Big Ben's Time Has Come and Kobe Goes Off

Big Ben Reaches the Big Time

I told you Steeler fans to be excited after I endorsed Jake Plummer. Four turnovers by The Snake sending the Steelers to XL, and restoring order in the world. There's gonna be a lot of talk about the Super Bowl in the next week and a half. Unfortunately most of it will probably center around Detroit, and the lack of big names. It's gonna be called boring by a lot of people which is stupid if you ask me. I think this is going to be a great game. I'm not gonna talk too much about it now though. I'll break down what I think later next week before the game.

My honest feeling about the Steelers is jealousy. They are everything the Bears want to be right now. They have a solid run game, and they play solid defense. They beat up on their opponents. The major difference is the Steelers have Ben Roethlisberger. It surprises me how many people still think Ben is a game manager. Look at these numbers he's had in the playoffs:

680 Yds 68% Comp. 7 TD's 1 INT

Looks more like a game winner than a manager to me. He is a franchise quarterback, and he has shown that this postseason. A lot of people say they are surprised to see the Steelers in the Super Bowl. Well 6th seed or not the Steelers really have been the best team in the NFL since Week 14 when the beat the Chicago Bears 21-9. They haven't lost a game (7 game win streak) since December 4th when they lost 38-31 against Cincy, but the Steelers got the last laugh in the opening round of the playoffs.

While the running game and defense are very large reasons for the Steelers success, does anybody think they'd be anywhere near as good a team if Tommy Maddox was behind center? I sure as hell don't. This is Ben's team, it doesn't matter that he's only in his second year and is only 23 years old. (24 in March) While a lot of people don't see it yet, there are some starting to notice outside of Pittsburgh, and Big Ben is gonna be Big Time for quite a while in Pittsburgh if you ask me. Even if Pittsburgh loses on February 5th, I think it won't be Ben's last chance with this team. They were 15-1 last year, and despite a bad 3 week stretch (when Ben was hurt) finished 11-5. They easily could have been 13-3. This team is not going to just drop of the face of the NFL landscape next season.

Not with Ben around.


81

Ok so there's already been a ton of things said about Kobe and his 81 point performance on the night. I don't want to get too far into it cuz if you're like me you're probably a little bit sick of hearing about it. I am not a Kobe Bryant fan, and I never will be. I think he is a ball hog, and he was ball hogging when he scored 81. I don't have a problem with him doing it though. When he took over the Lakers were down by 18, and by the time he was done they had won.

Plus I don't exactly see Phil Jackson or anybody else on the Lakers do anything but help him get the job done. Kobe did do a couple of things afterward that I find are par for the course in his career. He never once thanked his teammates after the game for helping him. Not once. Then he actually said, after putting up a stat line that read 81 points 4 rebounds and 2 ASSISTS, "I'm all about the W."

He must have been talking about President Bush. I'm sorry but anytime a player would rather be the best player on a losing team, than the second best player on a championship team, they don't care about winning no matter what they say.

Another thing I loved about the whole situation was when New Jersey Net Vince Carter said that Kobe's performance was "bad for the kids." You're kidding right? I understand that maybe future ballers may get the wrong idea about Kobe's selfishness here, I'm not arguing with what VC said, I just want to know one thing. What does VC think about the fact he admitted that his last few years in Toronto he didn't give 100% of his effort so he'd get traded? Was that setting a bad example for the kids Vince? If your team is bad, don't waste your time trying to make them better, suck it up until they trade you to a better team.

Also I'm going to go on record and say I think what Kobe did is greater than what Chamberlain did with 100. Chamberlain was the tallest guy on the court, and if he got the ball down low he was unstoppable. Kobe did it as a guard. He had to take outside shots, not 4 footers. Plus he took a beating running into the lane to get fouled and go to the line. I also think at the rate he is going Kobe will have a higher scoring game this season. I mean the only thing that can stop him at this point is not opposing defenses. It's Lamar Odom snapping and blowing Bryant away after practice one day.

Random Thoughts

• Ron Artest was a King for I think 15 seconds before he started trouble. GL Kings. I think Peja may be revitalized in Indianapolis. With Jermaine O'Neal getting double teamed Peja will give the Pacers the outside shooting presence they've lacked without Reggie Miller this year. Their team defense will suffer though. The Kings are getting a good player on the court, but they have no idea what they have on their hands now. No matter what he says, it's obvious Artest didn't want to go to Sacto, and it's only a matter of time before something big happens.
• Mario Lemieux has retired, and it's for real this time. No doubt Mario was one of the greatest ever, but luckily Penguin fans shouldn't feel too bad, at least they still have Crosby. Too bad for the NHL though cuz they REALLY need some kind of star power. Ovechkin and Crosby could be just what the doctor ordered though.
• The Buffalo Bills have hired Dick Jauron to be their head coach. Good luck with that. Don't get me wrong, nice guy and all, and his players loved him here in Chicago, but I really don't think he's a very good coach. I'm not even sure he has feelings, and in fact he may be a robot.
• The White Sox have offered 1B Paul Konerko the position of Captain on the team. I'm very happy to report that Konerko doesn't want it. The Chicago Sun-Times' Chris De Luca was able to sit down with Paulie and talk about it. For more on why he doesn't want it, and why I love Paulie and this team so much, go here.
• I'm really trying to get excited about the World Baseball Classic, but just can't. I think MLB really messed up the timing of it. It's a great idea, but it's been poorly executed. Can you really blame Major Leaguers for skipping out on the event? It's important time they should be spending getting ready for the MLB season.
• Jeff Bagwell's and Frank Thomas' careers are just eerily similiar. They both were born on the same date, they both won MVP awards in the same seasons, they both play first base, and they have both now been publicly humiliated by their teams after injury plagued years. First was Thomas with the Sox and the diminished skills clause in his contract that resulted in his leaving this offseason (And signing today with the Oakland A's for $500,000. Talk about bargain if he stays healthy. IF.) and now the Astros have come out and said basically that Bagwell is no longer good enough to play baseball. Harsh. I don't know if Bags can stay in Houston now. I think he's going to end up signing a one year deal with an AL team and play DH.
• Speaking of the Big Hurt, good luck in Oakland. I hope things work out for you. It's going to be very strange to see you in another jersey next year, let alone those white shoes. You were my favorite player growing up, I even mimicked with my batting stance. You took a lot of heat in this town, but during the mid 90's there was no better hitter in baseball.

A question for you my readers. Leave your answers in the comments.

You are the Houston Texans new head coach Gary Kubiak. You have the first pick in the upcoming NFL draft, what do you do with it and why? Keep it? Trade it? If you keep it who do you pick and why?

Also as always if you ever have a question for me ask in the comments or email me at [email protected].