Ben Roethlisberger's legend just keeps growing. Peter King of SI.com recently reported that Big Ben played the Super Bowl with a broken rib. Just another chapter in the legend of the 26-year-old quarterback who now has more Super Bowl rings than three-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning and Brett Favre and two-time MVP Kurt Warner. 

When the Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Philadelphia Eagles earlier this season, I threw my hands up and cursed the day the Steelers made Roethlisberger their franchise quarterback.

That was in October.

Fast forward to December when the Steelers traveled to Baltimore with the AFC North Division and a first-round bye on the line. All Roethlisberger did was drive the Steelers 90 yards and culminated the game-winning drive by being...well...Ben Roethlisberger when he scrambled left and right, found Santonio Holmes for a touchdown. Game over! I'm sold. That was the night Big Ben showed me HE IS the franchise quarterback and HE IS capable of leading the Steelers to the Super Bowl.

Continue reading "BIG BEN'S LEGEND GROWS"

Lamar Odom’s game is as volatile as the New York Stock Market. Sometimes it is way up, and sometimes it is way down.

When the Los Angeles Lakers season tipped off, the Odom Meter was running low as all eyes were on Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. The casual fan and longtime basketball experts were curious to know whether the two 7-footers can co-exist when paired in the post in Phil Jackson’s triangle offense. That meant Odom was relegated to the bench, a move he openly accepted but with some reluctance. Trade rumors started flying around Staples Center.

Because of Odom’s massive contract, most in the organization and the basketball community anticipated that the Lakers were not about to keep a double-digit salary player, with reduced minutes, stay on the roster the whole season. That may have been the prevailing thought until….

Continue reading "LAKERS' ODOM-ETER IS WAY UP"

Something is definitely wrong with the Boston Celtics.

Though the defending NBA champs are still a major driving force in the East, the Celtics' high-powered engine is beginning to leak and their once tireless energy on defense is showing some wear-and-tear. Coach Doc Rivers also hinted the team is severely missing two key cogs from last season's championship run: James Posey and P.J. Brown.

Both were outstanding bench players during the 2008 NBA playoffs, and their absence has exposed the Boston bench and forced Rivers to rely more on Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, who is beginning to show signs of fatigue.

Garnett may not admit it, but he's not the same player. The effort and the intensity is still there but KG's offense has fallen dramatically and his rebounding has become just average. KG still wants to push forward, but his gas tank is running close to empty.

Continue reading "CELTICS' GLASS IS HALF EMPTY"