Mark Madden Columns category, Page 30
Mark Madden: Whether Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang stay or go, Penguins’ offseason looks bleak
If you’re not concerned about the Pittsburgh Penguins’ offseason, you should be. The chances of retaining Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang seem slim. The Penguins don’t appear to much want the former and won’t offer more than three years to the latter. (Letang wants five.) Fanboys feel that parting with...
Mark Madden: Remembering the greatness of slugger Dave Kingman
When you’re a kid, you have weird tastes and allegiances. For instance, my favorite baseball player was Dave Kingman. Kingman was preceded in my favor by Pirates legend Bill Mazeroski. But Mazeroski retired when I was 11. Mazeroski was the first athlete I sent a fan letter. He mailed back...
Mark Madden: NFL seems to be buying time with Deshaun Watson investigation
Deshaun Watson is scheduled to have a disciplinary hearing Tuesday. Why? What’s the hearing for? Watson’s lurid story has been known for over a year. The NFL has presumably been investigating that long. Watson said he has done nothing wrong and has no regrets, so we know his side. This...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: If the Penguins let Kris Letang go, expect playoff streak to end
Colorado’s Cale Makar won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman. If the Avalanche win the Stanley Cup, Makar is the favorite to get the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. He is Colorado’s top scorer with 29 points in 19 postseason games. Makar is the total package. His...
Mark Madden: Mike Tomlin’s reputation transcends results but recent disappointments can’t be ignored
The podcast Mike Tomlin did with ex-Steeler Ryan Clark and Co. has elevated Tomlin to football sainthood. What a guy! Players would run through a wall for Coach T! But for five years, winning a playoff game hasn’t been on the other side of that wall. Clark and Co. tossed...
Mark Madden: Debut of 3ICE hockey a raging success, should spark changes to NHL overtime
I sat at a long table in a gastropub called Bailiwick at the Orleans Casino in Las Vegas this past Saturday. Joining me: Guy Carbonneau, John LeClair, Joe Mullen, Larry Murphy, Craig Patrick, Bryan Trottier. Five Hockey Hall-of-Famers. Twenty Stanley Cup rings between everybody. For me, that made the debut...
Mark Madden: Steelers players are kings of fake news
Rashard Mendenhall’s fumble contributed mightily to the Steelers losing Super Bowl XLV in 2011. Except Mendenhall says it wasn’t a fumble. The now-retired running back tweeted thusly: “I never fumbled that ball. I was SEPARATED from the ball 4 yards into the backfield. That’s the RB equivalent of a strip...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Leaving Golden State was a terrible decision for Kevin Durant
Refreshing sports notes: Brief, but biting! Always leave ’em wanting more! • Kevin Durant choosing to play with Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets instead of Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors is one of the worst decisions made in the history of sports. • With four NBA championships...
Mark Madden: With Minkah Fitzpatrick signed, Steelers defense must provide bang for big bucks
After getting a four-year contract extension worth $73.6 million, Minkah Fitzpatrick is the NFL’s highest-paid safety. So he needs to be the best safety. The Pittsburgh Steelers have the highest-paid defense. So it needs to be the best defense. In a league using a salary cap, you must get what...
Mark Madden: Super-size athletes can make extra large impact
Fat has come to the forefront of the Pittsburgh sports scene. Excuse me, did I say fat? I meant to say beefy, big-boned, heavyset, stocky or any of the other terms that patronizingly substitute but are no less aggravating to us fatsos. The Pittsburgh athlete who recently made fat where...
Mark Madden: NHL is its own worst enemy, allowing stars and skill to be neutralized
The New York Rangers have been eliminated from the NHL playoffs. It’s a sad day. Hockey without heads getting targeted just isn’t hockey. But the Rangers gave themselves a proper send-off in their Game 6 exit at Tampa Bay: Jacob Trouba didn’t quite get nine heads in a duffel bag...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Rival leagues are good for any sport
I don’t watch golf. It’s slow and boring. Golf is a participatory sport, not one for spectators. But I like LIV golf. I won’t watch it. But it stirs the pot. Rival leagues have long been catalysts for improving sports. The American Football League (1960-70) was the best rival league....
Mark Madden: Starting Mitch Trubisky over Kenny Pickett is the ‘Steeler way’
Previously in this space, it was commented that Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has never replaced a quarterback and thus doesn’t know how to do it. Here’s how that might play out. The Steelers drafted Kenny Pickett 20th overall to be their long-term quarterback. But Pickett is 24 and started 49...
