Mark Madden Columns category, Page 50
Mark Madden: Pens camp, Steelers’ loss, Pitt-Penn State make for refreshing sports notes
The Steelers lost by 30. The Penguins open training camp Friday. Pitt football plays its only interesting game of the year Saturday. All bases are covered with refreshing sports notes! • If recent reports are to be believed, Evgeni Malkin has pondered what went wrong for him last season and...
Mark Madden: No way Antonio Brown conforms to ‘Patriot Way’
The moon landings weren’t faked. The earth isn’t flat. 9/11 was not an inside job. Antonio Brown did not intend to finagle his way to New England dating to when he was with the Steelers. Oh, it’s a believable story in the era of rigged “reality” TV. But Brown’s primary...
How did Steelers fall so flat vs. Patriots? Tim Benz, Mark Madden analyze
Who’s to blame for the Steelers’ season-opening blowout loss to the Super Bowl champions? A little bit of everyone. TribLIVE columnists Tim Benz and Mark Madden break down Sunday night’s Steelers disaster in Foxborough, laying blame on everything from the game plan, to the inexperience on defense, to a lack...
Mark Madden: No need for Steelers to treat Devin Bush with kid gloves
How much rookie inside linebacker Devin Bush plays Sunday at Gillette Stadium won’t determine who wins the game between the Steelers and New England. Unless it does. At the very least, it’s an interesting sidebar that showcases the Steelers’ conservative (perhaps antiquated) philosophy of putting rookies in safe, limited roles...
Mark Madden: Pitt football long on problems, short on fixes
Pitt football might not quite be broken, but elements of it certainly are. Pitt sold 47,144 tickets for its opening-night loss to Virginia. You can be encouraged by that, or discouraged by more than 21,000 left unsold. (It didn’t look like every ticket-buyer showed up, either. About 35K in the...
Mark Madden: Hype around Steelers vs. Browns is excessive but warranted
With the start of the NFL season less than a week away, here’s the verdict on the upcoming battle in the AFC North between the Steelers and Cleveland: It’s a dead heat. The Steelers either added by subtraction or just subtracted re: Antonio Brown. The former seems more likely, but...
Mark Madden: Colts fans had every right to boo Andrew Luck
After news of Andrew Luck’s retirement broke this past Saturday during a preseason game at Indianapolis, the fans present serenaded the quarterback with a chorus of boos as he left the field. Jacoby Brissett, now the Colts starter, said the reaction “sucked. Especially a guy like that, who has done...
Mark Madden: Francisco Cervelli’s hero status with Pirates a joke
When your team is awful, heroes have to be invented. Such was the case when catcher Francisco Cervelli ended his tenure in Pittsburgh. The Pirates are 11-30 since the All-Star break and are too frequently routed. They have sustained losses of 7-1, 11-1, 13-0 and 7-1 in the past nine...
Mark Madden: Verlander conflict more interesting than anything he might say
All heck broke loose Wednesday when a Detroit baseball writer was briefly barred from the Houston Astros clubhouse because Astros (ex-Tigers) pitcher Justin Verlander perceives a bad history with said writer, whom he labeled “unethical.” The writer, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press, had his entrance to the clubhouse...
Mark Madden: Roberto Clemente was great but not nearly greatest
Roberto Clemente would have turned 85 this past Sunday. If he’s not the best player in Pirates history, he’s definitely the most revered and rightly so. Clemente oozed class and poise, conducting himself in forthright fashion. His plane crashed while on a mission of charity, further sanctifying him in the...
Mark Madden: Jay-Z sold out Colin Kaepernick all the way to the bank
It’s a rollicking time for the sociopolitical aspect of sports. For the Pirates, not so much. Colin Kaepernick hasn’t been under NFL contract for 899 days despite being ready and willing. Whether Kaepernick is able is the oft-ignored part of the debate. The further he gets from playing, the more...
Mark Madden: Raiders finding out Antonio Brown is exactly as advertised
It took time, but Antonio Brown finally did right by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Forget about his statistics. Brown compiled those for himself, not the team. The Steelers never won a Super Bowl with Brown. (Told you so.) But upon departing for Oakland, Brown immediately proved the turmoil that enveloped him...
