Save some time, ignore this guy

  By Mark Madden, Times Sports Correspondent, Oct. 19, 2008

Alex Ovechkin, the NHL’s reigning MVP and scoring champion, spent the entirety of Washington’s 4-3 comeback victory over the Penguins trying to injure Evgeni Malkin. There was no mistaking the cheap, mean-spirited nature of Ovechkin’s game.

Malkin was dumbfounded by Ovechkin’s viciousness, saying he didn’t know why Ovechkin targeted him. Malkin’s teammates seemed equally confused, offering little by way of retaliation.

That’s understandable. I can’t remember ever seeing one superstar relentlessly headhunt another superstar before. But one thing is clear from a Penguins’ perspective: It can’t happen again.

If Ovechkin won’t respect Malkin’s status as a superstar, the Penguins can’t respect Ovechkin’s status as a superstar. If that means that Eric Godard does Ovechkin a favor by rearranging his face, so be it.

Apparently a guy has no clue about hockey or Evgeny Malkin. At least he could've learn that Malkin had more fights in Russian superleague than Ovechkin. The word 'headhunting' has 'head' in the root of it. Did Ovechkin try elbow Malkin in the head? Of course not, all the hits were legit, even Pens commentators agreed on that.

We also learned about new hockey rules from Mike Madden, once you reach the status of superstar, nobody can hit you. Canadians apparently violated that rule when Ovechkin's nose was broken. And too bad for Semin, he is not in a superstar status yet since Malkin boarded him.

Anyhow I did a search on timesonline web site and here we go, this guy has a history, he was fired once already...

By Scott Tady, Times Entertainment Editor, Oct. 10, 2008

GREEN TREE — Popular and controversial sports commentator Mark Madden re-launches his radio career Monday as the new afternoon host at WXDX-FM (105.9).

Madden, also a sports columnist for the Times, previously hosted a highly rated show at WEAE-AM (1250). He was fired from that job after making an inflammatory comment about Sen. Ted Kennedy who had been diagnosed with cancer.

Look at his latest article "Madden: No more stalling, let’s trade Staal now"

Bhahaha... Trade Staal?

So from now on when you see the article that has been written by Mike Madden, save your personal time for something else and skip it.


Update:
By Bob Smizik, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 28, 2008:

Madden: "I'm very disappointed to hear that Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts is near death because of a brain tumor. I always hoped Senator Kennedy would live long enough to be assassinated."

Madden was put on warning by ESPN for his on-air manner in December. According to multiple sources, a disgruntled listener sent a tape to Bristol on which Madden behaved in an especially rude manner. For a time, Madden thought he would be fired and confided as much to friends.

But in a meeting with network executives, he promised to change his ways and kept his job, which paid him a six-figure salary. He was let off with a warning, which, judging from his Kennedy comments, he did not heed.

The Kennedy comments were typical of Madden, who built his following partly by his willingness to take on popular and important people. Some of the people he regularly attacked were Jerome Bettis, Hines Ward, Franco Harris, Arnold Palmer, Jim Leyland and the late Myron Cope.

But his popularity was more than just due to name-calling. His willingness to take on most Pittsburgh teams, regardless of their success, also drew listeners, and the station liked the younger demographic he brought.

Madden drew a significantly larger listening audience than his only sports-talk competition on Fox Sports 970 and did well, sometimes extremely well, in the ratings. His numbers for the final book of 2007 were an 8.3, extraordinarily high for sports talk and the best of his career. Those numbers came down considerably in the first three months of this year, but that wasn't unusual for what is considered a slow sports period.

The one team Madden rarely criticized was the Penguins, and he routinely referred to himself as a fan of the team. He was an unabashed admirer of Mario Lemieux, the team's greatest player and current president.

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