High school football: The chin straps and blocking sleds are out. The two-a-day plans have been mapped out. Opening night is 18 days away. High school football practice begins around Western Pennsylvania.

Did you know: Gateway figures to be this year's team to watch. Coach Terry Smith's Gators have four players who have already made verbal commitments to NCAA Division I-A schools and are ranked No. 7 in a recent national preseason high school poll by PrepNation.

Right: Terry Smith: Gateway coach.

The 'new' Pirates: Gone are Jason Bay, Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte. In their stead: Brandon Moss, Andy LaRoche, Craig Hansen and tonight's starter, Jeff Karstens. Karstens goes into his third strart with the Pirates riding a 15-inning scoreless streak. The new-look Pittsburgh Baseball Club plays the Cincinnati Reds in its first game at PNC Park since the trade deadline dust of late July settled.

Did you know: Andy LaRoche and brother Adam are the first siblings to play together with the Pirates since Eddie and Johnny O'Brien in 1958.

To watch: 7:05 p.m., PNC Park, FSN Pittsburgh.

Flips, flyers and flops: Over the next two nights, the best men's and women's gymnast will be determined in the Olympic finals of the individual all-around competition in Beijing. Tonight: The men. Tomorrow: The women.

Did you know: U.S. women's contender Shawn Johnson really said this: "I've been working for 13 years for this." So? Johnson is 16. Think about it.

To watch: 8 p.m., WPXI both nights, though gymnastics competition is expected to be held between 10 p.m.-midnight.

Steelers: Preseason game No. 2 takes the Steelers to Toronto's Rogers Centre for a matchup with the Buffalo Bills.

Did you know: Bills linebacker Paul Posluszny, coming back from a broken arm that cost him all but three games in 2007, was the third rookie to start a season at middle linebacker in Bills history. The others: Shane Conlan (1987) and Jim Haslett (1979).

To watch: 7:30 p.m., KDKA & FSN Pittsburgh.

Strike up the bands: The Associated Press college football preseason poll comes out this weekend. Don't be surprised to see all three district Division I-A teams on the list.

Did you know: You need to go back to 1990 to find the most recent Associated Press preseason poll in which all three district teams -- Pitt, Penn State and West Virginia -- were all ranked. Pitt was 18th, Penn State 21st and West Virginia 25th.

The world's fastest man: Tyson Gay? Usain Bolt? Asafa Powell? Or someone who arrived in Beijing with far less fanfare? The final of the men's 100-meter dash goes off in the Bird's Nest (scheduled sometime after 9:30 p.m.).

Did you know: In 96 years, the record in the men's 100 has come down by a total of 88-hundredths of a second -- from the first officially recognized record of 10.6 seconds by Don Lippincott in 1912 to the 9.72 run by Bolt earlier this year.

To watch: 7:30 p.m., WPXI.

The world's fastest woman: Rochester's Lauryn Williams came within three-hundredths of a second of winning gold in Athens in 2004. Four years later, can she make up the difference? The final of the women's 100 is scheduled for sometime between 7-10 p.m. Also tonight: Individual event finals in gymnastics.

Did you know: Florence Griffith Joyner set the Olympic record 20 years ago in Seoul, winning in 10.54 seconds. No winning time has come within two-tenths of a second since.

To watch: 7 p.m., WPXI.