Mark Madden: Excluding Steelers guard Alan Faneca from Hall of Fame is outrageous

“Put your little hand in mine. There ain’t no hill or mountain we can’t climb.”… as long as we have refreshing sports notes! Too early for flapjacks?

• Troy Polamalu was absolutely worthy of first-ballot induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is arguably the best safety ever, and no one ever has been a better representative for football and the NFL. But the exclusion of Alan Faneca for a fifth straight year is outrageous, especially when juxtaposed to the inclusion of Steve Hutchinson, also a guard. Faneca was first-team All-Pro six times to Hutchinson’s five. He was a nine-time Pro Bowl pick to Hutchinson’s seven. Faneca won a Super Bowl, and Hutchinson didn’t. Are the resumes meaningless? What’s the criteria?

• Polamalu does little media but speaks plainly when he does. When former Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis talked about getting Polamalu to bite on play-action, Polamalu replied: “That’s because you guys had our playbook. A big asterisk next to those play fakes.” Yikes. Polamalu also spoke plainly about the deterioration of the Steelers’ locker-room culture during the latter stages of his Pittsburgh tenure.

• It was an exciting Super Bowl but a sloppy one. Patrick Mahomes was MVP despite throwing two interceptions and fumbling twice. The NFL had no great teams this year. The Kansas City Chiefs were deserving champs but mostly the last men standing.

• If James Conner doesn’t fumble, the Steelers beat NFC champ San Francisco at their stadium in Week 3 and probably make the playoffs.

• Ric Flair’s hummus endorsement was a close second, but the best Super Bowl ad was undoubtedly Bill Murray’s return to Groundhog Day. “Not a bad day, huh?”

• Shakira and Jennifer Lopez wore skimpy outfits, shook their backsides and behaved a bit lewdly. It’s what they do. Maybe they should have conducted a halftime Bible study.

• The Penguins’ win at Washington Sunday was big but revealing. Washington’s heavy forecheck had the Penguins on the ropes by the third period. The Penguins’ speed did control large chunks of the afternoon. A best-of-seven would feature a bunch of games played similarly, but the Capitals’ physicality would exact a heavy toll over the series.

• It was a checkered weekend for the Penguins’ goaltending. Tristan Jarry allowed three goals Friday vs. visiting Philadelphia. Matt Murray did the same at Washington. That’s a goal too many, but each made big third-period saves that contributed mightily to winning. Murray was brilliant dealing with the traffic around his net. Jarry’s superior puckhandling duly noted, Murray seems to be edging his way back to the No. 1 spot.

• Washington’s Tom Wilson had an incredible 13 hits Sunday. His mission is clear. There’s no antidote for Wilson. He’s 6-foot-4, 220 pounds and plays bigger than that. You just have to hope he gets frustrated and does something stupid. (He will.)

• Their stats will never confirm, but the impact of the Teddy Blueger-Brandon Tanev-Zach Aston-Reese line is monstrous. They are relentless skaters, finish every check and give coach Mike Sullivan a shot at creating matchup problems for foes. They get big goals, like Tanev’s change-up that proved to be the winner at Washington. Winning hockey teams have a line like that. They define being hard to play against.

• Many factors point to the necessity of getting a top-six wing before the Feb. 24 trade deadline. One is the possibility Bryan Rust cools off. That hardly seems imminent: Rust has three goals in his last five games. He has 22 goals in 38 games on the season. Rust’s hard work, skating and nose for the net have combined with blossoming confidence to work wonders. But his career high in goals before this season was 18. You hope Rust keeps scoring. But can the Penguins count on that?

• Has Chad Ruhwedel outplayed Juuso Riikola to the extent that Ruhwedel playing awkwardly on the left side (his off-side) trumps Riikola continuing in that spot now that Justin Schultz has returned from injury? Ruhwedel has been flailing since that move.

• The moment Sidney Crosby turned toward the net with the puck and momentum in overtime against Philadelphia Friday, the game was over. Because that’s Crosby, and those are the Flyers. Have you ever seen the Flyers win the Cup?

• There’s no better advertisement for hockey than the Mario Lemieux Foundation Fantasy Hockey Camp, which concluded Saturday at PPG Paints Arena. Ex-NHL stars mix freely with regular citizens, and fun is had by all. Mario’s game is still elegant. Paul Coffey can still move. Darius Kasparaitis found a way to hit people in relatively safe fashion. (No kidding. He sent two campers sprawling with hip checks. They loved it.)

• The Pirates have signed four free agents: Two pitchers with ERAs over six last year, and two hitters who batted under .190 last year. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.