Findlay, Ohio: Roethlisberger friendly but still Brown's territory

With the Super Bowl a week away, these are taxing times for Cliff Hite. He is the high school football coach who moved Ben Roethlisberger to wide receiver so his own son could play quarterback.

An uncommon athlete from a small town in northwest Ohio, Ben Roethlisberger is in his second year of professional football. Next Sunday he will step before a world-wide audience 130 million people to play in Super Bowl XL. Big Ben's career as a pass catcher lasted one mediocre season. Returned to quarterback as a senior in 1999, after Mr. Hite's son graduated, he threw for 54 touchdown passes and 4,100 yards in 12 games. Findlay High School rarely ran the ball or punted it during that high-flying, heart-pumping season.

"Ben absolutely put on a show," Mr. Hite said one night last week. "If you watched it on film, you'd say he made plays like he does for the Steelers now."

Why then, was young Mr. Roethlisberger converted to a receiver in the first place?

"Hindsight's perfect," Mr. Hite said. "People say I'm the goober who played his own kid, but there was no controversy about it at the time. For Ben, it was all about basketball back then. He was never even going to play college football."

Findlay Mayor Tony Iriti was an assistant football coach when Mr. Roethlisberger was in high school. He maintains that Big Ben was so dominant he should have been Findlay High's starting quarterback as a sophomore.

But, the mayor hastens to add, had Mr. Hite unleashed Big Ben on the world so soon, life might not be so good now. Instead of playing college football at Miami of Ohio, Mr. Roethlisberger probably would have ended up in an elite conference, such as the Big Ten. With that pedigree, he might have been drafted by an NFL doormat instead of the Steelers.

"By not playing quarterback here as a junior, the only thing Ben missed out on was the Heisman Trophy or a national championship," Mr. Iriti said, laughing.

In Findlay, a white-collar city of tree-shaded streets and 40,000 people, perhaps only one man is facing more heat during Super Bowl week than Mr. Hite. That would be Mr. Iriti. The mayor recently asked everyone in town to wear black and gold in honor of Findlay's most famous athlete.

Mr. Iriti might as well have said he wanted to raise taxes and leave potholes unfilled.

For Mr. Iriti, a native of Etna, rooting for Mr. Roethlisberger and the Steelers seems natural. But legions of Cleveland Browns fans live in this part of Ohio. The Browns' first training camp almost 60 years ago was in Bowling Green, a half-hour drive from Findlay.

Don Ewing, of Findlay, became a Browns fan in 1947, when he was 7 years old. He said the mayor's call to turn the town black and gold is out of bounds.

"I have nothing against Ben," Mr. Ewing said. "But I'm not changing allegiance. I would wear my Cleveland colors even if the whole Pittsburgh team were from Findlay."

Other Browns fans are more willing to cover the town in black and gold, at least for a week. Eileen Bensen, Findlay's director of public safety, is one of them.

She painted her office "autumn rust" in honor of the Browns. Her license plate says "Woof," for Cleveland's dog pound of fans. She has not watched the Super Bowl in 19 years, so heartbroken was she after Denver defeated the Browns in overtime of the 1986 American Football Conference championship game.

But now, because of Big Ben, Ms. Bensen said, she will break her string of Super Bowl abstinence and cheer for Mr. Roethlisberger.

"I'm OK with this because he's a hometown boy," she said.

Mr. Iriti said it also made good business sense to emphasize Big Ben's roots in Findlay. The city is two hours south of Detroit, site of Super Bowl XL. Mr. Iriti expects a wave of national publicity this week, and having the town decked out in black and gold will only increase the exposure and number of visitors, he said.

Mr. Iriti and a town committee plan to put up four billboards featuring Mr. Roethlisberger. The mayor hopes to fill windows with Big Ben placards, and to adorn the downtown Dorney Plaza in Pittsburgh team colors.

As Detroit and Toledo hotels fill up, the mayor thinks Findlay will capture spillover business as fans look for affordable lodging.

"We know people will be coming to Findlay, at least to see where Ben grew up," Mr. Iriti said.

His one concern, he says, is protecting the privacy of Mr. Roethlisberger's parents and his sister, Carlee. A junior basketball star at Findlay High, Carlee already has been the object of derision by an opposing team, the mayor said.

