Mark Madden Columns category, Page 2
Mark Madden: The culture of wrestling is magnetic … so I’m back
Vice TV produced a four-part documentary series: “Who Killed WCW?” I was never mentioned. But, judging by social media reaction to me doing color commentary on TNA Wrestling’s TV taping this Friday at Robert Morris’ UPMC Events Center, you’d think that I was most responsible for putting World Championship Wrestling...
Mark Madden: Sports media industry is being burned to the ground
Stephen A. Smith played solitaire on his phone during Game 4 of the NBA Finals at Indianapolis. He was on duty and on site for ESPN. ESPN pays Smith $20 million per year. But he couldn’t be bothered to watch what he was being paid to analyze. That’s absolutely par...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Pirates’ Paul Skenes won’t be an exception to Cy Young rule
Paul Skenes ranks second among MLB pitchers in ERA (1.78) and WHIP (0.85), eighth in strikeouts (97). Skenes is overwhelming. A phenom. Terrific to watch. Skenes won’t win the National League Cy Young Award. Not if he doesn’t have a winning record. Skenes is 4-6. The Pittsburgh Pirates are 7-8...
Mark Madden: Something has to give with Aaron Rodgers, Arthur Smith
You know it’s kind of hard just to get along today. If these refreshing sports notes aren’t cool, let’s fake it anyway. • Steelers minicamp didn’t reveal much. Aaron Rodgers showed up. T.J. Watt didn’t. End of story. • Rodgers threw the second-most passes in the NFL last season. The...
Mark Madden: Aaron Rodgers’ performance will depend a lot on the man protecting his blind side
Myles Garrett, Cleveland’s All-Pro edge rusher, had an odd response when asked about the prospect of playing against new Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers twice this season: “I think it’s a good opportunity to put him in the graveyard.” Garrett’s tongue appeared to be in cheek so as to not...
Mark Madden: Steelers have lost the sense of who they are … or were
Aaron Rodgers will wear No. 8 for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Not No. 12. That was never a possibility. There’s no comparing him to Terry Bradshaw in Pittsburgh, just like there was no comparing him to Joe Namath in New York. Rodgers will talk to the media in Pittsburgh on Tuesday....
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: By signing Aaron Rodgers, the Steelers are selling hope, however misguided
The prevailing wisdom is that Aaron Rodgers gives the Pittsburgh Steelers a better chance to win. Win what, exactly? It would be tangibly better for the Steelers to go 4-13 than to go 9-8. (See Commanders, Washington.) This is 41-year-old Rodgers, not MVP Rodgers. The Steelers roster is dotted with...
Mark Madden: Dan Muse’s hire opens a long-awaited, brave new world for Penguins
A notes column about the Pittsburgh Penguins’ coaching hire is apropos because related factoids and opinions are all over the place. So, let’s look at Dan Muse via the pause that refreshes. • For a guy I never heard of before Wednesday’s announcement, Muse seems a good hire. But it’s...
Mark Madden: Steelers’ lack of No. 2 wideout options shows how they feel about position
It’s been 447 days since the Pittsburgh Steelers played a game with a legit No. 2 wideout. Four hundred and forty-seven days since they traded Diontae Johnson to Carolina. It’s like a hostage crisis. Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and the quarterback (whoever that’s going to be) should be blindfolded. (Not...
Mark Madden: Connor McDavid is among all-time greats but needs a Stanley Cup to cement legacy
In team sports, the pressure nonetheless congregates around individuals, not least in big situations. Such is the case in this year’s Stanley Cup Final, the obvious target being Edmonton’s Connor McDavid. Florida won the Cup last year. This is the Panthers’ third straight final. Nobody truly cares about hockey in...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: NFL should leave flag football alone
The NFL is narcissistic, obnoxious and overbearing in its desire to be everywhere, all the time, 24/7/365. It doesn’t make the great unwashed love the NFL any less. But if anything has ever been too popular, it’s the NFL. (Besides populist fascist dictators.) The NFL’s latest victim is shaping up...
Mark Madden: Extending T.J. Watt is a mistake, but spineless Steelers will placate his demand
I’ve written this before, but I’m going to reiterate in detail because there seems little doubt that the Steelers are going to make a big mistake even as most of you marks cheer them on. There isn’t a single good reason to give edge rusher T.J. Watt a contract extension...
