Cocoa Chicks Critiques

Well, well, well.  What do we have here?  ANOTHER sexual assault claim on good ole Big Ben.  Oh, you forgot about that first one, didn’t you?  Yeah, you would since it was SWEPT UNDER THE RUG.  It amazes me that Ben Roethlisberger can be accused 2 times of sexual assault and there’s barely a buzz about it.   It also amazes me the people who will read this and say that I don’t know what I’m talking about and will refuse to admit that there isn’t a CLEAR difference on how this is being handled and sexual assaults, infidelity or other criminal activity that has been committed or allegedly committed by athletes of color. 

To catch you up, Big Ben has been accused by a college student in a town called Milledgeville, GA of sexually assaulting her in a nightclub.  Why he’s in a nightclub in Milledgeville, GA, which is predominately a “college town”, is beyond me.  That’s like me going to Boston to club in the area near Fenway Park which is surrounded by Simmons College, Mass College of Pharmacy, Emmanuel College and a few feet from there, Boston University, just to name a few.  If someone in their 30s is clubbing with 18-20 year olds, your behavior is questionable.  I’m sorry.  Don’t shoot me.  I’m just the messenger.

But back to the point.  As I do a google search for Ben Roethlisberger there are just a few hits about this assault.  Most of them blogs or repeat postings from the same source, i.e. TMZ home page and TMZ page 1 of the actual article.  When I go to page 2 of this google search, it’s the same thing.  There are a few posts about both accusations.  

When I go to CNN.com; no front page headline.

When I go to NBC.com, there’s a small thumbnail on the left side that you practically miss.

When I go to ESPN.com, there’s nothing on the front page.

When I looked at the front pages of a few national newspapers in the last couple of days, I didn’t see Big Ben’s face all over it.

It’s only a few days after the accusation.  So where’s the around the clock coverage? 

So I do a google search of Kobe Bryant’s assault.  Virtually all the posts up to page 10 were from news reports.  I do a google search of Tiger Woods cheating “scandal”, HUNDREDS of posts from the media.  Think back to Mike Tyson’s sexual assault accusation.  Tiger received “breaking news coverage” week after week.  Coverage that could have been used to help find missing children, murderers and the changes in our healthcare.  But Ben?  No.

This is the issue I have with the media.  The blatant double standards.  The media has always perpetuated the negative image of black athletes and sugar coat issues with white athletes.  There’s no urgency to keep something negative going when it comes to Ben, but Tiger Woods was practically forced into seclusion because he cheats.   There were reports that the chick in the Kobe case had sex with other men on the same day as Kobe.  But that still wasn’t enough for the media to stop putting Kobe’s face on the cover of every newspaper or on the front page of every website. 

Does anyone remember the very LITTLE coverage that Americas favorite player from the ’American as apple pie” team, Boston Red Sox, Roger Clemons got regarding steroids usage compared to the treatment of Barry Bonds accusations? 

Remember how bad the media talked about Lebron James for not shaking the hands of his opponents that beat him in the playoffs?  Remember how little they talked about Indiana Colts QB, Peyton Manning doing THE SAME EXACT THING when he took the “L” at the Superbowl?

I bet most of you don’t remember Dany Heatly driving his Ferrari at 100mph on a rural road, killing his teammate, Dan Snyder.  They refused to release his blood alcohol count.  Sounds like a cover up.  Oh, and he’s still a professional hockey player.

Todd Bertuzzi assaulted another hockey player on the ice that left him PARALYZED.  Speaking of hockey, they’re allowed to violently fight each other and its the “glory” part of the game.  When players in the NBA or NFL fight, they are called thugs by nearly every news reporter or sportscaster on TV. 

I bet you naysayers and you people who can’t wait to say I’m using the infamous “race card” have an excuse for every example, don’t you?  THERE IS NONE!  There are double standards when it comes to what athlete can do what and when.  The media wants to keep the negative image of black men in heavy rotation in the minds of Americans by force feeding the negative images as many times as possible but lightly covering cases or incidents that other athletes are involved in.  This systematic perpetuation of the “evil black man” does nothing for race relations, if you even care for it.  I’m around black men everyday that have NEVER been to prison.  I’m around black men everyday that have NEVER sold drugs.  I’m around black men everyday that have NEVER been arrested.  I’m around black men that have graduated from college. 

Oh and I bet you barely remember the buzz that Myron Rolle got for choosing the Rhodes Scholarship over the NFL.  Had he been breaking into someones house, selling drugs, raping a girl or smoking weed in his Cadillac Escalade, you would have been all over that.  You won’t perpetuate that image of a young black athlete wanting to help the needy more than getting a million dollar NFL contract, will you?