Mark Madden stories, Page 41
Mark Madden: Signing J.J. Watt wouldn’t make sense for Steelers
Besides selling “Wattsburgh” T-shirts and seeing all three Watt brothers pose for really cool photos together in black and gold, there isn’t one good reason for the Steelers to sign free-agent defensive end J.J. Watt. It’s the talk of Twitter and radio shows but makes zero sense. The Steelers have...
Mark Madden: It’s been a bumpy path, but there’s been more good than bad for Penguins
The numbers don’t lie. But some of the Penguins’ stats suggest a bit of fibbing by way of dark humor. The Penguins got a two-goal lead for the first time all season in Sunday’s home win over Washington. They scored two empty-net goals to make the final 6-3. That’s just...
Mark Madden Hot Take: Why would Ben Roethlisberger want to return to the Steelers?
Ben Roethlisberger has made $253.2 million in football earnings. So, take the $19 million he’s due if he plays in 2021 out of the equation. Roethlisberger doesn’t need the money. Maurkice Pouncey retired. He and Roethlisberger are tight. Vance McDonald retired. He and Roethlisberger are tight. Alejandro Villanueva will leave...
Mark Madden: Penguins should stick with goalie Casey DeSmith
The Penguins don’t have a goaltending controversy. Well, not unless new GM Ron Hextall thinks he can still play. That might not be a bad idea. Casey DeSmith has to keep playing. That’s beyond debate, at least for now. Tristan Jarry played in last season’s NHL All-Star event. He finished...
Mark Madden: Brian Burke will bring no-nonsense approach to Penguins
Van Halen (David Lee Roth version) had a motto: “W.D.F.A.” We don’t mess around, or words to that effect. Brian Burke, the Penguins’ new president of hockey operations, operates under the same principle. Read his autobiography, “Burke’s Law.” Burke has been involved in hockey management for 34 years. If you...
Mark Madden: Never again doubt Tom Brady, the greatest football player ever
LAS VEGAS — What a rotten Super Bowl. The (slight) favorite fell apart. It was a rout. The old legend exposed the new legend — though Patrick Mahomes was mostly exposed by his thrift-store offensive line. I lost a lot of bets. But Pat McAfee lost $30K on the coin...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Ron Hextall is best choice for Penguins GM, right now
Eyebrows were raised when Chris Drury and Scott Mellanby declined to interview for the Pittsburgh Penguins’ vacant GM job. Drury, 44, is assistant GM for the New York Rangers. Mellanby, 54, has the same job with Montreal. Drury might be the best of up-and-coming NHL executives. If I were Drury...
Mark Madden: Evgeni Malkin’s shot can fix Penguins’ struggling power play
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ power play stinks and is unlikely to be fixed. It ranks 22nd in the NHL with a conversion rate of 13.9%. It won’t always rank that low. It will generate hot streaks based solely on the unit’s talent, which is plentiful. But right now is not one...
Mark Madden: Don’t expect Sidney Crosby to finish his career in Canada
A bunch of Canadian media used their platform to try to wish Sidney Crosby to a Canadian team, speculating that the Penguins and Crosby may (this got said with great gravitas) talk about his future this coming offseason, and what would be Crosby’s likely destination? That “speculation” (read: made-up drivel)...
Mark Madden: They have shortcomings, but Penguins don’t lack effort
The Penguins might cheat you when it comes to certain things. They might cheat you on structure. They might cheat you on goaltending. Evgeni Malkin is cheating you on production. The cataclysmically injured defense corps is getting cheated on luck. But the Penguins are not cheating you when it comes...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Talk of Steelers’ one last shot at Super Bowl is pipe dream
It seems Ben Roethlisberger is going to play in 2021. He’ll extend his contract a few more years but retire after the coming season. He’ll probably convert the $19 million he is due to a signing bonus to spread out the cap hit. He’ll talk center Maurkice Pouncey into playing...
Mark Madden: Jim Rutherford’s 5 trades in 2015-16 transformed Penguins, NHL
Jim Rutherford is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. He won three Stanley Cups as an NHL general manager. When the basics of your resume are that strong, drilling down deeper figures to unearth a few bright, shining moments. Rutherford’s was the 2015-16 season. It was his Picasso....
Mark Madden: Where would Steelers be had Bruce Arians not ‘retired’?
