So that “concierge” from the Reno Harrah’s that filed a civil lawsuit against Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has quit her job at that hotel, according to sources confirmed by Pro Football Talk. And I understand that said job was not necessarily prefixed by “blow” or “hand.” Yes, we just recycled a joke from three hours ago.

The woman was not forced out from her job, but she resigned reluctantly after returning to work.

As one source with knowledge of the situation told us, “She quit when she couldn’t get any colleagues to sign on with her and they began to avoid her.”

That’s too bad. I mean, her civil suit blew up and now she’s apparently unemployed, but at least the Steelers are out of first place in the AFC North. I wonder if someone could hire her to fall on Troy Polamalu’s knee. She asked with her eyes, didn’t she Ben? She asked with her eyes…

By now, you’ve already learned that Pittsburgh beat Tennessee 13-10 (OT) in a four-star NFL opener last night. Noteworthy items from the game: Al Michaels’ hair looks even faker this year, and Troy Polamalu was injured in the first half and is expected to miss 3-6 weeks after spraining his MCL.

With the score tied late in the fourth, 10-10, Hines Ward fumbled deep in Titans territory for what could have been a game-changing turnover. A score from Ward–or even a “knee” and subsequent field goal–would have locked up a win for the Steelers. But after recovering the fumble, Tennessee, pinned at their own 4-yard line with less than a minute to play, chose instead to run out the clock and seek his team’s fortunes in overtime. The call seemed like a no-brainer at the time, even after Pittsburgh marched the field and scored on the extra period’s only offensive drive. But in settling for OT, Titans head coach Jeff Fisher might have cost his team their best chance to win.

A lot of people hate the NFL’s overtime format–where the first team to score wins, regardless of whether each team gets a chance to play on offense–but it is what it is and we won’t debate that here. But the one thing for which nobody ever gives the NFL credit is that their extra frame creates more incentive to win games in regulation than any other.

True, Tennessee had no possession in OT, but Jeff Fisher was aware of that possibility, as he was also certainly aware that his defense had no answer for Ben Roethlisberger [363 yards passing, 1 TD, 2 picks]. Instead of working with that possession he did have, Fisher forfeited it and hung his hopes for a win on a coin toss. And nothing about the ending to last night’s game was more unfair than that.

The Reno, NV resort employee who filed a civil lawsuit against Ben Roethlisberger last month is getting desperate. Okay, more desperate. Ooh, that’s a clever burn, because I insinuated that she was already…eh, you get the idea. She’s trying to settle, according to reports on a county filing late last week:

The conditions are that: first, he must admit that he assaulted her; he must deliver to her a letter of apology withdrawing “the false statements and allegations that he and his agents have made about her.” And, lastly, he must donate $100,000 to the Committee to Aid Abused Women in Reno, Nev., “or a similar entity designated by the plaintiff.” via.

You can guess what happens next. [He fixes the cable?] I’m ready for this whole story to go away, so it’s nice to see it finally winding down. Who knows whether or not Roethlisberger’s camp will file a countersuit against the woman, the hotel, the city of Reno, America, Jesus Christ or the Easter Bunny. I’d argue that it’s mighty difficult to besmirch an idiot that quarterback that can’t ride a bike without nearly killing himself. If I ever learn how to read, I’ll be a great lawyer.

So it’s been about a month since the initial accusations of sexual assault were made toward Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlilsberger…you know, as opposed to Cincinnati-area Olive Garden busboy Ben Roethlisberger. The civil suit posed by this woman, an employee at a Lake Tahoe casino and hotel, seems to be losing steam after a handful of her emails–seemingly discussing her plans to consentually get down with the two-time Super Bowl champ–came to light. The emails were apparently sent to Guy Hyder, chief of security at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe.

In one e-mail to Hyder, the woman apparently spoofed a memo from Harrah’s President John Koster to staff, announcing her immediate resignation.

“She is with Big Bens child and … she has relocated to Pittsburgh,” the e-mail said. “We wish her good luck (she will need it) in her future endeavors.”[...]

In another e-mail exchange with Hyder, she reportedly wrote, “Hail Mary full of grace give me the strength to not go to his room to fix his television.” via.

Yeah, so the defense is moving to dismiss, calling the allegations “reckless.” Obviously, what happens in Tahoe does not stay in Tahoe, especially when Ta’ Hoe is trying to get pregnant. Thank you, thank you. I just came up with that…

ESPN is joining the rest of the world in covering the Nevada civil suit filed against the prominent white quarterback pictured above. And they’ve got this brevity thing down pat, mastering word economy in covering Ben’s presser just minutes ago:

“I didn’t sexually assault Andrea McNulty,” Roethlisberger said. The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback said Saturday was the first he learned of the allegations, detailed in a civil suit filed by McNulty.

Roethlisberger said he would “respond to her outrageous allegations in the appropriate forum.”

I always give the athlete the benefit of the doubt. Obviously their skills on the field are so impressive that there’s no way they could screw up in life (or screw “down,” as it were. As for ESPN, I’m declaring the title of “Worldwide Leader in Sports” vacant, at least until ESPN can keep its boardroom out of its newsroom.

UPDATE - A cursory link to an AP account of the story finally has appeared in the sidebar at ESPN.com. Via.

We openly wondered aloud yesterday why the Worldwide Leader had been dragging its feet in reporting the developments in this Ben Roethlisberger suit. A report stemming from an anonymous source at ESPN claims that the network was subject to a Do Not Report memo regarding the upcoming legal odyssey of the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback.

A media source tells [Pro Football Talk] that, late [Monday] night, ESPN issued a “do not report” memo to all of its outlets and reporters. The directive came without explanation. “Even some of the reporters are wondering why,” the source said, “but haven’t been told.”[...]

This time around, ESPN can’t claim that the report of a civil suit alleging sexual assault isn’t true. Clearly, it is; Roethlisberger has hired attorney David Cornwell, who has denied the allegations in a statement initially sent to us, and then sent to other media outlets. And we’ve seen, and reported on, the contents of the complaint. So in the absence of a legitimate reason from ESPN, we assume that there’s some other agenda at play here.via.

There’s been some bogus (in my opinion) discussion of ESPN’s policy to sit on civil cases not involving criminal complaints. But even if that were true, what good comes out of not reporting this when everyone else already has? As I said in my piece for the Washington Post’s NFL blog this morning, such a move kills the credibility of their news department. And that’s a shame, because the hard work of that group was trumped by the stroke of a pen from somebody upstairs. How’s the weather up in that ivory tower, ESPN? Some worldwide leader you turned out to be. [Orig. Posted 7/22/09]