U mad, bro?: Fans unload on plodding Penguins and Steelers' trade deadline coverage

In terms of crafting “U mad, bro?” for this week, I’m in the wrong line of work. If I was a political reporter, I’m sure my social media mentions and emails would be overflowing with rage and anger in the wake of the election.

But for the purposes of this Thursday’s edition, the Pittsburgh Penguins are struggling, NFL officiating still stinks, the Steelers’ defense has been a bit shaky of late, and the team’s trade deadline moves weren’t exactly overwhelming.

So, having enough content wasn’t a concern.

Let’s start with an unsigned email I got from a Yahoo account about former Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh.

“Instead of complaining all the time about Pittsburgh sports, why don’t you do something useful for the city and get a petition among sports writers to get this guy in Cooperstown? He should have been in long ago!”

Sir, you will be happy to learn that a “petition” of sorts for Murtaugh to get into the Baseball Hall of Fame already exists.

It’s called a ballot. And those who are on the Golden Days Hall of Fame committee can vote on Murtaugh’s candidacy.

Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, he is not up for consideration again until December 2026.

That said, since I agree with your general premise, maybe in November 2026, I’ll write a column complaining about Murtaugh not being in Cooperstown.

Would that help?

This guy is not a fan of NFL officiating.

They will continue to destroy the nfl until there are no injuries.

— jtrader (@jtrader814) October 29, 2024

Agreed, and if Aaron Rodgers has ever been right about one thing in his life, it’s been this.

"Some of [the penalties] seemed really bad. Including roughing the passer on me. That's not roughing the passer. Might as well play Sarcastaball if we're gonna call those things."

–Aaron Rodgers on the penalties pic.twitter.com/veJe8hATJB

— ESPN (@espn) October 15, 2024

Speaking of which, a person calling themselves “Sarcastibull” had some thoughts about a recent “Madden Monday” podcast I did with Mark Madden regarding the woes of the Penguins.

Nobody ever looks at Sullivan for this team's issues. Why? 6yrs of underachieving and yet he's somehow untouchable w/ criticism. Terrible PP, D, adjustments, playoff record, energy level, etc, etc, but he's awesome. ????‍♂️ Squandered the best yrs of our stars and yet he's "great".

— Sarcastibull (@SarcastiBS) October 28, 2024

When you claim “nobody ever looks at Sullivan,” do you mean within the media ranks and the fanbase or within Fenway Sports Group?

If you mean the second thing, you’re right. Ownership acts like Sullivan is untouchable, and they shouldn’t.

If you mean the fans and media, I disagree. I hear fans complaining about Sullivan all the time. There have been large factions of the fanbase calling for him to be fired since the sweep by the Islanders in 2019.

And if you mean the media, I’m not sure what else to tell you. Click the link, read the story and listen to the podcast. Madden is directly critical of Sullivan right there in the post, and I’ve been critical of Sullivan quite often in the past.

In my opinion, from a fan/media standpoint, claiming “nobody” is critical of Sullivan feels like a strawman.

However, a strawman might be better in his own zone than many of the Penguins often are.

Someone named @StillMill1 is underwhelmed by the acquisition of Preston Smith.

Folks, please hold the fawning over Big Preston Smith. This guy ain't the next Greg Lloyd. Ain't even close. He's tubby, slowfooted, and his best years are well behind him. If he's getting more than 5 snaps per game, this'll be a problem.
#HereWeGo @Alex_Kozora…

— Still Mill (@StillMill1) November 5, 2024

On the topic of strawmen, is anyone really doing this? If Steelers fans are honestly “fawning” over Preston Smith, I must’ve missed it.

“PolskaYinzer” is dubious of one aspect of the Steelers.

Great defense you got. Highest paid in the league. Can’t stop Daniel jones

— North side ynzr (@polskayinzer) October 29, 2024

Sing it, sister. You don’t have to tell me twice. I’ve written about that on a few occasions over the last two weeks. The Steelers’ defense has been good enough to win six times over the first eight weeks. It’s going to have to be elite over the last nine games, given the quarterbacks they are about to face.

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Lastly, this guy named “Pittflip” really loved my column about the Steelers’ Election Day trade for Mike Williams.

“Never reconning (sic) any good in the Steelers. Not realizing that America just elected the only person that can fix the mess Biden/Kamal (sic) put us in. Perhaps you and Mark (Madden) can go into weather forecasting-say 50% chance of rain-never wrong.You are both prime example (sic) of why alleged sports writers should stay out of politics.”

First of all, Flip, look at the time the story was posted. It was at 6:49 p.m. Tuesday night before any results were revealed. Therefore, I’m not sure what realization I was supposed to draw from Donald Trump’s election when it wasn’t even known that he had won yet.

Hence, I wasn’t speaking about Trump. I was talking about both candidates in general.

Secondly, I just wrote this about the Steelers last week.

If we're going to be critical of the #Steelers' coaches when things go poorly, we should praise them when things go well. Here's a look at how they have influenced the team's early season success. @TimBenzPGH https://t.co/980uaUJXAM

— Tribune-Review Sports (@TribSports) October 28, 2024

Isn’t that “reconning” (?recognizing?) when the Steelers do well?

And, finally, you don’t have to call me an “alleged” sportswriter. I am a sportswriter. If anybody should be familiar with when it is necessary and unnecessary to use the word “alleged,” it should be someone who is as defensive about Trump as you seem to be.