‘Super Genius’ raising money for South Fayette hockey program
Known for segments such as “Ask Mark Anything” on 105.9 WXDX-FM, host Mark Madden will answer questions personally when he hosts Hockey Night Out on Feb. 23 at the Bridgeville Fire Hall.
The event is a fundraiser for the South Fayette High School ice hockey program. Tickets are $25 and include dinner catered by Roadside Ribs BBQ, games of chance and 50/50 raffles, as well as the Penguins vs. Carolina Hurricanes game shown on a 15-foot screen and the promised Q&A with Madden during intermission.
During the NHL hockey season, Madden often hosts Pens-watching parties.
“It’s a great way to tie it in with high school hockey, of which I am a big supporter,” he said.
Ever since he was a freelance columnist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Madden has supported all types of amateur hockey, including dek hockey. He is involved in Street Hockey USA and the American Street Hockey Institute. He noted how the Pens have built over a dozen rinks in the region and how the sport has grown by leaps and bounds.
“And,” he added, “anything kids can do that occupies their time in a positive manner is important.”
Hockey, particularly the Pens, has proved vitally important to Madden’s career. After his 15-year stint with the PG ended in 1996, he worked for the Penguins Report. He replaced Tom McMillan, who is now the organization’s vice president of communications.
Madden subsequently appeared as a featured guest on “Action Sports Sunday” on WTAE-TV and parlayed his way into a broadcasting career that included a stint on Pittsburgh’s 1250 ESPN radio. Madden also worked in the pro wrestling realm, writing and doing television color commentary.
“It’s not easy,” he said of his broadcasting career, “but easier (than writing).”
To prepare for his WXDX-FM show, which runs from 3 to 6 p.m. weekdays, Madden arrives at the station’s Green Tree office by 10 a.m. He works “nonstop” producing the copy he will use for that day’s show.
“For me, the process comes slowly. It’s not grunt work. By the time I get on the air I have six to seven pages of notes. It’s like I’ve written a term paper.”
Term papers are a blast from Madden’s past. He actually does have a 166 IQ, for which he was tested in the fourth grade and from which he derives his moniker “Super Genius” for his radio show. He graduated from Shaler Area High School in 1978, but he did not gain his training or persona from his mother, who was a teacher as well as the speech and debate coach at North Hills.
“No,” he said with a hearty laugh. “I’m a late bloomer.”
With age, too, has come his aplomb. He has no qualms voicing his opinions. He is most candid with his callers.
“I have worked for every manner of imbecile imaginable until coming to the X, and with people who have held my career in check,” he said.
Madden has found his home at the X. He says he likes working for the station and, sometimes, he even listens to the music it airs.
“I’m a dial flipper,” he admitted. “If I don’t hear something I like within 60 seconds, I’m switching the channel.”
For Madden, going public is a switch. While he is excited about his upcoming appearance, he also admits to being a little apprehensive. He notes being in front of a microphone allows him the freedom that projects his self-assurance, his self-confidence.
“Part of it is because I am on the radio in a room by myself,” he said. “I get much more nervous when I’m someplace with a group of people who can see me.”
As for his radio show, Madden is adamant that it is not showmanship.
“It’s not an act at all,” he said. “You are always going to be different talking to thousands of people than if you are in a restaurant having dinner. I’m the same person. Just a different volume, but when I say it, I mean it.”
Madden means it when he cautions aspiring journalists to think twice about the profession. Madden earned such a degree from Duquesne University in 1982.
“Try something else,” he advised. “It’s a dying industry. Even with broadcasting because there are so many outlets. It’s easy to get opportunity. It’s just tough to make money. The best broadcasters make the most money.
“But don’t delude yourself,” he continued. “It’s a tough business.”
Becoming the real Mark Madden has been a tough business, too. He says that he is a “marriage” of people and two things. The late Pittsburgh radio personality Doug Hoerth and professional wrestling legend Ric Flair played key roles in his development, as did the 1970s-era magazines National Lampoon and Creem.
“That’s where my irreverence and wit come from, I think,” Madden said.
His predictions, however, come from his vast knowledge of the subject matter. Madden thinks the Pens can win a third straight Stanley Cup if Phil Kessel, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin stay as hot as they are now.
“When they won in 2016, they were the best (team). When they won in 2017, they knew how to do it. To win in 2018, those three (Kessel, Crosby and Malkin) need to run amok.”
Off the rails may be the fact that Madden’s most memorable moment doesn’t involve a sports figure. While he cited his interviews with Mario Lemieux and Crosby as being “tremendous” and the return of Marc-Andre Fleury as equally good, Madden said his encounter with John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) of the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd. proved most intriguing.
“He came to the studio for what was supposed to be a 10-minute interview and stayed for at least a half an hour. He was a very intelligent man,” Madden said. “I know, pretty odd for a sports guy to say that. But it was good radio.”