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Mark Madden’s feud with…everyone

By James Pete | May 10th, 2008

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Mark Madden certainly does his job well, whether you like him or not. He’s a talking head that sprouted from the world of talk radio, and you and I both know that to make money, you have to make heads turn. Madden has done a good job of that over the years, whether you like him or not. This past week’s headlines certainly will do nothing but help his cause.

A year and a half ago, Mark Madden was dismissed from his job on WTAE’s ‘Action Sports Sunday.’ The official word given was that Madden had used the term ‘jackass,’ and it offended the Steelers to the point that they threatened to disallow Steelers to come onto their program. Madden, known for his feuds with high-ranking sports’ personalities, had recently taken aim at Hines Ward. There was speculation, especially from Madden, that Ward was at the center of his dismissal.

Ward recently appeared on Bob Costas’ HBO show Costas Now, and made comments about sports talk show hosts being negative. Ward made reference to Mark Madden’s show in particular, talking about not wanting to associate himself with that (negativity).

The Post-Gazette’s Bob Smizek, embroiled in his own feud with Madden followed up with commentary of his own on the subject.

Madden, not to be left out of the equation, followed up with commentary of his own, in a letter to the Post-Gazette’s editors.

Ah, the media becoming a story…you have to love the NFL offseason, don’t you?

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 10th, 2008 at 8:24 pm and is filed under Mark Madden, Bob Smizek, Bob Costas, Steel Tradition, James Pete, Hines Ward, Pittsburgh Steelers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

12 Responses to “Mark Madden’s feud with…everyone”

steve Ispecky says:

May 12th, 2008 at 2:49 am

Madden is cool , he brings truth to the table . I miss his articles of the Pirates and Steelers. We need to see Mark in the paper more !!!!!!!
SD says:

May 12th, 2008 at 8:19 am

I am an out of town steeler fan, I have listened to Madden a bit when I am in the burgh. Why is he so popular? Are there that many people that enjoy running down the Steelers? I am open to criticizing my team’s mistakes, but personal attacks on Ward and Bettis? I don’t get it.
Stu Johnson says:

May 12th, 2008 at 8:37 am

Madden is a “Jackass”. He is an embarrassment to Pittsburgh and the city’s media. The fact that he is number one in the city is only because the majority of his target audience (males, 18-30) haven’t lived long enough to tell bullshit from truth. I am truly embarrassed when the guys on ESPN radio go to Madden with the intro, “The number one rated sports-talk show in Pittsburgh”. I’m sure that the ESPN radio guys are shaking their heads and laughing to each other when they think of the level of idiocy the average Pittsburgher must have for this former pro-wrestler to number one. He can’t go away soon enough.
Tony Ferrante says:

May 12th, 2008 at 9:00 am

I listen to him for about an hour and a half just about everyday, mainly because he’s a big Pens fan and he does know his hockey…. He talks A LOT of hockey, as well as the other ‘Burgh sports, so in that respect I enjoy those discussions….

All of the Pittsburgh sports media has been at each other’s throats for years now. It all comes full circle. It was only a couple of years ago that Madden and Stan Savran were bashing each other on the air, now they do postgame shows together.

But I am just amazed that ESPN can continue to ignore Madden’s blatant condescending attitude towards his listeners. I’d estimate that only about 20% of his callers DON’T get some sort of smart-ass comment or get hung up on.

Madden’s been fired from quite a few jobs over the years because of his attitude, I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens again eventually….
Eddie says:

May 12th, 2008 at 9:05 am

#1 rated? Is there another show in Pittsburgh airing at the same time his is? If so, I would be listening to that one. Give me a choice, and I don’t believe Madden would be #1.

He’s not the kind of guy that represents this city, respectful, blue collar, friendly, knowledgeable, and classy are all attributes that are carried by virtually anyone that has ever come from Pittsburgh. Name me one of those attributes that Madden actually has.
rob says:

May 12th, 2008 at 3:15 pm

Hines Ward is a bit of an egomaniac. Anyone who punches holes in his balloon can’t be all bad. This whole “We are the Pittsburgh Steelers and our crap doesn’t smell” schtick that Art Rooney pushes gets a bit tired. Steelers have had their fair share of turds over the years, and if the rumors about their pioneering role in the use of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs back in the 70s is to be believed, they don’t have a pedestal to stand on.
Bri says:

May 12th, 2008 at 3:39 pm

Hey Rob go read the Brownies or Bungles blog. Whether Ward is an egomaniac or not is totally unrelated to all of the putrid commentary and assinine statements that come out of Madden’s mouth. And, this supposed “pedestal” on which the Steelers organization stands has no relationship to the fact that Mark Madden is a hateful idiot.

Think about this, you’re advocating and supporting Madden because he likes to humiliate and bring people down? Come on buddy.
g mack says:

May 12th, 2008 at 6:34 pm

Can’t for the life of me figure why you have to give space to promote Madden. Another article like this and you’ll be losing me as a visitor.
Jay Sabo says:

May 12th, 2008 at 9:00 pm

Negativity should be saved for discussions about the New England Patriots and the New England Patriots only. Say all you want about Pittsburgh, Rob, at least we play fair and don’t need to concoct lavish schemes to steal signs in order to construct a pseudo-dynasty. I swear if the devil himself were playing New England I wouldn’t know who to root for. As far as Madden goes, I like the video games, they’re both fat (okay I’m done being sophomoric)…I saw him a few times (being from Allentown I don’t get too much exposure) on those classic shows which depict great teams, players, etc. He always seems to talk with animosity in his voice whether it’s positive or negative subjections or factual qualifications. My brother told me he heard some negative rumors about Hines Ward (he is dating a girl who went to Pitt and they allegedly heard that he has mistresses and is full of himself in a bar—great place for unbiased, accurate accounts on people’s lives by the way—tongue in cheek). Fact is, I….DON’T….CARE….I like it when Hines scores touchdowns though…or knocks Bart Scott on his ass with a block. Oh, I’m all about character but in comparison to the Vick’s and Pacmans and countless other nimrods out there, comparatively speaking, Hines’ ego is fine by me. In fact, if I go to the Steelers-Eagles game this year, I may just wear his jersey and sit with(one of) my (many) mistresses and as soon as one of the ever so eloquent and polite Eagles fans says something, I’ll just turn around and smile. Isn’t that what he does? Egomaniac! So what! I might be one too (geez, maybe I already am by the looks of this blog-yikes) if I had his position in life. When I think ego I think Deion Sanders or Barry Bonds…Then again, I’m not from the “Burgh” and am surrounded by hateful Eagles fans who have foaming-at-the-mouth-sports radio DJ’s that eat the likes of Madden for breakfast…Help, get me outta here!
MBlaster says:

May 13th, 2008 at 8:35 am

Hey Rob, calling Ward an egomaniac when discussing Mark Madden is textbook case of the pot calling the kettle black. Mark Madden is a ultra-arrogant megalomaniac of the highest order. Also, your following diatribe is full of speculation and innuendo and has no basis in fact. As for your comment regarding Art Rooney’s “Schtick” is laughable at best and smacks of ignorance.
DAVID says:

May 13th, 2008 at 10:22 am

MARK MADDEN IS A BUBBLE HEAD WITH NO DIRECTION IN SIGHT. END OF SPACE FOR THIS MORONICPLAGUE.
Ben R. says:

May 15th, 2008 at 2:38 am

Steelers fans need to step out of their “Black and Gold” bubble and stop acting like you know how to use big words.

And for the guy that says most Pittsburghers are classy: You haven’t driven on the roads here lately, have you?