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By Dutch Wydo

This past week’s fiasco surrounding Pittsburgh Steelers Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the decision not to play him against the Baltimore Ravens was completely uncalled for and overblown on multiple levels.

This particularly applies to the members of Pittsburgh’s media. The beat writers could have done a better job in reporting Roethlisberger’s availability leading up to Saturday’s announcement that he would not play.

Steeler fans had been led to believe throughout the week that Roethlisberger was undoubtedly going to play, despite the concussion he suffered in Kansas City the week before. There were daily reports that Roethlisberger was practicing, and Roethlisberger himself was quoted to say that he had passed all of his medical and neurological exams.

Still, in spite of all the positive daily reports, there were indicators that Roethlisberger was unlikely to go.

The key indicator was that the sports books had still not made the game available for the betting public, even with the favorable news out of Pittsburgh.

In most cases, the bookmakers in Las Vegas, as well as those at major offshore sites, will keep a game off the board until Tuesday or at the latest on Wednesday. Wednesday practice if a key player is still questionable. But once that player practices on Wednesday and all reports are a go (as they were in this case), the books will then post a wagering line.

This was not the case last week.

Despite Roethlisberger practicing on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, the sports books still kept the game off the board.

This should have signified to the area’s beat writers that they might not have all the information on Roethlisberger’s status, and that he was still very questionable to play.

Author and private investigator Dan Moldea wrote a fascinating book on this entire subject back in 1989. His book, titled “Interference: How Organized Crime Influenced Professional Football”, is simply a must-read.

There are reasons to follow the Vegas lines even if you’re not a sports bettor.  If there are reports that the starting quarterback is going to play, but there is no line available on the game, then take those reports with a grain of salt.

That way, you won’t be surprised when Dennis Dixon starts and Ben Roethlisberger is listed third on the depth chart.

 

Dutch’s takes -

— Kudos to Ron Cook and Bob Smizik for jumping all over Hines Ward for his comments in an interview with Bob Costas Sunday night during an NBC broadcast. Cook and Smizik didn’t wait 24 hours to scold Ward and any other player who might have felt that Roethlisberger wasn’t toughing it out by sitting last Sunday. Cook pointed out that there is no one on that team any tougher than Ben Roethlisberger. I don’t always agree with Cook, but I have to call it like I see it. That was some of Cook’s finest work. .

— The bad news is that Paul Alexander of Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh should have to make a public apology to Roethlisberger and Steeler fans for his tirade on KDKA’s Sunday Night Sports Showdown. This show is a must-watch for any Pittsburgh sports fan, but Alexander should not be invited back until he apologizes.

Alexander implied that Roethlisberger was simply lying about his exercise-induced headaches to make his concussion seem much worse than it was. Alexander called Roethlisberger a drama queen who had his bluff called by the Steelers who sat him on the bench.

Alexander resurrected the incident from January 2005 (when Roethlisberger said he played in the AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots with broken toes) to prove that Roethlisberger has a history of fibbing about injuries. It seems like when guys like Alexander get a chance to bash Roethlisberger, they go directly back to that incident. They simply won’t let it die.

As Alexander yelled into the camera, two things became very clear. First, he took the loss to the Ravens harder than most fans. Secondly, Roethlisberger’s accessibility (or lack thereof) to the FSN network must really be eating at him. Alexander has been known to apologize for the pathetic ownership of the Pittsburgh Pirates, but he has no problem trying to tear down the Steelers two-time Super Bowl-winning QB.

Could the relationship that FSN has with the Pirates have anything to do with Alexander going through a wall for them? It absolutely does. And what a shame that is.

Of course Alexander is not the only one to join the Ben bashing Party. Mike Florio of profootballtalk.com reported a source within the Steelers told him that Tomlin really doesn’t like Roethlisberger.  Ken Laird, a reporter from ESPN radio 1250 joined in by reporting that a source within the Steelers said that Roethlisberger stood up in front of his team and yelled “good luck in Baltimore playing with Dennis Dixon.”

I have a theory that these guys all have the same source.  That source doesn’t like Roethlisberger for whatever reason. He or she waits for a time when a controversial story involving Roethlisberger hits the news and then he releases a few untruths to these reporters. All this does is further damage the quarterbacks reputation while getting a ratings boost for the outlets that employ the reporters. But of course that same outlet will complain three months later when they are unable to gain access to the star quarterback.

