Say it Ain't So

Offseason in football is the perfect time for players to do the following.

1. Sign with another team

2. Take a much needed vacation

3. Have an inappropriate relationship with a fan.

And as much as it saddens me when number 1 takes place, (Say it Ain't So, Jim Sorgi... you did a great job of warming the bench for Peyton), or how much I wish I had a shot at number 2 myself, (the sandy beaches of Florida never sounded so good), it is in number 3 that I am most surprised by... or should I say not surprised by.



In the past few days, PIttsburgh Steeler Quarterback Ben Rothlisberger was accused of inappropriate sexual conduct with a woman... for the second time. The first time we could slap the wrist and say, "No no, Ben we need to keep our hands to ourselves." But this second time around we should take pause.

Sure the woman could be lying, looking for a way to get 15 minutes of fame. Sure, this could be the result of a lover's tryst. Sure, Ben could even be a sex addict, unable to keep his hands to himself. None of that matters, what does is this tendency for athletes, Tiger Woods and Kobe Bryant come to mind, to just do whatever they want and keep on living it up while parents of their enamored fans have to explain why the things they've done are wrong.

In this modern era of Facebook, Twitter, and RSS Feeds, privacy is a thing of the past and dirty laundry is all over the place. We watch as hero after hero falls from grace. Should they be our heroes, they are just men, but then again I'm just a man, and I know how to keep my hands to myself. But, they have so much money and fame, they shouldn't have the same standards as us normal folk, right? Well... maybe they should keep to that humble standard, maybe even a higher one (reference third paragraph of blog i.e. the parents and enamored children sentence).

Will this whole Rothlisberger debacle blow over? Probably. Will anyone care about this if Big Ben wins a third ring next year? Probably not. And that, quite frankly, is a sad statement about the American fan.