Mark Madden stories, Page 10

David Bednar should not be relieved of his duties as Pittsburgh Pirates closer after blowing three saves in the season’s early going. Bednar led the National League in saves with 39 last season and had an ERA of 2.00. That’s a big sample. This year, so far, is a small...

Sidney Crosby has had better seasons. More productive. Higher numbers. He’s previously won the best of the NHL’s awards. This year, he’s being discussed for mere Miss Congeniality-level hardware. He has three Stanley Cup rings. The Pittsburgh Penguins won’t come close this year. But if Crosby drags the decidedly meh...

Much about sports coverage these days revolves around rankings or lists. It’s lazy, predictable and boring. I haven’t done enough to prove I can be all those things. Or have I? Anyway, here are the top 10 Pittsburgh Steelers stories of the offseason. 1. The Steelers are not a lot...

The Pirates have the most interesting psychology, if that’s how to put it, of any Pittsburgh sports franchise. Perhaps of any team on the continent. The Pirates are the little engine that could but won’t. They’re a perpetual underdog with a great ballpark and hot dogs piled with pierogis and...

As MLB and the NBA face calamitous gambling scandals, one wonders how ESPN covers them without casting a bad light on ESPNBet, the company’s online sportsbook. Networks and leagues are sponsored so heavily by bookies. It’s everywhere. (My radio program, too.) Gambling and sports are directly and massively intertwined now,...

Coach Mike Sullivan after the Penguins blew a 4-0 lead at Colorado on Sunday, losing 5-4 in overtime: “I thought we competed hard. That’s one of the most explosive offenses in the league that we played against. We knew they were going to push back. We competed hard all night.”...

The Pittsburgh Penguins are in deep decline. That’s OK, for now. Keep that first-round pick. Get more balls in the draft lottery. Maybe the Penguins get lucky. It’s happened before. Despite my faith in president of hockey ops/GM Kyle Dubas, he can’t do as he says. Dubas can’t reassemble a...

The City Game between the Pitt and Duquesne men’s basketball teams is a tradition that dates to 1932. The Panthers and Dukes have played each other 87 times but not since 2018. The rivalry ceased because Pitt refuses to play Duquesne. Pitt feels Duquesne is a lesser foe, that playing...

Pitt basketball fans enjoyed wallowing in despair Tuesday night when Virginia got beat by 25 points in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament. Virginia scored just 14 points in the first half of a 67-42 loss to Colorado State. This was evidence that Pitt should have gotten into March...

This much should be made clear about the Pittsburgh Steelers’ reconstructed quarterback room: There’s a pecking order. Russell Wilson is the starter. He’s not on a short leash or any leash. Justin Fields didn’t come to Pittsburgh to compete with Wilson. He’s clearly the backup and in a position to...

Kenny Pickett failed. That’s his story. He got lied to by Mike Tomlin, but that’s not an exclusive club. Pickett was well-served by a previous Tomlin fib, one that fleeced Mitch Trubisky. In 2022, Tomlin told Trubisky he’d be the starting quarterback at least through Week 9, the Pittsburgh Steelers’...

The Penguins are in a very important transitional period. Let’s see if there’s any actual transition. The Penguins have four large contracts: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson. They don’t want to move Crosby, Malkin or Letang. That’s the franchise’s commitment. The Penguins can’t ditch Karlsson. His...

With the Pittsburgh Steelers, it’s not just who they’re getting. It’s what they’re doing. They’re no longer settling. They signed quarterback Russell Wilson, which effectively pulls the plug on Kenny Pickett. (Pickett might not know that yet. You might not, either.) They signed Patrick Queen, 24, a linebacker in his...

The Penguins have just one goal in their last 190:07 of hockey. But refreshing Penguins notes score big all the time. SHOOT THE PUCK! • It’s OK to lose now. Don’t get too mad when the Penguins do. If the Penguins finish in the NHL’s bottom 10, that keeps their...

Some around the NHL are taking delight in the Penguins’ decline. Here are some things that bring me joy: • The New York Rangers have won one Stanley Cup since World War II. • The Boston Bruins have won one Stanley Cup since Richard Nixon was president. • The Toronto...

If Russell Wilson arrives for his meeting with the Pittsburgh Steelers and is asked by coach Mike Tomlin to compete with Kenny Pickett for the No. 1 quarterback job, Wilson should laugh in Tomlin’s face and walk out. Yet, by all accounts, that’s the scenario Wilson will be presented with....

The NHL’s newest sensation is a 6-foot-7 slug who handles the puck like he’s trying to beat a snake to death with a tree branch. But he fights and plays in New York City. So welcome to stardom, Matt Rempe. It’s Rempe-mania. A stupid version of Lin-sanity. (Remember him? Nah,...

Nobody should be mad about the Pittsburgh Penguins for falling apart. It’s organic and was inevitable. The Penguins made the playoffs every year from 2007-22. They were legit Stanley Cup contenders every year from 2008-18, winning three times and reaching another final. Great teams in capped leagues ultimately go splat....

Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang, both 36, have prepared to play when they’re 40 since they were 10. Crosby is thusly still one of the NHL’s five best players, and Letang is very good. Their conditioning is insane. Evgeni Malkin didn’t do that. Malkin is 37. He’s aged like a...

Bill Hillgrove retired. Kind of. He will cease doing Pittsburgh Steelers radio broadcasts after 30 years. But Hillgrove will continue to do Pitt football and basketball. It says a lot about Hillgrove’s limitless energy when, at 83, he wants to slow down gradually. And continue to serve as the midnight mayor...

I’ve attended Super Bowl XXX, two World Series, five Stanley Cup finals, Mario Lemieux’s comeback game in 2000, Pitt-Penn State football and several Pittsburgh Condors games. I’ve seen Neil O’Donnell disappoint, Roberto Clemente dazzle, Lemieux score with 13 seconds left, Jaromir Jagr perform heroically on one leg and John Brisker...

The Athletic posted a lengthy, detailed story exposing the Pittsburgh Pirates’ frugality, pettiness and incompetence Wednesday. The Pirates signed No. 1 starter Mitch Keller to a five-year, $77 million contract extension Thursday. That timing was not coincidence. The Pirates needed to get their PR train back on track after Wednesday’s...

As the NHL’s March 8 trade deadline approaches, a few obvious moves beckon for Kyle Dubas, the Penguins’ president of hockey ops/GM. Trade winger Jake Guentzel. It will be a shame to see him go, but Guentzel is a free agent at season’s end. He can’t be allowed to walk...

Firing Mike Sullivan wouldn’t matter now, nor would a coaching switch have changed the course of the Penguins’ season had it happened earlier. This isn’t 2009 0r 2016. These Penguins were going to go splat at some point, and that time is upon us. But it’s fair to say that...

No. 68 is in the rafters at PPG Paints Arena. Sunday’s ceremony to honor Jaromir Jagr was among the best of its kind, as was Jagr’s charismatic speech. Jagr’s return to Pittsburgh was everything that could have been hoped for. His legend was heightened. The question now: Who’s the next...