Mark Madden: OTAs may not matter, but Steelers’ QB conundrum has reached critical mass
OTAs are underway at the Pittsburgh Steelers’ South Side complex. On the offensive side of the ball, they don’t matter. Little can be accomplished. The first-string quarterback isn’t there. The backup quarterbacks are getting the reps. Top wideout DK Metcalf didn’t bother attending the first day. Perhaps because the QB expected...
Mark Madden: Pirates’ Oneil Cruz is an incredible talent but will continue to frustrate
On Sunday at PNC Park, Oneil Cruz hit a baseball 432 feet into the Allegheny River. That solo home run was moving at 122.9 mph, the hardest-hit ball since exit velocity started being tracked in 2015. Two innings earlier, Cruz’s throw from center field to home plate sailed to the...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers-Jets will be a proving ground, set tone for season
Sports don’t always offer instant validation (or rebuke) of decision-making. But the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 1 game will provide exactly that. It’s more than three months away, but the Steelers’ Sept. 7 visit to the New York Jets looms extremely large. It’s a proving ground. It will set a tone...
Mark Madden: The tush push has NFL people talking; some should be quiet
The tush push is one play. It’s basically run by one team. (A few others dabble.) But it certainly gets people talking. At this week’s NFL owners meeting in Minnesota, Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie lobbied for an hour on behalf of the tush push, his team’s ballyhooed goal-line go-to....
Mark Madden: Documentary exposes Brett Favre, but damage to Jenn Sterger can’t be undone
“The Fall of Favre” is a hit piece. A hatchet job. The Netflix documentary on Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre pays minimal attention to his football greatness, instead savaging Favre for alleged sexual harassment of former media personality Jenn Sterger and his alleged involvement in misusing welfare funds. Good....
Mark Madden: Message to Pirates — free Paul Skenes
Paul Skenes isn’t eligible for salary arbitration till 2027. He currently makes a paltry $875,000. The Pittsburgh Pirates are unlikely to retain Skenes through his three arbitration years — because they won’t want to pay what’s decided — and have zero chance of keeping him when he hits free agency...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers will pay a price for waiting on Aaron Rodgers
I’m not one to predict the results of the Steelers’ season week-by-week when the schedule is released in May. That’s lazy media, and a lot can happen between now and when those games get played. But I will predict this: The Steelers will lose Week 1 at the New York...
Mark Madden: Pete Rose deserved his Hall of Fame shot when he was alive
I wish MLB had ruled before Pete Rose passed away that he’d be eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame after he died. Rose could have faked his own death, resurrected upon his induction, then charged more money to sign autographs at memorabilia shows. Maybe, before he expired, Rose inscribed...
Mark Madden: What if Paul Skenes doesn’t pitch better?
Paul Skenes isn’t falling apart. But he’s not a phenom so far this season. He isn’t dominating. Look at Monday vs. the New York Mets, Skenes’ most recent start. He allowed six hits and one run in six innings. He walked three and struck out six. He had to pitch...
Mark Madden: MLB owners have no interest in a salary cap, so the Pirates will stink in perpetuity
The Pittsburgh Pirates aren’t the worst team in MLB. Not by a long shot. Colorado is 7-33 and on pace to go 28-134. But the Rockies just changed their manager. That should fix everything, like Don Kelly in Pittsburgh. The Chicago White Sox (12-29) are also worse than the Pirates...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Rooting for Canada to again be denied a Stanley Cup
I’m not a good neutral when it comes to watching sports. If I don’t have a rooting interest, it’s got to be a marquee game: Two top-flight opponents, Game 7 of a series, single-elimination playoff, Super Bowl, something like that. So, I’m not that enthusiastic about the Stanley Cup playoffs....
Mark Madden: The Pirates can change the manager, but the direction stays the same
The Pittsburgh Pirates fired Derek Shelton. It changes nothing. Relieving Shelton of his managerial duties is just appeasing the mob. A head on a pike. A perceived fresh start. All PR, nothing practical. Not that Shelton didn’t deserve the ax. His .410 winning percentage is third worst among managers with at...
Mark Madden: Timing of George Pickens trade another grotesque example of Steelers’ mismanagement
In a vacuum, trading wide receiver George Pickens was an easy move. Pickens is talented. But he’s a nutjob. Out on the ledge more often than not. Was never going to be happy playing out his lame-duck contract year. Was going to be mad about DK Metcalf getting paid. Quit...
