Steelers Media Personality John Steigerwald On Roethlisberger “Ben is a Bad Citizen”
Our good friends (except when they are saying Mike Vick shouldn’t get an award) ProFootballTalk.com brought this story to our attention. By the way out of all the people in the media I only trust Mike Florio (besides myself) to report this Roethlisberger case straight down the middle.
Long time Steelers sports media personality John Steigerwald just started a blog today (please dear lord someone get him a web designer asap it looks awful) and he didn’t take any time before blasting Ben Roethlisberger. To be perfectly honest I am shocked by this because Pittsburgh isn’t like NYC, Dallas or Philly. The Pittsburgh media is normally very respectful for the Steelers and are not quick to criticize, but here is what Steigerwald had to say about Roethlisberger:
Ben is a bad citizen. He doesn’t know how to treat people and he definitely doesn’t know how to handle being the quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers. In my more than 30 years of working in the Pittsburgh sports media, I have never had any player come close to generating as many unsolicited questions from fans as Roethlisberger has. They want to know why he’s such a jackass.
Even Nas was like “that is some strong ether”.
Remember what I have always told you in regards to any athlete or entertainer, you don’t know them so you shouldn’t put them on a pedestal regardless of what their “public image” is.
With that being said regardless if you think Roethlisberger is a good or bad citizen means nothing when it comes to his criminal case.
The criminal case is about facts and evidence not him being a “jackass” as Mr. Steigerwald so eloquently says.
[...] » Steelers Media Personality John Steigerwald On Roethlisberger … [...]
It would behoove you to emerge from your closeted little blogosphere world and get a taste of the outside world before you go criticizing a legendary sports authority (who can also put together coherent sentences and spell, btw), who probably packs more sports knowledge and critical thinking and analytical skills into the top ten cells of his pinky finger than you will acquire over a lifetime.
That said, he doesn't need to clog up his sports blog with a bunch of ads preying on poor, inner city people for online gambling (yes, that is the ONLY place online gaming sites such as bodog,com advertise, plastering ten 5-story tall posters side by side on a city block, only to repeat the very next block). So nice, you seem to think that being a shill for money-grubbers to the poor makes a worthy looking blog design.
I'll stick with Steigerwald's scaled back version (thanks for the link, though!)
In case you haven't noticed, people in Pittsburgh are just about the sports.
Hence the winning Super Bowl Record and acquiring yet another Stanley Cup in the same year as the most recent Lombardi trophy.
We don't need dating tips and online betting sites to distract from the real matter at hand, straight sports talk.
That said, your entire premise about Big Ben and Steigy's criticism are way off.
You fail to realize that Pittsburgh is the BIGGEST small town you will ever come across.
It is a Top Twenty City, but comprised of hundreds of small towns and boros and if you are in this town for long, what you do and where you go and who you are with and how you treat people is not a big secret.
Big Ben is known everywhere he goes.
And Pittsburghers, being the die-hard fans they are forgive ALOT of faults, and I mean….. ALOT!
Maybe he likes college towns because he is used to the "college town" treatment.
BMOC getting whatever he wants, whenever he wants.
It's called "entitlement" and he doesn't wear it well.
At 28, he should know by now that doesn't work in the real world.
Heck, it doesn't even work in college.
(you should know, probably about 80% of women who attend college have been on the receiving end of the kind of unwanted, forcible behavior Big Ben is accused of engaging in in Georgia. Fortunately, for a large number of them, they are able to fend off this despicable and criminal behavior. But far too many times, they are not and far too many times, it goes unreported. This is a matter of FACT).
Let's remember, we all initially heard about ONE woman in the Tiger Woods scandal.
And then a second….and then a third, fourth, fifth and on it went. I believe we are up to about 16 now. All consensual. But the point it…..where there is smoke……..
I'm not going to go into pages of details here, but let's just say that Big Ben and many of the Steelers are not lacking for company after each and every home game.
And I think we all know now what goes on during all those so-called "celebrity" golf tournaments and such.
The whole "VIP" room thing, getting drunk, bedding different women.
He's used to it.
Maybe hundreds of times.
Thing is – when along comes one woman who says NO….he has to take responsibility and recognize that — even out of hundreds of women — ONE woman saying NO….means just that….NO!
(part 2)
BELIEVE me….people in Pittsburgh are THE most passionate and loyal fans in ALL of sports.
And also the most forgiving.
Big Ben himself will tell you that.
But people in Pittsburgh do NOT tolerate this kind of abuse against women, either.
I will give him his day in court – I want to be able to believe him.
