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.

What A Shitty Weekend For Ohio...

Man, at the risk of sounding like a humungous dick, it must've been a pretty shitty weekend to be an Ohioan. You know, what with THE Ohio State getting downright violated by USC, 35-3, the Bengals looking like the Bengals, and the Browns falling to our Steelers 10-6 because of poor clock management and turnovers.

Hey Derek Anderson, I got news for you - THAT is why Big Ben is a bona fide pro bowler, and you are an alternate. Throw another untimely pick, dude. I dare you.

Anyways, I'll have a full game recap for you at some point later this morning/afternoon. But I just wanted to briefly note that - a win is a win. Even though I wanted to destroy them like 56-0, I'll take 10-6 because it means 2-0, ammo in the event of a tie-breaker, and a reaffirmation that Big Ben OWNS Ohio.

Big Ben - 10
Ohio - 0

And just so you know, ESPN has officially launched it's campaign to fellate Ben as much as possible. So we've got that going for us...which is nice.


Any thoughts before I get too far into this?

PS - Did anybody know that the "Dawg Pound" is "vaunted?" Me either. Thank you, Associated Press. I just learned something new...