Mark Madden stories, Page 38
Mark Madden: Steelers will beat disheveled Bills in Week 1
Viva Las Vegas and viva refreshing sports notes! Bet over your head, not with it. • The Steelers will beat host Buffalo in the opener. The constant covid debate surrounding the Bills has them disheveled. The Steelers are all football. Steelers win. You heard it here. • Shouldn’t T.J. Watt...
Mark Madden Hot Take: Given Steelers’ schedule, betting under 8.5 wins is tempting
I had planned to bet $5,000 on the Steelers to have less than 8½ wins (-134). But the Steelers raised doubt by having a good preseason. But their schedule is daunting. Perhaps I should bet on the Steelers to have less than 9½ wins (-230). That seems like a lock,...
Mark Madden: Gregory Polanco’s career has been a disaster for Pirates
Gregory Polanco got waived by the Pirates one day, then started for them the next. That is so Polanco and so Pirates. The Pirates should alternate Polanco and some other bum like Anthony Alford in right field. (Alford got waived by the Pirates in April but stayed with the organization.)...
Mark Madden: Some NHL teams retire numbers too frequently; the Penguins do it right
The New York Rangers are going to retire goaltender Henrik Lundqvist’s No. 30. Lundqvist played 15 seasons. He never won a Stanley Cup. He played in just one Stanley Cup Final. He won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender once. If Lundqvist had played for Buffalo, he’d be...
Mark Madden: Optimism is growing for Steelers season, but key decisions remain
I had the Steelers pegged at 7-10 before training camp started. But within the limited context of a preseason exclusively featuring games against bad NFC teams, the Steelers are providing cause for limited optimism. Like 9-8 tops. Don’t go overboard. But to merit ascension to borderline playoff contention, the Steelers...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: CM Punk’s return to wrestling with AEW should have WWE concerned
As baseball Hall-of-Famer Satchel Paige once said, “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.” Roman Reigns, WWE’s top dog, said something that suggests he’s looking back: “CM Punk was not as good or as (popular) as John Cena…(he) didn’t move the needle like The Rock.” Punk, 42, left...
Mark Madden: How would Roberto Clemente have fared in a few more seasons with Pirates?
Roberto Clemente’s birthday was this past Wednesday. If Clemente were still alive, Gregory Polanco would be his superior in right field, but only marginally. Keep in mind Clemente would be 87. Clemente’s birthday sparked debate over how the Pirates might have fared had Clemente not been killed in that New...
Mark Madden: Steelers’ level of risk taking will make, or literally break, Ben Roethlisberger
Jacksonville may not start rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence right away, mostly because the Jaguars’ suspect offensive line would put this year’s first overall draft pick at too much risk. Cincinnati would have done well to follow that path with last year’s No. 1 pick, Joe Burrow. As a rookie, Burrow...
Mark Madden: Dwayne Haskins should focus on long game with Steelers QB job
Sports media rule No. 1: When in doubt, write or talk about the quarterback(s). Dwayne Haskins is third-string, but Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman argued about him on ESPN. That rule especially applies to refreshing sports notes: The QB is the leadoff hitter. • Mason Rudolph is going to...
Mark Madden Hot Take: NFL taunting is stupid, not fun
The NFL plans to crack down on taunting. Only 10 flags were thrown for taunting last season. It was the league’s least-penalized infraction. It would be better if the NFL kept T.J. Watt from being held on every snap. Perhaps Watt circumvents that by refusing to play. Taunting has defenders,...
Mark Madden: Steelers can control narrative in training camp, but results speak differently
What is the big story of Steelers training camp? We’re told it’s not T.J. Watt refusing to be a full participant in practice while his contract extension gets settled (if it does). He’s their best defensive player, but…nothing to see here. We’re told it’s not Kevin Dotson being dropped to...
Mark Madden: Mike Lange stands among the Penguins’ all-time greats
With Mike Lange, you could watch a hockey game on radio. Sounds dumb, but it’s true. Lange brought the action to life. He conveyed the electricity, the build. Lange didn’t just call the goal. He subtly told you the goal was imminent. He had a sixth sense. That sense didn’t...
