Mark Madden Columns category, Page 11
Mark Madden: WNBA needs to better showcase Caitlin Clark to break out of niche status
This space predicted three months ago that women’s basketball would blow it with phenom Caitlin Clark. That’s already started. Her first WNBA game wasn’t played on the big stage of, say, New York City. It was played Tuesday night at an arena in a Connecticut casino. Clark’s Indiana Fever lost...
Mark Madden: Paul Skenes’ debut went from hype to humiliation for Pirates
Now that the dust has settled for a few days, let’s discuss what actually happened when Paul Skenes debuted. Stooges are going to stooge, and they mostly did after Skenes’ four-plus innings Saturday against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park. (A PNC Park that was almost 3,000 short of a...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Najee Harris hasn’t been a problem yet, but is trouble looming with Steelers?
Ever since the Steelers declined the fifth-year option for the contract of running back Najee Harris, there’s been an underlying assumption that Harris is going to be a problem. But Harris hasn’t said anything to that end, or sent bad signals via social media. There was a report that Harris...
Mark Madden: All aboard the Paul Skenes hype train
As we count down the minutes (seconds!) to Paul Skenes’ MLB/Pirates debut Saturday, I’m rooting for no middle ground. I don’t want six innings, five hits, two earned runs and six strikeouts. That’s pretty good, but you can’t hype that. I want six innings, one hit, no runs and 12...
Mark Madden: Penguins should be window shopping for grit, edge during Stanley Cup playoffs
NHL free agency doesn’t start till July 1, but it’s OK to do some window shopping now. After all, NFL Draft geeks already have started doing mocks for 2025. Two players the Penguins should take a good look at both played for Toronto this past season: winger Tyler Bertuzzi and...
Mark Madden: Umpires hardly at root of Pirates’ offensive struggles — and other sports notes
In the seasons of wither, we’ll stand and deliver. Be strong and laugh and shout at the refreshing sports notes. I’m sure you’ve heard it all before… • Andrew McCutchen is hitting .182 with 31 strikeouts in 88 at-bats. The Pirates have scored 121 runs, ranking 24th in MLB. They...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Todd Reirden had to be Penguins’ sacrificial lamb, but will things change with power play?
Todd Reirden is a sacrificial lamb. Like ex-Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada before him. Next up: Pirates hitting coach Andy Haines. Canada got blamed for not being able to polish excrement, specifically quarterback Kenny Pickett. Haines is taking heat because, for one thing, Oneil Cruz never learned how to...
Mark Madden: Steelers have bigger issues than Najee Harris’ 5th-year option
The Najee Harris situation is being blown out of proportion. Like all situations involving the Pittsburgh Steelers. Not picking up Harris’ fifth-year option wasn’t a good decision or a bad one. It was a meh decision involving a meh player. Harris still will be a Steeler this coming season. He’s playing...
Mark Madden: The Penguins need a head coach contingency plan
Mike Sullivan probably won’t leave the Pittsburgh Penguins to take New Jersey’s vacant coaching position this offseason. Toronto probably will be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, triggering Sheldon Keefe’s dismissal as Maple Leafs coach. It’s easy to see Keefe replacing Sullivan in Pittsburgh at some point. Keefe...
Mark Madden: Immediately grading a draft is meaningless — but the Steelers get an A. Yay!
The NFL Draft is mercifully over. But the hype preceding wasn’t the low point. The post-draft is even worse. The draft itself was pretty cockeyed, too. More than three-quarters of a million people gathered in downtown Detroit. This wasn’t Woodstock. It was young people being assigned a workplace with no...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Here’s how the Pirates can maximize profits with Paul Skenes
With phenom flamethrower Paul Skenes likely to join the Pittsburgh Pirates in mid-May or a bit later, it’s time to map out the game plan for Skenes’ first MLB start. It will definitely take place at PNC Park. The Pirates aren’t dumb when it comes to matters of profit. There’s...
Mark Madden: Steelers got their guy in the 1st round but are still stuck in mushy middle
The Pittsburgh Steelers got a player they wanted in the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday, selecting Washington tackle Troy Fautanu. Good pick? Bad pick? Who knows? Franchise-changing pick? Not this year and not likely. The Steelers need a four- or five-win season if they want to draft that...
Mark Madden: Expect quarterback fever with the 2024 NFL Draft, but wide receivers will make most impact
The NFL Draft is anything but an exact science, and the hype surrounding it is a myth. Mike Tomlin bleats about the Pittsburgh Steelers being “prepared,” but every team is equally prepared. Every team has the same resources, information and video. The only difference is how talent available to be...
