NEWS AND NOTES

--Friday's Backyard Brawl will probably be your last chance to watch Shady McCoy play at Heinz Field (for Pitt, that is). [PG]

--Congrats to my W&J Presidents, 35-21 winners in their first-round playoff game against Christopher Newport, which is either a school or one singular guy who somehow made it into the D-3 playoffs. [Washjeff.edu]

--Here's the highly-anticipated Ryan Malone song, sung by a guy who is really bitter towards Ryan Malone. [The PensBlog]

--Big Ben brings his mouth to a gunfight...and wins. What can't he do? [SPORTSbyBROOKS]

--Ben Roethlisberger=Guy Fieri. You'll just have to click the link to see how it relates. [Hugging Harold Reynolds]

--The Phil Savage email fiasco is detailed at length by Joe Bendel, with photos. A definite candidate for story of the year. [Fox 970]

--Loyal Notre Dame fans spent Saturday hurling snowballs at their own team during the Syracuse game. Yeah, that Charlie Weis hire is really working out well. [AOL Fanhouse]

--Looks like Pitt inked a top-25 recruiting class for hoops. Some have it 9th, some have it 24th. [PG]

--The Pens get high marks from Scott Burnside in his quarter-season report. [ESPN]

--PacMan Jones' next misstep will probably be the end of his NFL career. Can we start calling him "Morris the Cat" at this point? [ESPN]

--Anyone curious to see what Macho Man Randy Savage looks like these days? [Zimbio]

--A simply unreal Barry Bonds tattoo. That is all. [Mouthpiece Sports]

--Is it me, or does this recap of the Bengal-Steeler game sound a little overly-optimistic? [Cincinnati.com]

--Is the world aware that there's an ongoing lawsuit between Taco Bell and 50 Cent over their offer to give $10,000 to charity if he changed his name to 79, 89, or 99 Cent? [TMZ]

--I know this is from last week, but I didn't get a chance to mention it: how stupid were the auto manufacturer CEOs who flew private jets to ask the government for money? [ABC News]

--The word 'meh', thought of to be introduced to the world in a 2001 episode of The Simpsons, makes the cut for this year's Collins Dictionary. [Wall Street Fighter]

--There are 34 bowl games this year, meaning that 68 teams will be playing in the postseason. That's bigger than March Madness. [Wall St. Journal]

--OK know-it-alls: here's 5 things you didn't know about the NFL. [Ask Men]

--Why are America's worst hamburgers all so tasty? [Men's Health]

--Want to lose some fat from eating all of those bad hamburgers? Read this first. [Ask Men]

--Check out this video of young Adam Bender, the boy who plays little league with one leg. [YouTube]

--It's a sad days for Dancing with the Stars fans: Julianne Hough has called it quits, ending her Steeler-like dynasty. [Yahoo!] TV

--Twilight took in over $70 million this weekend, probably because there was no Steeler game to distract the country. [LA Times]

--Here are the 25 worst-selling #1 albums of all time. If you're wondering, the Ron Artest album doesn't qualify, since it never reached #1. [Yahoo!]

--The follow-up to Superbad has a trailer, and it looks promising. [FilmDrunk]

--Here's a list of the 10 Most Memorable Posthumous Performances. Wonder if Heath Ledger made the cut? [Yahoo! Movies]

--The child of Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz has a name: Bronx Mowgli. Seriously. [WWTDD]

Send your news, tips, and links to Mondesishouse@gmail.com.

A DAY OF PITTSBURGH SPORTS TALK RADIO

Prior to this and a short post on Monday, the last article I wrote of any length was "The Legacy Of...Marian Hossa", written in advance of my absence and greeted by a lukewarm reception at best (too soon!)

So with that on my mind, I stared down a Tuesday chock-full of "real job" appointments around the city of Pittsburgh and realized that once again, I would be posting zip, zero, nada during the workday. Two days, no content. This week was off to a great start! I'm sure the readers were thrilled.

Confined to my car, which currently has a Sirius satellite unit that's on the PUP list, I had no choice but to tune in to approximately eight hours (on and off) of Pittsburgh sports talk radio throughout the day. While I usually listen to some of the afternoon talkers in some capacity, my normal PM media consumption is usually a hearty mix of Howard 100 and Howard 101 (to avoid a total sports overload). With the set of circumstances dealt to me on Tuesday, I figured it would be a good opportunity to really catch up on what I missed last week as well as a chance to listen to the ever-hyped new lineup at 1250 ESPN, with the thinking that I might get some semblance of a column out of the experience.

For the morning session, I tuned in to the all-new Stan and Guy (and Chris Mack) show on 1250. And while this show debuted just last week, I was immediately informed that Guy was on vacation. I'm certainly not one to tell people when to take their vacations, but that probably could have been planned a little bit better.

So I caught bits and pieces of the Stan and Guy minus Guy show, which had ample time devoted to Savran's very candid dislike of the Olympics and a lengthy discussion between Savran and Mack on the first-year performance of Pirates Manager John Russell, which was pretty positive. It was noted that Russell has worked very well in conjunction with Neal Huntington, who followed through on his threat of accountability in 2008 with the demotions of Tom Gorzelanny and Ronny Paulino and the release of Matt Morris.

Personally, I would agree with them on the Russell/Huntington dynamic. I like the moves they've made so far, and although it's waaaay too early to make any calls, I like the direction where they are going. They're at least giving me some tiny, faint glimmer of hope, which is more than I could say about any of their predecessors.