Mark Madden: T.J. Watt not fully practicing with the Steelers isn’t a problem … yet
The Pittsburgh Steelers confirmed T.J. Watt is refusing to fully practice until he signs a long-term contract extension. That’s not a problem. But it won’t get Watt named Employee of the Month. Watt already is contracted for the 2021 season and is obligated to practice as per that agreement. But...
Mark Madden Hot Take: Rangers-Capitals a likely bloodbath for TNT’s NHL debut
The NHL often reveals exactly what the league wants hockey to be. The New York Rangers have beef with Washington and uber-thug Tom Wilson. On May 3, Wilson manhandled a few Rangers, including superstar winger Artemi Panarin. Panarin missed the season’s last four games with a lower-body injury after being...
Mark Madden: Steelers have backup QB options, but none like Batch, Tomczak, Kruczek
The backup quarterback is the most popular guy in town — until he plays. But, even then, the backup can sometimes fool the fans. Consider Devlin “Duck” Hodges. You can’t spell “quarterback” without “quack.” In 2019, Hodges may have been the worst quarterback to ever start in the NFL. But...
Mark Madden: Pitt needs what college football used to be, not what it has become
College football is beyond screwed up and not worth paying attention to unless you’re a fan of one of the chosen few and can look past being on the grifter’s end of a con game. So it’s a lot like following MLB. College football’s latest carny move is the SEC’s...
Mark Madden: True measure of all-time great Steelers WRs transcends stats, analytics
Sports have become driven by stats and analytics. That’s understandable. See, Joe, the numbers don’t lie, and they spell disaster for you at Sacrifice. But the eye test should never be taken totally out of the equation. Take Lynn Swann, for example. The Steelers wide receiver played only nine seasons:...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Everything in sports gets funneled to a few big markets
Sports are one giant funnel. The Los Angeles Dodgers got Max Scherzer and Trea Turner from Washington. The New York Yankees got Joey Gallo from Texas and Anthony Rizzo from the Chicago Cubs. The New York Mets got Javy Baez from the Chicago Cubs. The Los Angeles Lakers got Russell...
Mark Madden: Marc-Andre Fleury should refuse to play for Blackhawks
The latest Marc-Andre Fleury discussion locally revolves around the possibility of his new employer, Chicago, flipping him to the Penguins after acquiring him from Vegas. This before Fleury ever plays a game for the Blackhawks. That’s foolhardy. Fleury is the reigning and defending Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL’s best...
Mark Madden: If the Penguins can still get Marc-Andre Fleury, they should
In Pittsburgh, discussing Marc-Andre Fleury will never go away. Not ‘til Fleury comes back to the Penguins, and probably not even then. The Penguins found themselves dragged back into the Fleury vortex Tuesday by an occurrence that had nothing to do with them. Vegas unexpectedly traded Fleury to Chicago for...
Mark Madden: Steelers would be smart to delay T.J. Watt’s contract extension
One of the problems with a column composed of refreshing sports notes — well-read as those tend to be — is it exhausts ideas for future columns. Take, for example, this excerpt from one such recent piece: (T.J.) Watt might not get the lucrative contract extension he wants before the...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Penguins’ schedule stinks
I hate the Penguins’ schedule. But I’m still going to go. I get in free. The Penguins open with two road games, then have an eight-game homestand. Too much, too soon. October isn’t quite hockey season in Pittsburgh. We’ll be watching the Pirates in the playoffs. The Penguins play just...
Mark Madden: Talk of Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger’s weight a big nothing burger
Training camp is upon us. So are refreshing Steelers notes. But I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news: Under 8½ wins is a lock. • Speaking as a big fatso, I can accurately say Ben Roethlisberger is not fat. He’s a whole lot of great quarterback, that’s all. He looks...
Mark Madden: Forget the deck chairs. Goaltending is what could sink Penguins
The Penguins faithful and the attendant media have spent most of their time recently sweating what player the Penguins could lose to Seattle in the NHL’s expansion draft and any ancillary moves the team might make. What everybody should be concerned about is the Penguins’ goaltending. NHL free agency starts...
Mark Madden: Don’t overreact to Penguins’ expansion draft plans
The Steelers cut Steven Nelson, their best cornerback. The reaction: “Oh, well, they had to.” That’s true. It was for salary cap reasons. (But with David DeCastro released, why not bring Nelson back?) The Penguins traded forward Jared McCann to Toronto for a seventh-round draft choice and prospect Filip Hallander,...
