this will leave a black mark on his permanant record.
i wonder if the steelers are going to cut him loose. i think there is
a good chance that might happen.
The guy is lowest of the low, the scum of the earth.
This is not like losing a DE, or even a WR from a team...not where you
usually have someone else who can step in and run things and you can work
your schemes to adjust...when your starting QB is MIA...at the beginning of
the season??????? You need to look elsewhere for leadership. AFAIC, Ben
can go play some pick up ball in a beer league, or coach powder puff
ball...he'll be fine there. LOL, can you imagine Ben coaching in the
Lingerie League?
I think that would be pretty dumb of them to do that. It is unlikely
they find another QB as good as he is,
Glenn... Do you know what is going on ??? Steelers fans are sending
Roethlisberger jerseys and mechandise return receipt to the Rooneys.
Hate mail by rote. Season ticket holders have cancelld orders. Many
commentarots who know pro ball and get inside info are all saying that
the stuff we know is just the tip of the iceberg as far as Ben's
missadventures. They are saying that the Steelers did try to work
with him and give him behavioral rehab to no avail. At the moment,
the all the stuff is coming out in the open, but he's been causing
problems for a long time. Right now, for the health of the Steelers,
the best move is to get rid of him asap. The fans want him with a
rope around his neck. He's toast in Steelerland.
Ray, what I like about your post is that it admits the reason for the
suspension. In the no fun league, being guilty enough to be indicted is
not necessary.
I drank when underage. I probably served booze to girls who were
sloshed. If I could of and they would have I probably would have.
The bogus thing about this suspension is that many of us would buy
drinks for a pretty girl in a bar and none of us would card her.
So the behavior except for the alleged rape is nothing to complain about.
That is why your subject line is so true. Alleged.
While I never went in a girls bathroom and did the deed, it seems wierd
that there was not enough DNA to warrant taking any.
Having the DA submit her testimony to the press after deciding not to
press charges, having her not scream out and have witnesses, not press
charges in the bar, seems like slander since it was not given in a
public forum, under oath, facing a witness.
This whole thing stinks.
h
Not if they think it's less unlikely he will end up in jail.
http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/tag/_/name/ben-roethlisberger-suspension-2010
"The Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers need quarterbacks, too. What about them?
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Pittsburgh Steelers have shopped Roethlisberger
to all of the above.
The idea of trading Roethlisberger has gained a lot of steam with the NFL draft just
one day away. When asked about it on a conference call Wednesday, Steelers president
Art Rooney II avoided the topic.
"We really can't answer any questions about trades, particularly this time of year,"
Rooney said. "
buying drinks is one thing.
holding her in a room and forcing your johnson down her throat is something
else.
one incident, give him the benefit. several incidents and it's him.
Rapistberger
I'm with you on this, Harlan. The "personal conduct" clause is what
stinks. In my view, this is between him and the team.
I also don't understand why they're shopping him. I know owners care
about PR, but if I was a Steelers fan I'd be irate.
Maybe. But that rule is a little less reliable when applied to
celebrities. Especially juvenile celebrities who put themselves in bad
positions. I don't mean to cheapen the allegations against him, but
sorority chicks who put themselves in that kind of position are probably
not saints either. No charges. Goodell seems to have injected himself
into the case as judge and jury, which is something that I believe the
league should avoid doing.
ahhh yes, "she was asking for it"
it reflects badly on the league. he makes millions, he has an obligation not
to force himself on underage girls.
No. When we don't know the truth, we have to examine a person's
character, behaviors, and state. There's no shortage of that when it
comes to people talking about Ben! "He's a drinker." "He's
promiscuous." etc. Yet all the same traits may very well apply to her
too. Why is everyone so willing to apply a double standard here?
She was underage? I hadn't heard that.
That's what the word is...either way....try and imagine you are her father.
I don't care if she got wasted and did stupid stuff. If he did what the
allegations accuse him of...he is a complete dirt bag. I think what the
team is looking at must be his total record with this type of stuff.
I thought he admitted to boning her, but he said it wasn't rape. But if
she was underage, that's statutory. So why isn't he being charged?
The reason is: the Rooneys have realized these aren't isolated incidents.
They stood by him after the motorcycle accident and after the sexual assault
civil suit filing in Nevada. They aren't doing it this time because they've
done their due diligence and have come to a conclusion: there's something
the matter with him.
under drinking age and he was plying her with booze.
there is the other incident still pending.
it says at the very least that he's not very smooth.
