Mark Madden stories, Page 41
Mark Madden: Steelers were always going to extend Mike Tomlin’s contract, but why now?
Mike Tomlin was always going to get his contract extended. He can coach the Steelers for as long he wants. That’s how Dad ran things. Granddad, too. (Actually, Granddad had 13 coaches in the Steelers’ first 35 years, and they only made the playoffs once. But don’t spoil the narrative.)...
Mark Madden: Connor McDavid’s scoring is impressive, but Mario Lemieux defined his era
Edmonton’s Connor McDavid reached 70 points in 43 games. That’s fast but unsurprising in the limp competition of the North division, the NHL’s worst. It’s so weak that McDavid’s Oilers and the Toronto Maple Leafs will be hard-pressed to both underachieve in the playoffs. It’s not likely, but hardly impossible....
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers have more immediate draft needs than quarterback
A whole slew of “experts” think the Pittsburgh Steelers should draft a quarterback. Turn on ESPN. Adam Schefter, Dan Graziano and Booger McFarland are hot for the Steelers to select a QB. Not necessarily in the first round, where the Steelers pick 24th. Maybe in the third or fourth round....
Mark Madden: Pine-Richland’s shameful firing of Eric Kasperowicz deserves better than ‘no comment’
Pine-Richland High School fired Eric Kasperowicz after eight seasons as football coach. He won two state championships and four WPIAL titles, including one of each this past season. Kasperowicz was 85-18. He’s beloved by his players and known for his professionalism. Plenty of Kasperowicz’s players got football scholarships. Kasperowicz wasn’t...
Mark Madden: Ex-Steelers WRs have better Hall of Fame credentials than Julian Edelman
Since New England receiver Julian Edelman quit and those in the sports media presumably whacked out of their minds on hallucinogens started making his case for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the argument posed by Yinzer Nation compares him to the Steelers’ Hines Ward. Ward’s stats badly trump Edelman’s...
Mark Madden: A big question still looms over Penguins after Jeff Carter deal
At 36, Jeff Carter is still a good hockey player. Carter skates swiftly, which is indigenous to playing for Pittsburgh. He is not the finisher he was in his prime (four seasons of 30-plus goals) but is a proven scorer. He has a shoot-first mentality that will be useful. He...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: ‘Cheaters never win’ doesn’t apply for MLB
You can cheat in baseball and get away with it. Not just stretch the rules or exploit gray areas. But blatantly cheat, win, and not get punished. The biggest example is the Houston Astros. They won a World Series in 2017 via sign-stealing. They got caught and confessed. Not one...
Mark Madden: With Evgeni Malkin injured, Penguins taking test drive for future
McDonald’s is doing a promotion with Evgeni Malkin: The “Geno Meal” consists of a Big Mac, french fries, milkshake and an orange soda. (Do elite athletes ever eat like that?) The “Geno Meal” is available for a limited time. Perhaps that’s an omen. When GM Ron Hextall and president of...
Mark Madden: It’s a bad time for Penguins goalies to implode
The Pittsburgh Penguins allowed eight goals Tuesday. Liverpool FC conceded three. Can’t anybody here play defense? Only one thing can restore my calm: refreshing sports notes! • The Penguins’ defense was terrible Saturday at Boston and Tuesday at the New York Rangers. But goalies Casey DeSmith and Tristan Jarry were...
Mark Madden: Pitch counts, analytics are taking away baseball’s trademark moments
Pitcher Jose Berrios of the Minnesota Twins had a no-hitter going Saturday: 6 innings, zero hits, zero walks, 12 strikeouts. (It wasn’t a perfect game. Berrios hit a batter.) Berrios was pulled by manager Rocco Baldelli. He had thrown 84 pitches. Every manager in MLB would do the same. That...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Most of baseball’s flaws involve wasted time
The Pirates season started well Thursday. Prize rookie Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a home run in the first inning. As Hayes rounded the bases, he was doubtless dreaming of escaping from Pittsburgh at the earliest possible opportunity. If he could have, Hayes would have crossed home plate, sprinted to the dugout,...
Mark Madden: Jason Zucker is valuable asset, but the Penguins could get solid return in trade
The NHL trade deadline is a little over a week away (it’s April 12), and it looks like it will be difficult for Penguins GM Ron Hextall to make an impactful deal. Hextall just doesn’t have much trade capital that might bring meaningful return. That’s unless Hextall shops left winger...