— This past week, an offensive lineman for the Florida State Seminoles did one of the most bizarre things I have ever seen in all my years of watching football. After the center hiked the ball to the quarterback, the lineman in question never moved. Even after the ball was taken up field and the ball carrier was tackled, the lineman remained  in his stance! You gotta be kidding me! You can view that amazing footage here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AqnsjEPLIA

— Speaking of Floridian sports, the Florida Panthers’ great goalie, Tomas Vokoun, was nearly decapitated by his own teammate after he allowed a goal in his team’s game against the Altnata Thrashers this past week. Vokoun thought he had stopped the puck after a shot by Atlanta’s Ilya Kovalchuk. But, unbeknownst to Vokoun, the puck was actually sitting just to the right of him. Kovalchuk fired in his own rebound for a score. Vokoun’s teammate, Keith Ballard, skated around the left side of the net and took a baseball swing using his hockey stick. He nearly seemed to split Vokoun’s head wide open with that swing. With Vokoun down on the ice after taking that hit, Ballard swung a second time and hit the goalpost before skating away.

Ballard said that he didn’t mean to hit Vokoun, and that he was just trying to hit the post above the net. When asked why he skated away from the wounded Vokoun, Ballard claimed that he never knew he hit him. You would have a hard time convincing a jury of that. Click on the link below and watch for yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3PUrtjgCWc

— Call me crazy, but I have a gut feeling that the Cincinnati Bengals are going to lose four of their next five games and lose the division to the Steelers. Head Coach Marvin Lewis said to his players after their hard-fought game against the Browns last week that they only had five more games to go. The players’ faces showed exhaustion. The Bengals appear to have peaked and are just now trying to get through the rest of their games to make the playoffs. Statistics show that they are just an average team. A season-ending collapse would not be a surprise at all.

Here are the Bengals’ and Steelers’ remaining schedules:

The Bengals host the Detroit Lions and the Kansas City Chiefs. They go on the road and play the San Diego Chargers, Minnesota Vikings, and New York Jets. 

The Steelers host the Oakland Raiders, Green Bay Packers, and Baltimore Ravens. They have road games against the Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins.

Let’s forecast wins for Pittsburgh against the Browns and Raiders. Let’s forecast losses for the Bengals at Minnesota and San Diego.  That would even up their records. Pittsburgh would need to gain another game in the remaining three as the Bengals hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. I honestly think they can do this.

— Drew Brees only threw the ball 23 times Monday night against the Patriots. I guess that makes him a game manager.

Do you see how ridiculous that sounds now? That’s what writers and fans called Ben Roethlisberger when he averaged 22 pass attempts per game in his first season.

The key, of course, is yards per attempt (YPA). You can have your quarterback average 22 pass attempts per game if you like, but you’re only going to win if he has a high YPA average in doing so. Roethlisberger’s 8.9 YPA average in his first two seasons was among the highest-ever, not only a rookie quarterback, but for any quarterback who ever played.

If you are going to stop the New Orleans Saints, you had better figure out how to stop Brees from completing that back shoulder pass that he and his receivers seem to have perfected. He is throwing the ball before his receivers even turn around, and it’s waiting for them as soon as they make their turn. We haven’t seen this type of throw utilized so often since Dan Marino took the league by storm in 1984.

However, if a defense would like to stop this attack, they might want to review Super Bowl XIX between the Dolphins and the San Francisco 49ers. During an interview in the week leading up the game, 49ers Head Coach Bill Walsh was asked about Marino. Walsh mentioned the back shoulder pass and that no one had ever seen it before Marino started throwing it. But Walsh also told the interviewer that they had a defensive plan that could stop it.

Of course you all know the story: Marino had a bad game, the Dolphins were shut out in the second half, and the 49ers stymied that vaunted passing game. Modern-day Defensive Coordinators that have to deal with Brees and the Saints this season should review that tape.

Dutch Wydo is a sports talk show host on WMBS Radio in Uniontown, 590-AM, Saturday mornings from 9-10 a.m.