Age of consent varies from state to state. Some states a person can
consent at the age of 16, others 17 and others 18.
Wasn't she 20? Anyway, it was the establishments responsibility to
assure she was of drinking age to obtain liquor. It was BR's
responsibility to assure she was capable of giving consent. The fact
that she was drunk goes to her ability to give consent in some
venues. There is more to giving consent than age alone, obviously.
If the league has the right to fine a player for wearing his jersey
out of his pants, certainly, they can fine/suspend a player for
engaging in conduct which reflects badly on the league.
So 6 games and $4+ Mil for bathroom sex, with a sloshed tart should
send the message that the NFL wont tolerate unsavory behavior, no
matter who they may be. Ben Brought this upon himself.
At 20 years of age, in the state they were in, she was under age for
booze, but not under age for the bone. BTW... Not that I'm defending
Ben... But in the college I went to, we had a bar in the student
center. They were supposed to "card" people, but that was a joke. On
Thursday nights, just about any student could go in and get a drink.
Ben is not 40 y/o. He's only a few years older than that 20 y/o girl
he was boozing with. My beef with him is the scumbag nature of his
routine that appears to have been played out several times. I don't
think he's a rapist in the legal sense, but I have nothing but
contempt for an asshole that trolls college bags looking to get some
tart loaded so he can bang her. He's just a dirt bag and a shit
heel.
So then she wasn't underage. He was "forcing himself" on a girl, which
is perfectly legal.
Some of us equally criticize their strict adherence to dress code too.
"Unsavory" is not something the NFL should be getting involved in, IMO.
Not to the tune of 6 games. What next? Mandatory church attendance? :)
H, if the reports are accurate the man is a menace.
I have to side with you that if there is no case why release it. As I
read her story my visceral reaction was BS. 10 college kids & not one
cellphone pic? Her story read like she was rewriting her obituary.
Big Ben has changed his life forever. For all the damage that has been
done to his rep & wallet, if her story is BS, then that is the real crime.
You may be shocked to hear this, Michael, but women are human beings
too. They're every bit as capable of making their own decisions as men.
Sorority girls who spend their time in bars getting drunk and
consorting with strange men often have just one thing on their minds --
just like the men they're consorting with.
I would trade Sanchez even up today.
Out of wedlock babies used to be a scandal. So should Brady have been
suspended? The answer is obviously no. I guess I have the MZ streak of
libertarian in me.
a 20 year old in bar, shocking....next thing yo know they will be
sending 20 year olds to Afghanistan to fight.
Mark... I would NEVER dispute this point here. I did use the word
"TART". People on the margins of society come in all shapes, sizes,
ages and genders. There are woment out there that trump Big Ben with
spades. That goes without saying.
He's not a juvenile, he's a 28 year old man. The GIRL, however, was a
juvenile.
Yeah, I was just giving you crap. My point was that the bar scene isn't
so one-sided, especially the college scene. Ben's milking his celebrity
status, and that shit works. Again, especially in the college scene.
Their behaviors suggest that both of them are juvenile.
I dont mind the "crap". I'm mostly here to enhance my football
experience by getting some other view points. The OT view points are
good too.
I agree... 100 %. Does not matter if she was 20 and he's 28.
Emotionally, both of them seem like college kids. With movie stars,
rock stars and pro ball players, what reason is for them to grow
up ??? Not much of one, most of the time. They can fuck up time and
again and still live the high life.
All it takes is some not so great handling of it and a significant number of
victims back out of going through with the prosecution. My son's brother in
law is a special victims prosecutor in Philly...he tells me far more rapes
go uncharged because the victims, for many reasons, will not go through the
court and legal procedures. He says that it can be very hard on the victim,
especially if she was consuming any substances....who knows, none of us
will...but she wasn't 21...legal age for drinking, may have been legal age
of consent though.
It's amazing how many people have a comment about this, but they don't
have their facts straight.
She was 20, underage for *drinking*, not underage for boning.
Which is what I thought initially, until Ray said he was trying to
"force himself on an underage girl", a statement which has a much
different implication.
It's the league brand that he's tarnishing. No one says he can't
continue to do what he's been doing, just that he can't do it while he
is a league representative. I also thought 6 games were a bit harsh,
as well, but by creaming BR, no one can play the race card on
Goodell. It was a mix of business and politics.JMO
You don't know that. There's much more in that report than what
happened behind closed doors, and the NFL interviewed lots of
witnesses, including Ben himself, and so the NFL may well have
plenty of evidence to conclude that his actions were well outside of
the conduct policy. Until you have the entirety of the NFL report,
and what they know, you simply cannot make that statement.
