Mark Madden stories, Page 3
Mark Madden: Mike Tomlin is wrong; Andrew Berry did what’s best for the Browns
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin fairly berated Cleveland GM Andrew Berry for trading quarterback Joe Flacco to AFC North rival Cincinnati: “It doesn’t make sense to me to trade a quarterback that you think enough of to make your (Week 1 starter) to a division opponent that’s hurting in that area....
Mark Madden: Why couldn’t Penn State tolerate 1 bad year?
Last season, Penn State football was 13-3 and made the semifinals of the College Football Playoff. This year, Penn State was ranked No. 2 in the country to start the season. But franchise quarterback Drew Allar fell apart and is now out for the season. Penn State is 3-3 after...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers’ problem isn’t who they draft; it’s why they sit on the bench
Cam Skattebo had a huge game for the New York Giants on Thursday: The rookie running back carried 19 times for 98 yards and three touchdowns. He’s a human bowling ball. The cry emanated immediately from Yinzer Nation and a fair hunk of the attendant stooge media: “THE STEELERS SHOULD...
Mark Madden: Steelers’ prehistoric approach of 7 offensive linemen worked but has its flaws
The Pittsburgh Steelers were founded in 1933. Right now, they’re using an approach fit for 1933. Coach Mike Tomlin has become enamored with deploying, for all intents and purposes, seven offensive linemen. What’s next, the single wing? Spencer Anderson serves as an extra tackle. He played 19 snaps in the...
Mark Madden: Penguins mix old, new in sharing-the-torch season opener
Some strange things happened Tuesday night when the Pittsburgh Penguins opened their season at Madison Square Garden with a 3-0 win against the New York Rangers. For example, Erik Karlsson played a responsible, mistake-free game. (Except for one gratuitous turnover.) That’s been a rarity during his Penguins tenure, now entering...
Mark Madden: Penguins are rebuilding the right way
The Pittsburgh Penguins are going to be OK. Just not this year. They’re not a playoff team, even though the Eastern Conference looks terrible. But they have a potential star defenseman in Harrison Brunicke. He’s 19. They have a potential star goalie in 21-year-old Sergei Murashov. (He’s with the Penguins’ affiliate...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Penguins defenseman Harrison Brunicke could be victim of archaic rule
It appears that Harrison Brunicke will start the season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He should. Brunicke is just 19, but he’s been the Penguins’ best defenseman in the preseason and scored a nifty goal in their final exhibition game, a 5-4 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday at...
Mark Madden: Pirates’ thievery is not a problem for elected officials or MLB
Theresa Kail-Smith is a member of City Council. She wants City Council to have a discussion with Bob Nutting re: what has to be done to make the Pirates a winning team? Kail-Smith isn’t a baseball person. But she couldn’t have a worse plan than Pirates GM Ben Cherington. This...
Mark Madden: Begging for mercy isn’t solution for Baldwin, Fox Chapel
High school football used to be a big deal in Western Pennsylvania. Not just in selected communities, but everywhere. Now it’s come down to negotiated surrender. Baldwin and Fox Chapel high schools have teams so bad that they’ve contacted opponents about playing shorter games: eight-minute quarters instead of 12 minutes,...
Mark Madden: No one deserved such an exemplary sendoff more than Marc-Andre Fleury
Marc-Andre Fleury’s curtain call Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena was hokey, carny and rooted in a money grab via selling out an exhibition game at inflated prices. But it was incredibly memorable and worthwhile. Tear-jerking, heart-warming, the whole schmear. Absolutely flawless. I loved it. That says something about the...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: ‘Rebuilding’ Penguins have a solution for Florida’s injury troubles
Are the Pittsburgh Penguins truly rebuilding? Or are they splitting the difference between rebuilding and reaping nostalgia created by the core three of Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin indulging the unbreakable bond of eternal brotherhood? (It’s a truly compelling story. It’s also one reason the Penguins are in...
Mark Madden: Does it matter if Don Kelly returns as Pirates manager?
As the Pittsburgh Pirates mercifully put a wrap on another stinker of a season, whispers circulate that Don Kelly isn’t a lock to return as manager. Maybe that shouldn’t be surprising. Kelly replaced Derek Shelton on May 8 after previously serving as Shelton’s bench coach. Kelly never officially had the...
