Wednesday Blogdome: Bill Romanowski defends Roethlisberger

On if he would want Ben Roethlisberger on his team. “Yes. Darn right I do because he’s going to help me win football games at the end of the day. Let’s look at some of the things that have happened in the last ten years. Ray Lewis was involved in a double-murder. He got cleared of that, but he was there. We all know that. I will never condone what Ben did with the young lady or young ladies – cause there is more than one – but I was not there. Being an NFL quarterback, that gets magnified. I believe in second chances. (Host: What about third, fourth and fifth?) I believe in those too.”
[Sports Radio Interviews]
* What’s Your Deal? For Stanford, a Wry, USC-Poking Ticket Promotion. It’s genius, really: Stanford’s selling tickets to a group of games that includes the Cardinal’s home date against USC by marketing that phrase. That’s all. It’s a pun on deal and a nyah-nyah-we-won-last-year gesture, an atypical bit of gloating from a program that hasn’t been able to do a ton in recent years. But with Harbaugh at the helm, Stanford has been good enough to do a little bragging, and has an outside chance at a Pac-10 title this year, should Andrew Luck become the superb quarterback many suspect he can be. [The Sporting Blog]

* China loses bronze medal because of young Dong. China experienced the IOC’s version of “vacated wins” earlier this week. That is to say, they were slapped on the wrist for doing something uncouth, but don’t really face any legitimate sanctions. It was the team gymnastics bronze medal that China took home from the Sydney Olympics that served as the proverbial banner coming down from the rafters. The infraction? Dong Fangxiao, a Chinese gymnast who was only 14 at those Games, did not meet the minimum age requirement of 16 years. [With Leather]
* Handshake fail at the White House. Yes, unnamed Yankees executive, I saw that. Yes, unnamed Yankees executive, I laughed out loud. And yes, unnamed Yankees executive, I have no life. You’re welcome. [Bugs and Cranks]
* Woman’s Stolen Car Returned to Her Completely Pimped Out. The best part? She can’t even drive it, because it’s been converted into a stick shift. I guess she can sell it on ebay? [Uncoached]
* Did a TV show cross the line by comparing Duke to the Nazis? When Mike O’Malley’s character Burt Hummel begins dating the mother of the school jock Finn, the boy flips out at the idea of someone trying to take the place of his deceased father. Burt eventually gets Finn to warm up to him, sitting down to watch a basketball game with him and punctuating the bonding experience with the line “I hate Duke like I hate the Nazis.” [The Dagger]
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Send those blogdome items to Rickchand@gmail.com. Giddyup.