I Want The Truth!

I know, i know...I can't handle it. Isn't there a Lakers game on or something?

I'm really tired of hating on Medium Ben, I really am. I mean, the guy did make his haters eat crow on the biggest stage in the world (but not without a little help from his boy Tone.) But the man just adds fuel to my fire. From Peter King at CNNSI:

Regarding the celebrated ribs: Roethlisberger was speared in the kidney area in the AFC Championship Game. His midsection hurt so much that he had X-rays before the Super Bowl. They were negative. But a subsequent MRI told a different story. He found out last Thursday.

"Fractured ribs,'' Roethlisberger said. "Luckily, in the game, I didn't take any big hits to make 'em hurt. But I knew all along there was something wrong. There wouldn't have been anything they could have done about fractured ribs anyway. It was just suck it up and play.''

Quite the story. It makes what he accomplished a little more remarkable, no? I was almost ready to anoint him Almost Big Ben after reading King's story. But alas, ESPN.com returned my head from the clouds...

The Pittsburgh Steelers have no knowledge that Ben Roethlisberger played the Super Bowl with two broken ribs, as the quarterback told a Web site...

Roethlisberger did not mention any possible injury during postgame interviews...

It is uncertain if the validity of Roethlisberger's claim will be proven...

So which story is true? You would think that the team would know the definitive injury status of its star QB going into the biggest game of the year. And seeing that the season is over and they don't need to hide any injury news for fear of teams targeting a weakness, there's really no reason to lie about it. Maybe I should start calling him Tall Ben, for the rather tall tales he seems to come up with when it comes to his injuries. Or maybe Hypochondriac Ben would be more suitable. Either way, the best way to cure imaginary broken ribs is by looking at your two Super Bowl rings.