... would think that the excitement of opening week of the NFL would be enough of a story on it's own that the media wouldn't have to grab at straws.

Of course that isn't the case. 

In the age of instant media and the need to be the first to break a story, no matter how much a of a non-issue that story is, we are constantly bombarded with tiny mole-hills that the media tries to turn into mountains.

For example, ESPN cut into Monday night's Boise State, Virginia Tech game to inform all of us that Ben Roethlisberger had been "voted out" as a captain for the 2010 Pittsburgh Steelers (you can read my opinion on that here Bleacher Report - NFL