That was supposed to be tongue-in-cheek. 
I should have indicated so.
And no, I’m not saying I want a sport with nothing but saints. Just that Ben makes me sick. He may not be a rapist. He is, by most accounts, a total prick.
ETA: I do agree that McNulty is definitely a golddigger.
That is extremely disputable.
Roethlisberger denies they had sex, and I don’t know if the woman even claimed they had intercourse.
Roethlisberger did not have to get her drunk. There was plenty of alcohol around, including before she met Roethlisberger, for her to get herself drunk. I don’t know if she even claimed he got her drunk.
At the very least, can you cite your source for the woman claiming that she did not get herself drunk and that they had intercourse?
Incidentally, I would not be surprised if those are her claims, nor would I be surprised if Roethlisberger did something really bad, but you are throwing around rumors as though you have hard evidence.
If she was too drunk to remember what happened, then why were the police called to begin with?
You have Ben and this girl who were both drunk and both voluntarily went into that bathroom, and what happened next is between the two of them and God. And you admit that the girl was too drunk to remember. Hell, maybe she forced herself on him and in his intoxicated state, he was powerless to fight her advances? Unlikely, sure, but it is a guess like everything else.
The bruising and tearing? Meh. I’ve dated girls that bruise after not-so-rough sex. People are different that way. Who’s to say that she didn’t have sex with someone else earlier that night?
It just amazes me that anyone can claim to know anything about what happened here. All everyone is doing is exposing their own prejudices. It seems like conservatives want to believe Ben and liberals want to side with this girl.
btw…was she cited for underaged drinking? It not, why not? There is clear evidence there.
Several of her friends to her to the police station after she came out of the bathroom sobbing.
It’s not a guess that she came out of that bathrrom sobbing with vaginal tearing, or that she was too incpacitated to have consented.
This is what I mean about it being impossible for an accuser to get a fair shake. No matter what the evdience, she’s still a lying slut.
The only thing that anyone really knows is that there wasn’t enough evidence to prove an assault occurred. I don’t necessarily believe Ben or her. I’ve only offered opposing possibilities to those that want to judge Ben. I’m not taking his side, only highlighting the potential that she is looking for an easy payday. Also, I’m definitely NOT a conservative.
That’s the other thing. The only way an accuser can be believed is if she doesn’t seek civil damages (and only one of the three alleged victims has expressed any desire in money, by the way). Any attempt to seek civil redress is considered ipso facto proof that she’s a gold digging liar.
Even if they don’t try to sue, the accusation is that they will.
Short of a videotape of the crime, it’s basically impossible for these women to ever be believed. If she’s beaten up and has vaginal tearing, she just a slut who likes rough sex.
Even if there WERE a videotape of the crime, she would just be accused of setting the guy up and staging it or something. Rich celebrity males pretty much have a free rape pass, because no amount of evidence is enough to overcome the reflexive, default misogyny of the public.
You say default misogyny, I say the public has been bombarded with stories where women did try to set an athlete up for a big payday, so they question all of the them. Including one previously involving Big Ben.
Once bitten, twice shy.
“Bombarded?” Really? Cite? Name one proven instance of this besides Duke.
The first Big Ben allegation.
Kobe in Colorado.
And, as you mentioned, the Duke lacrosse team.
This has not yet been adjudicated.
There was no proof that the girl in the Kobe case was lying. He was acquitted because the jury thought there was reasonable doubt (his lawyers were successful at smearing the girl as a promiscuous slut), but an acquittal is not ipso facto proof that the accuser was lying or gold digging.
That makes one case. Not much of a “bombardment.”
As I said in the OP, these types of incidents usually turn into a “he said, she said” debate. We can say with some degree of certainty that the investigators are in the best position to determine what happened. If it’s not possible to prove that a crime occurred, we have no choice but to defend the accused. The logical conclusion to your way of thinking is that the accused must somehow prove that it wasn’t a rape. This would take our society back to era of witch trials.
By most accounts, Big Ben is a dick. I’m a Steeler fan, and it’s hard to admit this. But if anything, this created more media prejudice against him. I don’t think that your claim of default misogyny applies in the slightest, as all reports about her mentioned her age and the fact that she was a student (who quit school after the incident). Both of these descriptions are completely irrelevant in determining what actually happened.
Not at all, I would just be content if the accusers were not automatically demonized. I’m asking for objectivity and fairness, not an assumption of guilt.
The District Attorney painted Ben as the bad guy in no uncertain terms during his press conference. It was clear that he did everything he could to haul Ben into court, but when the victim (his word) decided not to follow through there was no way to get a conviction.
You have to bury your head pretty far into the sand to come away with any conclusion other than Ben sexually assaulted that girl.
The Kobe Bryant case never went to the jury, the charges were dropped because the accuser did not want to continue with the case and did not want to testify in court (prosecutors saying she wasn’t emotionally willing to have herself labeled a lying slut in public, defense council saying her reluctance was proof of her lying). Kobe later publicly apologized to her, and the two did settle a civil suit.
Just wanted to provide some accuracy regarding the case.
Thanks for the correction. Still, the point remains that she was not proven to be lying.
Apparently the Steelers are willing to listen to trade offers for the big dumb oaf.
Around here, Ben jerseys are selling for five bucks or less – they can’t give them away. People are either giving them to Goodwill or just tossing them.
My sister has one and can’t wait to get rid of it. I need a new jersey, but only because Willy Parker’s no longer with the team. 
I want to get Troy Polamalu. Troy=Antiben.
I was very close to buying one a couple of years ago, but went with Holmes instead. Poor choice on my part, either way. BTW, I’m still looking for an authentic John Stallworth black jersey (unsigned) if you happen to be in the know.
I think they’d have to be blown away by a trade offer. And that will be tough, given the baggage he’s carrying around right now.
I don’t see them dumping him for nothing, like they did with Holmes. Let’s face it… as bad as things look and sound about Ben, he hasn’t been charged with anything.
The Steelers will suspend him, and this will be his last chance in Pittsburgh.
He’s an immature buffoon, but the NFL is a business, and teams would be lining up to give him a contract. The Steelers know it, and Ben has real value on the open market.
As much as Holmes was given away, he’s a guy that has very little self-control. I’m sure someone in Pittsburgh will correct me, but I believe he has 3 kids with 2 different women, and he’s one magic puff away from a 1-year suspension.
They have an asset (and an asshat) with Ben. They won’t give him away, especially since they’ve paid the biggest chunk of his massive contract already.
Once again, where are you getting your insider information about what the accusations were?
How do you know the woman claimed she did not get herself drunk before meeting Roethlisberger?
How do you know the woman claimed they had intercourse?
It isn’t a matter of believing the accuser, because we don’t even know what she said!
Roethlisberger claims they never had sex at all. If there is indeed good evidence that they had sex, his lie would be compelling evidence that he raped her, and I can’t see why he wouldn’t have been charged. Since he wasn’t, and since I don’t know if the woman said they had intercourse, my guess is they did not.