Mark Madden Columns category, Page 47

The NFL has added pass interference calls (and non-calls) to the list of officiating decisions that are subject to a coach’s challenge. The Steelers’ Mike Tomlin is 0-for-2-years on such requests, so this provides additional ways for him to screw up. Each coach is still allowed just two challenges per...

The Penguins haven’t been cheated when it comes to individual awards. That especially goes for the awards you can’t get cheated out of, like the Art Ross Trophy. That goes to the NHL scoring champion. The Penguins have 15. That’s not to say the Penguins never have been cheated. Like...

The Steelers and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger took a PR hit when Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell checked out. Roethlisberger was eviscerated. GM Kevin Colbert was villainized. The piling on continues. But, in the process, damage also got done to the concept of journalism. (Journalism has taken a beating for quite...

With apologies to the first robin, there’s no surer harbinger of spring than refreshing sports notes! They come bob-bob-bobbin’ along! • In free agency, the Steelers have signed mediocre talents at reasonable prices. It’s what they do. That plugs holes but doesn’t really fix much. The first round of the...

It’s easy to overreact to the Penguins’ good play. Every team’s season has ups and downs. The Penguins have looked excellent winning six of their last seven. They were horrific losing nine of 10 from Oct. 30-Nov. 19. But the current uptick definitely features encouraging signs. Goaltending is key, as...

“And a new day will dawn for those who stand long, and the forests will echo with laughter.” — “Stairway to Heaven,” Led Zeppelin (“Heaven,” not “seven.” That stairway collapsed.) Does anybody remember laughter? It’s been a while where the Pittsburgh Steelers are concerned. The franchise has been buried too...

As the NHL’s Feb. 25 trade deadline beckoned, Columbus was half-expected to trade goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and winger Artemi Panarin, each in the final season of his contract. A rebuilding of sorts seemed likely. But there were no obvious suitors for Bobrovsky. The legit Stanley Cup contenders all have legit...

Last Thursday, John Tavares played at the New York Islanders’ home rink (one of them) as a member of the visiting team for the first time. Tavares had 621 points over nine years as an Islander. But he only played in 24 playoff games and won just one postseason series....

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...

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...

Most professional athletes don’t understand that every single one of them is disposable. That got proven when pro baseball not only survived but flourished after Babe Ruth retired and has been indisputably apparent ever since. Pro football is the topic du jour now that Antonio Brown and his flunky, James...