Pittsburgh Penguins fans have reached peak angst. Steelers fans are languishing. And Pirates fans are already ticked off — even though the season hasn’t even started yet.

Here’s something else to get mad about. There will be no “U mad, bro?” next week as “Breakfast With Benz” is on vacation.

So we emptied the tank this week and made sure your displeasure with all three local pro teams was well represented.

Robert is agitated with Mike Tomlin and the Steelers’ current run of mediocrity.

“Any other team would have changed coaches by now. They missed out on (Sean) Payton. I hope (a good coach) is available when we decide the Rooney way isn’t (working). How many 9-8’s and first round eliminations does it take?”

Actually, Robert, a good person to ask about that is … Sean Payton.

Because in 2021, his last season as the New Orleans Saints coach, Payton went … wait for it … 9-8 and missed the playoffs. Since he returned from the 2012 suspension, Payton has four playoff game victories, Tomlin has three.

I echo your frustrations about the Steelers, their fans and the media gladly accepting marginal results. But Payton’s track record is hardly a departure from that.

Rich reacted to Tuesday’s column about how the Penguins “should” get six points over their next four games. Now, having already lost to Detroit, that’s going to be difficult.

"Should" was definitely the key word in your article today. Guess they didn't read it, or did and got overconfident.

— Rich N (@rxn128) March 29, 2023

Rich, you are probably right. But how this team could be “overconfident” about anything is beyond me. I’m surprised they are even confident enough in the bus driver finding the arena in time for faceoff.

“MDubbs” wants to follow up on that column in the wake of the Detroit loss as well.

Pens “should” know that they cannot play 20-25 “good” minutes and win a game. Losing last night, means they are in a position where the almost must have a three win home stand

— MDubs (@MDubsPGH) March 29, 2023

Indeed. And with Boston being the opponent on Saturday, no one “should” expect that to happen.

Don did not like the Penguins’ effort in that Detroit game.

“Tim, you wrote … ‘It was another ill-timed collective loss, in a very winnable game, to a non-playoff team when the Penguins are scrambling like crazy to make the playoffs themselves.’

Perhaps if they played like CRAZY all year long, they might be getting ready for the playoffs. But they only do so once in a while, and only in spurts during games. Yes, they came back with desperation and tied the game. But that’s all the CRAZY effort they’d have.

This team is full of themselves. … They’d rather score from behind the net, or make a pretty passing play, instead of stuffing guys in front and forcing it in. They’re not WILLING to play the forceful, crash the net game. Sometimes that’s what it takes. Watch Boston, Carolina, Tampa, or any team that’s not afraid to play like CRAZY when they HAVE TO SCORE. For 60 (minutes)!”

Don, it sounds like that loss drove you crazy, and I can’t blame you.

I get your point. In a way, when the Penguins frantically come back in games as they often do, it makes their current state of affairs even more frustrating. Because if they played with that same level of determination against teams with a lesser record to begin games or if they played with that level of dedication and commitment with the lead in the third period, they wouldn’t be in this mess right now.

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Raymond weighs in on the pitch clock debate.

“As you are aware, the shot clock in basketball depends on one thing: whether a team shoots the ball before time expires.

The pitch clock depends on the umpire to make a judgment. And it’s already been mentioned that the outcome of a game could be decided by a pitch clock violation in the 9th inning under certain scenarios. Baseball is a dying national sport due to lack of parity. Not saying anything you don’t already know.”

I partially agree with you, Raymond. Pace of play needs to improve. The pitch clock has helped in spring training that way. But, to your point of parity, a lack of stakes is what hurts baseball the most.

Not enough good teams. Too many regular season games. Too long of a regular season. Some fan bases (I won’t name any by name) feel eliminated before the season begins.

But in terms of a judgment call, in the end, it’s a judgment call in basketball too. If the call is close enough, they’ll go to the monitor to figure out if a player shot the ball before the clock expired. So I’m not going to get too hung up on that as a reason to dislike the pitch clock.

To the point of my column last week, though, that’s just another reason to turn off the pitch clock in the ninth inning of close games. When the game is on the line in the ninth, stakes actually do exist, even if it’s two bad teams playing each other.

Finally, Steve is full of optimism for the Pirates in 2023. He really started to get excited when he read the comments from team President Travis Williams about the new scoreboard at PNC Park.

“Travis is really talking up the new scoreboard. I’m really excited about this team now. Because when a team stinks, a new scoreboard can really make a difference. His one statement though really touched base with me.

‘It gives us the opportunity between that, the LED rings that have been replaced and the new control room, we’re actually able to bring that at-home experience into the ballpark.’

Not ironically, my dog (defecated) all over the living room this morning. I’m confident the 2023 Pirates will also give me that ‘at-home experience,’ no scoreboard magic required.”

First of all, Steve, I am also very excited about the new scoreboard. When the visiting team has a higher number in the “runs” column about 45-50 times this year, it’ll now be all the easier to see.

Secondly, there are going to be plenty of messes at that stadium this season. Please keep your dog at home for “Pup at the Park Night” this year.

Thanks!

With two weeks of animus built up by the next time “U mad, bro?” is posted, it may take me a month to get through it all. So fill up the inbox and my Twitter feed while I’m gone, and I’ll comb through every one of your messages once I get back.

Well, maybe not every message. That’s probably a good way to ruin any sense of calm that I would’ve stored up over vacation. But I’ll do my best.

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