Ben Can't escape the deed(s)

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: Ben Can't escape the deed(s)

Jeremy Piven doesn’t want “Rapistberger” in Super Bowl

Posted by Mike Florio on January 31, 2011



From our friends at TMZ comes the kind of hard-hitting journalistic effort that will help set the agenda as Super Bowl week unfolds.

Or that simply will help stir things up a little.

Jeremy Piven, one of the stars of HBO’s Entourage, recently was captured on film complaining about this year’s participants in the NFL title game.

“Jets and Bears would have been the greatest Super Bowl,” Piven said. “Now its Rapistberger and the Cheeseheads. The Cheesy Rape Burger.”

Piven then noticed that someone had videotaped his words. “Noooooo,” he said.

Obviously, Piven was referring to the multiple sexual assault allegations previously made against Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. He never has been arrested or charged with rape. A civil suit alleging rape has been filed against Roethlisberger, but the suit remains unresolved.

[url="http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/01/31/jeremy-piven-slams-rapistberger-in-super-bowl/"]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... uper-bowl/[/url]

[Oviedo]

Re: Ben Can't escape the deed(s)

Ben's sanctuary from all the BS is on the football field for 60 minutes. Let the haters continue to run their mouths and let him shove it up their A$$es

[Ghost]

Re: Ben Can't escape the deed(s)

"bruises, lacerations and bleeding" -

I know they found NO DNA, but did the police report have the above?

[JAR]

Re: Ben Can't escape the deed(s)

"bruises, lacerations and bleeding" -

I know they found NO DNA, but did the police report have the above?

No, there was evidence of sex, but it must be something she was very used to since she was walking around wearing a DTF sticker.

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: Ben Can't escape the deed(s)

Advice for Ben: Just shut up!

MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2011 06:00 AM WRITTEN BY BOB SMIZIK


Ben Roethlisberger has been the recipient of the best public-relations advice money can buy in the largely successful effort to remake his image following the gigantic hit it took about 11 months ago.

So Roethlisberger, who won a media award as the most cooperative Steelers player, doesn’t need my advice as he gets ready to handle the media hordes at the Super Bowl. These writers and broadcasters will want to look under every rock in his life. They'll want to psychoanalyze him in public and on a daily basis.

They’re only doing their jobs and the public that scorns them for asking tough questions would love to know the answers.

It’s about those answers that I have some free advice for Roethlisberger:

Don’t say a word, Ben. Give them nothing.

And this from a guy who'd love to know what's under some of those rocks.

There is nothing to be gained for Roethlisberger by baring his soul. I’ve seen guys do it, although on less sensitive issues, at these events and it can not only make for a good story, it can actually help the person doing the opening up.

It doesn’t matter. Again, Ben, just shut up.

Oh, answer the questions about the game and all of the silly stuff that will be thrown your way and do it with a smile. But when they want to talk about the past, you need to be Mark McGwire.

It didn’t work for him but it will work for you. You’ve got a football game to play and a life to live. A public catharsis is not for you.

Roethlisberger will be the star of every media session he attends. He won’t have a table on the side. He’ll have a podium in the middle of the room. He won’t be one of 47 Steelers being interviewed. He’ll be one of one.

Paul Domowitch, an excellent pro football writer for the Philadelphia Daily News, set the scene in a column he wrote last week about what Roethlisberger will face.

``At every single one of those four sessions next week, including Tuesday's Media Day zoo at Cowboys Stadium, Roethlisberger is going to be asked about what happened last March in Milledgeville, Ga., when he was accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old college student in the bathroom of a bar.

``And he's going to be asked about the four-game suspension he served at the beginning of the season for violating the league's personal-conduct policy after the league did its own investigation of the incident after law enforcement declined to prosecute.

``It would be nice if Roethlisberger took the same approach as Michael Vick and opened up about the mistakes he's made and how he has changed and matured.’’

It would be nice for the media if Roethlisberger took the Vick approach but not for Roethlisberger. Vick was charged and convicted of a crime and had something for which he could repent.

As we all know, Roethlisberger was not charged. He was suspended by the NFL for poor behavior and has made his apologies for that. There’s a world of difference between Vick and Roethlisberger.

Roethlisberger got a hint of what’s in store for him at the Super Bowl before and after the AFC title game. At a conference call before the game, he was asked about the past:

His answer: "Right now, it's not about living in the past for me. It's about living in the here and now.''

