Ben Roethlisberger continues to get the royal treatment from the media, NFL and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He's yet to face suspension and his case in Georgia won't be prosecuted while the mainstream continues to cut him a break
On April 12th the district attorney in Milledgeville, Georgia announced they would not prosecute Roethlisberger because there wasn't enough evidence "beyond a reasonable doubt" to move towards a trial. Last time I checked I thought that was a jury's responsibility and not the DA.
When Tiger Woods wrecked his Cadillac Escalade on Nov 27th details about his infidelity began to leak out. Once things hit the fan the media feasted on Woods. Mainstream media was consistently on the prowl.
Several of Woods' mistresses gave television interviews about his moral wrong-doing. The mainstream media painted Tiger out to be a terrible person. He was prosecuted in the court of public opinion for his moral-wrong doing.
How come Roethlisberger didn't get the same level of coverage for his alleged breaking of the law?
Let's go back to the summer of 2008. Roethlisberger was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Lake Tahoe while he was playing in a Pro-Am golf tournament. The case is still open and pending. Anyone remember that? Since the mainstream neglects to talk about it a friendly reminder here won't hurt.
Big Ben's second alleged sexual assault occurred March 5th when a 20-year old woman asserted that he had sex with her against her will. Once again the mainstream media didn't cover this situation with the level of persistence as Tiger Woods' marital infidelity.
Tiger wasn't accused of sexual assault like Roethlisberger. He didn't invest in a dog-fighting ring like Michael Vick, or shoot himself in the thigh like Plaxico Burress. Woods didn't break the law. He cheated in his wife. Yes, morally his behavior is deemed unacceptable but legally it's all good.
Tiger was consistently covered by media giants like David Letterman, Howard Stern, Good Morning America, CNN and ESPN to name a few.
Didn't Letterman cheat on his wife? Didn't Letterman have a variety of sexual relationships with co-workers? Then he had the audacity to crack jokes about Woods infidelity. Why hasn't Letterman cracked consistent jokes about Roethlisberger with the same frequency as he did with Tiger?
This is the consummate example of hypocrisy.
Tiger was urged to speak out. The mainstream demanded some type of explanation for him. In all fairness I was one of them. Tiger ended up issuing a scripted 11-minute speech addressing some of the questions the media and others wanted answered.
With Roethlisberger no such demands were issued. In being consistent I've demanded explanations and more media coverage on Roethlisberger just like I did Tiger.
Like Tiger, Roethlisberger laid low. He surfaced only to make a statement that lasted just over one minute when it was announced it he wouldn't face charges. But when Tiger laid low he was vilified for not coming forward to speak.
Big Ben stated he wouldn't talk about what happened in Georgia anymore. And he hasn't. How come Tiger was consistently urged to speak about who he slept with but the same media won't ask Roethlisberger what happened in that bathroom?
What makes Roethlisberger so special that the media requests nothing of him but expected the world from Tiger Woods?
Mainstream media is mostly comprised of white males. Facts indicate 94, 88, and 87 percent of the Sports Editors, Columnists and Reports are white males. In essence, white males are covering a world of professional sports where many of the marquee athletes are African-American. There simply isn't enough parity in the media to provide balanced coverage.
The latter helps to explain why white athletes like Roethlisberger receive more favorable coverage than the likes of Vick, Burress and Woods.
A level of consistency must be administered when covering all athletes. When turmoil visited Woods it was written and talked about consistently. No issues with the latter whatsoever. But the same should hold true for Roethlisberger as well. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
We all know once you factor in the media composition, celebrity, race and money the rules of the game for covering African-American athlete differs from the coverage the likes of Roethlisberger receives.
Agree or disagree?
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Ben Roethlisberger is a slimeball; I'm done with Tiger Woods and Nike, too
Fly's rumorama: Ben Roethlisberger, NHL reportage, Boston Marathon, Tiger ...
As a sports fan in 2010, you must ask yourself the following questions:
From Ben Roethlisberger to Tiger Woods: Why Nike Didn't Flee
Just so you are aware DA offices have finite resources and have to chose what cases go to prosecution. If there is simply not enough evidence (or chance that the defendant may be innocent) they will not prosecute. Going after cases that mostly rely on he said, she said, like this one, waste the limited resources of the criminal justice system and hurt the prosecution of cases where there is much greater evidence against the suspects.
With regard to the alleged disparate coverage of tiger vs. ben, most people realize the reason tiger got so much coverage was that he has always put forward a clean, family-friendly image. It is similar to the massive media coverage of when conservative Christian politicians either have affairs or are found to be gay. What Tiger did isn't the issue, it's the hypocrisy.
It makes a person sick that you continue to disrespect generations of those who have fought for equality, while you perpetuate racism.
Apology accepted
Ben, whose family is not even mentioned, has had three incidents that could have resulted in felonies. He's been drunk in public and acted irresponsibly.
I care about on field performances of athletes; their personal life is their business.
The media has been horrible to Tiger. Disgusting treatment of the world's most recognizable star. Just a frenzy designed to bring him down and hand the "crown' PHIL, THE WHITE KNIGHT
I wish people wouldn't look for racism when none exists. There are plenty of other racist problems you could be covering. This isn't one.
I do however think there is some merit to the argument that rothlesberger and tiger are on two much different levels in sports hierarchy. Using my mother as an example, a woman who has hardly any interest in watching sports, certainly is aware of who tiger is, but has never heard of big ben.
I do think that the level of fame does play a significant role (as well as the very bizarre thought of tiger passed out unconscious and crashing into a fire hydrant next to his driveway)..
In the context of tiger woods, it would also be interesting to compare him to his close confidant Michael Jordan. You could certainly argue that Jordan was protected by the media. His affair/gambling habits were kept hush hush by media members who may have done this out of respect for his private life.
So, I think it would be important to differentiate between sports media (which actually sheltered tiger...if you doubt that go take a look at his first press conference at Augusta, where he was given a lot of softballs
“One team I interviewed with asked me about being a white running back,” Gerhart says. “They asked if it made me feel entitled, or like I felt I was a poster child for white running backs. I said, ‘No, I’m just out there playing ball. I don’t think about that.’ I didn’t really know what to say.”
One longtime NFL scout insisted that Gerhart’s skin color will likely prevent the Pac-10’s offensive player of the year from being drafted in Thursday’s first round.
“He’ll be a great second-round pickup for somebody, but I guarantee you if he was the exact same guy – but he was black – he’d go in the first round for sure,” the scout said. “You could make a case that he’s a Steven Jackson-type – doesn’t have blazing speed but he’s strong and powerful and versatile.”
It has everything to do with it, though your just trying to change the subject because you have no answer.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/20/eric-foster-sexual-assaul_n_544411.html
If they give it more scrutiny then Ben's incident, I will agree.
I don't care if Worthlisberger speaks out because I wouldn't believe a word he said. He's shown himself to be an idiot who makes poor decisions and treats women with contempt. He's immature and arrogant also. And that's the BEST that can be said about him.
I was a Steelers fan, and will be again when they dump this loser. There's no way I'm going to cheer for them to win when this Neanderthal is leading them. (Apologies to the Neanderthals.)
For the record, I'll repeat that I think he's probably guilty, but that is not the same thing as a *jury* saying it. If the DA won't prosecute, there's really not much the NFL commish can do. Nor should he.
All the other cases you've mentioned were clear-cut violations of the law or NFL rules.
Get over yourself.
(I doubt you'll approve this, but what the hell...)