Mark Madden
Encyclopedia
Mark Madden is an American radio sports talk-show host in Pittsburgh and also a former World Championship Wrestling
color commentator.
, Madden wrote for Pro Wrestling Torch from 1992 to 1994 before beginning work as a TV color commentator and magazine writer for World Championship Wrestling
. Shortly before the WCW organization dissolved in 2001, Madden was fired for making disparaging remarks about the company, lobbying for the return of the fired Scott Hall
, and disclosing information about the sale of WCW. http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/other/20010103madden2.asp He also spent several years as a regular columnist for Wade Keller
's Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter
. He gives his thoughts and opinions on WrestleZone.com's internet
show Chair Shot Reality. He reviews the performances of WWE and TNA
and gives his thoughts and opinions.
Madden has also worked within mainstream sports journalism, including fifteen years at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
, where he primarily covered high schools for the paper's suburban sections, as well as stints at the now-defunct Penguins Report and the weekly Pittsburgh City Paper
. He subsequently appeared as a featured guest on Action Sports Sunday on WTAE-TV
, a half-hour sports discussion show. The Post-Gazette reported on November 17, 2006 that WTAE-TV dropped Mark Madden as a freelance sports commentator on its Sunday night sports show. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06321/739007-237.stm
Madden has been writing a weekly column called "Monday Madden" for the Beaver County Times, a Pittsburgh-area newspaper, since May 28, 2007.
Another area of sports in which Madden is heavily involved is the game of street hockey
. Madden runs Street Hockey USA, and is also involved in the American Street Hockey Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to growing the game of street/dek/ball hockey in America. He has coached numerous National Champion teams over the years (most notably his Pittsburgh Wizards team), as well as coaching the United States Junior team to a gold medal in the 2006 World Junior Championship in Germany. http://www.streethockeyusa.com
He currently features on WrestleZone.com's Chair Shot Reality program me.
On April 3, 2011, his Beaver County Times column addressed a then-current grand jury investigation into alleged child sexual abuse
by former Penn State football
assistant coach Jerry Sandusky
, suggesting the possibility of a Penn State cover-up. After Sandusky was indicted on over 40 felony charges, sparking a firestorm that claimed the jobs of longtime Penn State head coach Joe Paterno
and university president Graham Spanier
, Madden appeared on The Dennis and Callahan Show, a Boston
sports talk radio program, on November 10. During his appearance, he reported a rumor being investigated by two prominent columnists that Sandusky and his Second Mile children's charity may have been "pimping out young boys to rich donors."
fan. He was critical of Penguins center Mario Lemieux late in Lemieux's career for "repeatedly trying to score directly off faceoffs." He once bet Lemieux $66 that he could not score directly off a draw. Lemieux thought the $66 bet was "cheap," and challenged Madden to a $6,600 bet. Madden accepted, and agreed that all the money would go to the Mario Lemieux Foundation. Lemieux had attempted the shot several times, with the closest effort being a post shot against the Calgary Flames
on December 21, 2002. On December 24, 2002, Lemieux lined up against Buffalo Sabres faceoff specialist Chris Gratton
. With the Penguins tied 2-2 and Gratton being a left-handed draw, Lemieux used the opportunity to take the shot on net. Lemieux shot the puck as it was dropped, going between Gratton's legs, off defenseman Alexei Zhitnik's skate, and eventually past goaltender Mika Noronen
. Lemieux immediately looked to the pressbox, where he knew Madden was watching the game, and raised his arms. Lemieux admitted to trying the shot several times and that it was a tough shot to do without a good bounce. After the goal, Madden said he was planning a telethon to help him raise the $6,600 promised to the Mario Lemieux Foundation.
Madden was hospitalized on January 29, 2006 after suffering a heart attack
during a dek-hockey tournament in Reading
, Pennsylvania
. Madden drove himself to a local hospital after feeling nauseous, and had the heart procedure done a day after checking in. He resumed his radio show three days later, although in a different time slot. . He has openly expressed on his radio show that he believes that he may not be alive when Sidney Crosby breaks each of Wayne Gretzky's scoring records.