Mark Madden: Getting a 1st-round WR makes sense, but the Steelers cling to outdated philosophy
Conventional wisdom says the Pittsburgh Steelers will take an offensive lineman with their first pick of the NFL Draft, 20th overall. Either a tackle or center. Whichever of those two positions isn’t addressed with that choice, they will likely select in the second round. That’s smart. If it’s the ’70s....
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Plenty of questions surround Pirates’ player development
If you need reason not to trust the Pittsburgh Pirates’ developmental process, look no further than the most obvious example. Shortstop Oneil Cruz is 25, has all the raw talent in the world and doesn’t know how to play baseball. Cruz missed almost all of last season after breaking his...
Mark Madden: Penguins no longer an elite team, have to realize nothing is guaranteed
The Pittsburgh Penguins need to understand what they are. They are underdogs. They have been for quite some time. Yes, you can be an underdog with Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin. The evidence is plentiful, not least finishing 10th in a terrible conference with 38 wins and 44...
Mark Madden: Disappointing players, strategy, weeping spelled demise for Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins will miss the playoffs for a second straight season. It feels like an eternity. Or like Buffalo. Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust deserve better. Not many others do. Those who frustrated outnumber those who didn’t. These players are the most disappointing: 1. Erik Karlsson. $11.5 million doesn’t...
Mark Madden: Thoughts on Russell Wilson, NFL draft, Cutch, Erik Karlsson and more sports notes
Just remember, man, quarterbacks come and go, but Wu-Tang is forever. Here’s some refreshing sports notes that ain’t nothing to, uh … mess wit’. • I got a close-up look at Russell Wilson, wife Ciara and their entourage in the catacombs of PPG Paints Arena after Saturday’s Pittsburgh Penguins game....
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: After seeing Penguins consider relocation, feeling deeply for Coyotes fans
With the Arizona Coyotes likely headed to Salt Lake City, it’s easy to dismiss hockey in Phoenix as a failed experiment. The Coyotes currently play in a college rink that seats just 4,600. Ownership can’t get a new arena built. The Coyotes rarely have drawn big in Phoenix, not even...
Mark Madden: The Penguins control their own destiny, but are they playing playoff hockey?
Whatever good happens to the Pittsburgh Penguins at season’s end, nobody but Sidney Crosby truly will deserve. Very rarely can a win be an utter travesty, but Thursday’s debacle of a 6-5 overtime victory over Detroit at PPG Paints Arena fits that description. That said, the Penguins winning in three-on-three...
Mark Madden: Booing David Bednar shows fair-weather Pirates fans don’t know how to support a good team
David Bednar should not be relieved of his duties as Pittsburgh Pirates closer after blowing three saves in the season’s early going. Bednar led the National League in saves with 39 last season and had an ERA of 2.00. That’s a big sample. This year, so far, is a small...
Mark Madden: Sidney Crosby’s energy, effort have fueled overachieving Penguins
Sidney Crosby has had better seasons. More productive. Higher numbers. He’s previously won the best of the NHL’s awards. This year, he’s being discussed for mere Miss Congeniality-level hardware. He has three Stanley Cup rings. The Pittsburgh Penguins won’t come close this year. But if Crosby drags the decidedly meh...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: A lazy, but not boring, list of Steelers’ top offseason stories
Much about sports coverage these days revolves around rankings or lists. It’s lazy, predictable and boring. I haven’t done enough to prove I can be all those things. Or have I? Anyway, here are the top 10 Pittsburgh Steelers stories of the offseason. 1. The Steelers are not a lot...
Mark Madden: Pirates could try to be a real baseball team, but they don’t have to
The Pirates have the most interesting psychology, if that’s how to put it, of any Pittsburgh sports franchise. Perhaps of any team on the continent. The Pirates are the little engine that could but won’t. They’re a perpetual underdog with a great ballpark and hot dogs piled with pierogis and...
Mark Madden: Something seems sketchy with Shohei Ohtani, but does MLB want to know?
As MLB and the NBA face calamitous gambling scandals, one wonders how ESPN covers them without casting a bad light on ESPNBet, the company’s online sportsbook. Networks and leagues are sponsored so heavily by bookies. It’s everywhere. (My radio program, too.) Gambling and sports are directly and massively intertwined now,...
