Sorry for the tardiness of this update but if the Pittsburgh Steelers get a week off to rest, I figured I could take a morning to sleep in.
So, anyway, Ben Roethlisberger is hurt again. I know, I know… SHOCKING. Evidently, he re-broke his thumb on one of the Bengals’ approximately 248 knockdowns last Sunday. I say “re-broke” because some of you may recall Ben suffered a broken thumb back in 2005. I also seem to think he had some sort of issue with his hand last year which necessitated him wearing gloves but to be perfectly honest the Big Drama Queen has so many injuries I simply can’t keep track of them all.
To be fair, Ben doesn’t whine and complain about his injuries like many other players are apt to do. With hindsight being 20/20, it did seem like something was up on Sunday. He’s never been the most accurate passer and he’s never been particularly great at throwing a deep ball but he did look off on a lot of his throws, most notably when he missed a wide open Mike Wallace. The Flash blew by the coverage and Ben only had to loft it about 15 yards or so down the field and Wallace would’ve had 50 yards of green grass ahead of him.
Regardless, much like his broken sprained foot, I’m sure he’ll rub dirt on it and keep on playing.
In the good news department, Ben is no longer as hated as he used to be. A recent Nielsen E-Poll (yeah, that sounds accurate) has determined Ben is now the NFL’s third most disliked player. For those who followed me over from the Site That Shall Not Be Named, you’ll remember last year he held the second spot. Last year’s number one, Michael Vick, retained his title as NFL’s most hated. Don’t screw with pet lovers, man. They have loooooong memories.
Taking over the second spot is Plaxico Burress. What’s kinda amusing is the Steelers were hot and heavy in the Plaxico Burress Sweepstakes over the summer so had they signed him, the “Classiest Organization in the NFL” would’ve had two of the three most disliked players. Looking at how Young Money has progressed not to mention the emergence of Jerricho Cotchery, it makes me wonder why they even bothered. Maybe they foresaw the decline of Hines Ward before we did.
Not to get up on my soap box but Plax being second on the list is why I scoff at the results. I’m sure many of the hungover college kids and bored secretaries this “poll” was mass emailed to barely pay attention to football so all they knew was “Plax was in jail? HATE.” or “Ben was accused of something a couple years ago. HATE.” without bothering to learn any of the pesky little facts. I’m not a Plax-lover but the “crime” he went to jail for was dropping a gun down his pants, nearly shooting off his own dick and then lying about it at the hospital. He had a permit, just not a New York one, although to a guy who signs his name in crayon that’s an understandable mistake. The only reason he went to jail was the draconian NYC laws stipulate anybody carrying in the city limits automatically gets jail time.
I suppose when you live in a lawless cesspoll like New York you need to impose martial law on the populace but I would focus my attention more on people USING guns rather than those simply carrying them.
Albert Haynesworth, whose only crime is being an overpaid fatass, and Jay Cutler, whose only crime is being a pussy with a Justin Bieber haircut, round out the top five. Which brings me back to my original point about Big Ben’s toughness. Cutler is only known for two things: dating some reality TV bimbo and standing on the sideline with an “injury” while his team was putzing away the NFC Championship game. Can you imagine if Cutler pulled that crap playing in Pittsburgh? He would’ve been ran out of town instantly. So while we may hear about Ben’s injuries, and I’m sure we’ll hear about these and others as the weeks progress, let’s be thankful he has the testicular fortitude to play through them.