Mark Madden stories, Page 4

Time to ring in the New Year with refreshing sports notes! What does “auld lang syne” mean, anyway? • By the time the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season ends, the only thing Mike Tomlin will win is “Hard Knocks.” • The Steelers will either lose the next two games or win the next...

What if the Steelers lose out? What if they go from 10-3 to 10-7, then drop their first playoff game? It’s not an unlikely scenario. The Steelers play worse every week. Against Kansas City, they played like it was the middle of next month. The Steelers are clearly a level...

This column will be all over the place. Because the Pittsburgh Steelers are all over the place. From 10-3 to 10-6. From AFC North front-runner in line for a playoff home game to hitting the road for the wild-card round. From “a legit Super Bowl contender that can beat anybody”...

Let’s celebrate the season with refreshing Pittsburgh Penguins notes! They’re a lot more refreshing when you win nine of 13 and splatter Philadelphia as a Christmas gift. Have you ever seen the Flyers win the Cup? • From goal line to goal line and on the stat sheet, I’m confident...

Whatever is happening with the Pittsburgh Steelers isn’t good. Their 10-3 mark of a few weeks back seems like fool’s gold. They’ve been dominated in consecutive weeks by upper-echelon teams Philadelphia and Baltimore, making it clear that the Steelers are a class below. The opposition’s physical superiority made the gap...

If the Pittsburgh Penguins stay in the playoff picture as the NHL season slogs into January — that’s a big “if,” but never bet against Sidney Crosby — a few things must happen. The Penguins must regardless trade defenseman Marcus Pettersson, an unrestricted free agent at season’s end. President of hockey...

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ season might wind up packing no surprises. The Steelers built a good record by beating mostly bad teams as the first half of their schedule dictated. An unthinkable loss made its semi-regular appearance Nov. 21 at Cleveland. (The Browns were 2-8 going into the game.) Now the...

The Penguins are putting president of hockey ops/GM Kyle Dubas in a difficult position. Before the team went on its ongoing 7-2-1 run — which features six wins vs. teams currently in playoff spots — it was easy to brace for the inevitability of Dubas trading players like defenseman Marcus...

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 27-13 loss Sunday at Philadelphia seemed a declaration that they are a tier below the host Eagles and, indeed, several other top-echelon NFL teams. The Steelers might have stolen a victory had Najee Harris not fumbled away a potential game-tying drive in the third quarter with the...

Hurt Hurts, then pick Pickett. That’s my strategy for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ game at Philadelphia on Sunday, not least because the absence of top wideout George Pickens will cripple the Steelers’ offense. Wouldn’t it be incredible if Jalen Hurts did get injured, and ex-Steeler Kenny Pickett deputized at quarterback for Philadelphia?...

The Pittsburgh Pirates have Paul Skenes, just 22, the NL Rookie of the Year and already MLB’s best pitcher. Yet it seems like a time of no hope. To date, the Pirates’ big offseason move is trading a solid starting pitcher in Luis Ortiz for Spencer Horwitz, a meh first...

If you hear any noise, it’s just me and refreshing sports notes boppin’. Well deserved, Cobra. • The Steelers’ biggest strength may be that nothing about them stinks too bad. The defensive line isn’t great, but it’s got Cameron Heyward. The offensive line is OK, not terrible. There’s isn’t a...

T.J. Watt skipped the NFL Honors ceremony at Las Vegas in February when he learned he wouldn’t be winning the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. Cleveland’s Myles Garrett got that award. Garrett took Watt’s no-show as a slight, and said so. When the Steelers visited Cleveland on Nov. 21,...

The inside look at the AFC North conducted by HBO’s “Hard Knocks” is another enabler when it comes to results being obscured and secondary in the evaluation of Mike Tomlin’s performance. Ex-Steeler Ryan Clark spoke on ESPN about how Tomlin appears on HBO: “Pittsburgh fans that want Mike Tomlin fired...

The pitch clock is OK. It speeded up the game. Ghost runners in extra innings were tough to get used to. But regular-season games shouldn’t last forever. Restricting the infield shift increased offense. The three-batter minimum for pitchers (or to the end of a half-inning) minimized the endless merry-go-round between...

What we do in life echoes in refreshing sports notes. The gods have spoken! • The Pittsburgh Steelers are no longer built on defense, pounding the ball on the ground and dominating possession. They’re built on Russell Wilson. That gives them a better chance than all of the above. Ten...

Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith was contacted by the University of North Carolina about its vacant head coaching position. When the media queried, Smith said how much he loves his job with the Steelers. But he didn’t say, “No, I am definitely not taking the job at North Carolina.”...

The Steelers’ traditional Neanderthal offensive approach resurfaced in their deadly dull 18-16 home win over Baltimore two weeks ago. That side of the ball then sputtered for three quarters in the subsequent 24-19 loss at Cleveland, admittedly handicapped by bad weather and even worse coaching than usual. Now the Steelers...

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ most important game of the season is Sunday at Cincinnati. The Bengals are better than their 4-7 record. The Steelers’ 8-3 mark feels deceptive after their clumsy loss at Cleveland. Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow is one of football’s best quarterbacks. There’s a reason the Bengals are favored by...

Some say the Pittsburgh Pirates are the worst organization in big-time sports. Given their priorities, they’re a lot closer to being one of the best. That’s what the dorks who protest and rent billboards don’t get: There’s no mining shame and embarrassment from an owner and franchise that don’t care...

The new and improved 12-team College Football Playoff isn’t improved. It’s just a different version of screwy. It’s the word “committee.” Things get better if you ditch that word. Eliminate subjectivity. Make it about standings and winners. Provide an exact pathway. Right now, Ohio State is seeded fifth. The Buckeyes...

So, do you still think the Pittsburgh Steelers are a legit Super Bowl contender? The AFC is generally weak. Even the conference’s good teams don’t look all that great. But there’s a lot to dislike about the Steelers despite their 8-3 record. Much of that was on display in Thursday...

Alex Ovechkin’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s career goal-scoring record has been temporarily halted by a knee injury that has Ovechkin listed as week to week. Ovechkin isn’t just chasing a number. He’s solidifying his place in hockey history. If he breaks hockey’s most sacred career mark, Ovechkin can’t help but...

The Steelers are 8-2 after beating Baltimore, 18-16, at Acrisure Stadium on Sunday. The overreaction is a heady brew. One nitwit on Twitter said the Steelers would “steamroll” Buffalo in a playoff game because, among other reasons, Russell Wilson gives the Steelers the edge at quarterback over Josh Allen, a...