He was an outspoken advocate of the Isle of Capri Casinos
gaming company's failed plan for a new arena in Pittsburgh
.
Madden is also a longtime supporter of former Pittsburgh Pirates
outfielder Barry Bonds
.
He is known to be a passionate supporter of Liverpool F.C.
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
color commentator.
Career
A 1982 graduate of Duquesne UniversityDuquesne University
Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit is a private Catholic university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened its doors as the Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost in October 1878 with an enrollment of...
, Madden wrote for Pro Wrestling Torch from 1992 to 1994 before beginning work as a TV color commentator and magazine writer for World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
. Shortly before the WCW organization dissolved in 2001, Madden was fired for making disparaging remarks about the company, lobbying for the return of the fired Scott Hall
Scott Hall
Scott Hall is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with the World Wrestling Federation in the early and mid 1990s under the ring name Razor Ramon, as well as for his period in the mid 1990s and early 2000s with World Championship Wrestling under his real name...
, and disclosing information about the sale of WCW. http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/other/20010103madden2.asp He also spent several years as a regular columnist for Wade Keller
Wade Keller
Wade Keller is a wrestling columnist. He runs the Pro Wrestling Torch newsletter, which is regarded as one of the most influential newsletters in professional wrestling....
's Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter
Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter
Pro Wrestling Torch Weekly is a wrestling newsletter. It was founded in 1987 by Wade Keller. It has been a primary source for insider information, commentaries, and interviews for 20 years....
. He gives his thoughts and opinions on WrestleZone.com's internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
show Chair Shot Reality. He reviews the performances of WWE and TNA
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...
and gives his thoughts and opinions.
Madden has also worked within mainstream sports journalism, including fifteen years at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also known simply as the "PG," is the largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.-Early history:...
, where he primarily covered high schools for the paper's suburban sections, as well as stints at the now-defunct Penguins Report and the weekly Pittsburgh City Paper
Pittsburgh City Paper
The Pittsburgh City Paper is Pittsburgh's leading alternative weekly newspaper which focuses on local news, opinion, and arts and entertainment...
. He subsequently appeared as a featured guest on Action Sports Sunday on WTAE-TV
WTAE-TV
WTAE-TV is the ABC affiliated television station for Western Pennsylvania that is licensed to Pittsburgh, broadcasting on UHF channel 51 and identifying via PSIP as channel 4 . It also serves as an ABC affiliate for the Wheeling/Steubenville and Clarksburg/Weston, West Virginia market areas...
, a half-hour sports discussion show. The Post-Gazette reported on November 17, 2006 that WTAE-TV dropped Mark Madden as a freelance sports commentator on its Sunday night sports show. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06321/739007-237.stm
Madden has been writing a weekly column called "Monday Madden" for the Beaver County Times, a Pittsburgh-area newspaper, since May 28, 2007.
Another area of sports in which Madden is heavily involved is the game of street hockey
Street hockey
Street hockey is a variation of the sport of ice hockey where the game is played on foot or with inline skates or roller skates. The object of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team by shooting a ball or puck into the opposing team's net...
. Madden runs Street Hockey USA, and is also involved in the American Street Hockey Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to growing the game of street/dek/ball hockey in America. He has coached numerous National Champion teams over the years (most notably his Pittsburgh Wizards team), as well as coaching the United States Junior team to a gold medal in the 2006 World Junior Championship in Germany. http://www.streethockeyusa.com
He currently features on WrestleZone.com's Chair Shot Reality program me.
