Mark Madden’s Hot Take: It’s time to fix the Pro Football, Baseball halls of fame
Bill Belichick got excluded from the Pro Football Hall of Fame on his first ballot. It didn’t happen randomly. Belichick won six Super Bowls as New England’s coach but got caught cheating twice. The Hall’s voting process is flawed when it lumps in Belichick with old-timey candidates like L.C. Greenwood....
Mark Madden: Mike McCarthy won the press conference, but it’s still a bad hire
Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II said it wasn’t important for new coach Mike McCarthy to win the initial press conference. But McCarthy did exactly that. Rooney said McCarthy wasn’t hired because, having coached Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay, he’s the best bet to lure Rodgers back to Pittsburgh for...
Mark Madden: If Jason Robertson is available, the Penguins have to act
It could be media-driven fantasy, but the Pittsburgh Penguins might have a legitimate chance to get star winger Jason Robertson from Dallas, either via trade before the season’s March 6 deadline or by signing him to an offer sheet when Robertson becomes a restricted free agent in the offseason. The...
Mark Madden: By hiring Mike McCarthy, the Steelers have lowered organizational goals
Boy, is Art Rooney II desperate to win a playoff game. He should be. By the standard of the family business, Rooney’s tenure as its steward has been disappointing in every way beyond profit. (The Steelers are too big to really fail. Lucky for Rooney.) Now, in an effort to...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Same as it ever was for Pirates, Steelers
It’s the time of the season for horse manure, to paraphrase The Zombies. Pirates players who braved the threat of severe winter weather to get to Saturday’s PiratesFest talked about having a different attitude. (Ex-Buc Dale Berra canceled his return when he found out it wasn’t that kind of blizzard.)...
Mark Madden: Many reasons why the Penguins are better than expected
The numbers don’t lie: • The Penguins are 10-2-2 since the NHL’s holiday break. • The Penguins have scored the first goal in each of those 10 wins. (They don’t come out flat like the Steelers.) • The Penguins are 25-14-11. Second in the Metropolitan Division. Second-fewest regulation losses in...
Mark Madden: The Pirates could bring back Andrew McCutchen, but it’s OK to turn the page
The Pittsburgh Pirates traded for power-hitting second baseman Brandon Lowe and signed OK-hitting first baseman Ryan O’Hearn. But now have done nothing for a couple of weeks. They must figure that first place in the NL Central is wrapped up. It’s not. I’m assuming the Pirates just missed on Kyle...
Mark Madden: Steelers could reunite Aaron Rodgers, Mike McCarthy — and waste another season
The Pittsburgh Steelers are reportedly open to Aaron Rodgers returning, even with Mike Tomlin quitting. Rodgers likely wouldn’t want to. He came to Pittsburgh specifically to play for Tomlin. But what if Mike McCarthy succeeded Tomlin? The Greenfield native coached Rodgers to a Super Bowl win (against the Steelers) in...
Mark Madden’s hot take: Steelers also need a roster reset
The Pittsburgh Steelers will have a new head coach. The Steelers are replacing their entire coaching staff. They will probably hire somebody else’s defensive coordinator to be their head coach, thus maintaining their misguided organizational commitment to prioritizing defense in an era of score more, faster. But this is as...
Mark Madden: Getting the right quarterback will be paramount for Steelers’ next coach
As the Pittsburgh Steelers begin the process of hiring a new coach, the profile of most candidates seems similar: another team’s defensive coordinator, in his late 30s to mid-40s, no prior NFL head coaching experience. There are exceptions, but here’s betting the job goes to a younger version of Mike...
Mark Madden: Assessing the Mike Tomlin era, where Steelers go from here
At 2 p.m. Tuesday on my radio program, I said, “If Mike Tomlin had an ounce of pride, he’d quit.” Tomlin’s resignation broke a little over five minutes later. So it was said, so it did come to pass. Now for the denouement: Refreshing Tomlin notes! A new day will...
Mark Madden: Penguins are headed for the worst possible destination
The Penguins stopped scoring. Lost 2-1 to visiting Calgary on Saturday, 1-0 at Boston on Sunday. Thus ends a six-game win streak. They got beat by two backup goaltenders. The two defeats leave the Penguins one point out of a wild card in the Eastern Conference. What should be their...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers’ QB upgrade to Aaron Rodgers has been minimal … so far
It’s been a relatively quiet season with Aaron Rodgers. He’s kept snark to a minimum, preferring the marginally different path of passive-aggressive. He’s been, by all accounts, a great leader that’s 100% respected by the locker room. Rodgers ceremoniously walks off the field after games with Mike Tomlin and Cam...
