"The Dark Knight Rises": Would Hines Ward's TD Count in Fantasy Football?

"The Dark Knight Rises" opens today and I'll be one of the many people who will pack in a movie theater to watch this instant classic...but there's something in the movie trailer that made me very curious.

First, why is Hines Ward in this movie (seriously). Secondly, would his touchdown count in fantasy football?

I know what you're thinking, "Wow, Bobby...you really have fantasy football on your brain." It's true, I've been working on a lot of fantasy material for the site, but it's a legitimate question.

Gotham is full of some sketchy characters. You know that sports gambling is rampant. Fantasy football has to be a multi-billion dollar industry in the DC Universe.

In our universe, we get mad when Brian Westbrook takes a knee at the goal line.

Let's examine the photo of Ward's touchdown. He has crossed the plane and clearly has possession. The only problem is that he is the only remaining player from either team not sucked down the sinkhole. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the game would be cancelled due to neither team being able to field a full team...oh, and the field is no longer there.

The touchdown wouldn't count. The game wouldn't be official since it didn't last all four quarters.

This may cause a major uproar in the local Gotham City Fantasy Football League, but maybe Batman help settle the issue (you know, after he's finished saving the city from being completely destroyed by Bane and Catwoman).

If you haven't seen the trailer for "The Dark Knight Rises", I've embedded it below.

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Will Steelers' Mike Wallace Sit Out The Entire Season?

The Pittsburgh Steelers have made Mike Wallace wait on getting a new long-term deal, so now Wallace is making the Steelers wait. He didn't show up to OTAs this week and doesn't plan to show up until he gets a long-term deal.

Wallace, over the course of the last two seasons, has been one of the NFL's best wide receivers. He would have more of a leadership role this season now that Hines Ward is retired. The team hired Todd Haley to be the team's new offensive coordinator and will need to implement a new offense. Wallace is missing a lot of key time.

Could he hold out and force the Steelers to trade him? He is holding all of the cards, but does Pittsburgh have enough cap space to give into his demands?

Before I get into the fiscal details of what Mike Wallace would get if he signs his one-year tender and what he wants long term, let me tell you his agent's name. Wallace is represented by Bus Cook, who most famously dragged out every Brett Favre negotiation. The Steelers are playing with fire when they negotiate with one of Cook's players.

Wallace is a restricted free-agent. If another team wants to sign him, he is free to do so, but that team would give up a first-round draft pick. His one-year tender is $2.74 million and he has yet to sign it. He wants a long-term deal in the neighborhood of Larry Fitzgerald's mega-deal he signed last year. That deal was for $120 million dollars over eight years...Pittsburgh lacks that kind of cap space. They can't offer anywhere near those numbers. Wallace could sign the one-year tender, play out the year and become an unrestricted free-agent after this season. He would be risking a lot to do that, since injuries happen so frequently in today's NFL.

Wallace must sign at some point this season, since he must accrue service time in order to reach unrestricted free-agent status. This is similar to the situation that Vincent Jackson was in with the San Diego Chargers in 2010.

A lot of football experts thought that the Steelers would trade Wallace before the NFL Draft. Pittsburgh didn't get the kind of deal that they expected and held onto him. Both sides say they want to work on a long-term deal, but it is turning into a waiting game. The Steelers can't fiscally give him the deal that he wants and not many other teams could swing the cap space either.

The Steelers offense in 2012 is rumored to look a lot different. Former Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians had a pass-happy system, but ownership wants to get back to running the ball. Haley is known for his passing attack while he was on the coaching staff of the Arizona Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys. He was the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs the previous three seasons and was fired after the final game in 2011. Ben Roethlisberger has already commented that the offense is 90% different.

The Steelers could still suit up a nice receiving corps without Wallace. Emmanuel Sanders, Antonio Brown, and recently-signed Jerricho Cotchery at wide receiver with Heath Miller and Leonard Pope as your tight-end tandem. The running back group will be getting a lot of carries. Rashard Mendenhall is coming off an injury and will need some carries from Isaac Redman and high-draft pick Chris Rainey. Jonathan Dwyer and John Clay are in camp and are battling for a roster spot.

