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Madden gets it right.

stillwright

stillwright

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Mark Madden: Bush-league journalists descend on Steelers
by MARK MADDEN·13 hours ago
The Steelers and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger took a PR hit when Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell checked out. Roethlisberger was eviscerated. GM Kevin Colbert was villainized. The piling on continues.

But, in the process, damage also got done to the concept of journalism. (Journalism has taken a beating for quite a while now.)

In Robert Klemko's story at SI.com, ex-Steelers back Josh Harris accused Ben Roethlisberger of intentionally fumbling in 2014. That's an incredibly serious allegation. Klemko readily gave Harris a platform to make it, but didn't talk to anybody else in that huddle. That's Journalism 101. But Klemko ignored it. Why?

Because it didn't fit the narrative, that's why.

Klemko's intent was to write a hit piece on Roethlisberger. He only sought information that was a means to that end.

Klemko didn't talk to center Maurkice Pouncey, who later debunked Harris' fantastic accusation on Instagram.

Nor did Klemko speak with quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, who was on the headsets that day. Gradkowski used Instagram to post video of the play in question and did a blow-by-blow account describing why things went (accidentally) wrong.

The story was absolute bush-league nonsense. But it fulfilled Klemko's intent.

Perhaps even more embarrassing was Le'Veon Bell's interview with SI.com's Jenny Vrentas. (What happened to the once-proud Sports Illustrated franchise?)

Bell told Vrentas that Roethlisberger didn't get him the ball enough. Roethlisberger's "personal preferences played a role," Bell said.

When Bell says that, Vrentas has to push back for the sake of her own credibility. In Bell's last season with the Steelers, he led the league in touches. So how did Roethlisberger's "personal preferences" hold back Bell? Anyway, didn't Bell sit out 2018, in part, to protect his body from too many touches?

But Vrentas didn't push back. She just blithely let Bell continue his infomercial. Vrentas could not possibly have done a worse job.

That's all that interview was: an infomercial for Bell. Just like Antonio Brown's appearances on ESPN and HBO were infomercials for him.

Outlets like Sports Illustrated and ESPN are so eager to get interviews with big names like Bell and Brown that the subjects are put at zero risk. It's all kid gloves. It's negotiated by the agents and the athletes get the questions in advance.

Would Brown have sat down with ESPN if the interviewer had been Jeremy Schaap, known for his probing insight? Schaap did battle with Bobby Knight and won. Schaap wouldn't sit there and lob softballs.

But Jeff Darlington would and did. Darlington nodded like a stooge when Brown absurdly said, "I don't take any blame. I think I took responsibility for my situation. I didn't point the finger. I didn't make no one look bad."

Brown takes responsibility for nothing. He won't even pay for his daughter's haircut. How do you let tripe like that slide by?

When you're just glad to be there, that's how.

Pouncey and Gradkowski, among others, have spoken out against the madness. Fox's Skip Bayless said that the motivation provided makes Roethlisberger his pick to be NFL MVP. (That's not far-fetched. Here's betting Roethlisberger has a huge year.)

But Roethlisberger himself has been quiet.

That's smart. The only way this ever dies down is if somebody shuts up.

It's called taking the high road. Bell and Brown couldn't find the high road with a state-of-the-art GPS. The slavering quasi-journalists who enabled the lies and treachery directed against Roethlisberger and the Steelers don't know the directions, either.

Mark Madden hosts a radio show 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WXDX-FM (105.9).
 
Yeah these journalist just like to stir drama.
Glad the egos are gone. Focus on football and winning
 
I thought the most telling story during the AB drama came from Madden (though I could be wrong as I was reading so much stuff about it at the time). It was that after the win over NE which should have been a huge celebration overcoming a team that had dogged the franchise, Brown sulked and slinked out of the locker room without talking to anyone, presumably because he hadn't been featured. In contrast after a horrific blown lead against the Chargers he was all smiles and interviews because he had a monster performance. Again I could be wrong about the journalist, but I do remember the story.
 