The Steelers have won three playoff games in the past 10 seasons, badly collapsing at the conclusion of each of the past three. The Steelers had a Hall of Fame quarterback, a generational talent at receiver and arguably the best back of his era. They currently have an elite defense....
Mark Madden: This will be a strange Super Bowl for the Steelers to watch
It’s an odd Super Bowl from the Steelers’ perspective. Former offensive coordinator Bruce Arians got fired by the Steelers after the 2011 season. The Steelers said he retired, which was a whopper of a lie. Arians has since won NFL Coach of the Year twice and has Tampa Bay in...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Hank Aaron was one of sports’ most important figures
Hank Aaron is not the all-time home-run king. The numbers don’t lie and can’t be qualified. It’s a matter of who hit the most. The scoreboard reads Barry Bonds 762, Aaron 755. But Aaron was about so much more than setting a record, even if it is baseball’s most fabled....
Mark Madden: Offseason decisions show Steelers are in a bad place
The Steelers went from 11-0 to a stink sandwich. They collapsed in each of the past three seasons. They have won three playoff games in 10 years despite talent that merited far better. They lost a playoff game at home to a six-point underdog, trailing 28-0 in the first quarter....
Mark Madden: Situations with Brett Favre, Jared Porter show cancel culture is applied unevenly
Jared Porter got dismissed from his job as the New York Mets’ general manager because he sent a torrent of inappropriate texts to a female journalist while he was working for the Chicago Cubs in 2016. Among Porter’s texts: An image of his genitals, as reported by ESPN. Firing Porter...
Mark Madden: Steelers promoting Matt Canada falls under ‘status quo,’ ‘definition of insanity’
At his season-ending media briefing, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said, “I’m not going to maintain the status quo and hope the outcome changes. That’s the definition of insanity.” Less than a week later, Tomlin slipped on a straitjacket and is hoping no one notices. Replacing Randy Fichtner with Matt Canada...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Many to blame for Penguins’ 0-2 start
It’s only two games, but… • Tristan Jarry has been brutal. He’s too deep in his net, his stick isn’t busy, his rebound control is rotten and his vaunted puck handling has been a non-factor. Some goaltenders can’t handle being labeled No. 1. Is Jarry one of those? We figure...
Mark Madden: An open letter to Hines Ward
To: Hines Ward, somewhere besides Canton From: Mark Madden, Pittsburgh Dear Hines: I bet you remember me. I called you “Whines Hard” and lampooned your unbridled ego. When you unfairly threw Ben Roethlisberger under the bus over concussion issues, I said so. I made fun of your lame pursuit of...
Mark Madden: Loyalty to Mike Tomlin leaves Steelers going nowhere
Philadelphia fired coach Doug Pederson. He and the Eagles won the Super Bowl three years ago. Mike Tomlin, meanwhile, has a job for life in Pittsburgh. Tomlin has presided over late-season collapses in each of the last three years: The Steelers went from 7-2-1 to 9-6-1 and no playoffs in...
Mark Madden: Capitals, Bruins, Flyers could all win division but have flaws, just like Penguins
Covid forced the NHL into restructuring its divisions. Popular opinion holds that the realignment was not kind to the Pittsburgh Penguins. I’m not sure that’s true. Washington has the NHL’s oldest roster. It lost starting goalie Braden Holtby, and Holtby’s replacement, Henrik Lundqvist, won’t play because of heart problems. Top-four...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Odds of wild-card victory heavily stacked in Steelers favor
Last week, against the Steelers’ JV, Cleveland was in a no-win situation…but had to win. This week, with the Browns ravaged by covid and injury, the Steelers are in a no-win situation…but have to win. As of Friday, the Browns had eight players on the covid list and seven players...
Mark Madden: Tristan Jarry’s puck-handling, passing will be strength for Penguins
After a second straight disappointing playoff by him and the team, the Pittsburgh Penguins shipped two-time Stanley Cup-winning goaltender Matt Murray to Ottawa. Murray put in a solid five years with the Penguins but was never as good as he was during his first two campaigns, both of which ended...
Mark Madden: Expect NHL sponsorship displays to continue, and there’s nothing wrong with it
The NHL is under fire, albeit tepid, from the protectors of purity (gag) in sports because teams can sell helmet space to sponsors and the NHL sold their division names to sponsors. The Penguins have PPG logos on their buckets and are in the MassMutual (East) division. If Washington’s Tom...
