Mark Madden Columns category, Page 17

The Pittsburgh Steelers are so disheveled, it’s difficult to know where to start. Refreshing Steelers notes seems the correct path. But they’re not so refreshing. More like a kick to the groin. • It’s time to stop making excuses on this sorry team’s behalf. The Steelers stink. Say so. •...

Sidney Crosby sits 25th among NHL scorers with 31 points in 28 games. He’s fourth in goals with 17. Imagine what his statistics might be if the Pittsburgh Penguins’ power play didn’t stink most games. He’s carrying a subpar Penguins team on his back, albeit not to great heights thus...

Mario Lemieux was known to say, “I make the most money. I need to do more.” Sometimes after he racked up five points but the Penguins lost 9-6. T.J. Watt’s contract with the Steelers is worth $112 million. Minkah Fitzpatrick’s will pay him $73.6 million. Cameron Heyward’s is $71.4 million....

In the days before becoming Pittsburgh’s foremost media icon, I wrote about high school hockey for a local paper. As much as they let me, anyway. “Nobody cares about hockey,” was the mantra. My coverage was mostly relegated to the suburban editions. But look at Pittsburgh hockey now. Logan Cooley...

Shohei Ohtani’s 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers is the biggest expenditure on an athlete in sports history. But there will, ultimately, be a bigger one. There always is. It’s hardly shocking. You could have predicted his destination and (roughly) the amount even before Ohtani hit free...

The NHL is mooting whether to send players to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. It’s at the final discretion of the league, not the players. Big fail by the NHL Players Association, though pressing for control would have served just a small percentage of the membership. I’m against it....

Coach Mike Tomlin should be fired the minute this wasted Steelers season ends. Enough with adhering religiously to what daddy and granddaddy did. When the coach deserves to be fired, fire him. Never changing coaches is supposed to give the Steelers stability. Do these Steelers look stable to you? Tomlin’s...

Thursday’s matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and visiting New England Patriots figures to be one of the NFL’s worst games this season. Neither team scores much. The over/under is a microscopic 30 1/2. Yet the under seems an incredibly safe wager. The Steelers just lost at home by 14 to...

The Steelers are never under much real pressure to fix their problems. Their failures hide in plain sight, aided and abetted by a dopey fan base that thinks playing “Renegade” is a strategy and a stooge media that allows accountability to be shirked. For example, Kenny Pickett stinks. Anybody that...

It’s difficult to evaluate the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season. They are beneficiaries of an unchallenging schedule, a dearth of quality NFL quarterbacks, a rotten league in general. As Tom Brady rightly said, “I don’t see the excellence that I saw in the past.” I doubt Brady sees it in Pittsburgh, either....

NEW YORK — Hockey Hall of Famer Mark Messier once said you can feel the electricity of New York’s Madison Square Garden as soon as you walk into the building. Not sure if Messier said that after captaining the New York Rangers to the Stanley Cup in 1994 or after...

The Pittsburgh Penguins were 10-10 going into Tuesday night’s game at Nashville. You can’t get more mediocre than that. The Penguins have shown signs of life, especially against strong foes. But they don’t look like a good bet to win a playoff series for the first time since 2018 or...

The Pittsburgh Steelers are 7-4. They’ll be 9-4 after beating pushovers in their next two games. After that, their schedule gets harder but not a lot. It’s easy to imagine the Steelers finishing, say, 11-6 and getting the No. 1 wild card in the AFC. Heck, the Steelers could win...

Going into Saturday night’s home game vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Pittsburgh Penguins had just 19 wins in regulation time over their last 64 games. They blew a 2-0 third-period lead at Buffalo on Friday night, losing 3-2. The Penguins’ season has taken on familiar characteristics that have been...

New Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Eddie Faulkner has blocked much of the local media on X/Twitter. But he hasn’t yet blocked me. So I must be doing something right. It’s in the spirit of that unsteady alliance that I offer Faulkner the following advice: NO JET SWEEPS. Don’t call any. Not...

The Pittsburgh Steelers fired offensive coordinator Matt Canada. Now we find out who’s really been at fault for the Steelers’ scared, limp offense. Here’s thinking it hasn’t been Canada. Here’s betting we see more of the same. Will quarterback Kenny Pickett use the middle of the field now? Will Pickett...

Kenny Pickett is one of the NFL’s worst quarterbacks. He should be benched. The Steelers are 6-4, but when they’ve won, it’s mostly been despite Pickett. “Fourth-quarter Kenny” was absent Sunday at Cleveland. Right after Pickett failed to summon a game-winning drive in the game’s final 15 minutes, Browns rookie...

The Pittsburgh Steelers needed two defensive touchdowns to win their Week 2 game against Cleveland. They might need the same when they visit the Browns on Sunday. The breaks are going the Steelers’ way. Deshaun Watson, the Browns starting quarterback, is out for the season with shoulder problems. His replacement,...

Our nation is in freefall for many reasons. The decline of journalism is one of them. Journalism practiced correctly is about truth. But journalism these days is about entertainment and has become tribal. Injecting Charissa Thompson and sports into that mix is a bit dramatic. Sports, in the big picture,...

It’s OK to cheat. Jim Harbaugh’s three-game nonsuspension from his duties as Michigan football coach is a reminder. Harbaugh can coach at practice. He can game plan. You know he’s in communication with his staff during games he’s “suspended” from. Harbaugh’s impact is not being at all minimized. (You don’t...

Here’s the good news: The Steelers have found a few positives to hang their helmets on. Their running game has erupted behind the insertion of rookie Broderick Jones at right tackle and the diverse combination of power back Najee Harris and scatback Jaylen Warren. The pair totaled 183 rushing yards...

Here are 10 factoids about prodigal son Jaromir Jagr, who returns to Pittsburgh to get his No. 68 retired Feb. 18 at PPG Paints Arena. And that’ll be the way to get along… • Jagr played for nine NHL teams. But he’s most remembered as a Penguin. It’s where he...

It’s time for refreshing Penguins notes, with a San Jose Sharks chaser! Who’s worse, the Sharks or the 1983-84 Penguins that tanked by way of drafting Mario Lemieux? I watched the latter team extensively. I don’t want to think about it. • Just keep Bryan Rust out there in overtime....

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ culture, at least the portion created by coach Mike Tomlin, is uneven and flawed. Chuks Okorafor lost the starting job at right tackle because he “acted out” during the Oct. 29 loss to Jacksonville. Okorafor said or did something Tomlin didn’t like. This switch was past due...

The Pittsburgh Penguins’ 10-2 win at San Jose on Saturday was fun but insignificant. The Sharks (0-10-1) may be historically bad. The Penguins (4-6-0, last in the Metropolitan Division) started their season rotten against perhaps the easiest part of their schedule. That victory, while needed, is like slapping a butterfly...