If you listen to our “Madden Monday” podcasts weekly, then you know Mark Madden’s strong affection for Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Obviously, Mark is JuJu’s biggest fan.
So when Smith-Schuster celebrated subscriber No. 1,000,000 to his YouTube channel, you knew Mark would be the first one in line to congratulate him.
1 Million Subscribers on YouTube! Big thank you to all the supporters and everyone who tunes in to JuJuTv! A lot more to come! @ytcreators @YouTube pic.twitter.com/voqmL579qC
— JuJu Smith-Schuster (@TeamJuJu) July 12, 2020
“It’s not about Pro Bowls,” Madden says in this week’s podcast. “It’s not about All Pro. It’s not about Super Bowls. It’s not even about — say — not fumbling so you don’t miss the playoffs. It’s about one million YouTube followers.
“I’m happy for the guy. It’s probably the biggest accomplishment he’ll ever have here in Pittsburgh. Because after this year, I expect him to not be very good, and then he’ll leave.”
As predicted, it’s exactly the love I would’ve expected from Mark for Smith-Schuster’s big day.
Speaking of Smith-Schuster, we also talk about the lack of respect given by ESPN to the Steelers skill position players in a recent ranking, and whether or not that is warranted.
Coronavirus is proving to be a problem for the Canadiens. We wonder if that will deflate their interest in the play-in round even more than what may already be the case.
Then there is the debate over attempting to advance college football despite the covid-19 pandemic. Mark and I are both pessimistic about the chances of pulling it off.
Where we disagree is how to handle Notre Dame on the ACC slate if the conference chooses to constrict the schedule to just conference games.
I say it is mutually beneficial for the ACC and the Fighting Irish to advance their relationship given the circumstances.
Mark doesn’t.
“I’d tell Notre Dame to go kick rocks,” Madden says. “They put themselves above everything indefinitely. They think they are too good for conference football. But now I would let them sit in their own mess. I wouldn’t schedule them unless they agree to join the ACC in perpetuity. Not just this year. But in perpetuity!”
We also forecast Major League Baseball’s ability to withstand covid-19 restrictions, Terrelle Pryor’s desire to join either the Steelers or Patriots, and the notion of the NHL essentially existing in a short-term international format within the bubble.
