Mark Madden update

According to the Pittsburgh City Paper, both Mark Madden and Stan Savran were relieved of their editorial duties at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette because the paper was trying to save a few bucks. Well, kind of. John McIntire also has a hunch it may have had something to do with the fact that Madden rubbed a lot of people the wrong way:

Mark Madden is one pissed-off fired sports columnist. The Tasmanian devil of Pittsburgh sports reporters still has his ESPN afternoon radio talk show, but the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette decided his act was too crazy for them to continue his sports column. At least that’s what I think. The official line is that they got rid of Madden and Stan Savran to save a few bucks. But there has been grumbling about Madden’s over-the-top style for many years among the more faint-of-heart at the Post-Gazette.

What’s over-the-top? Joking on the air that when a 10-year-old boy with Tourette’s syndrome met with a Pirates pitcher with the same affliction, "That must have been some conversation." Questioning a caller as to whether he’d graduated from fourth grade and adding, "I bet your mother had to go down on the teacher to get you to fifth."

Of course, the caller had just called Madden fat. Such is the nature of the pro-wrestling give and take (Madden was once a pro-wrestling announcer) featured on Madden’s show.

I have no idea of the Post-Gazette's true intentions, but McIntire's rationale is hardly far-fetched. The only question I now have is if Madden was "fired" for rocking the boat (and not for budgetary reasons), why was Savran let go? He's one of the most laid back guys in the Pittsburgh sports media.