Don’t call us, we’ll …
So how is it that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, of Findlay, Ohio, ended up at Miami of Ohio instead of Ohio State? Chalk it up as a recruiting mistake by the Buckeyes coaching staff.
“We had a lot of bad experiences with Ohio State,” Roethlisberger’s father, Ken, told the Los Angeles Times’ Sam Farmer. “If we got any phone calls at night, after 10, the latest one would be from Ohio State. He’s got school the next day, the phone is ringing after 10, and we’re saying, ‘There’s Ohio State calling.’ “
According to Roethlisberger’s mother, Brenda, the Ohio State recruiters also had trouble pronouncing the family’s last name.
“They’d say, ‘Mrs. Ro … Mrs. Roeth …,’ ” she said.
The Steelers QB said he almost ended up playing football for Duke. Why Duke? “I figured I’d get good seats for the basketball games,” he said.
Eating up the attention
Former USC All-American linebacker Marlin McKeever, speaking at a Southern California Sports Broadcasters luncheon, recalled the college recruiting battle for him and his late twin brother, Mike, when they were high school in South Los Angeles.
“We would eat two days a week at the USC training table, two days at the UCLA training tables and at another university on the fifth day,” he said.
He knew his place
Former NBA player Steve Kerr, now an analyst for TNT, said, “I never would have gone into the stands, mostly because most fans could beat me up.”
Unqualified answer
Dick Vermeil, whose Kansas City Chiefs are 3-8, is a weekly guest on Southern California radio station XTRA.
On Tuesday, Vermeil was asked to compare Green Bay Packer Brett Favre’s streak of 200 consecutive regular-season starts in the NFL with Cal Ripken’s streak of playing in 2,632 consecutive major league baseball games.
“Well, I personally believe it’s a lot tougher to do what Brett Favre has done,” he said. “I’m not an expert in any other sport. … Right now, I’m not an expert in any sport – football or anything.”
A sure thing
“Here’s all you need to know about college football,” said Bret Lewis of Los Angeles radio station KFWB.
“Cincinnati lost to Louisville 70-7 to finish at 6-5. And Cincinnati has been invited to a bowl game – the Fort Worth Bowl (Dec. 23).
“Officials are negotiating for an opponent from the ACC, the Big East, the Mid-American Conference or anyone else with a team that wants to win a game by 50 points.”
A word from his sponsors
On the eighth tee at the Skins Game last Saturday, the Los Angeles Times’ Joel Greenberg overheard Tiger Woods asking an event official about the wait between shots, which was required for ABC to insert commercials.
“If we’re on tape delay, why don’t we just play (continuously) and they can fill in the commercials (later)?” Woods wondered.