Mark Madden: Leave the autograph seeking to the children
Cameron Heyward said on his podcast that he dislikes Pittsburgh Steelers training camp being in Latrobe. Heyward was more likable before he (kind of) joined the media. Training camp has been at Saint Vincent College since 1966. It stimulates Latrobe’s economy. (My show is 3-6 p.m. at Dino’s on Friday,...
Mark Madden’s hot take: Paul Skenes’ nosedive killing Pirates
Friday’s 8-7 loss at Cincinnati was typical for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Their relief pitching collapsed. They fielded like a bad T-ball team. But that night’s hole got dug by Paul Skenes, who is anything but an ace. That, too, has become typical. The citizens bleat about the bullpen being rotten,...
Mark Madden: Thanks to Mike McCarthy, Steelers aren’t stale
The upcoming Pittsburgh Steelers season offers no guarantees but one: It will be different. Mercifully so. No team ever needed change more than the Steelers. No team ever got more stale than the Steelers. Each season felt the same as the last: When it started, while it was happening, when...
Mark Madden: Steelers aren’t only ‘football’ team starting training camp
Training camp is here. Everybody is fired up. Me, too. But in my case, it’s about a different training camp. Oh, I’m excited to visit Dino’s and Sharkey’s, and about the coaching upgrade provided the Pittsburgh Steelers by Mike McCarthy and his staff. McCarthy wants to win. Mike Tomlin wanted to...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: WNBA reaches new level of self-sabotage
Instead of breaking through with a degree of permanency via golden goose Caitlin Clark, the WNBA has fouled its own nest for good. The WNBA is no longer a sports league. The WNBA is a nonstop sociological experiment. Every happening, on-court and off, is viewed through a political prism. USA...
Mark Madden: Layoffs aren’t ESPN’s real problem
The latest round of layoffs at ESPN isn’t the news it’s made out to be. Unless you got fired. Ex-Pittsburgh
Steeler Ryan Clark’s dismissal was surprising. But his penchant for saying dumb stuff that required apology negated his considerable quality. Clark will get another high-profile job and soon. And almost certainly...
Mark Madden: Steelers should pick Will Howard as No. 2 QB, show Mason Rudolph the door
We’re approaching the most-hyped preseason games in Steelers history, so let me take the opportunity to confirm in this space that I have pulled the old switcheroo. Will Howard should be the Steelers’ No. 2 quarterback. Mason Rudolph should get cut. Drew Allar should be No. 3, which is a...
Mark Madden: Will it be bold moves or same old Pirates?
The MLB trade deadline is two weeks away. Between now and then, the Pirates organization will remind us what it’s all about. MLB writer Bob Nightengale says the Pirates will be aggressive, but only if they can avoid adding payroll. That means they won’t be aggressive enough. Or at all....
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Lionel Messi can end the G.O.A.T. debate
Lionel Messi can do something Sunday that rarely happens. Messi can settle, with finality, a sports G.O.A.T. debate. If Messi, at 39, can win a second straight World Cup, let alone tack onto his tournament-best eight goals in this year’s competition, he’s the greatest soccer player of all time. Messi...
Mark Madden: Odell Beckham Jr. among many rich athletes who need a reality check
NFL wideout Odell Beckham Jr. personified and verbalized the disconnect between pro athletes and regular citizens when he described why a five-year, $100 million contract isn’t enough. “It’s five years for $6o million. You’re getting taxed,” Beckham said. Like taxation was some sort of thievery inflicted solely on him. Beckham...
Mark Madden: Baseball’s next lockout can’t come soon enough
MLB players say there will never be a salary cap. They’ve said that as long as I can remember. I hope baseball’s owners are equally strong-willed in the opposite direction. That would mean no MLB in 2027. It would be great. I can’t wait. It will be amazing to watch...
Mark Madden: Fans keep paying for sports’ biggest bait-and-switch
“The customer is always right.” That’s a business model to adhere to. But sports have chosen one provided by circus impresario P.T. Barnum: “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Sunday’s game between the Pirates and Milwaukee was supposed to be a classic pitching matchup: Paul Skenes vs. Jacob Misiorowski. Misiorowski...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Wilt’s 100 still stands as sports’ most iconic number
Ryan O’Hearn had a monster night for the Pirates on Tuesday: Three home runs and a team-record 10 RBIs. But in baseball’s context of that day, O’Hearn got upstaged when Kansas City’s Tyler Tolbert got his 12th hit in 12 consecutive at-bats, an MLB record. Sports are clogged with numbers....
Mark Madden: Baseball has said goodbye to romance
Ozzy Osbourne did a song called “Goodbye to Romance.” That should be MLB’s theme. When you pull the plug on two perfect games within four days — one after seven innings, the other after six — you’re telling fans that baseball isn’t concerned with providing special moments. First Miami’s Eury...
Mark Madden: U.S. men’s soccer isn’t underachieving — it’s maxed out
The U.S. men’s national team losing 4-1 to Belgium on Monday night was disappointing and embarrassing. Disappointing given the hype and hosting, embarrassing given the ineptitude and limp nature of the effort. But it wasn’t surprising. This is what the USMNT is. It won’t ever get appreciably better. When the...
Mark Madden: Making a franchise-altering offer could lift Penguins from quicksand
Barring the longshot of a trade, Jason Robertson is no longer available. The high-scoring restricted free-agent winger filed for salary arbitration. Seattle offered $120 million over eight years via sign-and-trade. But Robertson wants to stay in Dallas. He becomes an unrestricted free agent after next season. But the market is...
