Pittsburgh sports radio talk host Mark Madden has never been considered anything but outspoken when it comes to the landscape of sports and sports media. He’s a Pittsburgh native and has been a leading voice in Pittsburgh sports for decades, contributing a regular column for Triblive.com. On Monday, Madden shared his point of view on the current state of sports media—an industry he has been a part of for the entirety of his career.
Lately, Madden has grown increasingly frustrated with the direction some of the top ESPN personalities have taken, making coverage more about inner-office drama than the actual job of reporting on games. Specifically, the latest incident that led Madden to write on the matter occurred this weekend, when ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith was caught playing solitaire on his phone during Game Four of the NBA Finals.
“ESPN pays Smith $20 million per year. But he couldn’t be bothered to watch what he was being paid to analyze,” wrote Madden. “That’s absolutely on par for Smith’s course. Smith believes that sports are merely fodder that he uses to create content. Smith thinks he is the real show. It’s not important till he talks about it.”
Moreover, Madden, who hosts his daily radio program on Pittsburgh’s 105.9 The X, went on to argue that because of personalities like Smith, Pat McAfee, and Kendrick Perkins, we are now witnessing the sports media industry being “burned to the ground.”
“Smith and his ESPN cohorts Pat McAfee and Kendrick Perkins have made the NBA Finals about them: Smith by igniting a one-way feud with Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton. McAfee by feuding with Smith, John Cougar Mellencamp, Ben Stiller and a whole lot of other ‘rats.’ Perkins by feuding with McAfee,” writes Madden. “Sports media used to frown upon openly rooting for teams. But McAfee cuts hype promos at Pacers home games. Can you imagine Dan Patrick grabbing a mic to pump up a crowd? Me neither. McAfee and Smith absolutely melt down whenever they have to absorb even the slightest iota of criticism or bad publicity. What do they have to be mad about? They’re on top.”
In addition, Madden writes that Smith seems to act like a “phony” who doesn’t love sports nearly as much as he loves himself. Madden also criticizes McAfee, arguing that, like too many ex-jocks who now have microphones, he believes he’s never wrong. He notes that this current trend in sports media serves as a glaring sign that journalism is being phased out.
“I could go on and on about hating media’s current state,” said Madden. “It’s hard to accept that it’s not likely to change. Every meathead who once wore cleats, sneakers or skates has a podcast (or will). It is becoming the rule, not the exception.”
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Oh my God thank you. As my daughters would say ‘I just can’t.’ Smith and McAfee are especially exhausting.
Madden is the meathead here. Maybe if old timers like him got with the current state of sports media he’d be relevant. He’s only relevant in Pittsburgh. Maybe not so much as he thinks he is. People want fresh takes. Not the old tired crap Madden spews out. People will sift through the BS like Adam Schefter who’s wrong half the time. But anyway it looks like Madden had a bad breakfast and he’s throwing up all over the place