Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Penguins should lean on most confident player in shootouts
After Friday’s NHL games, the Pittsburgh Penguins were two points clear in a playoff spot. They are 3-3-3 without injured captain Sidney Crosby, 1-1-2 without Crosby and the suspended Evgeni Malkin, who will sit one more game. Splitting the points through the absences of their two star forwards seems the...
Mark Madden: The Ravens did nothing wrong but follow NFL’s template of greed, megalomania
To everyone griping about the Baltimore Ravens’ “lack of honor” or “dishonesty” because they loopholed their way out of acquiring Maxx Crosby from Las Vegas by way of buyer’s remorse after paying too steep of a price: Are you freaking kidding me? The NFL is built on “lack of honor”...
Mark Madden: Pirates will honor Andrew McCutchen, whether he deserves it or not
Some characterize Andrew McCutchen’s departure to Texas as “sad.” Nah. Not from the Pittsburgh Pirates’ point of view, anyway. The Pirates didn’t want their clubhouse to be a museum. They moved on from a player who is old and past significant usefulness. A nostalgia act. An extra pierogi. It’s sad...
Mark Madden: Penguins’ gutsy comeback felt like a season-saver and more sports notes
Spring ahead, fall back, but it’s always time for refreshing sports notes! (I have no idea what time it is.) • The Pittsburgh Penguins’ 5-4 overtime win over Boston at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday felt like a season-saver. The Penguins showed maximum guts after trailing 3-0, igniting a furious...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: In Johnstown, ‘Slap Shot’ lives on — and so does great hockey
JOHNSTOWN — “Dunlop, call the meat wagon.” “I already did.” That’s an exchange between Syracuse Bulldogs captain Tim “Dr. Hook” McCracken and Charlestown Chiefs player/coach Reggie Dunlop from the overdubbed, network-sanitized version of the legendary hockey comedy “Slap Shot,” released in 1977. The original, R-rated version of that dialogue is...
Mark Madden: Evgeni Malkin’s meltdown couldn’t have come at a worse time for the PenguinsVideo
Evgeni Malkin wants to play another season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He didn’t do that ambition any good via his actions in Thursday’s 5-1 home loss to Buffalo. Malkin is often petulant and occasionally selfish but took both concepts to an insane level of self-indulgence when he slashed the Sabres’...
Mark Madden: Steelers should gamble on Kyler Murray, not wait on Aaron Rodgers
Kyler Murray is getting cut by Arizona. The Pittsburgh Steelers want Aaron Rodgers to return at quarterback. Instead of waiting on Rodgers, the Steelers should grab Murray. Rodgers is 42. Murray is 28. Rodgers is playing out the string. Murray would be playing for his career. He could conceivably be...
Mark Madden: Evgeni Malkin has earned another season, but should the Penguins give it to him?
Evgeni Malkin wants to play another season for the Pittsburgh Penguins. His performance this season merits that. But do the Penguins want Malkin to play another season? It’s not a simple decision. He has 13 goals and 34 assists in 44 games. Not a lot of goals, but over a...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Thanks, Maz, for being the hero that never disappointed
When I was 9, I fell in love with sports. Specifically, baseball and the Pirates. (Neither had been ruined yet.) I wrote my first fan letter to my favorite Pirate. (Kids did things like that then.) He sent me a signed postcard. I still have it. It made a big...
Mark Madden: A blueprint for how the Penguins survive during Sidney Crosby’s absence
Sidney Crosby won’t play for at least four weeks because of a lower-body injury, widely presumed to be a strained knee. The most frightening two words contained in that prognosis are “at least.” The Pittsburgh Penguins were five points safe in a playoff berth when NHL play resumed Wednesday night....
Mark Madden: Jack Hughes should jump from golden goal to NHL’s golden goose
The face of hockey is 38 years old. No offense to Sidney Crosby, but it’s time for a new face. That new face has a broken tooth. That face is Jack Hughes, 24, who scored the golden goal for the U.S. at the Olympics and plays in the New York...
