The long dark period that most of you call spring/summer is almost over, and that means one thing and one thing only.
STEEELERS TRAINING CAMP!
They screamed in delight, yelled out his name, asked him to slow down so they could snap more pictures. Ben Roethlisberger heard the ruckus, realized he was the cause of it and could only smile at the attention.
And all he was doing midway through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first training camp practice Sunday was changing his jersey.
“They were loud, and they were cheering for any little thing that happened,” coach Bill Cowher said of the 10,000-plus fans watching a practice that couldn’t have been more routine, with a few passing and blocking drills and not much else.
That Roethlisberger was back with his teammates, throwing passes to first-round draft pick Santonio Holmes and getting a bit of a scare when he banged his right thumb off a lineman’s helmet, was anything but ordinary.
The youngest quarterback to win the Super Bowl is less than two months removed from a potentially tragic motorcycle accident that easily could have ended his life, and having him back on the field so soon is more than the Steelers and their fans could have expected.
“I got the arm loosened up, and the body, and proved a lot of people wrong,” Roethlisberger said.
Thank goodness football season is almost here!
Jim Allen
Does this boob ever have an injury that doesn’t involve a helmet or lack thereof?
jaime
Also known as the Pirates regular season. Good luck with Shawn Chacon.
Slide.
Yawn
Nutcutter
Week from Saturday, the Steelers come here to my town to play the first ever football game in the Cardinals’ new Zillion-dollar air conditioned palace with natural grass.
For the first time in memory, the Cardinals’ season is sold out, and the team has, on paper, the makings of a true contender (if Denny Green doesn’t ruin it).
The town is buzzing and the arrival of the Champs is eagerly awaited.
Mac Buckets
Are the Steelers bringing their Super Bowl refs, or are those guys still busy with WWE this summer?
Nutcutter
Cardinals new stadium, videos and slide shows here.
America’s only movable grass field. You saw it here first.
Punchy
Can’t stand Worthlessberger. Let’s see…ya chucked Plexiglass, let Randle-El leave, The Bus retired….not to mention, Charlie Bitch is one more two-wheel joyride from taking snaps on Sundays…ouch.
If Pitty can find a way to make up for Randle-El’s playmaking and get Duce to actually stay healthy (not to mention, add 10 lbs), they should be a WC team. But I just don’t see anything resembling a solid offense…
Punchy
PLEASE…stop…stomach hurts…laughing too hard…If ever “on paper” had more qualification, I’ve never seen it.
You’ve got Kurt “Mr. Fumble Himself” trying to “teach” Pretty Boy Lienart (that is, if he ever signs) how to chuck it deep, with only Fitz as a credible threat. Y’all still have Boston, or is he in SD?
You’ll get some O with James…..but contender? Ha ha ahahahahaha……
Steve
Fortunately the Tigers are having a great season, so there’s no need to worry about football just yet. Although I enjoyed mentioning to my wife that “it’s almost football season!” just to get a dirty look.
Rusty Shackleford
Da Bears!
Stu
Also known as the entire history of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Punchy
What he said. 1000 times over. Urlacher for President.
jaime
Thanks for Abreu.
Rusty Shackleford
Ditka for Secretary of Defense!
Daaahhhhhh Bears!
Ancient Purple
I think I will start a fund to help Cindy Sheehan purchase the Steelers.
Nutcutter
Which is your team? The mighty Cardinals are ready to give you a wedgie.
Punchy
Post of the MONTH.
If not ownership, could we get a bronze bust of her outside of Formerly Three Rivers Stadium? Have “Code Pink Halftime Dancers”, Win Free Trips to Crawford giveaways, and instead of guessing attendance, the crowd would have to guess the number of dead soliders that week…
I smell all sorts of opps
oomab
Football, schmootball (yes, schmootball) — it’s still baseball season, John (although, I suppose, it hasn’t been baseball season for the Pirates in about 15 years …)
As a long suffering Mets fan (I know, redundant), I find it impossible to think about football yet.
Zifnab
Was wonderng where you went, John. Clearly you were hibernating until Steeler season.
Hahaha. Where do I donate to that?