Mark Madden: A reminder of better days, Andrew McCutchen belongs with Pirates
Andrew McCutchen wants to keep playing baseball, presumably for the Pittsburgh Pirates. That had better be the case, anyway. There’s little demand for 38-year-old designated hitters with zero mobility beyond markets where they can sell interest, hype, some merchandise and a few tickets as a nostalgia act. For McCutchen, that’s...
Mark Madden: Steelers escaped New England with a win, but cracks keep showing
Some have the fragrance of hope and roses. Others smell like sweat and despair. These refreshing Pittsburgh Steelers notes are decidedly a mixed bag. Not unlike their 2-1 record. • The Steelers scored touchdowns on their first two drives at New England, then got a total of one first down in...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers not getting their money’s worth from T.J. Watt
Right now, it looks like the Steelers erred in giving edge rusher T.J. Watt a three-year, $123 million contract extension. It seems too early to say that, right? The Steelers have played just two games. But Watt’s impotence dates back through last season: He’s got no sacks in his last...
Mark Madden: Is trading Sidney Crosby in the Penguins’ best interest?
There are lots of reasons the Pittsburgh Penguins shouldn’t trade Sidney Crosby. The team’s legacy is served best by him being a one-logo guy. (His, too, probably.) Crosby sells tickets, win or lose. (But attendance did drop by 1,300 per game last season.) Rebuilding is served by him shepherding the team’s...
Mark Madden: Penguins getting another save from Marc-Andre Fleury
The Pittsburgh Penguins are signing goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to a tryout contract. He will practice once, then play in the team’s exhibition game vs. Columbus on Sept. 27 at PPG Paints Arena. Fleury will retire as a Penguin. Unless Fleury does well enough for the Penguins to want him to...
Mark Madden: Patience wears thin after Steelers’ inexcusable struggles continue
The excuses, okey-dokeys and empty platitudes are piling up in the wake of the Steelers’ odious 31-17 home loss to Seattle. “It’s only two games! Be patient!” We’ve been patient for eight years, each without a playoff win. “Broderick Jones needs time to adjust to left tackle.” That time should...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Forget the excuses, the Pirates aren’t close to being good
No matter how bad the Pirates are, the true believers and media stooges never run out of excuses. Here’s the latest: On Friday night, the Pirates extended their losing streak to seven with a 6-5 defeat at Washington. It was their fourth straight loss by one run. It was quickly...
Mark Madden: For the 1st time, Sidney Crosby playing in a different uniform feels real
Sidney Crosby’s agent has put Crosby departing Pittsburgh in play. Pat Brisson compared Crosby to Tom Brady, who left New England’s dynasty to win a seventh Super Bowl with Tampa Bay. Brisson said a trade “is always a possibility.” Not before Brisson said that, it wasn’t. For the first time,...
Mark Madden: Steelers don’t have solution for Broderick Jones’ struggles
The Pittsburgh Steelers have problems. Some can be fixed. The eventual return of injured rookie defensive lineman Derrick Harmon should help the run defense, which got gashed this past Sunday at New York. The rushing attack has two established pros in Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell. If neither step forward,...
Mark Madden: Few held the torch higher than Ken Dryden for hockey’s most legendary franchise
I’ve been a Pittsburgh Penguins supporter since the franchise’s first season, 1967-68. I went to my first game when I was 7. The Penguins were bad for a long time. Won four playoff rounds total before 1991. (Then won four playoff rounds that year.) I needed a mistress team. Somebody else...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Paying Paul Skenes would show commitment to winning, so don’t get your hopes up
The Pirates have won 11 of 15, swept Los Angeles, lead MLB in shutouts, Paul Skenes is cooking, Don Kelly’s record sits at .500, Konnor Griffin is on the horizon, and optimism moving forward is out of control. Absolutely unbearable. Andrew Fillipponi of 93.7 FM tweeted, “If the playoffs started...
Mark Madden: Expect more of the mushy middle for this year’s Steelers
I’ve got a bland prediction. It’s going to be a bland season. The Pittsburgh Steelers will go 9-8. Stuck in the mushy middle. The Steelers will just make or just miss the playoffs. If they do make the postseason, the Steelers will be one-and-done. Same as it ever was. Thursday...
Mark Madden: Captain Cam’s leadership in question during standoff with Steelers
Has anyone ever so quickly devalued his reputation with Steeler Nation like Cam Heyward? Training camp seemed to have dodged turmoil when T.J. Watt signed his extension. Then the big-deal leader dictated otherwise. Only Heyward’s biggest apologists see him as being wronged. If he signed a bum deal a year...