It is only a matter of time before Mike Wallace and the Steelers come to an agreement. One of the sides will lose in the deal. The Steelers have dealt with disgruntled wide receivers in the past, Plaxico Burress and Santonio Holmes. Wallace doesn't have the on and off-the-field issues as Holmes or Burress, but know when to cut their losses. They can't afford to tie up a large portion of their salary cap on a wide receiver in a "run first" offense.

NFL Week 7: Fantasy Football Sit/Start

Week 6 was a great week for many fantasy football stars and this week should be the same. There are some very favorable match-ups. I made some nice picks last week and I hope I helped you win your league. I advised to sit Brandon Jacobs and Mark Sanchez and told you to start Jeremy Shockey and Rashard Mendenhall. I hope I can help out this week with my Sit'em or Start'em for Week 7.

Before I start, I just want to ask you a question. The Colts are playing the Rams this week, can they surpass the 59-0 score the Patriots laid on the Titans? I think it will be pretty darn close to it. Without further adieu, here are my picks...

START'EM

Peyton Manning - He had a bye week to rest and now he has the Rams throw against in a glorified scrimmage game for the Colts.

DeAngelo Williams - Carolina has finally given up on Jake Delhomme and are going to start running the ball on every down. Pick up Jonathan Stewart if he's available in your league as well.

Marques Colston - Drew Brees likes to spread the ball around, but he'll get his touches against Miami this weekend.

Hines Ward - He is off to a great start this year and Ben Roethlisberger is really looking for him. He'll have a nice game against Minnesota.

Thomas Jones - I wasn't very high on him, but with Mark Sanchez looking like Jake Delhomme, I would expect the Jets to run the ball more.

Cedric Benson - Benson will be out for blood against his old team. The Bears haven't been too consistent against the run and he's been on fire.

Miles Austin - Can he duplicate the 250 yard performance? No, but he'll get a lot of targets against the Falcons.

Donald Driver - Give me a good veteran receiver against the Browns secondary any week. Aaron Rodgers will be looking for him all game.

Sidney Rice - I had him as my sleeper pick for the Vikings at the beginning of the year and he has turned into Favre's #1 deep target. He'll stretch PIttsburgh's secondary and get a few deep balls.

Green Bay Defense - Until Derek Anderson looks like a professional quarterback, start any defense that he plays against.

Vernon Davis - I liked him about every week and I think he'll have a nice game against the Texans. He's coming off of a bye and he'll be rested.

Frank Gore - Speaking of 49ers coming off of the bye, Gore will be back from his ankle sprain. The Texans are bad against the run and his will be a nice return for him.

Jacoby Jones - He is turning into a better option than Kevin Walter in Houston. He has speed and can do damage after the catch.

Johnny Knox - He's becoming Jay Cutler's favorite target in the passing attack and he'll get his share of targets against the Bengals.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis - DEEP LEAGUE START - The Patriots aren't completely sold on Laurence Maroney and they'll have a nice lead at halftime, so expect a lot of carries from the backfield in the 2nd half against Tampa Bay.


SIT'EM

Eli Manning - His injury scares me and I am not sure if he'll be 100%. He didn't look right against the Saints

Both Steve Smiths - I don't like the Carolina verson because the Panthers do not trust Delhomme at all. The Giants version will need Manning to be 100% healthy to be effective.

Brandon Jacobs - I hate to be so Giants heavy with my Sit'ems, but how bad has he looked this year? Big running backs tend to show their age faster than smaller running backs.

Steve Slaton - If he can't start getting the running game going, they will be forced to use Chris Brown more in games. If he has a couple more mediocre weeks, he could be in danger of losing his starting job.

Braylon Edwards - Mark Sanchez will not throwing as much against Oakland and Edwards still isn't fully into the offense yet.