It's just sad anymore that it isn't about getting the story right anymore, but just getting a story out there. True journalism has all but died.
 
SteelerSask said:
I thought the most telling story during the AB drama came from Madden (though I could be wrong as I was reading so much stuff about it at the time). It was that after the win over NE which should have been a huge celebration overcoming a team that had dogged the franchise, Brown sulked and slinked out of the locker room without talking to anyone, presumably because he hadn't been featured. In contrast after a horrific blown lead against the Chargers he was all smiles and interviews because he had a monster performance. Again I could be wrong about the journalist, but I do remember the story.
Click to expand...

I believe Bouchette reported it, and it was after the Saints loss, but the point is the same.

The crazy thing is that Brown had a TD catch in the win against the Patriots and he was STILL pissed off.

Between that and the Bell comments pertaining to touches when he basically was at or near the top of the league in all purpose yards during his time with the Steelers, they're really something else.

They almost make Terrell Owens seem selfless in comparison.
 
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Punxsutawney said:
I believe Bouchette reported it, and it was after the Saints loss, but the point is the same.

The crazy thing is that Brown had a TD catch in the win against the Patriots and he was STILL pissed off.

Between that and the Bell comments pertaining to touches when he basically was at or near the top of the league in all purpose yards during his time with the Steelers, they're really something else.

They almost make Terrell Owens seem selfless in comparison.
Click to expand...

Bouchette is no different. Very much pro Tomlin and Colbert but will slam a player with a quickness. Especially when a player gets under his skin like Brown did.

Luckily most of the SteelersNation fans can filter through bullshit fairly quickly.

As we have been recognizing these bullshit stories for quite some time.
 
Punxsutawney said:
I believe Bouchette reported it, and it was after the Saints loss, but the point is the same.

The crazy thing is that Brown had a TD catch in the win against the Patriots and he was STILL pissed off.

Between that and the Bell comments pertaining to touches when he basically was at or near the top of the league in all purpose yards during his time with the Steelers, they're really something else.

They almost make Terrell Owens seem selfless in comparison.
Click to expand...

And that was the whole reason he sat out all of last season.....to preserve his body. I wish more present and past players would start to speak out.
 
slashsteel said:
Bouchette is no different. Very much pro Tomlin and Colbert but will slam a player with a quickness. Especially when a player gets under his skin like Brown did.

Luckily most of the SteelersNation fans can filter through bullshit fairly quickly.

As we have been recognizing these bullshit stories for quite some time.
Click to expand...

To be fair to Bouchette, the Brown story sounds more than a little believable and is probably legit.

Overall, though, media as a whole has sacrificed integrity too much in favor of sensationalism. We're largely to blame for constantly watching/reading the ****, but money has corrupted the profession. No doubt.
 
It's all about the "clicks"...integrity be damned.
 
The Brown interview with ESPN was completely embarrassing. Jeff Darlington looked like he wanted to be Brown's buddy rather than ask him real questions. I didn't even waste my time with the Bell interview after seeing some of the ridiculous quotes from it.
 
Madden has been on a roll lately. And I heard that *** clown on the Lebretard show, Stusnotz, lapping up what Josh Harris sad. "Ben fumbled to get Tod Haley fired!", he exclaimed several times to whatever moron was filling in for Lebretard. Yes, sure, on an innocuous play while sealing a 10 point regular season win in 2014, Ben fumbled on purpose. Ben was so effective at getting Haley fired by doing that, that Hailey remained OC for another three years! That stuck up, evil genius! Harris has been out of the NFL since his lousy 4 carries and Todd Haley got his walking papers from Cleveland. I suppose that was all Ben's doing too.

It's mind numbing. All of it. **** ESPN: TV, radio, print, all of it. They're worthless trash. And their MNF format has been an ongoing disaster for more than a decade. The NFL should yank it from them.

