U mad, bro?: The media is too mean to Matt Murray, Matt Feiler and Mayor Peduto

Some Pittsburgh Steelers fans feel the need to defend a player that was never even insulted.

Some Penguins fans are ticked about the media trying to quell a goalie controversy that the same fans are claiming they didn’t want to see in the first place.

And the mayor of Pittsburgh is sending out veiled tweets about the future of sports in his city with no explanation as to what he is trying to say.

This is why I created “U mad, bro?”

I gotta start with this comment from a Facebook post at the end of a “First Call” entry this week. It comes from a guy named Barney.

ESPN published a list of the top 10 interior offensive linemen in the NFL. Guard David DeCastro was on it. So was center Maukice Pouncey. But that wasn’t good enough for Barney. He wanted a third Steeler mentioned — Matt Feiler.

“Matt Feiler should be on the list. So underrated. We will be good this year.”

Yes, Barney. Feiler did have an underrated season … as a tackle!

Again, read the list. It’s about interior offensive linemen. The Steelers just moved Feiler to guard this offseason. He dabbled there in the past but most of his time as a starter has been at right tackle.

But leave it to a “Stiller Fan” to complain that the national media is dissing a guy by leaving him off a top 10 list of a position that he doesn’t even play!

Yup. The media is always out to get the Steelers. I bet that Cris Collinsworth — sorry, “Collingsworth” in Pittsburghese — is behind this.

I mean, he works for a different network, but who cares.

Man, I miss football. Cue “Renegade.” Let the season begin.

Or not.

Earlier this week, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto sent out this tweet, linking a TribLIVE story about how Philadelphia is banning large-crowd events through February. That includes Eagles and Phillies games.

Philadelphia cancels large events through February; Eagles' games to have no fans https://t.co/WEBBajt1jW

— bill peduto (@billpeduto) July 15, 2020

What’s the mayor getting at here? I can’t even tell if Peduto is “mad, bro.”

Is this another one of his finger-wag warnings toward the population to get the covid-19 numbers down? Is this a passive-aggressive heads up to the Steelers?

Maybe Peduto is patting himself on the back that he hasn’t done this. Yet.

Or perhaps it’s just an article he found interesting.

This guy on Twitter seems to think it’s the first option. And he’s probably right.

How can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat

— Ard13 (@novastudio13) July 15, 2020

Ooh, meat and pudding sound good! But with restaurant seating capacity so limited, I’m not sure I know of anywhere that may have meat and pudding as a takeout option.

Do you?

Seriously, though, how ’bout some context, Mr. Mayor? You are a public official using a public forum to share a link about a major policy initiative within our state that is directly connected to a matter of significant interest to your constituents.

Make a statement or don’t. An empty subtweet is counterproductive.

I got some Twitter blowback for Thursday’s podcast I did with Seth Rorabaugh. We talked about Matt Murray’s reported struggles in goal for the Penguins in training camp so far.

TribLIVE’s Mark Madden said on 105.9 The X that he was getting reports from Cranberry that Murray is having a tough time in net after the first few practices. He says folks are telling him Tristan Jarry has been much sharper.

Seth claims from what he has seen, Murray hasn’t looked that different from Jarry at all.

A response from @Rieder79 stated, “My only gripe is, why say or report something that may not be true.”

Well, Rieder, that’s the point. We were trying to figure out if the reports were true. Isn’t that our job?

Mark relayed what he was being told by some of the few people who are allowed to watch practice under the covid-19 restrictions. Seth is one of those few folks who is in Cranberry on a daily basis.

So, we asked Seth for his corroboration, or rebuttal.

Seth seems to have a different point of view than whoever it is that is telling Mark something else.

It’s not a matter of true or false. It’s matter of opinion.

Believe it or not, contrary to what Twitter wants to tell you, opinions don’t always have to be unanimous.

It appears @DannyChez66 wasn’t wild about that post either, especially the Twitter headline which read: “Is Matt Murray struggling in net during Penguins training camp? Tim Benz and Seth Rorabaugh figure it out.”

Was the intent to leave it open ended? Why make the title something that writers "figure out" and then not figure it out lol

— Persian and Bubbies Dad (@DannyChez66) July 16, 2020

Actually, we kinda did. At least, Seth did.

Did you listen to the podcast or read the story? Or just decide in advance you were upset so you fired off a tweet?

It’s Seth’s opinion that the two goalies have been pretty much equal. That’s clearly stated.

And, as Seth points out, if some are getting the impression that Murray is struggling more, that’s likely because he has been in net against the Penguins top two lines more often in drills than Jarry.

Seth was also adamant that he believes the preseason game against the Philadelphia Flyers will be a 50-50 split between the goalies and that Murray will likely start Game 1 against the Montreal Canadiens on Aug. 1.

I’d argue that’s the very definition of “figuring it out,” isn’t it?

This reader is named Bob. I believe we have interacted on occasion in the past.

He is upset that “U mad, bro?” was a day late this week.

Im mad bro, no U Mad, Bro? https://t.co/NJaGDDgnAw

— McPgh (@BobMcPgh) July 16, 2020

Sorry, Robert. Like Adam Silver, I had to tape delay it 24 hours because of all the curse words I needed to edit out.

This week was especially … saucy.