I'm not a huge Olympic fan per se, but I have caught myself tuning in to random events. I saw and enjoyed most of the Opening Ceremonies, I've been following the US hoops squad, and I was lucky enough to catch the miracle comeback from Michael Phelps and Co. on Sunday night. I might watch a few sports I would never watch otherwise, but that's probably due to the fact that I'm a fan of events. For example, I'm not a soccer fan at all and I know very few of the players, but I do watch some World Cup games when they come around. So in short, I would probably disagree with Stan's take on the Olympics.

I then caught some of the Tirico and Van Pelt national ESPN show between the hours of 1-3, and I nearly got in an accident due to falling asleep at the wheel. It was that bad. I once referred to Tirico this way: "describing his style as vanilla would be an insult to vanilla, for it actually has some flavor."

Tirico went on and on about how he wanted to give up on his "beloved" Detroit Tigers, 58-61 and 8.5 out of first in the NL Central, choosing instead to switch allegiances to the Chicago Cubs. Two years removed from a World Series appearance and already jumping ship. You're a real fan, Mike.

front·run·ner n.

One that is in a leading position in a race or other competition: A competitor who performs best when in the lead; Mike Tirico

Later in the show, I was treated to extreme overanalysis of the Chad Johnson comments from Monday night, where he came off as little more than an egomaniacal rambling idiot talking about his antics for the 2008 season. I don't know when TV executives got together and agreed that Chad Johnson could constantly have a camera and microphone at his disposal, but at this point in time, I couldn't be more bored. Maybe his words might carry some, just some weight if he's ever won anything, but that's just not the case. By the way, I just broke my italics icon.

HOF resume: 0 career playoff wins (just like future HOFer Tony Romo!)

So it was on to 3 PM, where I switched off from 1250's new Paulsen and Crow and 970's Joe Bendel. And what were they both talking about for extended periods? Anthony Smith's unnecessary body blow on Hines Ward last week, discussed at length in a recent Gene Collier column, then brought up once again by Coach Tomlin at today's press conference.

And while both shows probably discussed the incident a little too long for my liking, I thought it was pretty cut-and-dry: Smith was in the wrong, and it's just the latest in a career that's quickly becoming overshadowed by various incidents, such as a similar hit on Willie Reid in last year's camp, a 2006 showboating display against Carolina that enraged Dick LeBeau, and the infamous guarantee of victory against the then-undefeated New England Patriots in 2007.

Put it next to your ear...you can hear the ocean!

You just don't take shots at your own guys, especially at someone like Hines Ward, who you know will take it personally. Sure, Smith may be an intense guy, but there's a fine line between intense and alienating your own teammates. And it puts Tomlin in a delicate spot, as he clearly wants to defend his players in the media but not endorse Smith's actions.

So after a day of talk radio, I can summarize the current pulse of Pittsburgh sports: Anthony Smith, Anthony Smith, Anthony Smith, and John Russell. Did I miss anything?

MARK MADDEN OUT AT 1250

Mark Madden. He was as controversial as radio hosts come, sports or otherwise. The mere mention of his name could invoke the strongest of debates. And today, it's all over, because "Mr. Madden", as he liked to be called, was permanently removed from the ESPN airwaves.

As I booted up my ESPN radio player at 3 PM today, I was disappointed to hear Madden absent from the airwaves. I was truly looking forward to his analysis of the Penguins' nightmarish trip to Detroit. Instead, listeners were welcomed by Eddy Crow and Chris Mack for the four-hour shift. Sorry guys, but it's just not the same.

I know many of you could have cared less for Madden, but I'm an admitted listener for at least six or seven years. Sure, there were times I disagreed with his positions, most notably his stance several years ago that Willie Parker couldn't play in the NFL simply because he didn't start in college at North Carolina. But I found him to be the most interesting Pittsburgh sports talk show host on a day-in/day-out basis.

As far as Mondesi's House goes, there were few in Pittsburgh in a position of power that promoted this site more than Mark. He would quote entire posts and speak highly of Mondesi's House on a regular basis, despite his stated dislike of blogs. His influence and mentions were invaluable to the site's growth going back nearly two years.

He knew Pittsburgh sports inside and out, and he was a one-of-a-kind in this market. If you didn't "get" his humor, then you probably don't like shows like Howard Stern's, either. But much like Stern, there's more behind the "shock" persona that regular listeners would identify with. And either way, many would tune in to listen. Stern's Private Parts movie summed it up perfectly: "Those who love him listen to see what he'll say next. Those who hate him listen longer to see what he'll say next."

So Madden is no longer around for Bob Smizik to take to task on a regular basis. I'll be anxiously waiting to see what other members of the Pittsburgh sports media Smizik plans to publicly call out in the future, but the smart money says "no one". The Smizik-Madden war of words was well documented.

What's next at 1250? That remains to be seen. Madden will leave a gaping hole in the coveted afternoon drive-time slot, which currently goes head-to-head with Fox 970's Joe Bendel from 3-7 each weekday.

Whether you loved him, hated him, or ignored him, one fact remains: Mark Madden's absence will undoubtedly hurt 1250, at the very least in the near future. They are losing their biggest name, and considering what's going on in the city's sports scene right now, their best-known and most knowledgeable Penguin voice. Some of you will say "good riddance", but count me among those who will miss the daily controlled chaos that was The Mark Madden Show.