I am not sure what to make of the latest reports of Big Ben Roethlisberger’s off-the-field activities. There is not much information upon which to base any conclusions, really. Certainly he seems to make some questionable decisions for so high-profile a public figure; but past that, I think the case is too preliminary. But, not so for many online respondees, apparently. There are matching ground-swells of support for and admonition of Big Ben by fans on sites like deadspin and cbssports.
There are cries that the woman-accuser has dollar signs in her eyes and that Big Ben is a pig. It is really interesting how people weigh in with such absolute conviction despite the fact that no real facts of the case have been released (unless you consider that the accusation or Ben’s denial is true, in which case the main fact of the case has been released.)
This image is not, unfortuantely, the dominant one in most peoples' minds these days.
The question for me is how the media will treat this story. Granted, Big Ben is not as big as Tiger was/is, but one wonders if Roethlisberger will face the same kind of scrutiny as the golfer. Or, will the media align this one more with the Kobe incident? I just wonder how the media will frame this sandal relative to others. I suppose that Kobe’s incident is more aligned with Big Ben’s, since Tiger committed no civil crime, it seems, but it should be interesting to see how it all plays out.
i agree with you, no way to pass any kind of judgement with so little data. but i can say one thing: that dude puts himself in awful situations.