Matt Forte - Yes, another disappointing 1st-round running back. I've been anti-Forte for most of the year and he still looks slow. How can a guy age 10 years after his rookie season?

Mohammed Massaquoi - He might be the #1 receiver in Cleveland, but if the QB can't get him the ball, what is he worth? Green Bay's secondary is great and will be a blanket on the Browns receivers all game.

Pittsburgh Steelers Defense - They are usually an automatic start, but I fear Minnesota's offense. They are really clicking right now and Adrian Peterson and Brett Favre could have nice weeks.

Roy Williams - Tony Romo seems to have given up on him and he's not completely healthy. I would stay away from him this week.

Chris Cooley - Until the Redskins get their offense in order, I would stay away from Cooley and any other player on the Redskins.

Jeremy Maclin - I fear that he could be a one-week wonder. Rookie wide receivers are very unpredictable and it's all about matchups. I would stay away from him this week.

Bernard Berrian - Sidney Rice is the deep threat on the Vikings. That used to be Berrian's job, 'cause he isn't much of a possession receiver. If he doesn't have the deep routes, he's not very useful.

NFL Week 6: What We Learned

A lot of big fantasy football stars had big days today. Tom Brady, Ray Rice, DeAngelo Williams, and Randy Moss all had big days. A lot of good teams looked great and a few bad teams just looked horrible. A few surprises happened, but nothing that would jump off of the page, except for the Raiders beating the Eagles, I don't know many people who would have predicted that. Here is what we learned during Week 6 in the 2009 NFL season.

- The Cincinnati Bengals aren't as good as we thought they were. When the Bengals are favored in a game, they are 2-13 against the spread. They love the part of underdog, but when they are supposed to win, they choke.

- Matt Schaub is finally starting to play like a franchise quarterback. Sure, having Andre Johnson and Owen Daniels receiving balls helps, but Steve Slaton hasn't done anything this year. The Texans are starting to look like a possible playoff team.

- The Patriots look like they are back to their 2007 form. They beat the Titans 59-0 and CBS actually changed the game to a more competitive game in the 3rd quarter. Tom Brady looks like he's back and that only makes Randy Moss play even harder. Oh by the way, Laurence Maroney is alive, who knew? I liked him when he was a rookie, but he fell out of favor with the coaches and he was in a black void in New England.

- Tennessee needs to start Vince Young. Kerry Collins is nearly as old as Brett Favre and you have a lot of money vested in Young. You need to see what you have, or this season could be a complete loss. If this season ends and you still have no idea if Young can be a starter in this league, you're not doing your job as talent evaluators.

- The Atlanta Falcons looked just as good as last week. The running game never got going, but Matt Ryan loves Tony Gonzalez.

- Jay Cutler still has some things to work out. He looks like he really loves Johnny Knox, but he can't rely on him all game. I'm also worried about Matt Forte, he had another rough game against a solid team. It seems like he can only gain yards against the Lions, but I could probably put up a 100+ yard game against Detroit.

- Speaking of the Lions, they were without Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson...did they have a chance against Green Bay? It was a worthless game and the Lions didn't put up a single point.

- I want to congratulate the Packers on beating up a the B-team that the Lions put out on the field. They should have put up Madden-like numbers in this game, but only beat them 26-0.

- We learned that Ray Rice is the true #1 running back in Baltimore and that the Vikings are a better team.

- The Vikings are truly Favre's team. Adrian Peterson will not have a great fantasy year, because the gunslinger is calling the plays. Also, thanks to the pre-game, Peterson has a crazy shoe fetish.

- The Saints are a really good team. They beat the Giants and they put up a ton of points against them. I think we can put them as the #1 team in the NFC, they are even better than Minnesota.

- I know Eli Manning isn't 100%, but the Giants got handed a really bad loss. Their defense should be ashamed, they are better than that.

- Mark Sanchez looked like a rookie today. He threw 5 interceptions and 4 of those were definitely his fault.