> That is why your subject line is so true. Alleged.
If the only issue at hand WERE the alleged rape, and if the NFL knew
that it happened, then the penalty would be life banishment. My
point is that the suspension isn't because they believed he raped
her.
I disagree with that, and the NFL must as well. Otherwise, if they
really did conclude that he did it, they would've thrown him out.
I think it's more likely that the truth lies in the middle. I
SUSPECT that he did a whole lot that was well out of bounds, and
that she embellished quite a bit. I also SUSPECT that the league
interviewed lots of witnesses, and that there's lots that can be
corroborated, and so hence that suspension. My suspicions will be
further confirmed for me if he chooses not to appeal. If he
doesn't, then that tells me he doesn't want all the evidence of
whatever he DID do to come out. So my bet is that there's plenty of
evidence to warrent the 6 games.
All I'm saying is this will be very difficult for most fans to accept.
I am sure there are fans sending in hate mail, other burning his
jersey and even canceling subscriptions but that is nothing compared
to the broad fan base I am sure. I heard callers who were Steeler fans
this morning crying foul over the suspension as being too harsh so the
fan base is cutting both ways. If the Steelers dump Ben and don't have
a talented QB to play in his place there will be riots at Steeler
games. He is more responsible for the recent success that team has
than anyone.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't see Pitt precipitously dumping him.
they'd want something good in return, and and anyway what other team wants a
rapist?
If Ben behaves from now on it will blow over.
one point in his favor is he isn't married and having that to deal with.
6 games is a lot of games. roughly 1/3rd the season.
next time it will be longer.
forcing oneself on women isn't legal no matter what their age.
buying booze for people under 21 is illegal.
I kept the phrase in quotes. There doesn't appear to be any evidence
that he physically forced himself on a girl.
> buying booze for people under 21 is illegal.
Which, according to Goodell, is not what he was suspended 6 games for.
I'm curious...has the bar had its liquor license pulled yet?
if a person produces a false ID and it is accepted, is the bar at
fault ??? i dont know what the law is in that case... anyone know ???
I don't either. But apparently Roethlisberger is at fault.
In TX the liability is not only on the bar but the server. It is their
job to check ID. It is also a crime to show fake proof.
i guess he would be at fault if he knew the girls were under 21. i
have not seen any reports or commentary about that. did those girls
identify themselves to ben as being under 21 ??? if they are in a bar
drinking, is it OK if ben just takes it for granted that they are 21
or over or does he need to card them too ??? i remember when i was in
college from time to time high school sr's would try to get into frat
parties by telling people at the door they were college students.
suppose some unknowing person hooked up with one of them thinking they
were college age. would a college kid be at fault if they would up
sleeping with some twitt posing as a student ???
All tough questions, Michael. A lot of times it seems these things are
left to the discretion of the DA and how hard the girl wants to push
things. In a celeb case like this one, it goes back to what John was
saying about overzealous DAs.
I don't think it's reasonable to ask Roethlisberger to card girls in a
bar. That should be the server's job.
being pro-near if not actual rape are Libertarian positions?.
It's a libertarian position to not throw the book at someone who hasn't
been found guilty of a crime.
You keep avoiding the issue: what evidence is there that a rape
occurred? I'm not trying to lead you with that question. I really
don't know. If he raped the chick, then yeah, he's a scumbag. But from
what they're saying these days, people are miffed because he's a cooz
hound and he abuses alcohol. There are also people out there who think
that a 20 year old college student getting drunk is a giant dagger right
through baby Jesus's heart.
It's Tiger all over again.
I disagree Mark. Tiger was a slut who happened to be married, cheated on
his wife, caused pain to his child(ren), and humiliated his wife.
To my knowledge, Ben is not married and like any red blooded american
male likes to get it while he can.
You are right that liking to drink and f--k offend many americans. But
since both can be a crime (e.g., DWI, public intoxication, statutory
rape, rape, etc.) and he is not even charged with one, this stinks.
harlan
none of Tiger's "GFs" accused him of forcing themselves on them.
there was no police investigation.
its not like tiger at all.
and this isn't Bens first time being so accused. the first incident ins't
even resolved there will be a civil suit.
that might happen again with the Ga case.
once, yeah give him the benefit. but this is the second major allegation and
there are rumours.
the NFL isn't the criminal court. the rules are different.
and its better he learn his lesson now rather than after he really gets
caught and goes to prison.