It just all looks highly doubtful at this point.
He has a miserable history and it is long and not pretty.
You have to really parse his lawyers words who says there was "absolutely no CRIMINAL conduct" on this evening.
They have the DNA.
They have Ben saying there was sexual contact.
He admits to sexual contact.
(just like in the Vegas case, where he says he did not "force" himself on the woman, and clearly, it is obvious by lack of denial that he even engaged in sexual activity, that he did. In other words, he engaged in the activity, it just wasn't "forced" on the woman. And actually, in that case, I do believe him. But I also believe his M.O. of having these quickies and one-nighters was a wake-up call he didn't heed – because after he had his way with this Vegas woman, he sent her packing, probably without so much as a "thank you" and she immediately felt used and retaliated. In that case – both were wrong. Ben for thinking so lowly of women and using them and she for trying to get back at him in such a way.)
But this Georgia thing is different. Ben had a wake-up call – a close-call — and he didn't heed it.
What makes it criminal is if it were "forced" and it seems as thought Big Ben is in complete DENIAL about what is forced (having had his way with so many women — and yes — we in Pittsburgh know — believe me — we know — for so many years).
There is nothing more we want than for him to be the upstanding, moral man of our "image" of him. We really do.
And it's none of our business if he has lots of girlfriends or partners or one-nighters.
But it IS our business if it crosses over into criminal behavior.
And it has just become too difficult to ignore facts.
In this case, I have to give the benefit to the victim…..because in a civilized society, a victim is just that – someone who needs our protection, understanding, compassion and justice.
Right now, they have DNA, an immediate report, her own statement/report and several witness statements.
It all adds up to not looking very good for Big Ben.
(please remember that Pittsburghers are Common Sense people who do not rush to judgment and are pretty adept at seeing the difference between truth and bs. When Jerome Bettis went to a Wash. Co nightclub and got "serviced" in a car in a parking lot – so classy – and the woman cried "assault" – it took no time at all for folks to see the truth — that she acted consensually and took advantage of the sleazy situation — and everyone rallied around "The Bus" and he returned to the team to hep win a Super Bowl. No one here would have wanted him on the team if they thought for a minute he assaulted a woman.
No one would have traded that for a Super Bowl Trophy – I assure you of that.
Even Big Ben at the time acted like he was some Big Brother, counseling Jerome on his poor judgment that got him into that predicament.)
Remember the old saying….."where there is smoke….there is fire."
(please read the rest of steigy's blog and reader comments…..very enlightening to you. Expand your horizons – read and do your research. You owe it to yourself to go beyond cherrypicking a blog without the full understanding and history of the sports and reporters and teams and owners and fans and the PLAYERS themselves (their history, etc.), the broader understanding of the mentality of a city.)
We shall see.
It would be to your benefit to read all of the articles i have posted since this incident took please
It would behoove you to emerge from your closeted little blogosphere world and get a taste of the outside world before you go criticizing a legendary sports authority (who can also put together coherent sentences and spell, btw), who probably packs more sports knowledge and critical thinking and analytical skills into the top ten cells of his pinky finger than you will acquire over a lifetime.
That said, he doesn't need to clog up his sports blog with a bunch of ads preying on poor, inner city people for online gambling (yes, that is the ONLY place online gaming sites such as bodog,com advertise, plastering ten 5-story tall posters side by side on a city block, only to repeat the very next block). So nice, you seem to think that being a shill for money-grubbers to the poor makes a worthy looking blog design.
I'll stick with Steigerwald's scaled back version (thanks for the link, though!)
In case you haven't noticed, people in Pittsburgh are just about the sports.
Hence the winning Super Bowl Record and acquiring yet another Stanley Cup in the same year as the most recent Lombardi trophy.
We don't need dating tips and online betting sites to distract from the real matter at hand, straight sports talk.
That said, your entire premise about Big Ben and Steigy's criticism are way off.
You fail to realize that Pittsburgh is the BIGGEST small town you will ever come across.
It is a Top Twenty City, but comprised of hundreds of small towns and boros and if you are in this town for long, what you do and where you go and who you are with and how you treat people is not a big secret.
Big Ben is known everywhere he goes.
And Pittsburghers, being the die-hard fans they are forgive ALOT of faults, and I mean….. ALOT!
Maybe he likes college towns because he is used to the "college town" treatment.
BMOC getting whatever he wants, whenever he wants.
It's called "entitlement" and he doesn't wear it well.
At 28, he should know by now that doesn't work in the real world.
Heck, it doesn't even work in college.