Mark Madden: If the Steelers can survive the 1st quarter, expect another winnable rock fightVideo
Mike Tomlin’s teams are always prepared. Except when they’re not. Like they weren’t in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ last five playoff games, all losses. Last season, the Steelers were down by 21 to Baltimore at halftime. The season before, they trailed Buffalo by 21 midway through the second quarter. In the...
Mark Madden: Myles Garrett holds the NFL sacks record, no matter how Steelers fans spin it
Myles Garrett set the single-season sack record last Sunday when Cleveland beat Cincinnati. Garrett’s feat triggered a few sidebars. • Did anybody in seasons past perform in more record-worthy fashion despite having fewer sacks than Garrett? • Did Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow lay down on Garrett’s milestone sack, effectively giving...
Mark Madden: Aaron Rodgers plays the hero, Steelers win the optics in pseudo playoff victory
The No. 1 story from Sunday night’s playoff to make the playoffs was undoubtedly Aaron Rodgers’ impeccable play late in the game. Rodgers drove the Steelers to touchdowns on their last two possessions, including a six-play, 65-yard march in 85 seconds during what could have been the final moments of...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers’ season finale is pass/fail for the Aaron Rodgers experiment
Sunday night’s game is a final exam for the Aaron Rodgers experiment in Pittsburgh. It’s pass/fail. No shades of gray. Rodgers was signed in the unspoken spirit of “all in,” to win now for the Steelers’ 30-something crew of Cam Heyward, T.J. Watt, etc. The Steelers had the AFC North...
Mark Madden: Olympics might produce great hockey, but they do nothing for NHL
So much about NHL players in the Olympics makes no sense: • The NHL is releasing its assets to play. Those assets are at risk to injury. If players get hurt, their salaries must still be paid by their employers, who gain nothing by their assets’ participation. • About that...
Mark Madden: Is Malik Willis really the answer at QB for the Steelers?
Every time a backup quarterback on an expiring contract has a good game in the NFL, the usual suspects bleat that the Steelers should get him next year. It’s an extension of a similar exercise practiced during college football, when a good performance by a quarterback evokes cries (or tweets)...
Mark Madden: Steelers’ loss at Cleveland littered with ineptitude
If the Pittsburgh Steelers blow the AFC North championship and the playoffs by losing at home to Baltimore on Sunday, Mike Tomlin should be fired before he gets off the field. But it’s more likely Tomlin will sprint to the office of Art Rooney II and immediately sign a lucrative...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Symbolism abounds as Myles Garrett chases T.J. Watt’s sack record
Myles Garrett needs one more sack to break T.J. Watt’s NFL single-season record of 22½. Garrett can set the mark when Cleveland hosts the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. Watt won’t be in uniform but figures to be on the sideline watching. He might run on the field and try to...
Mark Madden: Like it or not, NFL needs its fans even more than players
Too many are too quick to say the blue-haired Detroit Lions fan who instigated with DK Metcalf should be banned from games. But that fan paid to get in. Metcalf was paid to be there. If the stadiums are empty and televisions don’t get turned on, the NFL doesn’t exist....
Mark Madden: DK Metcalf has only himself to blame
Only one person is to blame in the DK Metcalf imbroglio. It’s DK Metcalf. Sure, the blue-haired dipstick in the stands at Ford Field was looking to ensnare the Pittsburgh Steelers wideout in a web of stupidity. Shame on Metcalf for letting him. That dope had nothing to lose. Metcalf...
Mark Madden: A fool’s gold start has poisoned the Penguins’ developmental year
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a simple story. It’s not a very good roster. Evgeni Malkin getting hurt triggered the Penguins losing eight straight. But Malkin’s absence wasn’t responsible for their four late-game collapses during those eight defeats. Which felt worse, squandering those leads or getting shut out both games of...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Pitt volleyball shouldn’t be shielded from criticism
As soon as Pitt’s women’s volleyball team lost in the NCAA semifinals for a fifth straight season, we saw this sort of blather on social media: “(Pitt) should be incredibly proud for representing the school and Pittsburgh like total pros. Keep those heads up.” “I’m proud of Pitt volleyball. I...
