U mad, bro? Shut-in readers gnash teeth about Ben Roethlisberger; Mike Tomlin vs. Bill Cowher; MLB's future

It appears the longer we stay locked inside because of coronavirus fears, the angrier our audience is getting.

Yeah. Me, too.

This week’s readers go after Mike Tomlin, Ben Roethlisberger, spitting baseball players and me.

Mainly me.

And I’m getting a little too pent up to let it go.

“Treston” sent me a long email about my column criticizing some of Terry Bradshaw’s comments about Steelers coach Mike Tomlin. Here’s a portion.

“There are plenty of valid points you make about his criticism of Mike Tomlin, and the fact that he grew up in a generational difference than players do today. However, I agree with Terry based on the fact that both Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher are somewhat cut of the same cloth.

Hold players accountable for their actions on and off the field, especially on the field. Tomlin was handed a gift from Bill Cowher. It was still an organization that was solid and just needed a few other players to complete a solid dynasty.

I don’t despise Tomlin, but I think he is a player’s coach and has way too much interaction with his players.”

Wow. How many old Steelers-fan tropes can you squeeze into one email?!

First, there is the “Tomlin just won with Cowher’s players” narrative. Yup. He won with Cowher’s players in 2008. By the 2010 Super Bowl run, that team had a lot of changes, especially on offense.

And Cowher didn’t exactly “win with Cowher’s players” when he missed the playoffs in his last year, did he?

Also, how did “Cowher do with Noll’s players” in 1992 when he made the playoffs his first year? He won the division as I recall. How come that statement never gets flipped to that perspective? Hmm. Weird.

Secondly, Cowher wasn’t an emotional “players’ coach” like Tomlin? You’re kidding, right? All the jaw-jutting, spit-flying, referee-tormenting, shoulder-pad-slapping, “Rush the quarterback! Goood jobbbb!” theatrics on the sidelines? We’re forgetting those now? I mean, he kissed Kordell Stewart for crying out loud!

Then Joey Porter kissed Cowher!

Finally, the notion that bad things off the field never happened with Cowher is comical. Do the names Eric Green and Bam Morris mean anything to you? How about the lesser violations for Plaxico Burress or Marvel Smith? Any thoughts on the locker room brawl of 2000 or Porter’s pregame fight in Cleveland?

No? Forgot all those, I guess.

Look, I can see some of Bradshaw’s criticism as being accurate. And you can attack Tomlin’s lack of playoff success since 2010 as much as you want.

But the hypocrisy of what Bradshaw said in that radio interview on 93.7 The Fan is only matched by some of the inconsistency in this email.

“Cmzook 11” was upset with my recent post about ESPN’s latest attempt to polish Myles Garret’s image. He’d prefer we forget about that whole assault-with-a-deadly-helmet thing last November.

“Your article was completely riddled with reasonings with no correlation to what happened.

Myles never said Mason called him the ‘N-word’ at first. He said he was called a racial slur. Then, when asked about it, he explained.

Also there was no audio on the brawl, not that there was no mics that picked it up. Seriously bro, get your facts right before writing an article. Myles also asked for the tapes the DAY AFTER the brawl.

The dumbest reason of all though is that the officials and teammates heard nothing so it can’t be true. Myles and Mason were on the ground by THEMSELVES, so of course no one could hear it.

This article was an extreme disappointment and you need to be better.”

No. You need to do better. At comprehending what happened and remembering the facts.

• Garrett did claim Rudolph used the “N-word” during the ESPN interview with Mina Kimes after his reinstatement. It doesn’t matter when he made the claim.

• What’s the difference between “there was no audio on the brawl” and “there were no mics to pick it up?” Is this the Cleveland version of the “if a tree falls in the forest … “???

• Speaking of facts, your buddy Myles said Rudolph called him the “N-word” as “they were going to the ground.” Not on the ground. But, hey, since you seem to be a fan of minutia, let’s have at it.

• So he asked for tapes that didn’t exist? Bold! What a hero.

My God. If this ever goes to civil court, I hope for his sake, Garrett has a better lawyer than you.

Bob Kasperski posted a Facebook comment. He thinks I was too dismissive of the Major League Baseball idea to play all of its games in an Arizona bubble situation.

“Benz, betting MLB talked to the state officials in Arizona. Betting the state officials told them that if—and when—they gave the waiver for games to be played, this will be the guidelines.

So, do you want to see real games being played or do you want to keep watching reruns of old games that the outcomes are already known? I vote for the live games on TV with the convoluted rules in place.

Sorry you and your media brethren can’t be at the games to watch them in person but suck it up and deal with it like the rest of us.”

Kasperski, I am “dealing with it” like “the rest” of you. Sports is my business. So I’m probably “dealing with it” even more.

You couldn’t have missed the point more if you read this column backwards. I never said “don’t play the games for TV.” I said if they play, play for real on the field and spare the “convoluted” social distance rules as optics.

If those are the requirements from Arizona, don’t bother. That’s what I actually said.

You either didn’t read it, can’t process that or are just using my column as a place to preen.

Stop doing that.

“ALB” sent an email with a pertinent question about baseball getting back on the field.

“My biggest question is how will they make players and coaches stop spitting all the time?”

Fines! I say $1,000 per loogie. Major hit to the sunflower seed industry, though.

Bradley was not a fan of my “alternate reality” column about the idea of the Steelers perhaps drafting a quarterback at pick No. 49.

He was particularly angered by my suggestion that Ben Roethlisberger would have to sign off on it.

“What a joke. The media in Pittsburgh thinks Ben is the entire team. Antonio Brown was (a jerk), but he wasn’t wrong about everything. It’s Ben first, then everybody else. National media doesn’t fanboy over Ben like people here.”

You’re right. Instead, the media “fan-boyed” over Brown instead and ripped Roethlisberger.

How’s that working out?

Look, I’m no fan of Big Ben’s personality. And I don’t think he handled the drafting of Mason Rudolph the right way publicly.

But I stand by what I said in the column. It’d be unwise to draft another quarterback at No.49 unless Roethlisberger co-signed.

And maybe for some of the reasons you point out.

Finally, Rick took umbrage with a comment I made in last week’s “U mad, bro?”

Looking forward to political reporters break down the Penguins blue line issues along with whether the Steelers have sufficient depth at ILB next

Maybe stay in your lane?

— Raoul Duke 72 (@72Raoul) April 7, 2020

I responded by saying, “Sports is our lane. A virus and politics got in it. ”

Rick didn’t like that.

“Politics didn’t get into it. It was inserted by you and your fellow reporters well before this virus hit. Which is why you will be forever known to me as Tim ‘Take-A-Knee’ Benz.”

Believe me when I tell you, Rick, nothing in my life matters less than how you refer to me.

Although, I do wonder why you’d call me that when I never encouraged players to kneel during the anthem controversy. All I said was they have a right to do it.

Maybe you know another “Take a Knee.”

I’ve been far more critical of Colin Kaepernick than most.

But if you can’t figure out that the covid-19 situation has become extremely politicized by lawmakers on both sides, then I can’t help you. Because you are intentionally trying to avoid seeing that since you are so strongly aligned with the political right.

By the way, read what I’ve written, listen to what I have said and glance at my social media. Your paranoia is blinding you. I’ve been critical of both sides. The politics that I’m referencing have been coming from the left, too.

Significantly. And I have said as much.