On April 3, 2011, his Beaver County Times column addressed a then-current grand jury investigation into alleged child sexual abuse
Penn State sex abuse scandal
The Penn State sex abuse scandal refers to allegations that former Pennsylvania State University football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky sexually assaulted or had inappropriate contact with at least eight underage boys on or near university property...
by former Penn State football
Penn State Nittany Lions football
The Penn State Nittany Lions football team represents the Pennsylvania State University in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference. It is one of the most tradition-rich and storied college football programs in the...
assistant coach Jerry Sandusky
Jerry Sandusky
Gerald Arthur "Jerry" Sandusky is a retired American football coach. Sandusky served as an assistant coach for his entire career, mostly at Pennsylvania State University under Joe Paterno, and was one of the most notable major college football coaches never to have held a head coaching position. ...
, suggesting the possibility of a Penn State cover-up. After Sandusky was indicted on over 40 felony charges, sparking a firestorm that claimed the jobs of longtime Penn State head coach Joe Paterno
Joe Paterno
Joseph Vincent "Joe" Paterno is a former college football coach who was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions for 46 years from 1966 through 2011. Paterno, nicknamed "JoePa," holds the record for the most victories by an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision football coach with...
and university president Graham Spanier
Graham Spanier
Graham B. Spanier is an American academic, who served as the 16th president of the Pennsylvania State University from September 1, 1995, until he was forced to resign on November 9, 2011, in the aftermath of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal...
, Madden appeared on The Dennis and Callahan Show, a Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
sports talk radio program, on November 10. During his appearance, he reported a rumor being investigated by two prominent columnists that Sandusky and his Second Mile children's charity may have been "pimping out young boys to rich donors."
Personal life
Madden is an avid Pittsburgh PenguinsPittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...
fan. He was critical of Penguins center Mario Lemieux late in Lemieux's career for "repeatedly trying to score directly off faceoffs." He once bet Lemieux $66 that he could not score directly off a draw. Lemieux thought the $66 bet was "cheap," and challenged Madden to a $6,600 bet. Madden accepted, and agreed that all the money would go to the Mario Lemieux Foundation. Lemieux had attempted the shot several times, with the closest effort being a post shot against the Calgary Flames
Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is the third major-professional ice hockey team to represent the city of Calgary, following the...
on December 21, 2002. On December 24, 2002, Lemieux lined up against Buffalo Sabres faceoff specialist Chris Gratton
Chris Gratton
Christopher A. Gratton is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player who last played with the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League...
. With the Penguins tied 2-2 and Gratton being a left-handed draw, Lemieux used the opportunity to take the shot on net. Lemieux shot the puck as it was dropped, going between Gratton's legs, off defenseman Alexei Zhitnik's skate, and eventually past goaltender Mika Noronen
Mika Noronen
Mika Noronen is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender, currently playing for Lukko of SM-liiga.- Career :...
. Lemieux immediately looked to the pressbox, where he knew Madden was watching the game, and raised his arms. Lemieux admitted to trying the shot several times and that it was a tough shot to do without a good bounce. After the goal, Madden said he was planning a telethon to help him raise the $6,600 promised to the Mario Lemieux Foundation.
Madden was hospitalized on January 29, 2006 after suffering a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
during a dek-hockey tournament in Reading
Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. Reading is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area and had a population of 88,082 as of the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie,...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. Madden drove himself to a local hospital after feeling nauseous, and had the heart procedure done a day after checking in. He resumed his radio show three days later, although in a different time slot. . He has openly expressed on his radio show that he believes that he may not be alive when Sidney Crosby breaks each of Wayne Gretzky's scoring records.
He was an outspoken advocate of the Isle of Capri Casinos
Isle of Capri Casinos
Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc. is a gaming company headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri which operates casinos and associated entertainment and lodging facilities in the United States and abroad....
gaming company's failed plan for a new arena in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
.
Madden is also a longtime supporter of former Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
outfielder Barry Bonds
Barry Bonds
Barry Lamar Bonds is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. Bonds played from 1986 to 2007, for the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. He is the son of former major league All-Star Bobby Bonds...
.
He is known to be a passionate supporter of Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...