Mark Madden Columns category, Page 5

Among those dumb enough to still care about the Pittsburgh Pirates, there’s a big clamor to fire GM Ben Cherington and manager Derek Shelton. Cherington and Shelton should get sacked. The citizens are correct. But doing so changes nothing. Whoever replaces Cherington and Shelton would be the next Cherington and...

Shedeur Sanders is a Cleveland Brown. That was likely at the behest of the owner and will be to the detriment of the coach. Kevin Stefanski will have daddy Deion in his ear, looking over his shoulder, bashing him, undermining him, perhaps even replacing him if the con goes perfectly....

Twitter (X) is goofy on a good day. Pittsburgh Pirates Twitter is off-the-wall nutso. Here’s what’s being demanded by the tweeters, bloggers, fanboys and stooges. • Fire manager Derek Shelton. • Fire GM Ben Cherington. • Summon pitcher Bubba Chandler from Triple-A. • Perform a miracle voodoo cure on pitcher...

Let’s be honest: Letting Mike Sullivan go was an easy decision for the Penguins. (This wasn’t all that mutual.) He’s a very good coach, and there’s no diminishing what Sullivan did early in his tenure. But Sullivan had long since lapsed into Mike Tomlin mode, not winning a playoff series...

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” — Galatians 6:7. Nor can football be mocked. Shedeur Sanders reportedly botched the predraft process. He displayed his entitlement and arrogance during interviews, interrupting one to take a personal FaceTime call. Sanders was referred to as...

The Stanley Cup playoffs are underway. Hockey’s showcase, or so the NHL thinks. Early TV ratings showed that viewership is down 12%. That’s no surprise. Hockey is a winter sport. It’s played on ice. But we’re already a month into spring and the postseason just started. The NHL season is...

The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted the right guy. I’m as shocked as anybody. Especially with Shedeur Sanders’ availability giving Mike Tomlin the opportunity to go showbiz with a shiny new toy. But defensive line big-timers had tumbled off the board: Michigan’s Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant and Ole Miss’ Walter Nolen,...

The Pittsburgh Steelers should do the obvious Thursday and draft a much-needed defensive lineman with the 21st pick in the first round of the NFL Draft. Save fixing quarterback till 2026. That draft is stronger at QB and, with any luck, the Steelers go 5-12 this coming season to get a...

“SELL THE TEAM! SELL THE TEAM! SELL THE TEAM!” Except he won’t. So the joke’s on you. Saturday was the epitome of Bob Nutting’s Pittsburgh Pirates. It was sold out because the first 20,000 entering got Paul Skenes bobbleheads. But Nutting saw the lines that extended far away from PNC...

Ten things that will happen before the end of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ next season: 1. Winger Ville Koivunen will be NHL Rookie of the Year. Good speed, great playmaker, plays the 10-foot game that Sidney Crosby prefers. He had seven assists in eight NHL games this season and only scratched...

I watched the entirety of the Aaron Rodgers interview on “The Pat McAfee Show.” God help me, I did. It was wall-to-wall horse manure. Rodgers presented himself as a victim. He isn’t, not in any small way. Rodgers hasn’t been “slandered,” as he said. He doesn’t know what that word...

The Steelers would be insane to draft Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders. Any NFL team would be. They would get a legit first-round talent. Sanders’ ability is undeniable. But they would also get the nuttiest Little League dad this side of LeBron James. Make no mistake, Deion Sanders would be interfering....

The Pittsburgh Steelers simply can’t pay T.J. Watt $40 million per year, or one dollar more than Cleveland’s Myles Garrett, or whatever figure Watt desires to satiate ego disguised as comparison shopping. Many absurdities accompany this drama, not least that the Steelers would be paying quarterback money to two players...

Erik Karlsson scored his 200th career goal Tuesday night. That’s pretty impressive given that Karlsson never got to play against himself. The Pittsburgh Penguins have several players they would be well rid of at season’s end. But despite being a three-time Norris Trophy winner as the NHL’s best defenseman, Karlsson...

The Pittsburgh Penguins have a plan. President of hockey ops/GM Kyle Dubas has a plan. Like with any plan, whether it works remains to be seen. The Penguins have 18 picks over the first three rounds of the next three drafts. That includes four first-rounders. That indicates a commitment to...

Alex Ovechkin eclipsing Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career record for goals has renewed a debate: Who would be on hockey’s Mt. Rushmore? The correct answer: Nobody. There will never be a Mt. Rushmore for hockey or baseball or football or anything but Mt. Rushmore. Mt. Rushmore doesn’t even seem to be...

The Pittsburgh Pirates erected a statue of Roberto Clemente outside PNC Park. His retired No. 21 is on display. The right-field wall is called the Roberto Clemente Wall, is 21 feet tall and adorned with two No. 21s. Clemente was in the first class inducted to the Pirates’ in-house hall...

Pirates owner Bob Nutting garnished the home opener at PNC Park this past Friday with a huge steaming helping of horse manure. Nutting said that winning is “the most important thing we’re focused on.” A bold-faced lie. Nutting also said, “I think I’ve done everything I can to provide the...

If the Siege of Leningrad were re-enacted on a baseball diamond, PNC Park would be the logical location. Let’s bunker in with refreshing Pittsburgh Pirates notes! • The New Yankees are killing it with those newfangled torpedo bats. The Pirates might as well be using Wiffle ball bats. Not much...

To my mind, there was debate about when to start the influx of prospects from the Penguins’ system to Pittsburgh. I might have finished this season plugging gaps with scrubs, then promoted a chunk of legit kids at the beginning of next season — readiness permitting, of course. Let energy...

Alex Ovechkin has 890 career goals. He’s going to break Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career record of 894. But how should he do it? What would be best for business? The Washington Capitals have to consider what’s best for their team. They unexpectedly have the top seed in the Eastern Conference...

Sidney Crosby invented a record. It wasn’t there before he did it. On Thursday at Buffalo, Crosby’s goal clinched him being the first player in NHL history to average a point per game or better in 20 consecutive seasons. Wayne Gretzky did it for 19 seasons but didn’t do it...

Aaron Rodgers still isn’t a Pittsburgh Steeler. It’s already got a touch of Rodgers’ tenure with the New York Jets about it, where he skipped mandatory minicamp to vacation in Egypt. If Rodgers had any sense of commitment to the Steelers and to maximizing what’s left of his career, he’d...

Rampant speculation holds that Aaron Rodgers will announce that he’s a Steeler at Pat McAfee’s live event April 9 at PPG Paints Arena. If that’s the initial confirmation of Rodgers’ commitment, the Steelers will have lost control of that situation from the very first moment. A legendary logo becomes reality...

It seems possible that the Steelers will (drum roll) sign Aaron Rodgers. He visited, probably had a Primanti’s sandwich, maybe rode the incline, so he’s hooked. What exactly would Rodgers bring to the table? It might not be everything you think. Rodgers is one of the best quarterbacks of all...