(you should know, probably about 80% of women who attend college have been on the receiving end of the kind of unwanted, forcible behavior Big Ben is accused of engaging in in Georgia. Fortunately, for a large number of them, they are able to fend off this despicable and criminal behavior. But far too many times, they are not and far too many times, it goes unreported. This is a matter of FACT).
Let's remember, we all initially heard about ONE woman in the Tiger Woods scandal.
And then a second….and then a third, fourth, fifth and on it went. I believe we are up to about 16 now. All consensual. But the point it…..where there is smoke……..
I'm not going to go into pages of details here, but let's just say that Big Ben and many of the Steelers are not lacking for company after each and every home game.
And I think we all know now what goes on during all those so-called "celebrity" golf tournaments and such.
The whole "VIP" room thing, getting drunk, bedding different women.
He's used to it.
Maybe hundreds of times.
Thing is – when along comes one woman who says NO….he has to take responsibility and recognize that — even out of hundreds of women — ONE woman saying NO….means just that….NO!
(part 2)
BELIEVE me….people in Pittsburgh are THE most passionate and loyal fans in ALL of sports.
And also the most forgiving.
Big Ben himself will tell you that.
But people in Pittsburgh do NOT tolerate this kind of abuse against women, either.
I will give him his day in court – I want to be able to believe him.
It just all looks highly doubtful at this point.
He has a miserable history and it is long and not pretty.
You have to really parse his lawyers words who says there was "absolutely no CRIMINAL conduct" on this evening.
They have the DNA.
They have Ben saying there was sexual contact.
He admits to sexual contact.
(just like in the Vegas case, where he says he did not "force" himself on the woman, and clearly, it is obvious by lack of denial that he even engaged in sexual activity, that he did. In other words, he engaged in the activity, it just wasn't "forced" on the woman. And actually, in that case, I do believe him. But I also believe his M.O. of having these quickies and one-nighters was a wake-up call he didn't heed – because after he had his way with this Vegas woman, he sent her packing, probably without so much as a "thank you" and she immediately felt used and retaliated. In that case – both were wrong. Ben for thinking so lowly of women and using them and she for trying to get back at him in such a way.)
But this Georgia thing is different. Ben had a wake-up call – a close-call — and he didn't heed it.
What makes it criminal is if it were "forced" and it seems as thought Big Ben is in complete DENIAL about what is forced (having had his way with so many women — and yes — we in Pittsburgh know — believe me — we know — for so many years).
There is nothing more we want than for him to be the upstanding, moral man of our "image" of him. We really do.
And it's none of our business if he has lots of girlfriends or partners or one-nighters.
But it IS our business if it crosses over into criminal behavior.
And it has just become too difficult to ignore facts.
In this case, I have to give the benefit to the victim…..because in a civilized society, a victim is just that – someone who needs our protection, understanding, compassion and justice.
Right now, they have DNA, an immediate report, her own statement/report and several witness statements.
It all adds up to not looking very good for Big Ben.
(please remember that Pittsburghers are Common Sense people who do not rush to judgment and are pretty adept at seeing the difference between truth and bs. When Jerome Bettis went to a Wash. Co nightclub and got "serviced" in a car in a parking lot – so classy – and the woman cried "assault" – it took no time at all for folks to see the truth — that she acted consensually and took advantage of the sleazy situation — and everyone rallied around "The Bus" and he returned to the team to hep win a Super Bowl. No one here would have wanted him on the team if they thought for a minute he assaulted a woman.
No one would have traded that for a Super Bowl Trophy – I assure you of that.
Even Big Ben at the time acted like he was some Big Brother, counseling Jerome on his poor judgment that got him into that predicament.)
Remember the old saying….."where there is smoke….there is fire."
(please read the rest of steigy's blog and reader comments…..very enlightening to you. Expand your horizons – read and do your research. You owe it to yourself to go beyond cherrypicking a blog without the full understanding and history of the sports and reporters and teams and owners and fans and the PLAYERS themselves (their history, etc.), the broader understanding of the mentality of a city.)
We shall see.
On the way to getting Steigerwald a web designer, please pick up yourself a English grammar book. Why? "… The Pittsburgh media is normally very respectful for the Steelers …"
"By the way out of all the people in the media I only trust Mike Florio (besides myself) to report this Roethlisberger case straight down the middle."
Besides the fact that you are missing punctuation in that sentence, the fact that Florio is the only one you trust in the media says a lot about you, and it isn't good…at all!
Very interesting web site. Hope it’s going to continually be alive!