Mark Madden (December 29, 1960) is an American radio sports talk-show host in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and also a former-World Championship Wrestling television commentator.
Professional biography[]
A 1982 graduate of Duquesne University, 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. He also spent several years as a regular columnist for Wade Keller's Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter.
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.
Madden has been writing a weekly column called "Monday Madden" for the Beaver County Times 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.
Personal life[]
Madden is an avid Pittsburgh Penguins fan and is especially fond of Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby. Madden was critical of Lemieux later in his career for "repeatedly trying to score directly off faceoffs". He once bet Lemieux $66 that he could not score from the face-off circle immediately after 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 24th, 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.
