Tonight all eyes are on Gentle Ben Roethlisberger. And not for the reasons you might expect. Oh, sure. Pittsburgh’s the reigning Super Bowl champ and Tennessee their opponent in this kickoff game of the NFL season is arguably the next best team in the league although their uniforms suck. Tampa Bay, Houston and Carolina also have suck uniforms.

But fashion statements aren’t why Roethlisberger is being watched. Like the time when he busted his head in a motorcycle accident and played erratically, Ben had some more extracurricular activities this past pre-season, this one involving a hotel room and a blonde with bunny teeth who claims Ben raped her.

I don’t think there’s a doubt that Ben connected with a forward pass in the hotel room. I think we’re just quibbling over the definition of rape. From the way I understand the case, McNulty’s suing and Roethlisberger’s attorneys want her to drop the suit. McNulty says, yeah, only if he admits rape, apologizes and donates money to some worthy charity.

In a case that’s been mostly boring so far- at least by Kobe Bryant standards – no real juicy dirt has emerged. Kobe, who had to pay a ton of Michael Jackson hush money to Kate Faber while bribing his wife publicly with gaudy jewelry and his famous “you’re so special to me” speech, at least did Kate in the ass.

We don’t know if Ben had anal sex or not, but for all the legal aggravation he’s going through right now, he should have.

At least committed to some drama, McNulty’s attorneys are turning up the screws this week demanding that Ben supply a list of all the women he’s had sex with. So maybe this case will get truly bizarre after all.

Meanwhile Pittsburgh’s playing at home and favored by six.

And here’s how the AdultFYI pool looks at it:

Pittsburgh: Gene Ross, Dr. TJ Eckleburg, 0&16 Chuck, Steve Seidman, Mike Dickinson, Sunset Thomas, Mike Fattorosi, Kick Ass Chris, Kick Ass Ben, Robert Interlandi, Steve Volponi, John Gray, Karl the Birdman, Danny of Foxxx Modeling, Steve from Magnus, Jeff Mullen, Scott David, Ryan from Jerry’s Deli, John from Adult Source Media, Sean from Porn Legends, and Tim Case

Tennessee: Billy The Crystal, Brian Wallace

This year is also a money pool, but I don’t want to report on the exact amount as yet until all the checks are in. Some, as they say, are still in the mail, and there was a grace period because of the Labor Day weekend and the season beginning on a Thursday.

Good luck to one and all.