Mark Madden Columns category, Page 9
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: JuJu Smith-Schuster shows life changes fast in NFL
JuJu Smith-Schuster very quickly went from litty to … well, not very good. It’s not a cautionary tale. Just a reminder of how quickly and decisively life in the NFL can turn. At 27, Smith-Schuster is no longer the Pizza Hut guy, or the stolen bike guy, or the high...
Mark Madden: Penguins and Sidney Crosby should reach a deal … but what if they can’t?
Sidney Crosby has one year to go on his Pittsburgh Penguins contract. He hasn’t yet signed an extension. He was able to do so as of July 1. When his 37th birthday came and went Wednesday (Aug. 7, you know, 8/7) and the numerically obsessed Crosby still hadn’t put pen...
Mark Madden: Brandon Aiyuk fills a desperate need for Steelers. Go get him.
After months of speculation, San Francisco has put want-away wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk on the market. The Steelers are among the teams kicking the tires. If the Steelers don’t get Aiyuk, it’s a failure by management. If Cleveland gets Aiyuk, the Steelers will finish last in the AFC North. (The...
Mark Madden: Russell Wilson offers Steelers a reliable presence at QB; Justin Fields doesn’t
Once his calf is totally healed, and he’s taking regular snaps, and the 100% fabricated battle for the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback job is over, Russell Wilson will be the team’s saving grace. If there’s anything to be made of the team’s 2024 season, Wilson will do it. Not the $160...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: For Pirates to succeed, Oneil Cruz has to help more than he hurts
Oneil Cruz giveth and he taketh away. The Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop did the latter this past Wednesday when he made three errors, including two on the same play. Cruz’s miscues led directly to three unearned runs and a 5-4 loss at Houston. Cruz did the former Friday when he went...
Mark Madden: Training camp has Steelers full of hope … and something else
Pittsburgh Steelers training camp is a wonderful occasion. Full of hope. Full of excrement, too. That’s why I get nowhere near it. Dino’s and Sharkey’s are the closest I come. On Tuesday, the first day of practice in pads, the offense used six running plays during the “seven shots” segment. That’s...
Mark Madden: Ben Cherington improved Pirates, but can Derek Shelton and players finish job?
The Pittsburgh Pirates’ flurry of positive activity at the 11th hour of Tuesday’s MLB trade deadline makes for an unexpected flurry of positive analysis. I figured them to do nothing by way of avoiding increased payroll. But the Pirates accomplished that, too. Unloading pitcher Martin Perez — to fellow National...
Mark Madden: NFL teams are overpaying underachieving quarterbacks, crippling their franchises
Jordan Love signed a four-year extension with Green Bay worth $55 million per. That ties him for highest average annual value among quarterbacks. Tua Tagovailoa signed a four-year extension with Miami worth $53.1 million per. That puts him fourth in average annual value. Neither Love nor Tagovailoa has played in...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Russell Wilson has no business on a blocking sled
Quarterback Russell Wilson missed the first three days of Steelers practice because he tweaked his calf pushing a blocking sled during a conditioning test. What’s gained by making a 35-year-old QB push a blocking sled? How much blocking will Wilson have to do? What would Ben Roethlisberger have said had...
Mark Madden: Maybe it’s time to lighten up on Pete Rose
HBO’s new four-part, four-hour documentary on Pete Rose reveals little new but is nonetheless provocative. That’s because Pete Rose is provocative. He’s everyman, a monument to hard work maximizing skill. If you don’t believe that, ask Rose. He’ll tell you. His ban from MLB for betting on baseball is something...
Mark Madden: Pittsburgh gets to see some of what makes Liverpool FC special
I’ve lived in Pittsburgh my entire life. Pittsburgh believes that the greatest football team in the world plays at Acrisure Stadium. Friday night, for the first time, that actually happens. I’m not sure exactly where my devotion to Liverpool Football Club came from. It definitely revved up in the late...
Mark Madden: Why be careful with prospects? Time is now for Pirates to maximize Paul Skenes’ window
Yet another column on why the Pittsburgh Pirates have to get a legit bat before MLB’s July 30 trade deadline: The Pirates aren’t far from a playoff berth. The standings show that, as did the Pirates with their performance in the just-completed home series against Philadelphia, baseball’s best team. Winning...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Getting a bat at the deadline will keep deception going for Pirates
Here’s why the Pittsburgh Pirates should add a significant bat before MLB’s July 30 deadline, proposed in a way that owner Bob Nutting might approve: If the Pirates legitimately appear to be trying to win, it would hook the marks for at least five more years. The suckers. That’s you....