After the game, he was asked whether he looked back on the off-season. Before the question was finished, Roethlisberger provided an answer. ``I don’t. I’ll stop you now. I don’t. Not at all.’’

Like I said, Ben has the best advice money can buy and has learned well.

But just in case, here's some more free advice, Ben: Just shut up.

[url="http://communityvoices.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/sports/bob-smiziks-blog/27269-advice-for-ben-just-shut-up"]http://communityvoices.sites.post-gazet ... st-shut-up[/url]

[Crash]

Re: Ben Can't escape the deed(s)

He can't shut up. He does that and they'll complain.

He needs to start off media day with: "I cannot talk about Reno or Georgia".

Questions?

If they persist? He'll leave.

[Djfan]

Re: Negative SI article about Ben

Does anyone actually read SI anymore??

I only get it when the Steelers win the SB, so I can have the book, football and video. I'll be getting it this year, too.

I never read it, and it goes to the trash.

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: Ben Can't escape the deed(s)

Writer clarifies Goodell's quote about players' take on Big Ben

NFL.com Wire Reports
Published: Jan. 31, 2011


The Pittsburgh Steelers arrived in Texas on Monday and immediately faced questions about NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's comment that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger wasn't supported by his teammates during last year's league investigation.

There was only one problem: Goodell didn't exactly say that.

Sports Illustrated's Peter King, who used the quote in question, issued a clarification Monday night, explaining that Goodell wasn't referring to Steelers players when he said "two dozen players" had no nice things to say about Roethlisberger.

"I erred in inserting the parenthetical 'Steelers' in a quote by Goodell, which was an incorrect assumption on my part," wrote King, who added, "I regret the error."

Goodell did tell King on Jan. 7: "Not one, not a single player, went to (Roethlisberger's) defense. It wasn't personal in a sense, but all kinds of stories like, 'He won't sign my jersey.'" However, those players weren't Steelers.

Goodell also told King that Roethlisberger was agitated with the six-game suspension he received in April for violating the league's personal-conduct policy. The ban ultimately was reduced to four games.

Roethlisberger was accused of sexually assaulting a Georgia college student following a night of drinking in a Milledgeville, Ga., bar on March 5. He wasn't charged by Georgia authorities.

Roethlisberger, who met with reporters Monday in Fort Worth, Texas, ahead of this weekend's Super Bowl XLV, said that some Steelers teammates did, in fact, defend him to Goodell.

"I know for a fact that when the commissioner came to the training camp and talked, a lot of guys, kind of, did," Roethelisberger said. "I'm just thankful, like I said, my teammates are who they are, and I'm really appreciative of them."

Asked to clarify Goodell's comments, Roethlisberger said: "I'm not sure, I wasn't there, so I don't know exactly what was said. So it's hard to say."

Watch NFL Playoff games online and in HD with NFL Game Rewind. Sign up now to get full access to the Postseason archives.
Reporters asked Roethlisberger about the perception that he has changed since serving his suspension.

"It has to do with a lot of things, you know, a lot of praying and talking to the Lord, and saying thank you for the opportunity that I get to play this game and, like I say, come back to the Super Bowl," he said.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin also spoke with reporters Monday and downplayed Goodell's comments.

"I don't know what he means, or you mean, by 'coming to his defense.' I don't know the nature of the conversation or the discussion," Tomlin said. "So, it's going to be difficult for me to comment on it, to be quite honest with you. Ben is a highly respected member of our football team."

[url="http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/story/09000d5d81e06b30/article/goodell-says-some-steelers-didnt-back-big-ben-qb-disagrees"]http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/story/0900 ... -disagrees[/url]

[AngryAsian]

Re: Ben Can't escape the deed(s)

Practically every person that has ever talked negatively to me regarding Ben and his "off-season antics" has digested some sort of skewed article from some anti-steeler hack reporter, that no inkling about producing an article with facts. When the story first broke out, I was outraged and pre-judged, like most, with a mindset of "where there's smoke, there's fire." But after seeing the video tape of the alleged victim's testimony, I was like, "no wonder they never charged him." Anyone with half a brain listening/seeing this interview couldn't have walked away with a "he's guilty" opinion. Her demeanor was far from distraught and at times was downright giddy. I think those who could care less about the Steelers never saw this footage and thus could never really have a fair perspective.