Mark Madden: Sam Darnold, Dwayne Haskins are reasonable QB successors for Steelers
Ben Roethlisberger will be the Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback in 2021, although it took longer than expected to iron that out. The offense will be exactly the same. Roethlisberger didn’t come back for one last season to implement new bells and whistles, line up under center, use jet sweep motion or...
Mark Madden: Amid adversity, resilient Penguins have taken on Sidney Crosby’s identity
The Pittsburgh Penguins have been missing their entire second line and two-thirds of their third line. Those filling in are of marginal quality, and that’s a kind description. Yet the Penguins had won four of five going into Monday’s home game with the New York Islanders, sported an 11-3-1 record...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Goalie Carter Hart at heart of Flyers’ struggles
Remember when a member of the Philadelphia hockey media said Sidney Crosby had passed the torch as hockey’s best player to the Flyers’ Claude Giroux? That was in 2012. In the interim, Crosby has 691 points to Giroux’s 596. Crosby has also won two Stanley Cups since — and two...
Mark Madden: Penguins will be getting bigger, forcing Mike Sullivan to change style of play
The Penguins are going to get bigger. GM Ron Hextall likes big. President of hockey operations Brian Burke likes big. The NHL has been trending big for several years. Where will that leave coach Mike Sullivan? Sullivan likes speed, as did former GM Jim Rutherford. Sullivan made his preference clear...
Mark Madden: Steelers’ me-first culture a major turn-off
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ egocentric, me-first culture dates to Antonio Brown’s de facto takeover of the team and is carried on by the cast and crew of the “Corvette, Corvette” show. The cameraman on that project reportedly branched out into bar fighting. Does it affect results? I don’t know that it...
Mark Madden: Fabrication surrounds JuJu Smith-Schuster’s free agency, signing with Steelers
Much of what’s been opined about the return of the prodigal JuJu Smith-Schuster to Pittsburgh seems like it’s based on fabrication, or at least a truth stretched very thin. Much of that distortion is based on the idea Smith-Schuster had other significant offers. But Philadelphia media reported Smith-Schuster’s so-called “offer”...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Signing JuJu Smith-Schuster is more roster mismanagement by Steelers
JuJu Smith-Schuster’s free agency failed miserably. He was expected to get $12-$16 million per season on a multi-year deal. Instead, he returned to Pittsburgh on a one-year deal worth $8 million. Reports say Smith-Schuster was offered more money by Baltimore and Kansas City, and more years and more money by...
Mark Madden: Alex Ovechkin’s milestone goal recalls memories of Phil Esposito’s greatness
Alex Ovechkin scored career goal No. 718 on Tuesday, passing Phil Esposito for sixth on the NHL’s all-time list. I’m glad, because it got Esposito’s name out there again. Esposito took no prisoners. He didn’t seek fights but wasn’t afraid to. He absorbed more punishment than he inflicted. He didn’t...
Mark Madden: Penguins shouldn’t make big trade chasing faint Stanley Cup hopes
Sports teams are generally contending or rebuilding, or at least leaning toward one or the other. Very rarely does a team truly middle the difference. As the NHL season opened, the Penguins seemed to lean toward rebuilding. But their recent uptick in results has fueled optimism. So has the mediocrity...
Mark Madden: Deion Sanders, aka ‘Prime Time,’ ushered in ego-first era
ESPN did a “30 for 30” called “Deion’s Double Play.” It centers on the events of Oct. 11, 1992, when Deion Sanders played an NFL game for the Atlanta Falcons at Miami, then went to Pittsburgh immediately after to suit up for the Atlanta Braves in Game 5 of the...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Tom Brady’s contract shows why salary cap is a sham
Tom Brady reconfigured his contract to ignite the latest barrage of “Tom Brady makes less so his team can win more” propaganda. Like most propaganda, it’s primarily fiction. Brady’s wife is supermodel Gisele Bundchen. She has earned more than a half-billion dollars. Brady has earned $263 million playing football. When...
Mark Madden: Here’s what has to happen for the Penguins to be legit contenders
The Penguins are 16-9-1 and have won four in a row. Can they yet be more than a borderline playoff team? Can they win a playoff series? Can they be a legit Stanley Cup contender? Hey, why not? If Steelers fans can fool themselves, so can Penguins fans. But here’s...
Mark Madden: Penguins need to dominate meetings with Devils, Sabres
Refreshing hockey notes: Maybe someday they can be the lead story on SportsCenter! (OK, probably not.) • The NHL reportedly signed a seven-year national TV contract with ESPN. The NHL is in the final season of its rights deal with NBC, but the league is pursuing multiple carriers (finally) like...