Mark Madden: Steelers’ outlook grim after underwhelming offseason, questionable roster decisions
The Pittsburgh Steelers will lose at Atlanta in Week 1. Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins will outscore them. We’ve talked about training camp issues throughout what’s been an interminable offseason. Since those topics are exhausted, why not jump ahead to predicting games? Records, too. I’ve got 9-8, trending toward 8-9. Card...
Mark Madden: Pirates have opportunity to win now with Paul Skenes, but will they follow through?
Paul Skenes’ performance at the MLB All-Star Game was anticlimactic. The Pittsburgh Pirates’ rookie pitching phenom did face Aaron Judge after walking Juan Soto. Unintentionally, no matter what conspiracy theorists think. But that “big on big” matchup wasn’t too big: One pitch, fielder’s choice. (That’s good for Skenes’ pitch count.)...
Mark Madden: Pirates fans should appreciate Paul Skenes while they still can
It’s a new holiday in Pittsburgh: Skenes Day. It occurs roughly once a week. The city stops and watches. The biggest Skenes Day yet is Tuesday. Paul Skenes starts for the National League in the MLB All-Star Game at Arlington, Texas. All-Star games are meaningless. But in this one, the...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers’ trade of Diontae Johnson looking foolish
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offseason hasn’t gone as well as you think. Consider the trade of wideout Diontae Johnson to Carolina for cornerback Donte Jackson. When it was made, I liked it. Johnson is a knucklehead: Overpaid, quit on plays, bad teammate, middling stats. Dealing him seemed like a good idea...
Mark Madden: With 2nd near no-hitter, Paul Skenes has burst onto scene like few others
Paul Skenes has been pulled twice while pitching a no-hitter: Once after six innings May 17 at Chicago, then Thursday after seven innings at Milwaukee. That speaks as loudly to baseball losing its romance as it does to Skenes’ dominance. A no-hitter used to be a pitcher’s pinnacle. That’s been...
Mark Madden: Don’t be duped. The Pirates will never spend what it takes
Pittsburgh Pirates owner Bob Nutting said GM Ben Cherington would have the flexibility to add players (and payroll) before the July 30 MLB trade deadline if the situation dictated. The situation dictates, however marginally: The Pirates are three games out of the National League’s third and final wild card. The...
Mark Madden: Sports are oversaturated. That’s ruining the games and viewability
How we ruin sports (one in a series): We are saturated with sports: Too many sports, leagues, teams and games. Demand (or lack thereof) doesn’t matter. All we ever get is more. Not better. More. How many times does spring football have to fail before it never gets resuscitated again?...
Mark Madden Hot Take: Bryan Reynolds’ contract turning out to be bargain for Pirates
Bryan Reynolds got the biggest contract in Pirates history: eight years, $106.75 million. It was signed two years ago. Reynolds makes a lot. But only by Pirates standards. Not by MLB guidelines. Right now, he’s looking like a bargain. The switch-hitting outfielder wrapped up a 25-game hitting streak with an...
Mark Madden: LeBron James runs the Lakers, and the NBA, but others allowed this to happen
If you watch ESPN at any point during the Worldwide Leader’s six hours of nonstop yelling and mugging each weekday, there’s an overwhelming chance you’ll hear one of these subjects discussed at length: • LeBron James/the Los Angeles Lakers. • The Dallas Cowboys. • Aaron Rodgers. • The Pittsburgh Steelers...
Mark Madden: The Penguins need to overachieve to win, but they aren’t wired that way
The Penguins are going to slowly rebuild. Like president of hockey ops/GM Kyle Dubas said, the Penguins won’t “strip it down to the studs,” not least because that’s impossible given the number of no-movement clauses and untradable contracts Dubas must cope with. So, for the immediate future, the only hope...
Mark Madden: Tampa Bay shows Penguins what might have been with offseason moves
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ offseason started with a whimper. Nothing epic. Nobody wants to trade for Tristan Jarry. I’m amazed Reilly Smith fetched second- and fifth-round draft picks from the New York Rangers with the Penguins keeping just $1.25 million of his $5 million salary cap hit. President of hockey ops/GM...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: When will U.S. turn the corner in men’s soccer? How about never?
For decades, we’ve been wondering when the U.S. would make its breakthrough in international men’s soccer. Now, after the latest disaster, a ham-fisted 2-1 loss to Panama in the Copa America on Thursday that saw the U.S. down to 10 men after a stupid red card in the 18th minute,...
