U mad, bro?: Steelers fans are dubious about free agency; Penguins fans have doubts at the trade deadline

Pittsburgh Steelers fans are tired of free agent speculation. Penguins fans are sick of living in the middle. And college basketball fans don’t want an NCAA Tournament that’s watered down with too many teams.

March is coming in like a lion for this week’s “U mad, bro?”

This person didn’t like it when I brought up some potential free agent inside linebackers the Steelers should investigate, such as Bobby Wagner and T.J. Edwards.

Is there going to be an article for every “big” named FA and how they might come to the Steelers? Because we all know their history in going after those guys every year. Rodgers, Wilson, Carr…..

— GT87 (@GT8771) February 24, 2023

Yes. There will be.

Because when the Steelers don’t sign any of these guys and you all tell me how great they are going to be anyway since signing free agents isn’t “the Steelers way,” I can link one of these stories as a reminder of how they could’ve been better instead of settling for 9-8.

Jeremy doesn’t like the idea of the NFL reviewing roughing the passer penalties.

I don't think it sounds great in theory. How long until every movement of every played is reviewed? The games will take forever.

— jeremy (@33i66e911) February 27, 2023

I think it sounds good in theory because so many roughing the passer calls are bad. But in the end, all the replay refs will do is uphold the penalties anyway because they don’t care if roughing the passer calls are bad. The league just wants the quarterbacks protected.

So maybe you’re right, Jeremy.

It’s ironic, isn’t it? Replay was introduced to uphold the integrity of the game. Now, more often times than not, I feel like replay brings the game’s integrity into question.

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Like me, Jim is opposed to the idea of NCAA Basketball Tournament expansion.

In effect, every single team is in the tourney. You start at your conf tourney, win, advance. After 32 conf tourneys the field of 360 is reset and we play on. all 360 teams can win the title, all of them. Every team is in the tourney

— Jim DeGraaf (@jimdegraaf) February 17, 2023

You know, he’s not wrong.

It’s a little old school and tough love. But we need more of that in sports today. And maybe if the conference tournaments were treated with that mindset by the multi-bid leagues, as they are with the one-bid leagues, that point could resonate more.

Which is why — if they do expand to 96 — I hope the reward for winning a conference tournament is a “bye” through the round of 96 and right into the field of 64. There are 32 conferences, so the math works out perfectly (for now).

So, hypothetically, if a top-ranked and previously unbeaten Kansas loses the Big XII title game on a buzzer beater, they have to play in the round of 96 as the No.1 seed and get the worst at-large team in the tournament. If Kennesaw State wins the Atlantic Sun, they get a bye into the round of 64. Tough luck for Kansas.

Then you reseed in the round of 64.

Kevin sent this before the Mikael Granlund trade. He was getting impatient with Penguins general manager Ron Hextall and wanted the Penguins to be sellers at the deadline. I’m not sure the Granlund deal is going to be enough to change his mind.

And we are surprised? Hextall's track record is not to do anything. This came up when he was hired. That's fine if you don't want to give up picks but do something! Be sellers!!!!

— Kevin Kostelich (@KostelichKevin) February 24, 2023

The moment Hextall decided to keep the core together, while also keeping the supporting cast in place, he painted himself into a corner. His cap flexibility became minimal. Plus, he had a locker room that was going to need help, but at the same time was too old and established to embrace a build for the future.

So it’s now hard to buy and demoralizing to sell. And even if Hextall does figure out a way to land a legitimate piece before the deadline better than Granlund, it’s not going to be enough to help the Penguins push past Boston or Carolina in the first round.

If they qualify as a wild card at all.

Even Tuesday’s 7-3 blowout of the Tampa Bay Lightning couldn’t make “Benny D” happy.

“I am intentionally writing this on the heels of the Pens ‘big’ win against TB.

This team will never win in the playoffs under Mike Sullivan’s ‘speed’ system. This group is never ever going to be one of the fastest teams in the NHL. They aren’t even one of the fastest teams in their own division!

No trade is going to make this a speed team to be reckoned with … never ever ever again. Sully’s comments about the roster really rankled me… this team has been built around him and he has not proven to be a good evaluator of talent. He would much rather play a grossly overpaid, average (at best), veteran than give a younger player a chance.”

Benny, I don’t think the “speed system” is flawed. I just don’t think they have enough young, fast players to play it.

Let’s see how much Granlund has left in the tank. But, to your point, that may also be because Sullivan (and the front office) have shown too much of an affinity for older “trustworthy” veterans such as Jeff Petry, Jeff Carter and (for most of the season) Brock McGinn.

Meanwhile, since the Stanley Cup years, the youth and mistakes from guys such as Ty Smith, John Marino, Daniel Sprong and Mike Matheson were all shipped away or held back in the minors, even if those guys may have fit the up-tempo nature of the system more in the long run.

Finally, this Penguins fan was in the crowd when it started booing the players and started chanting “Fire Hextall” during the 7-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

A guy in my section told me I was a baby for being mean to our players because the franchise has 3 cup wins. Not sure what it has to do with anything but he wanted to let me know

— Sully (@sullymygoodname) February 24, 2023

Did you happen to mention it’s actually five Stanley Cups?

And did he also mention that Mike Tomlin has never had a losing season?