Big Ben

LONDON - Time stands still for no one. In London, it doesn't even stand straight. Big Ben, perhaps the most iconic structure in all of Britain, is leaning, and lawmakers who work in the shadow of the famous clock tower are trying to figure out what to do about it. Members of Parliament gathered at the House of Commons on Monday to discuss a report containing some drastic solutions to deal with the problem, even though it will be thousands of...

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said he got caught up in being a caricature called Big Ben, not the grounded player and person he once was, leading to his off-field problems - and affecting his play. In his first detailed interviews since a Georgia college student accused him of sexually assaulting her in a nightclub bathroom on March 5, Roethlisberger told Pittsburgh TV stations KDKA and WTAE that he expects to be booed this season. He also apologized extensively for his actions, and promised to become the role model he should have been throughout his career.

In what might have been the most brutal night of the season for quarterbacks, Ben Roethlisberger was knocked out of Thursday night's game with an ankle injury, limped back in, and led the Steelers to a 14-3 win over Cleveland. Browns quarterback Colt McCoy also was injured and returned and has been diagnosed with a concussion. Roethlisberger returned to pass for 178 yards and a TD in the second half. Roethlisberger's prognosis remained vague a day later. X-rays taken during the game showed his ankle wasn't broken, and underwent an MRI on Friday to get a closer look.

It apparently has not taken Benoit Benjamin long to discover he didn't like Italy. After spending less than 72 hours in Milan, the Clippers' prodigal 7-foot center decided to return home after the reported one-year, $1.5 million deal he had agreed to with the Italian pro team unraveled. Benjamin, who said he was leaving Los Angeles because he did not want to "play for peanuts," will meet with the Clippers this weekend to negotiate the terms of a new contract. Accompanying him will be his troika of agents - Henry Holmes, James Casey and Brian Blatt.

Commentary What does a moose have to do with Philadelphia? They don't even have one at the Zoo. And yet Phil E. Moose is one of three ideas the new Sixers owners are offering fans for a new mascot. The other two go the obvious Ben Franklin route with Big Ben and B. Franklin Dogg. You can vote online at sixers.com for any of the three. But not for: "None of the above" or "How are these better than Hip Hop?" This is the best they could do? When the new hockey franchise pondered nicknames, they asked the fans for suggestions, before choosing Flyers.

Wow, that really is a Big Ben! Alex Generalis (left) watches Robert C. Alena assemble a 30-foot-high, 7.5-ton, stainless-steel sculpture of Ben Franklin on the 17th Street bridge over Vine Street. Generalis and Tom Miles made Ben. Alena is moving and rigging coordinator for Louderback Worldwide Moving Systems of King of Prussia.

TOWER OF PISA IS LEANING TOWARD STRAIGHT AND NARROW The Tower of Pisa is leaning less and less these days. Measurements of the 12th-century tower show that the leaning has diminished. After years of study by engineers, 600 tons of lead ingots have been stacked up at the tower's base as a counterweight. Experts say the tower now is 1 centimeter (0.4 inches) closer to vertical than it was a year ago. Glad we got that straightened out. NORWEGIAN WHEELS OF JUSTICE SPIN TO A LOGICAL CONCLUSION A man accused of drunken driving had his case thrown out in Norway after a judge ruled that the vehicle in question - an electric wheelchair - was too slow to be a hazard.

WHEN THEY bought the Philadelphia 76ers a couple of months ago, one of the first things the new billionaire owners did was fire much-maligned mascot Hip Hop - the hyper hare with the anatomically correct Schwarze-negger guns whose energy level did not seem to come from just being "high on life. " To put it simply, the bunny looked fried on 'roids. He was gone so fast, he never had an exit interview. The Sixers owners concocted a story about Hip Hop falling in love and moving to rural Pennsylvania to raise a family.

RECENTLY, the Sixers suggested three possibilities to replace Hip Hop as the team's mascot. The choices: Phil E. Moose, B. Franklin Dogg and Big Ben, a Ben Franklin look-alike. The public hasn't exactly gone crazy over any of them. Enter Chris Morris, Carroll High and La Salle University grad, a professional comedian/actor who works with autistic children during the day. Did we mention he's the son of legendary basketball coach Speedy Morris? The 32-year-old Morris wants to bring back Big Shot, that large, lumpy, blue dude that looks like a distant cousin of the Phillie Phanatic.

