Mark Madden stories, Page 46

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....

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

When the U.S. women’s national soccer team beat Thailand, 13-0, on Tuesday and celebrated each goal like scoring had cured a horrible disease, critical things were said. Among them: “Act like you’ve been there before.” The U.S. women have been. They acted like that then, too. They have the best...

Prior to WWE expanding nationally in 1983, there were 30-some pro wrestling promotions scattered across North America. Each had its own TV show, troupe of performers and schedule of events. It was quaint and decidedly local. But it worked. After 1983, wrestling hit a peak in the mid- and late-’90s...

Every time the NHL trade deadline comes around, Penguins fans want the team to trade for Ron Francis again. Like in 1991. That’s speaking metaphorically. But local hockey nostalgia holds that a blockbuster trade is a harbinger for winning a Stanley Cup, especially since it happened again the next year,...

With sports media and social media bleeding into each other (think bloody mess), content is at a premium. It doesn’t have to be good content. It doesn’t have to be true content. It just has to be voluminous. As a result, a lot of nonsense gets put out there. (Ahem.)...

As we brace for the summit meeting between the man who owns the Pittsburgh Steelers and the man who thinks he owns the Steelers, the question begs: Is Antonio Brown’s behavior carefully calculated to ramrod his way out of Pittsburgh, or is he just nuts? Here’s betting the latter, because...

The Penguins’ power play is one for its last 21 and has surrendered two short-handed goals in that time. It’s not often a power play is minus-1 over a 10-game span. But the Penguins’ penalty kill has scored nine short-handed goals since Dec. 14, an incredible number. The answer seems...

The National League will not use the DH until at least 2022, according to reports. That’s quite understandable. What’s the hurry? The National and American leagues have illogically differed in this regard since 1973. What’s three more years? Those three years, of course, will be filled with the merciless kvetching...

Penguins GM Jim Rutherford might be done dealing after acquiring forwards Nick Bjugstad and Jared McCann from Florida on Feb 1. But he probably isn’t. Tweaking the roster is in Rutherford’s blood. He’s changed a quarter of his team since season’s start. That’s no complaint. The results speak for themselves....

The NFL has no offseason. Maybe that’s why the Super Bowl drew its lowest TV rating in a decade: The citizens are tiring of football, or weary of New England winning, or maybe America just hates Maroon 5. But everybody loves refreshing sports notes. • When the Penguins get healthy,...

The Kendall Coyne Schofield-Pierre McGuire fiasco on the NBC Sports Network on Wednesday night was much ado about nothing. If you’re just now tuning in, U.S. women’s hockey player Coyne Schofield debuted as an analyst on NBCSN’s NHL coverage, specifically the game between Tampa Bay and the host Penguins. McGuire...

Sidney Crosby won the NHL All-Star Game(s) MVP on Saturday at San Jose, compiling four goals and four assists as his Metropolitan Division team won two straight games and the championship of the 3-on-3 tournament. This is noteworthy for two reasons: • All-Star Game(s) MVP was one of the few...

Antonio Brown posted a photo-shop on Instagram that pictured him, in a San Francisco 49ers uniform, embracing all-time Niners great Jerry Rice. Can a player be fined for tampering with himself? Unfortunately, the 49ers lack the components to easily trade for Brown, unless they’re willing to give the Steelers the...

Sometimes a bad officiating decision benefits your team. Sometimes it kills your team. New Orleans has lived both sides. In Week 16, a bad interference call on Steelers cornerback Joe Haden greatly helped the Saints beat the Steelers, exiling the Steelers from the playoffs and giving the Saints home field...

When Steelers owner/president Art Rooney II made his media rounds this week, he seemed noncommittal to the notion of extending the contract of coach Mike Tomlin. “Those are things we’ll get to sort of later in the offseason,” Rooney said. Translation: Tomlin will get extended, but it’s not something Rooney...

The Penguins power-play unit ranks fifth best in the NHL with a conversion percentage of 25.8. It’s No. 1 on the road with a mark of 33.9. But there are definitely flaws. The minor problem: It doesn’t get enough opportunities. The Penguins have been on the power play 128 times....

Owner/president Art Rooney said it would be “hard to envision” Antonio Brown at Pittsburgh Steelers training camp. That sounds like a one-way ticket to Palookaville, even though the Steelers would have to absorb a $21.1 million cap hit if they Brown. But if a bum tooth hurts bad enough, you...

Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. When the Steelers’ latest round of turmoil went viral, Freeman tweeted, “Three people deserve blame for the Steelers’ predicament: Ben , and Tomlin. But my point has been that Tomlin and AB catch all the heat while Ben skates....