When hosting Findlay High eight days ago, Harding High, of Marion, offered discounted tickets to students who wore any NFL jersey except Pittsburgh's. Then, during the game, the Marion public address announcer repeatedly and intentionally mispronounced Carlee Roethlisberger's name, said Jerry Snodgrass, Findlay's athletic director.

Carlee said nothing in response. Instead, she did what hurt Harding High most, hitting the winning basket at the buzzer.

"She handled it very well," Mr. Snodgrass said.

But, he said, he was annoyed by unsportsmanlike conduct perpetrated by adults against a 16-year-old girl.

Mike McCreary, the Harding principal, said nothing of the kind occurred.

"We didn't do anything wrong," Mr. McCreary said, adding that he was mystified by complaints about "Roethlisberger" being mispronounced. He said he never heard that.

Mr. Snodgrass, who was Big Ben's basketball coach for two seasons, said poise seemed to run in the Roethlisberger family. Sophomores rarely started on the varsity at Findlay, but Mr. Snodgrass never hesitated in making Big Ben his point guard.

Lanky and gifted, Mr. Roethlisberger was full of confidence without being full of himself, Mr. Snodgrass said.

"We talk to each of the players when we make cuts or keep them on the team. When we told Ben he was going to be with us, he sat right there in my office and said he was going to break the school scoring record."

He did, too. His 1,095 points remain the highest total in Findlay's basketball history. Big Ben was equally gifted in baseball, turning heads as the tallest, smoothest shortstop in northwest Ohio.

"Ben could do everything. He just plain old loved to compete," Mr. Snodgrass said.

Like so many in town, Mr. Snodgrass says he thinks Big Ben should have been Findlay's starting varsity quarterback for three seasons. But Mr. Hite says he is astonished to hear so much made of a decision that generated no controversy at the time.

As he recalls, the entire football coaching staff was unanimous that his son, Ryan Hite, should play quarterback when Big Ben was a junior. Ryan had been conference player of the year when Ben was a sophomore.

"My son was playing quarterback because I wanted to win football games at Findlay High School," Mr. Hite said. "We needed receivers because Ben couldn't throw it to Ben."

After a pause, he added: "Am I overly defensive about this? If we made the wrong choice at the time, it still worked out all right."

The mayor agrees, saying Big Ben's path to stardom might have stalled a little in Findlay, but that bump in the road helped him land in Pittsburgh. Now he's in the Super Bowl.

This has led to two popular T-shirts in Findlay. One says, "I've always Ben a Steelers fan." The counter slogan is, "I've never Ben a Steelers fan until now."

Jenn Sterger

It all started on a Monday night in September of 2005. An ABC camera man had no idea of the frenzy he was about to create. The now infamous Cowgirls of FSU are just one more good thing to come out of FSU Football.

From Jenn Sterger:
It all started at the Miami/FSU game this past September. Some drunken idiot spilled beer on my shirt while I was in the village (a place we all tailgate), and I was like… fu*k it! I just threw on my bathing suit top, and took one for the team ;) . I was not about to miss this game.

Some amazing cameramen and the sports commentator Brent Musburger from ABC turned what could've been a two second crowd shot into a "THREE REASONS TO COME TO FLORIDA STATE" recruitment video. He said something to the effect of, “15,000 young red-blooded American men just signed up to go to Florida State next semester.”

The pictures from the game spread through the message boards like crazy. Something I thought had lasted two seconds, was more like four quarters. I began posting on the main message board that had my pictures, and they dubbed me- ‘The Cowgirl.’

Jenn The Cowgirl's Facebook Site

BRAVO TO LAUNCH "THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ORANGE COUNTY"

BRAVO TO LAUNCH NEW ORIGINAL DOCU-SERIES "THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ORANGE COUNTY" TUESDAY, MARCH 21, 2006 AT 10:00 P.M.

Bravo is planning to air a reality show that essentially is an adult version of Laguna Beach. It may be fun to watch.

