Roethlisberger to miss opener due to surgery

[JustRalph]

The Steelers are starting out minus the Big Ben........

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14659888/


sucks..........

[Valuist]

In the made for TV movie, "The Ben Rothlesberger Story", the lead role won't be Ben. It will be his surgeon.

[melman]

Have a question for you Valuist, what does that do to the line?? Listed now as "off". Did not like the game but now would like the under.

[Valuist]

It probably will come back up eventually. Batch will start. But there will be a big adjustment. When Batch started for Pitt last year, the Steelers were lousy. BR may not be Manning or Brady, but from a pointspread perspective, I've heard he's worth the 2nd most of any individual player to a line.

[falconridge]

Better Batch than Mike Tomczak. Weren't the Steelers 2-0 with Batch last season? Didn't see the games, but Batch looked okay in the few highlights I saw replayed afterward (of course, in a highlight reel, one would see only the best of his performance).

I notice Pittsburgh released rookie QB Omar Jacobs yesterday (presumably before Roethlisberger took ill), and signed him today. Anyone here know anything about Jacobs? I hear he compiled some impressive stats at Bowling Green, but I've never seen him play.

[JustRalph]

Mike Tomzak had 10 wins in 1996 for Pittsburgh. I think they might prefer someone who could get ten wins right now.

Tomzak never got any credit for being a great backup. Not to mention he has a Super Bowl ring after playing in the Super Bowl with Chicago his first year. He had a propensity for being intercepted......but seemed to find a way to win most of the time. He made 68 career starts posting a 41-27 record in regular season. Mike is listed as 6'1 ........ I doubt it. He has made a few jokes about not being able to see over the lineman sometimes. I would think this would lead to some interceptions........ :D

[falconridge]

Tomzak never got any credit for being a great backup.Of course you're right about Tomczak, Ralph. I'd been thinking of Tommy Maddox, who performed creditably for a while after catching on with the Steelers following seasons in Arena Football and in Vince McMahon's short-lived "smashmouth" USFL. Tomczak ... Maddox--no comparison. Shows what I know about this gridiron game!:blush: :D

[BillW]

USFL. Shows what I know about this gridiron game!:blush: :D

XFL :p

They came really close to bringing Mattox back this week :eek: . It's tough relying on a raw rookie.

[falconridge]

XFL :p Awright, awready! XFL it is. :blush: :D I didn't mention it for fear of being pettifogged for going off-topic (we were talking football, weren't we?). Now, remind me: in Jim Thorpe--All-American, for how many points did a Burt Lancaster drop kick count?

http://members.tripod.com/TheThreeStooges_3/images/THREELITTLEPIGSKINS.gif
You-know-who from Three Little Pigskins (1934)

[JustRalph]

We can agree on Maddox..........

I can't believe the Raiders brought back Jeff George last week. Amazing, a shortage of Pitchers and Quarterbacks in two pro sports. I guess we know where the real money will be for the future...........

[bigmack]

for how many points did a Burt Lancaster drop kick count?
One more than the number on his jersey?

http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/health/centersite/graphics/thorpe.jpg

[falconridge]

One more than the number on his jersey?Though my powers of recall may now be dimmer than the San Mateo theater in which I, as a four-year-old perched upon my mother's knee, first viewed Jim Thorpe--All American (in 1958 or '59), I distinctly recall learning from this biopic that, during Thorpe's time at Carlisle, a crossbar-clearing, uprights-splitting drop kick counted for four points, and a touchdown for five. Lancaster, as Thorpe, explained as much in a voice-over, and then proceeded to boot a fifty-yarder to beat Army (at least I think it was Army; maybe Rutgers or Navy or Pitt). Either Thorpe or the other film on that afternoon double bill--The Stratton Story, starring Jimmy Stewart--was the first movie I ever recall seeing on the big screen. Later that day ...

Young falconridge, to sire: [enthusiastically] "I saw movie about a baseball player who has only one leg named Monty."

Pops: [playfully] Is that a fact! What's the name of his other leg?

Y.f.: [cluelessly] Captain Satellite's on teevee now. [...]

Sorry 'bout the threadjacking.

http://www.posterchoice.com/im/3938_small.jpg
Jimmy as Monty

[bigmack]

The charming San Mateo Theater opened July 23, 1925 styled in an art deco design and operated by Fox West Coast Theatres and is thought by some to be the first theatre where the interior was art deco. It offered 1200 seats and is now home to a host office and retail tenants, including a French Continental Restaurant called Bogies.

Sitting in a stylish theatre at age four watching a double feature with the likes of Jimmy S and Burt L was a good time to be alive.

It was the year of my birth and I suspect that I have a likewise story albeit films changed by 1962 in a darker direction as with Days of Wine and Roses, Dr. No, Lolita, Cape Fear, and certainly not for the eyes of a 4-5 year old the demented What Ever Happened to Baby Jane, in the Arlington Park Theatre in the vast suburban sprawl of northwest Chicago. In time, Bettie D’s performance of “I sent a letter to Daddy” would haunt him for decades to come.

JR: Sorry about falc threadjacking!

[Valuist]

Better Batch than Mike Tomczak. Weren't the Steelers 2-0 with Batch last season? Didn't see the games, but Batch looked okay in the few highlights I saw replayed afterward (of course, in a highlight reel, one would see only the best of his performance).

I notice Pittsburgh released rookie QB Omar Jacobs yesterday (presumably before Roethlisberger took ill), and signed him today. Anyone here know anything about Jacobs? I hear he compiled some impressive stats at Bowling Green, but I've never seen him play.

They were 2-0 with Batch but they beat a 4-12 Green Bay team and a 6-10 Cleveland team. He played decently against Cleveland but poorly against GB. 65 yards on 9 completions, 0 TDs and 1 pick against a weak Packer D. The line opened at Pitt -5 and is now a pick.

Jacobs was really good at BG. Saw him play against Wisconsin last year and he single handedly kept them in the game. The MAC has been a very fertile conference for QBs; both Rothlesberger and Batch are from the MAC, Leftwich, Pennington, and Charlie Frye and Culpepper was in the MAC w/Central Florida, who I believe no longer is in the MAC.

[melman]

Looks like you were correct on all counts, the Pitt/Miami game opened at 5 and is now listed as a pick. Wow. I do like the under listed at 34 1/2 don't see a lot of scoring in this game.