Former Penn Hills and University of Pittsburgh standout Demond Gibson will be among 10 honorees at the 26th annual Penn Hills Sports Hall of Fame Induction Banquet April 23 at Churchill Valley Country Club in Penn Hills. Other inductees include Dave Bittner, Larry Braun, Jill Catone-Vecchio, Bob Crossey, Erin Milfeit-Richmond, Janet Palmieri-Parks, Sergio Pampena, Steve Price and Kevin Romango.

DEMOND GIBSON

by Dennis Waszak Jr.

NEW YORK (AP)—Newly acquired Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes was suspended Monday without pay by the NFL for the first four regular-season games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

HEADED TO NEW YORK—Former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes (10) eludes Miami Dolphins cornerback Vontae Davis to score a touchdown Jan. 3, in Miami. The New York Jets acquired Holmes from the Pittsburgh Steelers April 11.

The league announced the suspension a day after the Jets acquired the talented but troubled Holmes from the Pittsburgh Steelers for a fifth-round pick in this month’s draft.

Holmes, the 2009 Super Bowl MVP, is eligible to participate in the team’s offseason program and in all preseason practices and games. He would be suspended for an entire season if he violates the league’s policy again.

Over the past few months, golfer and athlete extraordinaire Tiger Woods has been forced into seeing almost every aspect of his personal life plastered on the front page of almost every newspaper. Everyone dead and alive has heard about the sexual misdeeds of Mr. Woods.

We have all been forced to endure all of the cackling, hackling and yakking about the misdeeds of Woods 24-7 on every radio or television show that could afford a talking head or at least a reasonable facsimile of one. All of these sexual behavior “experts” have decided to infect our eardrums and our eyeballs with voices and visuals along with any photo or audio of Tiger leaving frantic messages on poisoned answering machines.

In the not so recent past, I concluded that the Pittsburgh Steelers had double standards with regards to protecting certain players while leaving others hanging out to dry.

AUBREY BRUCE

This past Sunday ESPN.com reported that “Receiver  Santonio Holmes was traded to the New York Jets from the Pittsburgh Steelers. [Holmes] will be suspended for the first four games of the 2010 season for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy,” a source confirmed to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter. The Steelers will reportedly be compensated with a fifth round draft pick in 2011. Wow, I am sure that a pro-bowler is waiting to emerge from the celebrated fifth round in next year’s draft.