In Mali, fears rise of a countercoup BAMAKO, Mali - Television screens throughout this landlocked country went black momentarily Friday, as residents near the state broadcaster's building saw troops erecting barricades against a possible countercoup a day after a military takeover. On Thursday, mutinous troops seized control of the TV and radio stations and announced a coup. The country's democratically elected president has not been heard from since. The television signal went dead for around an hour, then flickered back on. Facing the camera was a group of a dozen soldiers who read a prepared statement denying that the leader of their coup had been killed, or that the station had been taken back by troops loyal to the country's legitimate government.

RECENTLY, the Sixers suggested three possibilities to replace Hip Hop as the team's mascot. The choices: Phil E. Moose, B. Franklin Dogg and Big Ben, a Ben Franklin look-alike. The public hasn't exactly gone crazy over any of them. Enter Chris Morris, Carroll High and La Salle University grad, a professional comedian/actor who works with autistic children during the day. Did we mention he's the son of legendary basketball coach Speedy Morris? The 32-year-old Morris wants to bring back Big Shot, that large, lumpy, blue dude that looks like a distant cousin of the Phillie Phanatic.

LONDON - Time stands still for no one. In London, it doesn't even stand straight. Big Ben, perhaps the most iconic structure in all of Britain, is leaning, and lawmakers who work in the shadow of the famous clock tower are trying to figure out what to do about it. Members of Parliament gathered at the House of Commons on Monday to discuss a report containing some drastic solutions to deal with the problem, even though it will be thousands of...

In what might have been the most brutal night of the season for quarterbacks, Ben Roethlisberger was knocked out of Thursday night's game with an ankle injury, limped back in, and led the Steelers to a 14-3 win over Cleveland. Browns quarterback Colt McCoy also was injured and returned and has been diagnosed with a concussion. Roethlisberger returned to pass for 178 yards and a TD in the second half. Roethlisberger's prognosis remained vague a day later. X-rays taken during the game showed his ankle wasn't broken, and underwent an MRI on Friday to get a closer look.

Would I let my children sleep with a stuffed stringy-haired codger like Ben Franklin? Or do I prefer they cuddle nonhuman furry friends? All politics is local, even contests pitting a Founding Father against a top-heavy hound and a 7-foot moose. So when contemplating which costumed creature should next represent the Philadelphia 76ers, I admit my misgivings involve merchandise: If I'm invariably going to spend $29.99 on a Sixers Pillow Pet, which of these plush playthings is least likely to give my kids nightmares?

WHEN THEY bought the Philadelphia 76ers a couple of months ago, one of the first things the new billionaire owners did was fire much-maligned mascot Hip Hop - the hyper hare with the anatomically correct Schwarze-negger guns whose energy level did not seem to come from just being "high on life. " To put it simply, the bunny looked fried on 'roids. He was gone so fast, he never had an exit interview. The Sixers owners concocted a story about Hip Hop falling in love and moving to rural Pennsylvania to raise a family.

Commentary What does a moose have to do with Philadelphia? They don't even have one at the Zoo. And yet Phil E. Moose is one of three ideas the new Sixers owners are offering fans for a new mascot. The other two go the obvious Ben Franklin route with Big Ben and B. Franklin Dogg. You can vote online at sixers.com for any of the three. But not for: "None of the above" or "How are these better than Hip Hop?" This is the best they could do? When the new hockey franchise pondered nicknames, they asked the fans for suggestions, before choosing Flyers.

BEN ROETHLISBERGER has an unexpected homework assignment during the Pittsburgh Steelers' bye week: protecting a fractured right thumb. Roethlisberger injured the thumb on his throwing hand sometime during Pittsburgh's 24-17 win over Cincinnati on Sunday. He's not sure when it happened, only that he noticed it while coming out for the second half. "It was hard to determine it on the sideline, but we did all the tests [Monday], and it's fractured in there," Roethlisberger said.

ST. LOUIS - Time weeds out the details and pretty soon all that will be remembered is that pinch-hitter Ben Francisco hit a huge home run that helped the Phillies win an important postseason game. Just ask Matt Stairs. And there's nothing wrong with that. Except that baseball doesn't work that way. There are a number of pieces that have to fall into place to set the stage for big moments, decisions made and unmade, invisible forks in the road that could have changed everything.