- The Bills surprised me today, even if Sanchez won the game for the Bills.

- The Browns are still bad, it doesn't matter who is playing quarterback.

- Hines Ward had a good game against Cleveland, does that surprise you? The Ohio teams in the AFC have been padding his stats since he came into the league.

- Carolina can win, despite Jake Delhomme. They really put the handcuffs on him in this game. He only threw 65 yards and they clearly don't trust him. Just keep handing the ball off to Williams and Stewart, Jake.

- Tampa Bay has to win a game at some point, right? I don't know if I learned that today, but how could they drop this much in one season.

- Jim Zorn should have been fired three weeks ago, but he has job security. I learned that if you want to never be fired, make sure that you're the only one that knows the passwords to the computers. They can't get rid of you.

- I predicted that the Chiefs would win 6 games this season. I don't look as dumb now, only five more to go!

- The Jaguars are bipolar, they need meds. You don't know which team is going to be on the field.

- We learned that the Rams are almost an NFL team. It took them a little extra time to lose the game this week, congratulations Rams.

- I thought Seattle was back, but Arizona put the brakes on that. The Cardinals played a nearly perfect first quarter and it deflated Seattle's hopes.

The Season Is Not Lost In Pittsburgh

The Steelers are sitting at 1-2 after three weeks of football and the Steeler Nation is on edge. Troy Polamalu has been out and may not play for another couple weeks, but all is not lost in Pittsburgh. They have some tough games ahead, but if they tighten things up and get the running game established, Pittsburgh will be okay. What does Pittsburgh need to do to resurrect the season? I'll explain.

The Steelers may have a little Super Bowl hangover right now and they were a coin flip away from possibly being 0-3. They miss Polamalu, but this team reminds me of the Colts Super Bowl season when Bob Sanders went down early that year. They were below .500 after five games, but once Sanders came back, they got their swagger back. Here are some things that the Steelers need to do.

The Steelers need to stay with the running game and work the swing passes to Willie Parker and Rashard Mendenhall. The first two games of the year, their running back corps was shutdown and the Steelers didn't stick with them. The Titans and Bears both have great run defense, but they didn't rely on the swing pass to make their outside linebackers cheat to the outside and establish the run in-between the tackles. They did use Parker well against the Bengals, but they still couldn't win the game. I think Cincinnati has a better defense, thanks to the last two draft classes and focusing their picks on linebacker.

They must protect Roethlisberger better. The Steelers offensive line is in a state of flux, trying to get young players to mix their veterans. You will not change Big Ben's tendency to hold the ball too long and I'm not sure that you will want. He has made some big plays when he has held the ball too long, but he needs time to get the ball to his receivers. Hines Ward isn't what he used to be and Santonio Holmes isn't as good as Ward in his prime. Nate Washington was nice to have when he was on the team, but the team still haven't found a consistent #3 receiver.

San Diego comes to town this week and Norv Turner is easy to out-coach. I believe Coach Tomlin is a better coach, but Steelers have playmakers on both sides of the ball. It is still unknown if Polamalu will be ready to play, I'm guess that he will not, so that will hurt. LaDanian Tomlinson is banged up and Darren Sproles is not LT, but Phillip Rivers could be able to throw against the Steelers secondary. It will be a tough game, but Steelers fans needs to relax. If they lose against San Diego, the season is still not over. They have games against Detroit and Cleveland, they will end up 3-3 when they face Minnesota before their bye week. I say that Pittsburgh will be in great position to win a wild-card spot or you never know, Baltimore could implode.

This post means a lot because I really don't like the Steelers, but I like when they are good. The Colts have lost some big playoffs games against Pittsburgh in the past and I do hold grudges. I live in Columbus, OH now and it's bad enough that I get every Browns and Bengals games on television on Sundays. If the Steelers were bad, I couldn't stomach one more bad AFC North game. I still have to watch two Browns/Bengals games a year, I need to move out of this state.