What I came away with is that Ben made an idiotic judgment call having sex in a public place with a stranger who was intoxicated and under the drinking age. Lesson learned folks, but unfortunately Ben lives in the "information highway" era where public perception is never about clarity, but more about what will the media yarn spinners could do with skewed information that will sell to the public.

[Crash]

Re: Ben Can't escape the deed(s)

When the story first broke out, I was outraged and pre-judged, like most, with a mindset of "where there's smoke, there's fire." But after seeing the video tape of the alleged victim's testimony, I was like, "no wonder they never charged him." Anyone with half a brain listening/seeing this interview couldn't have walked away with a "he's guilty" opinion. Her demeanor was far from distraught and at times was downright giddy. I think those who could care less about the Steelers never saw this footage and thus could never really have a fair perspective.

Same here.

But anyone who saw like, her 2nd interview like, knows like, that she was like, full of like, sh*t.

Even when a FEMALE GBI member was talking to Colon, she was JOKING about the DTF label with him.

Do you really believe she would have if she thought she was raped?

[feltdizz]

Re: Negative SI article about Ben

Does anyone actually read SI anymore??

I only get it when the Steelers win the SB, so I can have the book, football and video. I'll be getting it this year, too.

I never read it, and it goes to the trash.

I picked one up in the book store because Harrison was on the cover. I thought it was a SB special because it was light as a feather. It's half the pages it used to be.

There is a great article about Aliquippa, PA and their connection to the NFL.

My mom's side of the family is from their and she moved back to try to turn the community around about 10 years ago. She re-opened the swimming pool and Revis worked there in the summertime before he left. She also got the school a huge grant to keep the music and arts program afloat. She also said Mike Ditka was the dirtiest player she ever saw.

My uncle is still a coach on the HS team.

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: Ben Can't escape the deed(s)

Feb 01, 2011

Michael Strahan: Pressure is on Steelers, not Packers

By Jim Corbett, USA TODAY


ARLINGTON, Texas -- Four days before his team stunned the previously-unbeaten New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, former New York Giants defensive leader Michael Strahan thought the pressure was on the Patriots to complete their perfect season with a Lombardi Trophy.

Those Giants played fast, physical and loose, knowing they had nothing to lose.

Asked Tuesday in his role as a Fox analyst who faced more pressure in Super Bowl XLV, the Pittsburgh Steelers chasing a seventh Lombardi Trophy or the sixth-seeded Green Bay Packers, Strahan didn't hesitate.

"I'll pick Pittsburgh,'' Strahan said. "Because they're going for No. 7 as far as rings. I think Ben Roethlisberger with everything that happened in the offseason with him, this is like a vindication of it, that whole comeback incentive from a very unique situation.''

Strahan referenced Roethlisberger's return from a four-game for violating the league's personal conduct policy after the seventh-year quarterback was accused in March of sexual assault of a 20-year-old Georgia college student. No charges were filed.

"I'm pretty sure there's a lot of people who still haven't forgiven, or will forget,'' Strahan said. "We're usually in a situation like this where that great comeback is forgiven. So I think there's a lot more pressure on Pittsburgh than there is on Green Bay.

"Green Bay is a sixth seed that shouldn't be here anyway, kind of like us. Play your best, see what happens, we had nothing to lose and we put it all on the line.''

And the Giants' defensive line took it to Tom Brady and the Patriots in the Giants' 17-14 Super Bowl win after they were empowered by a three-point, Dec. 29 loss in their regular-season finale.

The fifth-seeded Giants had nothing on the line in that game but pride yet their showing against the then 16-0 Patriots emboldened them that they could not only stand toe-to-toe with that season's dominant team, but beat them.

"The greatest thing about that last game was we felt, 'Boy, if that was the best team in the league and we were that close, we must be one of the best teams in the league because we didn't show anything because we were already in the playoffs,''' Strahan said. "If we can be this vanilla and still almost beat the best, undefeated team, we're pretty good.'

"We weren't afraid of Tom Brady and their offense at all."

[url="http://content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2011/02/michael-strahan-pressure-is-on-steelers-not-packers/1"]http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... -packers/1[/url]

[Crash]

Re: Ben Can't escape the deed(s)

Strahan's a boob. If anything the pressure is on GB because of all the Rodgers hype.