The release notes that the “series focuses on five real-life housewives living in a protected Southern California enclave, exposing the excitement, extravagance and everyday drama that exists in their unscripted and unrehearsed lives.” Those housewives—Kimberly Bryant, Jeana Keough (aka Jeana Tomasina), Vicki Gunvalson, Lauri Waring, and Jo De La Rosa, are all in their 40s, except Jo, who’s in her 20s.

go to Bravo for the release link

First there was "Peyton Place"...then "Dallas"... and now "Desperate Housewives." America loves those deliciously soapy looks behind the curtains of seemingly perfect worlds. This spring, Bravo will premiere "The Real Housewives of Orange County," a new one-hour docu-series which provides exclusive access to five families who live in one of the wealthiest planned communities in the country. The seven-episode series focuses on five real-life housewives living in a protected Southern California enclave, exposing the excitement, extravagance and everyday drama that exists in their unscripted and unrehearsed lives. "The Real Housewives of Orange County" premieres Tuesday, March 21, 2006 (10:00 - 11:00 p.m. ET/PT). The announcement was made today by Lauren Zalaznick, President, Bravo.

"Bravo continues to innovate in the reality TV genre with this riveting series exploring the complicated daily lives of five privileged women and their families," said Zalaznick. "From Peyton Place to Desperate Housewives, viewers have been riveted by the fictionalized versions of such lifestyles on television. Now, here is a series that depicts real-life 'desperate' housewives with an authentic look at their compelling day-to-day drama."

"The Real Housewives of Orange County" will follow five sophisticated women and their families who lead glamorous lives in a picturesque Southern California gated community where the average home has a $1.6 million price tag and residents include CEOs and retired professional athletes. Orange County "housewives" Kimberly, Jeana, Vicki, Lauri and Jo are used to the good life and will do everything they can to hang on to it. The women each have their own personal story to share, and they've granted Bravo an all-access pass into their lives, families, friendships, careers, and homes. From diamond parties to Botox sessions to the stress of having a high-powered career, the women take viewers along for the ride and into their real-life dramas that show how life isn't always perfect behind the gates. Just what lies beneath the surface of this "perfect" community?

The women mostly live the good life, but also represent the modern-day version of the "happy housewife," which today includes juggling the challenges of a stressful career with a busy family life. These women are sexy, sophisticated, and know how to turn heads, set trends, and keep up appearances in one of the most stylish communities in the country.

Kimberly Bryant is 40-something and has two kids with executive husband Scott. She's the classic 'Trophy Wife,' thanks to her plastic surgeon and husband's money, but also incredibly articulate and hard-working.

Jeana Keough is a former Playboy Playmate and actress who is now a 40-something wife of former major league baseball star, Matt Keough. A 19-year resident of her gated community and mother of three teenagers, Jeana also sells real estate "for fun" and the insider gossip.

Vicki Gunvalson is a successful, self-made, 40-something woman to be reckoned with. She's a lucrative insurance broker, devout Christian, and is married for the second time. She also has two teenagers and is feeling the affects of the looming empty-nest ahead as her youngest gets ready to leave for college.

Lauri Waring is 40-something and works as an insurance broker for Vicki Gunvalson. Recently divorced and forced to downsize her lifestyle, Lauri is a single mom with three kids (one just released from juvenile hall), struggling to regain her status in the community.

Jo De La Rosa is the 20-something "newbie" to the community, recently engaged to one of the divorced dads in the community, Slade Smiley. Confident and sexy, Jo is trying to figure out her place in this strange new world.

"The Real Housewives of Orange County" is produced by Kaufman Films and Dunlop Entertainment, and was created by series executive producer Scott Dunlop. Kevin Kaufman, Dave Rupel ("Big Brother 2," "Temptation Island," "The Real World: London") and Patrick Moses are also executive producers.

Bravo is the cable network that plugs people into arts, entertainment and pop culture with original programming, acclaimed off-network dramas, comedy and music specials, movies and by showing a whole different side of celebrities. Currently available in more than 79 million homes, Bravo is known for breaking exciting new personalities, shaking up the way we look at style, media, fame and Hollywood, pulling back the curtain on the creative process and making influential and inventive original programming. Its critically acclaimed and award-winning original programming includes "Inside the Actors Studio," "Project Runway," "Celebrity Poker Showdown," and "Blow Out" as well as the 2004 Emmy winner for Outstanding Reality Program, "Queer Eye." The network's latest hits include "Being Bobby Brown" and "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List."

Bravo is a program service of NBC Universal Cable Entertainment, a division of NBC Universal one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Bravo has been a NBC Cable Network since December 2002 and was the first television service dedicated to film and the performing arts when it launched in December 1980.For more information visit www.bravotv.com.

To see pictures of Jeana Tomasina see images:
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