3
Sep
2010
Shocker: Roethlisberger suspension reduced to 4 games
Ben Roelisberger will hopefully avoid the local nightlife during his suspension
Well, this isn’t really surprising, but today, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell reduced Ben Roethlisberger’s six-game suspension to four games.
As we all know by now, Roethlisberger was suspended earlier this year after being accused of sexual assaulting a college student in Milledgeville, Georgia on March 5th. Although no charges were filed, Goodell elected to suspend Big Ben for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. But the Pittsburgh QB met with Goodell early this morning, when he learned he would be able to return to the team on October 17th, when the Steelers face the Cleveland Browns. During his suspension, Roethlisberger will not be allowed to visit the team facility or have any contact with Steelers coaches or personnel.
But don’t think Roethlisberger is completely off the hook. From NFL.com:
The league said the “reinstatement is contingent on Roethlisberger continuing to adhere to the program established by our advisors and avoiding any further violations of the personal conduct policy.”
“You have told me and the Steelers that you are committed to making better decisions,” Goodell said in a letter to Roethlisberger. “Your actions over the past several months have been consistent with that promise and you must continue to honor that commitment.
So that basically means Ben needs to stay away from bars, and keep it in his pants for the next six weeks. Let’s see if the big guy can make it happen!
14
Jul
2010
Hit ‘em where it hurts
Brief thought: The NFL currently suspends players at the beginning of the NFL season. A suspended player typically is allowed to train with their teams, and participate in training camp and preseason games. With the real games start, the suspension hits and the player misses anywhere from one to four (or more) weeks. In most cases, even with a rocky start, the player and his team have the entire rest of the season to recover. I don’t find this severe enough.
Case in point: If Big Ben wants to head down to Georgia and cause utter chaos during the offseason, he’s still back in the saddle by (probably) Week 5 of the 2010 NFL season (although if he botches up again, it could be later). Realistically, if the Steelers can get out of their first four games at 2-2 — even 1-3 — they’ll be fine.
I’d like to see the league play with the idea of suspending players at the end of the season. Or, perhaps a combination of two games to start the year and two games to end it.
Naturally, if a suspended player is trapped on a terrible football team, there’s less to lose if the team is 1-11 when a four-game suspension would commence.
On the flip side, it would make the game’s stars think twice about their behavior if they’re forced to bail on their teams in the critical final weeks of the season.
I don’t propose hanging a mistake over a player forever. There is something natural about paying your fine and moving on. With that aside, a system of late-season suspensions might have more impact on the game. I guess it all depends if the guilty party is on my team — or yours.
One man's appeal to up the stakes by have suspended stars benched at the END of the season. (Source: static.nfl.com)
15
Apr
2010
Roethlisberger police reports released, and it doesn’t sound good for Ben
Ben Roethlisberger poses for a photo on the night of the alleged incident. (Photo: Deadspin.com)
We’ve purposely avoided the whole Ben Roethlisberger debacle up until now, mainly because we didn’t want to get caught up in the speculation game before the facts of the case came out. Especially when dealing with such a sensitive subject as sexual assault.
Today, the Milledgeville, Georgia Police Department released 572 pages of records from their investigation into the alleged events of March 4th & 5th of this year (since no charges were brought in the case, these records now become available to the public). The Smoking Gun brings us the full report, and after reading through the entire thing, it doesn’t sound good for Roethlisberger.
Here is the most relevant part of the report — the alleged victim’s statement to police from the morning after:
“Ben asked us to go to his ‘VIP’ area. . . . We all went with him. He said there were shots for us, numerous shots were on the bar, and he told us to take them. His bodyguard came and took my arm and said come with me, he escorted me into a side door/hallway, and sat me on a stool. He left and Ben came back with his penis out of his pants. I told him it wasn’t OK, no, we don’t need to do this and I proceeded to get up and try to leave. I went to the first door I saw, which happened to be a bathroom. He followed me into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. I still said no, this is not OK, and he then had sex with me. He said it was OK. He then left without saying anything. I went out of the hallway/door to the side where I saw my friends. We left [the club] and went to the first police car we saw.”
It should be noted that the alleged victim asked that the case be dropped, and her intoxication level at the time of the incident certainly raises doubts about her account of the events of that night. But witness statements seem to corroborate that something definitely went on in that bathroom:
2
Feb
2010
It’s Groundhog Day, and Punxsutawny Polamalu saw his sha … GAAAHHH! KILL IT! KILL IT!!! (video)
This is apparently an ad which is set to air during the Super Bowl on Sunday, promoting TruTV’s new series, NFL Full Contact. And while the idea of “six more weeks of football” seems like a fantastic idea on the surface, I gotta say, this image of a freaky miniature Troy Polamalu scares the ever-loving crap out of me. Watch at your own risk:
And with that, Polamalu has officially become my least favorite NFL pitch man of all time. Between this and those awful Head & Shoulders commercials, I’d be cool with never seeing ol’ Troy in an advertisement ever again.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to undergo some hypnotherapy to try and drive that image out of my brain forever.
