February 25, 2009

No Idea What I Should Title This Post...


Here's a break from the Wednesday afternoon monotony for you...

I had been saving this one for a rainy day. Specifically because I knew this whole offseason thing was going to suck at some point (like that was hard to predict). And while it's actually beautiful outside, today still qualifies, because frankly, there is as much noteworthy Steelers news right now as there are dollars in my bank account - Which would be ZERO, in case that wasn't implicitly clear.

Anyways, here's an article from all the way back in the dark internet days of 2001, when Ben was just a humble [redshirt] Freshman at Miami of Ohio, and was in Cincy to play that Big East football powerhouse, the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Actually, if you notice, it's from just nine days after 9/11. Craziness.

My first observation about this was - I'm impressed that the Cincinnati Enquirer even had a website back in 2001. Honestly, I didn't even know Ohio had the internets yet, let alone that one of it's major journalistic enterprises had been on there for at least eight years. Bravo, Inquirer spelled incorrectly!

My second observation about this was - Gee, this must've been some match-up. Gino GuiMostiItalianNameEver vs. Ben Roethlisberger. A battle of epic proportions between two clearly NFL bound golden armed QBs...

Riiiiiigggggghhhhhhhtttttttt.

Well, I don't know Gino. And I don't remember ever hearing about him. But maybe this WAS in fact a big time match-up. What do I know? I'm not gonna lie to you, I didn't even know who Big Ben was until like 2003-ish. I'm sure you didn't either. And don't lie and try and act all cool like you did. Sure, everybody's a scout when you're sitting at your keyboard in your Mom's basement, drinking Kool Aid and eating home made Lasagna. Face it, you're not fooling anyone.

...Unless, of course, you live in Ohio or something. Then, I'll believe it. Or at least I'll believe it slightly more than if you were from anywhere else.

In any case, this really has no significance, save for the fact that Ben looks like he's 12 in that picture. Which, come to think of it, reminds me of another old school picture of Ben that I enjoy...

I love Big Ben.

Did you know he ran 80 yards for a TD against IOWA in only his 3rd game as a redshirt Freshman? Sick.

Oh yeah, one more thing - ESPN tells me that things aren't going so swimmingly anymore in contract talks between the Steelers and Senor Silverback. Apparently money's the issue.

Of course it is.

Fantastic.

Discuss.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Funny article. Ben is awesome. Silverback not resigning is kinda scary, then again, Silverback is getting kinda old so I don't want to see him get too much money.

domski43 said...

after being awesome as a special teams player and rising to defensive player of the year Harrison deserves a BIG fat contract. Of course i dont want his salary to screw up the steelers salary cap situation too much, but his production deserves every penny he will get paid.

if he doesnt get paid well this will send a bad message to the rest of the steelers players.

i'm not worried about the negotiations, he is not a free agent, and they will work it out (lots of time before training camp)

Big Ben is a no Brady Quinn.

Notre Dame = football powerhouse!

tecmo said...

But Silverback understands that he was old when he started to make noise in the league, so he's trying to secure guaranteed money because this would probably be his last contract (or at least last chance at a premiuem player's contract). He's not as young as, say, Demarcus Ware, who, if he stays healthy, has a shot to make good money on potentially multiple contracts.

The Steelers pretty much have to pay him...I just hope Harrison doesn't ask for too much.

tecmo said...

whoops, you werent there when i started, domski

Anonymous said...

I agree with you guys, i just don't want to see him get Jared Allen money/years or something

domski43 said...

The Steelers front office makes smart decisions every year, so i expect Silverback's deal to be fair for both sides. Unless Silverback's agent becomes an asshole and has him hold out of training camp/first 8 games(i think).

the Steelers would let Harrison walk before putting the team in a shitty position.

*cant wait to watch steelers dvd!!!!!!(my dad is sending me one in the mail)

every time i'm having a shitty day i think about james harrison's interception return in the super bowl.....that shit is priceless!