Mark Madden: Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger might earn NFL MVP, but he won’t win it
Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes is Las Vegas’ favorite to be NFL MVP. His odds are 11-2. Mahomes won MVP last year. Baker Mayfield did well as a rookie last season, but Cleveland finished 7-8-1. Yet Mayfield inexplicably ranks fourth among MVP favorites at 11-1. Those odds are too short....
Mark Madden: These Steelers could benefit from Hall of Fame expansion
In 2020, the Pro Football Hall of Fame will induct a one-time-only class of 20 new members to commemorate the NFL’s 100th anniversary. Ten senior-era players will be included. Nine players from the Steelers’ dynasty in the 1970s are enshrined in Canton. Does this decision open the door for more?...
Mark Madden: Throwback wrestler Harley Race’s death both sad, symbolic
Hulk Hogan’s real name is Terry Bollea. Steve Austin is Steve Williams. Richard Fliehr stylized his name to Ric Flair. But Harley Race was born to be a wrestler. Harley Race was his real name. Harley, like the motorcycle. Race, as in “who’s fastest?” It’s a dangerous, exciting name. You...
Mark Madden: JuJu Smith-Schuster with perfect start to Steelers training camp
Antonio Brown showed up at Oakland’s training camp in a hot-air balloon. No lack of irony there. He immediately was put on the non-football injury list. JuJu Smith-Schuster practically sneaked into Steelers training camp. No cameras, not even his own. He entered via a side door. “I am just here...
Mark Madden: In grand scheme, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin’s extension means little
The extension of Mike Tomlin’s contract through 2021 (with an option for ’22) was business as usual for the Steelers. The usual timetable dictated and was followed. If it’s me, I don’t extend Tomlin. He was signed through 2020, so he would not have been a lame duck in ’19....
Mark Madden: Steelers’ chances to win AFC North hinge on Chris Boswell
As Steelers training camp at Latrobe fast approaches, the biggest issue involves somebody who’s not really a football player. If kicker Chris Boswell finds his form from 2017, the Steelers win the AFC North. If Boswell had maintained that form last year, the Steelers would have won the division. Instead,...
Mark Madden: Steelers-Browns example of hope vs. hype
With NFL training camps fast approaching, the AFC North’s main rivalry is abundantly clear. It’s hope vs. hype. The Steelers hope rookie inside linebacker Devin Bush fills the hole left by Ryan Shazier when he got hurt 20 months ago. The Steelers hope losing Antonio Brown’s noise helps more than...
Mark Madden: Pirates in race to trade deadline, not postseasonVideo
This year, like last year, the Pittsburgh Pirates are in the race. But it’s a different kind of race. The Pirates’ payroll is $71 million, their lowest since 2012. Given that picayune amount, the Pirates aren’t really trying to contend. But they want to create the illusion of contending so...
Mark Madden: How Jim Bouton’s ‘Ball Four’ changed my life
When I was 10, I loved baseball. Then, I read a particular book about baseball. This book didn’t affect how I felt about baseball. But it changed my life. The book was “Ball Four.” Its author, Jim Bouton, died Wednesday at the age of 80. There had never been a...
Mark Madden: Women’s soccer, especially in the U.S., worthy of more attention
The U.S. women’s national team won the World Cup, as expected. Now, we forget about women’s soccer until the 2023 World Cup. Perhaps there will be a little interest for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. That’s a shame. Women’s soccer is worthy of more attention. The nine-team National Women’s...
Mark Madden: Penguins power play set for reshaping
The acquisition of Alex Galchenyuk in exchange for Phil Kessel puts the Penguins’ No. 1 power play in line for a major realignment. More deals might be made, but all the components for the man-advantage unit are currently in place. Kessel had 36 points on the PP last season. As...
Mark Madden: Phil Kessel hit his sell-by date; Penguins GM Jim Rutherford acted
Five years ago, Jim Rutherford traded a point-per-game player for a guy who wasn’t. On June 27, 2014, the Penguins sent winger James Neal to Nashville for winger Patric Hornqvist. Neal had 61 points in 59 games the season prior. Hornqvist had 53 points in 76 games. Neal’s production can’t...
Mark Madden: Refreshing slices from today’s sports landscape
Checkmate, honey, you’re the only one who’s got to choose … whether to read refreshing sports notes. Grab yourself a slice. We’re live from fabulous Las Vegas. • Keeping Phil Kessel would be arduous for the Penguins on many levels. But doing so while not extending coach Mike Sullivan’s contract...
