball, hoping for a score. 

Bang. The shot goes in with 0.3 left. You just completed a 19-point comeback against the best team to punch a ticket to the Final Four. 

For UConn first-year, Braylon Mullins, this was reality. He didn’t need to close his eyes and hope for this to come true — he made it come true. The atmosphere, the moment, the intensity, all with 19,502 fans in attendance and 13.4 million watching live, was the most-streamed game of the tournament thus far. 

During the Elite Eight matchup featuring the Duke Blue Devils and the UConn Huskies, the world witnessed history. Late in the second half, Duke held a two-point lead with possession after UConn junior Silas Demary Jr. went one-of-two from the free-throw line. 

With 10 seconds left, Duke inbounded the ball and traveled to half-court before first-year Cayden Boozer turned the ball over. UConn’s Alex Karaban found space on the wing, dished the ball to Mullins, swish. 

Game over. UConn advances, Duke eliminated.

Mullins’ buzzer-beater shot was more than just a game-winner, it gave head coach Dan Hurley and his squad their first lead since 2-0 and put UConn up with 0.3 remaining. UConn trailed almost the entire game, with Duke leading 44-29 at half, with their largest deficit at 19 points. Not only did Mullins save UConn’s season, but he did it in epic fashion. The thought of a 19 year old hitting that shot with all the pressure on his back is truly incredible. He missed all his previous three-point attempts before that shot, mind you. 

The ability to take that shot and drain it with confidence while also completing one of the largest comebacks in tournament history proves it to be the single greatest game-winning buzzer-beater in March Madness History. 

Prove me otherwise. 

Personality Hires Region: No. 3 Kaitlyn Griffin vs No. 4 Patrick Diana

MLB’s new “robo-ump” system should be used for all pitches // Kaitlyn Griffin, staff writer

MLB recently implemented the ABS (Automated-Ball Strike) challenge system for the 2026 season, allowing players to challenge a ball or strike call made by the plate umpire during games. Each team has two challenges per game, and only batters, pitchers and catchers are able to challenge a call. 

The purpose of ABS was to improve accuracy and enhance fairness, giving players the option to challenge a call they believe the umpire may have missed or gotten wrong. It has received positive reviews from both players and fans.

Understandably, the MLB decided to test the ABS system in a hybrid way, with a blend of both the technology and human umpires working together to keep the game running smoothly and fairly. However, it has become evident in just over a week that this system needs to become a staple of the league. 

In a March 28 game between the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Socks, six of umpire C.B. Bucknor’s calls were overturned by challenges. Looking back on the game, he also missed another 14 calls that were not challenged by players. Human error is inevitable, and the job of a plate umpire is no easy feat. However, this is just one example of the robot’s superiority in the extreme precision needed to properly call a baseball game. 

Another important thing to note is that this system does not affect the speed of games. It works quickly and efficiently to evaluate the pitch, and fans get a clear answer almost instantly. The question then remains — if the MLB has this technology that can quickly provide accurate information about strike zones, why not use it for every pitch?

As the 2026 season continues, players and fans alike will continue to adapt to the new ABS system, learn how to strategically use their challenges, and will likely see the benefits of improved accuracy. With more and more instances of successful challenges and missed calls after the game, it seems inevitable that “robo-umps” may take over behind home plate. 

Identity Politics in sports has gone too far // Patrick Diana

Since the Trump Administration’s executive order barring transgender athletes from sports took effect last year, I would like to revisit how identity politics have fundamentally altered sports. Rhetoric around the differences between women’s and men’s sports — especially differences about the athletes themselves — is removed from sports at this point.

For example, language surrounding the 2025 NBA All-Star game patronized WNBA star player Sabrina Ionescu in her three-point competition with NBA star Steph Curry. One commentator covering the event, Kenny Smith, spoke about the fact that Ionescu shot from the men’s three-point line, not the women’s. “She should’ve shot from the women’s line,” Smith said. “That would have been a fair contest.”  This notion that women should stay in their sport’s ability is outdated. 

This does not just affect the language around women’s sporting ability, but also controls over their bodies. The International Association of Athletics Federations requires female athletes with specific disorders of sexual development to lower their levels of testosterone to be able to compete internationally. Olympic track athlete Caster Semenya recently lost her legal battle with the IAAF, pushing back on that ruling. The intersex athlete will not be able to compete in the LA 2028 Summer Olympics. 

Conservative thinking about biological sex and the rules they place on athletes is taking away the focus from their athletic ability. Instead, the focus has become on biological advantages with problematic connections to sexist ideas about men being stronger than women.