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: Ben Can't escape the deed(s)

Wins don't give Ben Roethlisberger a free pass

Feb 1 | By Jane McManus



Jason Bridge/US Presswire
Ben Roethlisberger isn't a redemption story just because he's reached the Super Bowl.


Americans love to turn their athletes into heroes. And we sportswriters are sometimes guilty of providing storylines when they don't arrive on schedule. This week, the Super Bowl is a major deadline.

So I'm a little wary of stories about the Pittsburgh quarterback.

Roethlisberger has had a number of interactions with women that have involved courts or police to one degree or another. The most troubling came last April, when Roethlisberger celebrated his 28th birthday in Milledgeville, Ga.

The prosecutor couldn't recover enough DNA from a dingy bathroom, and the alleged victim declined to press charges. But the police report from that night has the handwritten account of a woman who said she was trapped there as Roethlisberger had sex with her -- while bodyguards kept her friends from coming to help her.

"No, this is not okay," she said she told him.

To his credit, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell didn't let himself off the hook when the prosecutor said there wasn't enough evidence to charge Roethlisberger. The NFL investigated the matter itself and suspended the quarterback for Pittsburgh's first six games (the suspension was later reduced to four).

Now the Steelers are in the Super Bowl. What that means is that reporters will want to write about what happened, but will have a hard time using phrases like "alleged rape." Instead, you might hear a lot of references to "off-the-field distractions."

So weak. You cannot lump DWIs, drug use, alleged rape and assault charges into the same phrase you'd use for trying to talk and text at the same time.

For the record, what happened also does not count as "overcoming adversity." That's when you successfully rehab a gruesome compound fracture, like Seattle's Leon Washington, and go on to regain your status as a formidable kickoff returner. It's not when you act like the villain in some film noir and then win a bunch of football games.

Maybe we need to invent some new terms for antiheroes -- are you listening Antonio Cromartie, you wordsmith? -- so that players like Big Ben, Mike Vick, Tiger Woods and Kobe Bryant can be discussed without being idolized.

Playing a good game and leading a good life are two distinct things -- and not every athlete needs to be Man of the Year. But that gets confused a lot when we talk about sports.

Santonio Holmes is one athlete who refused to play the good-guy role the league -- and the media -- wanted to assign him. The wide receiver was suspended for four games at the start of the 2010 season for violating the league's substance-abuse policy. The Steelers traded him to the Jets on the cheap, and when Holmes came back from his suspension, reporters asked what he learned from the experience.

He didn't let anybody write the redemption story.

"To look in your eyes and be honest with you, not one percent," Holmes said in response to a question about whether he'd changed during his time off. "I've been the same person since I stepped foot in this NFL, I'll continuing being the same person until I leave."

Holmes' point: Admire him for what he can do on the field, but don't try to make him a poster child for a D.A.R.E. campaign. One might even respect Holmes for refusing to be shoe horned into a cuddly narrative arc simply to improve his public image.

Roethlisberger hasn't talked publicly about what happened in Milledgeville. It's hard to know if he's changed, or how he has processed the events of that night. Has he undergone a personal transformation in the aftermath of the scandal? Has he decided he needs to more thoroughly script his media interactions?

Nobody likes all those blanks. It's tempting to try to fill them in for Roethlisberger.

Maybe one day he will found a church, underwrite programming on NPR, pay for thousands of impoverished kids to go to college, cure malaria and fund a league-wide program called No Means No.

On that day, everyone can write that Ben Roethlisberger has redeemed himself.

But winning another Super Bowl shouldn't be part of that storyline.

[url="http://espn.go.com/espnw/blog/_/post/6080853/wins-do-not-give-ben-roethlisberger-free-pass"]http://espn.go.com/espnw/blog/_/post/60 ... -free-pass[/url]

[Crash]

Re: Ben Can't escape the deed(s)

The NFL investigated the matter itself and suspended the quarterback for Pittsburgh's first six games (the suspension was later reduced to four).

"My decision today is not based on a finding that you violated Georgia law"

-Roger Goodell to Ben Roethlisberger

I've had it up to here with every bitch female reporter looking for their 15 minutes of fame.

Shut up and go bake me a pie.

One might even respect Holmes for refusing to be shoe horned into a cuddly narrative arc simply to improve his public image.

Yeah that's it you twat. Respect a habitual criminal like Holmes who has also flunked two drug tests and besmirch Roethlisberger who's never been arrested in his life.

Real smooth Toots.