And Madden was right about another thing the other day on the radio. He said he was just about done with the Steelers until all of this dogpiling nonsense started. He's right, they were a collection of over-hyped, under-performing jagoffs that were hard to root for. And now I'm looking forward to their season with the toxic twins gone.
 
stillwright said:
And that was the whole reason he sat out all of last season.....to preserve his body. I wish more present and past players would start to speak out.
Click to expand...

IMO, teams being able to tag a player more than once is bullshit.

I do not blame him for not playing in 2018, but he handled it in the most indirect, disruptive way imaginable.

Had he came out in August and said we was not going to play, I could have respected that, but he misled the team about his intentions for months, creating an unneeded distraction in the process.

Tomlin and Haley did over use him, justifying his holdout, but to turn around and complain about not getting the ball enough is beyond hypocritical and says something about his character.
 
Punxsutawney said:
To be fair to Bouchette, the Brown story sounds more than a little believable and is probably legit.

Overall, though, media as a whole has sacrificed integrity too much in favor of sensationalism. We're largely to blame for constantly watching/reading the ****, but money has corrupted the profession. No doubt.
Click to expand...

Not saying the original story was bullshit, but after Brown's comments he had a lot of bullshit fluff pieces thrown out targeting Antonio.

Besides that Bouchette has been a pompous *** for a long time. I have no love for him.

And I am by all means not a AB apologist he can go **** himself and I would never welcome him back.
 
mightyguru said:
It's all about the "clicks"...integrity be damned.
Click to expand...

Fake news.
The masses want to be entertained. If the media can exaggerate to draw in more views then that's what they will do.
 
Punxsutawney said:
To be fair to Bouchette, the Brown story sounds more than a little believable and is probably legit.

Overall, though, media as a whole has sacrificed integrity too much in favor of sensationalism. We're largely to blame for constantly watching/reading the ****, but money has corrupted the profession. No doubt.
Click to expand...

Antonio Brown is the same guy who once said that if he had to choose between winning a Super Bowl or being enshrined in the Hall of Fane, he would choose the Hall of Fame. The guy is a douche, and has always been one. We’ve always got a kick out of it Becauee he wore the black n’ gold. If he never wore the uniform, and was doing the same **** to another franchise, everybody here would more than likely view him in a negative light.
 
Stories like this makes it so much more apparent why Bellichick and Brady, and for the most part, the whole Patriots organization doesn't have much to say to the media. They sure keep things in house so to speak or you're out the door. Tomlin and Colbert need to lay down the law and take over the team. No one player should ever be bigger than the sum of it's parts. and if you think you are, you gotta go.
 
I really didn't want to like Mark Madden, but he's the one man who calls it as he sees it, without using kids gloves for Tomlin. He's been right on a lot of things lately
 
QB coach said:
Stories like this makes it so much more apparent why Bellichick and Brady, and for the most part, the whole Patriots organization doesn't have much to say to the media. They sure keep things in house so to speak or you're out the door. Tomlin and Colbert need to lay down the law and take over the team. No one player should ever be bigger than the sum of it's parts. and if you think you are, you gotta go.
Click to expand...

cheats have to keep everything in house, as they don't want their recurring cheat exposed.

:jump:
 
Win / lose / better or for worse, this team is better off without the drama queen twins. I'm looking forward to this season and hopefully some internal dynamic changes along the way. You can bet CMVLT has been spoken to about credibility and operational status of how he handled this disaster from start to end. Weather a positive or a negative in the eyes of ownership, that was kept behind closed doors as it should be. I'm curious to see how things pan out in that department of how TOMLIN reacts / responds to this team developement POST meMEme twins.

As for the media is concerned, it's NOT just in sports journalism, it's everywhere and is becoming harder for individuals to determine fact / fiction / true / false. Some of the younger / older / inbetween generations Beleive everything as gospel and because of that vote / steer the "sheep" way. It's to bad people are NOT held accountable in their respective system they are employed.







Salute the nation
 
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