Big Lead Sports Bar

2/18/2010

ROETHLISBERGER OPENS UP TO MADDEN



Mark Madden's Cavalcade of Stars has certainly lived up to its billing this week, and on Wednesday, Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger was Madden's star du jour.

I don't remember Roethlisberger doing a whole host of radio interviews over the years, so his mere presence was noteworthy. His tone throughout the interview seemed to indicate that he was willing to open up a bit, and open up he did. In the field of sports radio, this interview would be considered a rarity.

On the topic of running the ball more, Roethlisberger chuckled at the notion and said that the team needs to be more efficient. I totally agree. It's not how many times you run the ball, it's being able to run when you need to (i.e., 3rd/4th and short, goal-line, etc.), and the Steelers most certainly could not do so last season.

Large Ben also opens up about his 2006 near-fatal motorcycle accident ("My face was split open...") and reminding Hines Ward of the accident's severity this season. He also tackles a variety of other topics, including the defense's expectations of the offense, the Hall of Fame, the Steelers' offensive line, and much, much more. He even talked about his offseason, including his restaurant interests in South Carolina and going to Penguin games.

The recent changes in local sports talk radio have definitely changed the marketplace, and in a good way. The stations are pushing each other to do their best, and this interview was an indication of such. In the past week, I've heard so many sports luminaries on the airwaves that my head is spinning. I don't know which station will come out on top when this is all said and done, but I know which group of people will definitely be the winners: Pittsburgh sports fans.

Ben Roethlisberger on Mark Madden (podcast available on left side of page) [WXDX]

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8 comments:

Keith Mitchell said...

I believe Big Ben splashed his motorbike in 2006.

BurressWithButterflywings said...

I like how Madden goes out of his way to state that Ben and LeBeau have differing opinions on how the offense effects the defense and makes it seem like LeBeau is some amateur.


I seem to recall LaMarr Woodley commenting that the style of defense we play requires expending a lot more energy with all of the blitzing and that the offense controlling the clock helps the defense a great deal with recovering.

I really don't know how much of the locker room is really in Ben's pocket; at least opposed to what Madden would love to believe. Just because his man-crush on Ben transcends radiowaves doesn't mean everybody else thinks so highly of him.

My problem here isn't anything with Ben, he is as money as they come and he all he does is win football games.

Madden just makes my skin crawl.

Chip said...

I love Mark Madden but his head is so far up Ben's ass that you can't take anything he says about the Steelers seriously.

And I didn't think this was a good interview at all. Unless soft ball questions and setting him up for biased responses constitutes "good." What do you think Ben is going to say about running vs passing? Of course he's going to chuckle, he wants to pad his stats at the expense of the team.

As James Harrison said, there are selfish Me-First cancers on this team (aka BEN). And Madden giving him a handjob under the table while acting like a lovestruck teenager doesn't give me any hope that Ben will mature into a true leader over this offseason.

jmarinara said...

Here's hoping that the new competition will soon force THE X to do better than Mark Madden.

Scott said...

Yeah, you gotta hate those selfish me-first cancers who lead game winning Super Bowl drives. I know I miss Neil O'Donnell, Mike Tomczak, Jim Miller, Kordell Stewart, Kent Graham, and Tommy Maddox. They were great team players and led the team to so many championships.

Lance Williams said...

Ben has obvious holes in his game that affect the entire offense. He holds onto the ball too damn long

A smarter QB would welcome a dominant running game. Not Captain Ego

Lebeau is smarter, trust that.

Terrible softball interview

Scott said...

We had a dominant power running game and very good defense for the the majority of Cowher's tenure as coach. We didn't win any Super Bowls until we had Ben and a running back that was "too small" and had game breaking speed. I'm just sayin....

NickDawg said...

madden and ben both money $$$$...quit hatin