Punchy
Fuck you (2000 WS). Fuck…you (1986 WS). F-U-C-K Y-O-U (’99, ’88, ’69…)
Signed,
Diehard Cubs Fan (190….nevermind)
Tom in Texas
Bit of a tangent, but bear with me:
The real issue with Ben’s accident was, I thinked, overlooked this offseason. While everyone focused on his failure to wear a helmet, it was ignored who hit him. Old people are a menace to society on the streets. Not all of them, to be sure, but enough to where there should be laws requiring yearly testing for license renewals for the elderly, or at the very least those with a poor accident record.
That being said, I do think Pittsburgh’s in a little bit o’ trouble now. I don’t buy Willie yet as a full time starter, and I think a few other teams (Dolphins anyone?)improved dramatically while the Steelers, to be generous, stood pat.
Tom in Texas
And Nutcutter, mark my words — Leinart will BOMB. He is a wanna be movie star, not an athlete. The name Jay Cutler will be forever seared in your memory as the man who could have been yours — just as I will have to forever endure the sight of Reggie Bush or Vince Young wearing another color. I gave up on pro football once, when the Oilers left. I did so again when the Texans took Williams.
Sine.Qua.Non
The long dark period for me means that its hot as hell, all the lights are off to keep it cooler, and I am stuffing as much of my body as possible into the damned freezer to keep from boiling myself alive. Therefore, it is dark. And, this damned summer is endless.
oomab
Punchy —
My apologies.
Oomab
DecidedFenceSitter
Yay! Almost time for me to watch football for 6 weeks, then give up till the Playoffs/Superbowl.
Yes, I am a Redskins fan, why do you ask?
chopper
i don’t care much for football, but i think “Santonio Holmes” is the raddest name ever.
that is all.
Jim Allen
I can mark the start of my disenchantment with football right around the time John Riggins retired. Never really seemed worth watching after that.
“Hail, to the Redskins! Hail, victory!…..”
Bob In Pacifica
Meanwhile, hope springs eternal down in Santa Clara, CA, where the 49ers prepare for the upcoming season. Their new “F-back” offense along with the turn-around of their offensive line, could be the ticket to propel them past Seattle, St. Louis and Arizona in a position of dominance in the NFC West. Genius manchild QB Smith will have the extra fraction of a second to work her magic.
…honey, while you’re up could you get another one from the fridge….
Meanwhile, the Niners’ no-name defense is the half of the squad just itching to make that name for themselves….
…no, dear, the white pills in the mason jar. Yeah, right next to the crack pipe…
…establishing their ground game in order to maintain their large first half leads should be reasonably easy with the barn full of steeds that have shown up in camp….
Nutcutter
Perhaps. But I know that God Is On Our Side.
Punchy
How do you spell Matt Lienart? C-a-d-e Mc-N-o-w-n.
Mr. Cole–why dont you start some BJ-posters fantasy football league? It looks like you got enough f-ball fans here to do so. I could start my draft with Larry Johnson, then grab a QB, and snatch Cindy Sheehan with my 3rd pick…as my tight end.
Jimmmm
Bob:
..no, dear, the white pills in the mason jar. Yeah, right next to the crack pipe…
Laughed out loud at that one!
fester
I am heavily scratching my head about the wailing on how the Steelers can not or have not replaced Antwan Randel El’s production and how this will keep the Steelers from being an extremely competitive team this year — he had 35 catches and a touchdown last year on a team that ran the ball 59% of the time — The Steelers have a legit #1 in Ward (albiet an unconventional #1) and then they just need enough competent receivers to keep the 9th man out of the box and between Miller and Wilson, I think that they have that…. and I am saying all of this as a Patriot’s fan…
My major worry for the Steelers is their defensive line depth — Kimo’s departure and replacement by a second day rookie draft pick means that the rotation is going to be a bit thinner this year than I would have liked to have seen on a 3-4 front.
Former Vikings fan
I hate freakin’ football.
ding
Old?? She was 62. Not even old enough to collect normal Social Security benifits.
Peyton Manning
Super Bowl, Schmuper Bowl. They call me Mister October. As everyone knows that’s a much nicer month than January or February.
Veeshir
You got it right John, football is here. All the other sports are just placeholders.
The worst part about this year for me is that far too many people are saying happy things about the Giants. That’s usually the kiss of death.
I’m still pretty pumped. They have a new secondary and, hopefully, Sinorice Moss will end the Tim Carter experiment and they can have 4 receivers out there who are all credible threats.
How odd is it for the Giants to actually have an offence?