Edited sentence: After it was announced that Mark Madden had been fired for making an off color joke, Mr.ESPN considered hiring him, but desided that it was a public health risk, because putting him on the air during drive time would result in thousands of fender benders all over the city from people falling asleep listening to his interpretation of what pittsburgh sports fans want.He also covers radio and television, but has never been very popular or well known.He has made no secret of his jealousy of the popularity of Mark Madden, who is the highest rated sports radio host in Pittsburgh.His main selling point was his plan to devot an hour daily to Pittsburgh Steelers daily offseason workouts, and a never ending lineup of Pittsburgh Pirates guests to discuss everything Pirates, including coverage of bat boy bobble head night and bring your goldfish to the park night.Smizik called ESPN 1250 management, to pitch them the idea of letting him replace Madden.Smizik has had a distinguished career both at The Pittsburgh Press and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.Smizik has written many colums and made numerous comments about Madden mostly motivated out of jealousy