Mark Madden: Saudi-backed LIV Golf is good for the sport
Athletes compete professionally to make money. The more cash, the better. That’s the primary reason. Anyone who says different is lying. How much money is enough? That’s for the individual to decide, not you. There’s very little real legacy to be had. You’ve got to be Babe Ruth or Michael...
Mark Madden: Browns’ decision to sign Deshaun Watson looks worse every day
JuJu Smith-Schuster hasn’t said much of consequence. But he reinforced one obvious truism: “The Browns is the Browns.” No sports team has ever made a dumber decision than giving quarterback Deshaun Watson a contract worth $230 million guaranteed and sending six draft picks the other way, three of them first-rounders....
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Penguins’ Mike Sullivan deserves better in Jack Adams Award voting
The Penguins’ Mike Sullivan was not a finalist for this year’s Jack Adams Award. It’s given annually to the NHL’s best coach, except quite often it isn’t. Sullivan finished eighth in the year’s voting, which is done by NHL broadcasters. He didn’t necessarily deserve to win the award, but he...
Mark Madden: Steelers LB Devin Bush does have something to prove
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offseason is the gift that keeps on giving. Inside linebacker Devin Bush: “I don’t think I’ve got to prove anything to anybody.” Are you sure? The Steelers didn’t pick up your contract’s fifth-year option. Last season, you either didn’t bounce all the way back from knee surgery...
Mark Madden: Avalanche-Oilers matchup shows what hockey could be
Colorado beat Edmonton, 8-6, in the first game of the Western Conference final Tuesday. That game is how fans want hockey to be: 14 goals, 84 shots, fast, creative, fun, a ton of prime scoring chances and a fierce comeback by the Oilers that fell just short. The stars delivered:...
Mark Madden: Why can’t the Pirates develop talent?
Ben Cherington is in his third season as Pittsburgh Pirates GM. Things aren’t improving. The Pirates just DFA’d Cole Tucker, their first-round pick in 2014. He’s all teeth and hair, no bat. Lots of charisma, zero pop. He hit .175 with the Pirates this season, .135 in Triple-A. Cherington inherited...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Steelers’ starting quarterback job is not a 3-way competition
Here are the big issues at the Pittsburgh Steelers’ ongoing series of OTAs: There are none. OTAs are totally unnecessary. Minicamp is totally unnecessary. The process should start with training camp, not before. Baseball, basketball and hockey don’t have OTAs and minicamp. Football does in the attempt to be complicated...
Mark Madden: Among my top 5 greats, Connor McDavid approaching all-time status
I have long been steadfast when listing my top five hockey players ever. Mario Lemieux, Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky are my top three. List them in any order you like, and I won’t argue. Sidney Crosby and Gordie Howe are my next two. (Howe is included based on tradition,...
Mark Madden: Omar Khan’s role, Mitch Trubisky’s future, Diontae Johnson’s bad PR move among Steelers storylines
The Penguins season is over, Steelers OTAs are mostly meaningless and the Pirates lead the MLB in errors. Refreshing sports notes are your last hope. Allez, allez, allez! • The Steelers spent weeks interviewing GM candidates, narrowed down to six finalists, then hired the in-house guy. That’s entertainment. Here’s betting...
Mark Madden: Bryan Rust was 1st to return to the Penguins, but will he be last?
Bryan Rust left money on the table. The right winger’s new six-year contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins has an average annual value of $5.125 million, a raise of a mere $1.625 million. Over the last three seasons, Rust has scored 73 goals in 171 games. Rust is 30. This was...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Mike Sullivan’s approach needs a Plan B
Mike Sullivan is one of the NHL’s top coaches, and arguably the most accomplished in Penguins history. But he needs a Plan B. For a brief moment in the Penguins’ first-round loss to the New York Rangers, Sullivan had one. It worked. The Penguins had blown a 4-1 lead in...
Mark Madden: Penguins GM Ron Hextall hasn’t done anything to lose his job or to keep it
If my program director asks me what’s on today’s show, I tell him. When the home-plate umpire asks a manager for the lineup card, he can’t decline. A chef submits a menu. A football coach designs a playbook. A movie producer needs a script. These are requirements and not kept...
