By Will Graves, Associated Press

PITTSBURGH — A rare Super Bowl stumble by the Steelers. A season- and perhaps career-changing injury to Sidney Crosby. Signs of life from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

All highlighted another eventful but championship-less year in western Pennsylvania sports.

The Steelers tied the Dallas Cowboys ‘ NFL record by making an eighth Super Bowl appearance in 2011. But they couldn’t bring home their seventh Lombardi Trophy, falling to the Green Bay Packers.

The Pittsburgh Penguins began 2011 in the NHL Winter Classic at Heinz Field. The Penguins lost the game, then lost superstar Sidney Crosby for more than 10 months due to concussion-like symptoms. He returned briefly last month until his symptoms resurfaced.

And while the Pirates didn’t end their ugly 18-season losing streak, the club did post a 15-win improvement over 2010.

BRADENTON – 

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Bradenton Marauders are teaming up to host a job fair.

The positions are part-time and include cashiers, cooking, bartending and other food service roles.

People hired to work during spring training will work through March, while people hired for the Florida State League season will stay on board until the end of the season around Labor Day.

Most spring training positions are daytime hours, while most Marauders game-day positions are evening shifts.

Two job fairs will be held. The first is on Jan. 5 and the second is on Jan. 19.

Two interview sessions will be held each day, with the first session running from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the second session from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The job fairs will be held at Pirate City in the Dining Hall, located at 1701 27th St. E in Bradenton.

People who are interested can also apply through the Online Job Fair at careers.pirates.com.

More information is available at bradentonmarauders.com or by calling 941-747-3031.

Former Amherst High School, Liberty University and Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Randy Tomlin will serve as Liberty Christian Academy’s baseball coach, starting Jan. 23.

Tomlin, a southpaw who went 30-31 with a 3.43 ERA with the Pirates from 1990 to 1994 before his pitching career was sidetracked by a shoulder injury, spent 10 years as LU’s pitching coach and the past five in the same capacity with the Washington Nationals’ single-A affiliate at Potomac (2007 and 2008) and AA franchise in Harrisburg, Pa.

“I thought it was a good move for me to be at home to take care of the needs at home,” said Tomlin, whose father-in-law was diagnosed with cancer in October of 2010 and died last June. “I loved being with the Nationals and still do, but I needed to take care of my family.”

He is looking forward to his first head coaching position.

“I’m excited about it … to be able to be back at home and continue to do what I love doing,” said Tomlin, who has lived in Lynchburg since starting his coaching career at LU in 1997 and has an 18-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter at E.C. Glass and another son who’s 9. “This was a great opportunity at LCA to be at home, make an impact on kids’ lives and teach them about baseball and life.”

The Bulldogs’ current coach, Mike Morris, who guided them to the VIS Division I state quarterfinals last year, will stay on as Tomlin’s assistant.

“It was a classy move by Mike,” said LCA athletic director Frank Rocco, who was a fan of Tomlin’s when he pitched for the Pirates and coached football at LU at the same time Tomlin coached baseball. “To have a former Major League pitcher and professional baseball coach on staff, [Morris] agreed to step aside and learn from him.”

After coaching predominantly pitchers throughout his career, Tomlin will have his first chance to work with positional players and manage games at the high school level.

“It’s going to be a great challenge for me,” Tomlin said, noting the talent is in place to make a return trip to the state playoffs. “They’ve got a great group of young kids coming up through there, a core group of sophomores and a couple older kids who are going to be graduating next year, and I’m looking forward to spending time with them.”

Rocco believes the transition from coaching at the professional to the high school ranks will be a smooth one.

“He’s been working with high school kids for all the years he’s been coaching in the minor leagues,” Rocco said. “He’s stayed very connected to Lynchburg.”

Tomlin is close to receiving his teaching certificate and will work temporarily as a substitute teacher at LCA next semester.

“Anything I do, I’m committed to what I do,” he said. “I trust God for the plan He would have for me and opening those doors. For now, I’m committed to helping LCA to continue to build a baseball program. I’m just going to try to go out and win a state championship and pursue that as long as I can.”

However, he wouldn’t rule out a return to coaching in the Nationals’ organization in the future.

“I will miss them and do,” Tomlin said. “The Nationals and [Harrisburg] Senators treated me great. I made a lot of great friendships and loved working with the guys I did.

“I’m very happy with the opportunity they gave me,” he added. “They understood the decision I had to make. They said they would keep in touch with me. The door’s still open. It wasn’t closed when I left.”

Read More: John Grabow (P – LOS), Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Dodgers

According to reports, the Los Angeles Dodgers have signed left-handed reliever John Grabow to a minor league deal. The transaction was first tweeted by John Scanlan on Saturday and was verified by MLB Trade Rumors.

The 33-year-old Grabow struggled after he was acquired by the Chicago Cubs from the Pittsburgh Pirates in July 2009. Grabow posted a 5.52 ERA in 88 innings while knee and shoulder injuries caused him to miss games. It was a disappointing tenure especially after Grabow signed a two-year, $7.5 million extension four months into his time with the Cubs.

In 506 games over a nine-year career, Grabow is 24-19 with a 4.31 ERA in 476.1 innings pitched. He started his MLB career in 2003 with the Pirates after being selected in the 3rd round of the 1997 amateur draft.

For more on the Dodgers and their minor league deals, and more, be sure to read True Blue LA.