Some of you may or may not of heard of the allegations of rape against Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger. (Big Ben)The woman claims, in a civil suit, that Big Ben raped her some time last year, and that her employer, Harrah's of Lake Tahoe, covered it up because Big Ben is friends with the company's president.
Of course Roethlisberger has vehemently denied the charges and he has vowed to defend his name and his honor.
Now here is the thing: I love sports, and I pretty much have ESPN on one of the televisions in my house 24/7. But I didn't hear about this story on ESPN. In fact, I am pretty sure no one has ever heard this story on ESPN, because they have never carried the story. Not one mention of the alleged rape charges against the quarterback of the Super Bowl championship team.
So, you have to ask yourself, why is that? When Kobe Bryant allegedly raped that young lady in Colorado it was wall to wall coverage until his accuser failed to follow through, and the charges were dropped. So why no mention of the alleged rape and civil suit forthcoming against Big Ben? Oh ohh, here comes field with the racial angle. Nope, there won't be a racial angle to this one. (Although, do you think that if this was "5" and not Big Ben we wouldn't be talking about it at water coolers from California to Maine? Not to mention the 24 hour cable channels who would be giving us constant McNabb chatter) This is about the press and the way that news and information is controlled in this country. They decide what becomes a big story and what doesn't. And the folks in Bristol are doing their best to make sure that this does not become a big story.
Why? Well it depends on which story you believe . Apparently Big Ben is really close to the folks over at ESPN, and he even has a reality show in the works with ABC which owns; you guessed it; ESPN.
Now this story might or might not be true. The woman could be making the whole thing up. But even if she did, an allegation has been made. Shouldn't it be reported and we, the public, decide how valid we think the story is? Hey, the story is out there, a lawsuit has been filed. Since when is it a news organizations job to decide the validity of a story and not run with it because they want to protect some jock who they happen to like?
Hey, all I am saying is that if this was Pac Man Jones or Michael Vick.....oh, sorry, I promised that I wouldn't play the race card tonight. *putting them down and going off to bed*
