U mad, bro?: Variety of spicy hot takes from Pirates, Penguins, Steelers fans
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They say variety is the spice of life.
If so, then this week’s “U mad, bro?” is spicy like ghost pepper chicken wings.
Bubbling Pirates fans. Defensive Steelers fans. Fed-up college sports fans. And I even found a way to make Penguins fans angry after the team got Erik Karlsson.
Pass the blue cheese and celery. You may need to cool your palate after this week’s reader interactions.
Let’s start with John. He appears to be fed up with the Pirates.
Who wins a title first the browns or the pirates?
— John Newcomb (@_JNewcomb) August 7, 2023
The Detroit Lions.
This guy chimed in on Tuesday when Erik Karlsson’s introductory press conference was postponed for reasons unknown at the time.
Someone told EK65 that Nutting bought the Pens and he promptly retired.
— xoundmind (@xoundmind) August 8, 2023
Can someone spread that rumor to Jeff Carter?
Mark emailed regarding a recent “Madden Monday” podcast. Mark Madden and I raised some concerns about the inside linebackers after the team felt the need to sign Kwon Alexander.
“Steelers will be just fine at ILB. Chill Timmy.”
Yeah. I’ve been told that every year since Ryan Shazier got hurt. Maybe this year you will finally be right.
But, since you brought it up …
If the Steelers were “just fine” at ILB, how come they felt the need to sign a sixth guy to the depth chart at the position after they just drafted Mark Robinson to play it last year and signed four others this offseason (Cole Holcomb, Elandon Roberts, Tanner Muse, Nick Kwiatkoski)?
If the team itself thinks it’s “just fine” at ILB, it has a really funny way of showing it.
This guy wasn’t fond of my column after the Penguins acquired Erik Karlsson.
Wrote an entire article about the Pens and failed to mention their biggest deficiency, Jarry. This team won't win a playoff series next season with him.
— Local Hero™ (@HofSpillane) August 6, 2023
And he really wasn’t happy when I expressed similar comments filling in for Madden on his 105.9 The X radio show Tuesday afternoon.
@TimBenzPGH You did it again like your article. I listened to 16 minutes of your open & not one mention of Jarry. You ask does this make them a Cup contender, the answer is 'No' & it's because of Jarry. You & Madden live in an alternative universe where Jarry isnt goalie I guess
— Local Hero™ (@HofSpillane) August 8, 2023
No, we just don’t live in your universe where the goalie is the only thing that matters and the only thing to obsess about.
Look, I didn’t like the re-signing of Tristan Jarry either. I have said as much. I just didn’t feel the need to shoehorn it into that column again just for the sake of it.
MDubs read a column I posted on Tuesday. It mocked the “college football drives the bus” mentality which is resulting in all the ridiculous conference realignments. What’s the travel burden going to be for non-revenue PAC-12 sports like softball, volleyball and lacrosse that are joining the Big Ten?
That is a long bus ride from Eugene to State College….the bus can stop in Champaign, Evanston, West Lafayette, Bloomington and Columbus on the way. Play their entire away schedule in one trip…..now that is planning!!
— MDubs (@MDubsPGH) August 8, 2023
Exactly. They can start their road trips as freshmen and come back as second-semester juniors.
We end with Doug. He responded to the column I wrote in the wake of comments Pirates general manager Ben Cherington made following the trade deadline.
“Wow. A hopeful article on the future of the Pirates. Nicely done. Bet you are planning a trip to Disney World too. A place where all your dreams come true.”
When it comes to the Pirates, there’s no need to go to Disney World. Scrooge McDuck already owns the team.