11
Dec
2009
Josh Cribbs induces Steeler fan MELTDOWN.
Present to me a more selfless, team-oriented player in the National Football League than Joshua Cribbs. You can’t do it. This guy has been through hell with this team, and continues to play with heart. Because of players like him, the Browns/Steelers rivalry emerged out of the abyss last night, with the 1-11 Browns THUMPING the defending Super Bowl champions on national TV. Here’s Cribbs:
Steelers fans, unfamiliar with tough times, are spinning.
Here’s a Steelers fan in a slow-mo, Counting Crows-induced, slapped-in-the-face, season melt.
Gotta’ love this guy. Steelers fans, like Browns fans–despite seemingly very different fates–are both passionate, and fiery. It’s better for everyone if this rivalry comes back to life.
Cleveland put a huge hurt on Big Jen and the Stillers last night: 8 sacks, pressuring Jen all night, taking super-annoying Hines Ward out of the picture and simply WANTING IT MORE than Pittsburgh did.
The Steelers lack identity right now.
10
Nov
2009
NFL MIDSEASON BULLETIN: GIVE UP NOW
We arrive at that brutal hour of the season—the midpoint—and far too many teams, despite their outward posture of exuberance and bravado, know it’s over. They haven’t the men to go the distance. They’re unable to pound the ball on the opponent, their defensive front is too meek and moveable, and their passer is unsure of himself in the dark moments of the night. In some form, there exists a fatal flaw.
This time around, nice guys go home. (Source: AP)
I see no need to examine all 32 teams—80% of them are complete jokers. Organizations getting by, at best—some putting on a better show than others. They will all fail in the end—all but one.
I find the New York Giants vaguely intriguing, but floundering. I haven’t over-analyzed their recent losing streak, and I don’t need to. The entire league understands that something is wrong with Big Blue. They’re flailing, they’re exposed, it’s been a terrible month. Their loyal fanbase, so used to victory, is at a point of conflict: they see something drastically wrong, and must ultimately come to grips with it, but still hold hope that the G-Men will roar back to life and re-materialize as the team everyone believes them to be. The facts are less forgiving: Eli and the Giants have been scorched and stand vulnerable before the NFC East and the league, in general. Few fear them.
As much as it pains me to say it, the Steelers are one of the few teams to be taken seriously. (Source: AP)
It’s vanity. So many of these teams are pathetic. Wandering drunken, it seems. Two or three teams are legitimate. The rest of it is comprehensive farce. Looming as a colossal joke. As a fan of Atlanta, Miami, San Diego, Baltimore—or anyone lesser—you’d be better off spending evenings at the library, mowing lawns, helping the poor and the orphans, or backpacking through Europe with your tedious college friends. This season will end in despair for you, and devoting another second of your life on it is a waste of time. Go do something with your one chance on earth. Disembowel your fantasy football team, turn off the television, and find something better to do with your existence.
Saints fans: You’re probably rolling up your sleeves, thinking you’re badass—but your fate will be horrendous. Drew Brees will bite it in Week 15, sustaining a season-ending injury. The Saints, NFC darlings, will be taken down in the NFC Divisional round of the playoffs. Why? Here’s why. Each year, without fail, we get a lovable team that goes 14-2 in the regular season only to get bounced early—and the Saints are that team. You’re the pre-2006 Indianapolis Colts. You’re the Chiefs under Schottenheimer. You’re the 1986-1988 Chicago Bears. Huge regular season. Tons of feel-good press. Overrated by the blind. Total memory by mid-Jan.
Dallas Cowboys followers (who love ease): Your team is stocked with an unlikeable, cocky, self-entitled and underachieving collection of forgettables. You will make no dent in the postseason. You strung a few wins together: don’t care. Tony Romo, who’s about as endearing as a frat boy accused of murder by hazing, has never won when it matters. This team will dissemble at the critical hour. This team is impossible to root for. Under no circumstance can the average American find solace in the Dallas Cowboys. Hilariously, they still label themselves “America’s Team,” with no recognition of why our country, and our people, have moved beyond lauding a team like the Cowboys. Why does ESPN still center on them? Because ESPN feeds on the weak. We don’t live the in 1970s anymore. The whole cocksure, megalomaniacal position embraced by Dallas is a joke at this point. Our country has changed, we’ve woken up to our own flaws, and the Cowboys don’t represent anything anymore—beyond the disease of style before substance. We don’t care if the press caters to the lowest common denominator, harassing us with Cowboys pregame segments on a weekly basis–this team hasn’t made an impact on the NFL playoffs since the mid-90s. That isn’t about to change.
The Dallas Cowboys -- always poolside, always overrated, always bathed in hype -- haven't done a thing in 15 years. (Source: AP)
As much as I hate to say it, the Pittsburgh Steelers stand as the team to beat. They aren’t flashy, they aren’t undefeated, but they know how to win big games—and they know how to win ugly. They’ll march right back to the Super Bowl—and this is coming from a wildly pissed off Browns fan. This team isn’t afraid of anything. They might hit January with a 10-6 record—it doesn’t matter. These guys win. I can’t stand the sight of them, but they win.