Mark Madden: Pittsburgh-powered penalty kill helps Team USA prove critics wrong
Plenty of hockey “experts” — including me — thought U.S. GM Bill Guerin and his staff erred in picking his Olympic men’s hockey team. The exclusion of high-octane weapons like Jason Robertson, Cole Caufield and Lane Hutson was bemoaned. Less-talented role players were preferred. But the proof of the pudding...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers should give deadline to Aaron Rodgers
NFL free agency starts March 11. The legal tampering period begins March 9. The Pittsburgh Steelers should insist that Aaron Rodgers decides whether or not to play by then — preferably a week before — and in writing. The Steelers should not trust Rodgers. The citizens (and perhaps the organization)...
Mark Madden: The Pirates’ fate rests with 2 familiar bats
Optimism abounds with the Pirates, mostly because of a few shiny new toys and not least because 19-year-old phenom Konnor Griffin is hitting bombs at spring training. Griffin will be in Pittsburgh sooner, not later, and the sooner the better. But it feels like the fate of the Pirates in...
Mark Madden: Costly personnel blunders have buried the Steelers in mediocrity
As the Pittsburgh Steelers look to break a string of nine seasons with no playoff wins, there still seems to be an underlying faith among the citizens that the Steelers have a great organization and will ultimately get it right. But nine years is a pretty big sample size to...
Mark Madden: Picturing Ty Simpson to the Steelers, Konnor Griffin in the big leagues and more sports notes
Men’s curling scandal at the Winter Olympics: Sweden accused Canada of double-touching after the hog line. Canada accused Sweden of secretly filming. I have no idea what that all means, but it sounds sexy. Enjoy these refreshing sports notes while I figure it out. • Don’t be shocked if the...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: College football is no longer just the NFL’s feeder system
Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss has used the courts — specifically, a judge with a law degree from Ole Miss — to finagle a sixth year of NCAA football eligibility. The NCAA will appeal. Chambliss’ reasoning is simple: He would likely be picked in the third round of this year’s...
Mark Madden: Cam Heyward’s silence speaks loudest in Steelers’ podcast saga
As Pittsburgh Steelers past and present re-enact “Mean Girls” via podcast — I stole that from X — it’s easy to overlook the hidden schmuck in Porter vs. Roethlisberger. It’s the fearless leader, Cameron Heyward. Heyward sat there, a lump of silence, while Joey Porter excoriated Ben Roethlisberger, called him a...
Mark Madden: Remember when Pittsburgh was a basketball town?
Pittsburgh used to be a basketball town, kind of. Hard to believe. I know. I was there. Even harder to believe. Amazon Prime is premiering a new documentary called, “Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association.” The iconic “Dr. J,” Julius Erving, appeared on satellite radio to mark...
Mark Madden: Super Bowl showed value of franchise quarterback, and other observations
That Super Bowl was so boring I couldn’t glean an entire column from it. So what we got is refreshing sports notes. (I was going to write them using either Spanish or redneck. I couldn’t decide.) • For Steelers fans, the big takeaway from the Super Bowl is that Seattle...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: First ballot or not, Ben Roethlisberger’s accomplishments are undeniable
Mario Lemieux once dispensed these words of wisdom: “I judge myself by Stanley Cups and scoring titles, because nobody votes on those.” Lemieux has again been proven correct in the wake of the Pro Football Hall of Fame having announced its latest class. The primary conversation is about who didn’t...
Mark Madden: The Miracle on Ice remains an unmatched moment in sports history
“Miracle: The Boys of ’80” is a Netflix documentary about the U.S. hockey team conquering impossible odds to win gold at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics. It brought surviving members of that team back to Lake Placid to watch highlights, talk and relive the moment. It’s strong and heartfelt....
Mark Madden: The Penguins have to stop beating themselves with playoffs hanging in the balance
With the Pittsburgh Penguins sitting second in the NHL’s Metropolitan Division as the Olympics break approaches, the presumptuous among you ask if they’re capable of a playoff run. But it’s far from certain that they’re capable of making the playoffs. Their last three games confirm such. They flirted with disaster...
Mark Madden: Zero chance Will Howard starts for the Steelers and more sports notes
Like the snowflakes that clog your driveway, no two refreshing sports notes are exactly alike! I also use a shovel. • Will Howard will not start at quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Zero chance. He’s a sixth-round pick with all the attached limitations. When new coach Mike McCarthy praises Howard,...
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....
