FanHouse Ben Roethlisberger

Tiger Woods is 33, has been on tour since 1996, and has 14 major victories. Save those junior tournaments where he was the youngest player in the field, I don't think he's ever been called underrated.

That changed yesterday when PGA Tour player Paul Goydos told the Boston Globe exactly that:

Each Wednesday during the golf season, FanHouse will list the top five names in golf and why they're important. Did Barack play 18 with Tiger? Did a certain player do something controversial off the course? Or was just playing golf enough to get the pot stirring? Join us for a weekly feature we call Making the Cut.

5. Tony Romo -- On Wednesday, Romo got the unique pleasure of teeing it up with Mr. Woods during the pro-am of the AT&T National. Not only is the Cowboys quarterback getting flak from college coaches and sports bloggers alike, but he is having to try and keep his game together with the best in the world. Sure, Tiger played a little with Peyton Manning earlier this year, but Romo's game is at a different level. Maybe next year, Woods will invite Ben Roethlisberger for some true competition?

With the season just two months away, the Patriots seem to once again be the clear favorite to win the AFC, but the Football Scientist K.C. Joyner makes a pretty compelling argument that the defending Super Bowl champion Steelers are being underrated.

Joyner cites a healthy Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers defense bringing back nearly everyone from last year's historic unit, an easier schedule and an improved running game.

Let's be honest, there are few things more entertaining in sports than when an athlete is absolutely despised by a city. And I don't mean despised in the Michael Jordan-tears-out-Cleveland's-heart-with-a-wooden-spoon level hate. That's rooted in Jordan's superhuman play on the field.

I mean on a level like LenDale White stomping on the Terrible Towel and refusing to apologize -- where the entire city is outraged at one particular player.

Prior to the 2007 season, when Eli Manning led the Giants to a championship, there were some rumblings that maybe he would never become a franchise quarterback, forget about playing as consistently as his brother.

Those sentiments lingered through most of '07 (rock bottom had to be the Week 17 four-interception effort -- three of the pick-six variety -- in a home game against the Vikings), before it all came together. Manning played like a grizzled veteran during the final weeks of the regular season, and was close to flawless in the run to the Super Bowl.

Last year, Manning was the unquestioned team leader, and if not for an unpredictable Eagles team, the Giants would have returned to the NFC Championship game for the second time in as many years. And now, Manning, who was the first overall pick in 2004, is in line for a new deal.

Eleven days ago, this was news: Tiger Woods and Hank Haney were working hard to fix his driver. Actually, that's been the story for most of Tiger's career, but it was especially relevant because he was coming off an uninspiring performance (as uninspiring as another top-10 finish can be, I guess) at Quail Hollow, and the Memorial and the U.S. Open were the next two tournaments on his schedule.

Tiger went out and hit 84 percent of his fairways at Jack's event, won convincingly, and now that the golf universe has righted itself, we're all able to get on with our lives. For Woods that means preparing for Bethpage Black, and in his spare time, trying to fix the unfixable: Charles Barkley's golf swing.

There are any number of ways to compare NFL quarterbacks. Conventional stats, advanced stats, Pro Bowl appearances, Super Bowl rings, celebrity ladyfriends. And now: golf scores on U.S. Open set-ups.

FanHouse's crack squad of savvy fantasy football personnel put our five heads together and amassed consensus rankings for non-keeper, standard scoring leagues. We'll update as the season gets closer, but this is our "incredibly early yet still fun" version.

Was last season the year of the quarterback or what? You still had the old reliables like Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Kurt Warner and Donovan McNabb doing their thing, but a whole new crop of passers have elevated themselves. Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers and Jay Cutler led the way for the youth movement. You could have even waited toward the end of your draft and landed stud QBs in Matt Ryan and Tyler Thigpen (who would have been waiver-wire fodder). Team all that with Tom Brady's Week 1 injury, and we had a really interesting season. Let's see how they fall out presently for 2009.

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It was a simple question toward two different NFL players who responded the same. Why do you Twitter, Facebook, Yardbarker, MySpace?

"To get in contact and reach out to another level of fans I would never get to connect with," Terrell Owens of the Bills said. "I had Myspace, Facebook, Twitter and its an interactive way for me to connect with all my fans."

Said Cowboys tight end Martellus Bennett: "I like to have fun. It's a chance for me to interact with people I don't know, which is the best thing ever. It's pretty fun. The blogging I do is a chance for me to express my mind."

It looks to be very minor, but on Wednesday we got a reminder of why there's a reason to be nervous anytime football players take to the field.

Ben Roethlisberger limped off the field during today's organized training activities after injuring his left knee. According to Dale Lolley, Lawrence Timmons stepped on his foot as he released a pass.