Football fans—most of them—are in for a big disappointment. The practice of deluding yourself, rooting for a doomed team, will never pay off. It’s over for you. But not everything: Unlike Eli Manning, you still have to toil away at your endless day job, you still have a load of bills to pay, you still have to scrape ice off your car in order to drive to the office on Monday morning at 6:41 a.m.—that exhaustion is alive and well and enduring—but your football team is lost and over and nearing its final hour.
And this will be you come January—if not sooner.
Get out now.
Go do something valuable with your life.
You’ve wasted too many years living vicariously through others.
Turn away from the machine.
Turn off the TV.
Vanish into the western plains. Disappear forever into the earth—turn your eyes away from this.
26
Oct
2009
VIDEO: Adrian Peterson trucks William Gay
This might have been the best highlight from yesterday’s game action. Watch Adrian Peterson destroy Steelers DB William Gay during a losing effort. Watch the defender’s legs flail wildly in the air as he gets run over:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By3kO1hYvrQ
21
Oct
2009
SHOCKER: Mike Pereira defends Referees on Browns/Steelers call (video)
Every Wednesday on NFL Total Access, Mike Pereira – the NFL’s VP of Officiating – joins Rich Eisen for a segment called “Official Review” where they discuss the most controversial calls from the previous weekend.
Sounds like a great idea, doesn’t it? The problem is that Pereira is clearly a robot programmed to back up his part-time employees’ calls. No matter how egregious they are, no matter how much blatant visual evidence there is to the contrary, Pereira always seems to find a way to justify or rationalize the calls on the field.
The most recent example came this evening, when Pereira reviewed this astonishingly bad call from Sunday’s Steelers/Browns match-up:
Fair enough, Mike. The camera shot was definitely from an angle, which could account for a skewed perspective of the ball position on TV. So the other people on the field must have seen the same thing Anderson saw, right? Surely the Steelers felt they had gotten the first down, right? Not exactly:
Even Steelers center Justin Hartwig said the ball was “definitely short” of the first-down marker.
“I have no idea how they gave us a first down, but we’ll take it,” Hartwig said. “I’d say (it was short) by two chain links. It was obvious to everybody playing on the field. I don’t know how they called it the way they did, but … we’re not going to complain about it.”
“It was a close play – and we got lucky,” Roethlisberger told the Associated Press after the game.
Huh. That’s weird. I guess ole’ Walt must have had a better view than the center and QB on the play. Which was a QB sneak, mind you.
Uhhhh … Mike?
17
Sep
2009
Browns-Steelers: Still a rivalry?
Strange NFL videos from yesteryear (Part 4 of 213): Check out this bizarre, captivating video of a 1986 Browns-Steelers game at Three Rivers Stadium. The Browns, who–in 16 years–had NEVER beaten Pittsburgh in Three Rivers Stadium, go for the kill in this clip. Weird moment: check out Art Modell and his two high-society friends (including Al Lerner to Modell’s left) in an outdoor box, looking like they’re at a tennis match (do we ever see owners sitting outdoors like this anymore?). At one point, Modell angrily paces around in the outdoor booth. Fantastic. This rivalry is on life support in 2009–Cleveland hasn’t beaten Pittsburgh since 2003–but it once had meaning.
Back when Modell had a soul.
11
Sep
2009
Polamalu makes pro bowl in 1st quarter, out 3-6 weeks with Madden Curse
In case you missed it, Troy Polamalu was a one-man highlight reel in the first half of last night’s Steelers/Titans game. The Pro Bowl S was everywhere, firing into the backfield with speed and power that you just don’t see, even at the NFL level. He led both teams with 6 tackles in the first half, all the while his thick black hair floating majestically in the Pittsburgh night air.
And then there was this, ridiculous one-handed interception at the end of the 1st quarter:
With their defense picking up right where they left off, everything was looking good for the Steelers and their faithful.
But then, it happened. With about three minutes left in the half, Polamalu injured his left knee when a Titans player fell on him after the Steelers blocked a 31-yd FG attempt. Head Coach Mike Tomlin stated in his post-game press conference that Polamalu will miss 3-6 with an MCL sprain.
If I had Larry Fitzgerald on my fantasy football team, I'd be worried
In addition to being a major blow to the SB champs, Polamalu also becomes the latest victim of the Madden Curse, after gracing the cover of Madden NFL 10 with Larry Fitzgerald. I’m not normally a big believer in this sort of thing, and I thought the SportsIllustrated curse got overblown. But as Shutdown Corner points out, this is becoming a real trend. Other recent victims of the Madden curse include Michael Vick (broken leg/prison), Donavan McNabb (hernia, missed 7 games), Shaun Alexander (broken foot, 6 games), Vince Young (moron/back-up) and Brett Favre (douche bag).
The injury happened when Polamalu was attempting to pick up the ball and make yet another play for his team. He was taken to the locker room before the half, and did not return, with back-up Tyrone Carter taking his place. Tomlin said that Polamalu will undergo further tests to determine the exact extent of the injury, and couldn’t rule out the possibility that it could be worse than initially thought.
