While as a Steeler fan I am concerned with Ben R. situations. I find your comments also a little disturbing. I certainly don't want a helpless young girl raped or even groped, but you assume to know things a professional investigation couldn't determine. You start your article claiming you couldn't find any other account of a pro athlete being accused of such things, as if that solidifies some connection to your knowing what Ben must have done. You can say where there is smoke there is fire, but its simplistic, you don't know what happened. Hell in the drunkeness on both parts they might not be clear on what even happened between them. Not that excuses anything but hopefully they both won't put themselves in this position again. Its stupid. As for comparing his treatment to the treatment of other black athletes... I dont know, Ben was never charged with any crime in both these cases, never arrested and only accused. Tiger Woods is getting ripped because he was married and its out that its true... its not just he's black. Asfor Ben, if he maintains he didn't do these things, and you weren't there, how are you so sure that he did. He may have, even if I hope thats not the case... but for us as outside observers, its just speculation. End of story... unless you get some media play making the case otherwise. I think we can both agree with the he needs to Grow Up comment.

While as a Steeler fan I am concerned with Ben R. situations. I find your comments also a little disturbing. I certainly don't want a helpless young girl raped or even groped, but you assume to know things a professional investigation couldn't determine. You start your article claiming you couldn't find any other account of a pro athlete being accused of such things, as if that solidifies some connection to your knowing what Ben must have done. You can say where there is smoke there is fire, but its simplistic, you don't know what happened. Hell in the drunkeness on both parts they might not be clear on what even happened between them. Not that excuses anything but hopefully they both won't put themselves in this position again. Its stupid. As for comparing his treatment to the treatment of other black athletes... I dont know, Ben was never charged with any crime in both these cases, never arrested and only accused. Tiger Woods is getting ripped because he was married and its out that its true... its not just he's black. Asfor Ben, if he maintains he didn't do these things, and you weren't there, how are you so sure that he did. He may have, even if I hope thats not the case... but for us as outside observers, its just speculation. End of story... unless you get some media play making the case otherwise. I think we can both agree with the he needs to Grow Up comment.

Stuff gets suspect when 2 different women come out with abuse accusations within barely a year. That doesn't include the bike accident. Of course, this may just mean his judgment needs calibrating, but I'd be weary regardless.

Tiger Woods was hounded to give details about what happened the night of his car accident. It is even suggested that the police report was insufficient so Tiger is obligated to fill in the blanks. Given the doubt about what happened with Ben, why aren't there demands for an explanation from him? Why are we satisfied not knowing what really happened with Ben, but feel entitled to know about Tiger? There's just no denying the double standard.

Also, I see people generally refer to Tiger as a "bad" person now. Given Ben's and John Daly's (among others) multiple offenses I would expect them to be referred to in the same way. However, they never are. In fact, the only athletes commonly referred to as "bad" people are black athletes. Coincidence? Justified? True, but has nothing to do with race? I don't think so.

Great article Dave.

Disproportionate media attention and scrutiny between black athletes and white athletes is not a new story. It's easy for a casual reader to pick up on and been noted in plenty of solid academic work. However, it's important that we don't simply write this off as racism. I agree that there is racism involved, but to blindly label it as such without factoring in issues of class and gender is a little lazy in the analysis of the situations. Tiger is indeed a black male, but also a black male athlete participating in a sport which is predominately played and consumed by upper and middle-class whites who hold specific notions of what masculinity and manhood looks like. He succeeded for a long time in meeting those "regulations". The media and fan uproar over his infidelity and "immoral sexual activity" are intricately tied into race, class and gender.

As for Ben and Santonio, there are obvious issues of equating the failing of a league-mandated substance abuse screening with accusations of sexual assault. On one hand, Holmes actually failed a test while Roethlisberger was never charged. On the other, Ben's alleged crimes are far worse in severity than Santonio's inclination to smoke a decriminalized substance. However, the interesting outcome involving race and class with the QB and WR will be the Rooney's reaction, not necessarily Goodell's. The Rooney's, champions of the Rooney Rule, shipped their "black distraction" east when they no longer felt they could restrict him to their paternalistic rule of the organization. They obviously won't do the same for Ben, but their punishment will indicate how they feel they can reign-in an unwieldy player who still "fits the culture" a little better. And, of course, there is the fact that this particular unwieldy player happens to have six years left on his $102 million contract, while the recently-traded distraction was about to become a FA in a year.

I feel for you as a fan but not in your defense of Ben. I understand that nothing criminal may have happened between Ben and the 20 year old women, but what's he doing putting himself in that situation again. It's called entitlement. Zirin's article points out the precedent of "punishment and scrutiny" laid out by professional sports to black athletes. The difference in treatment is rooted in legacies of racism and hierarchy. The frat boy defense vs. the sexual deviant. I'm interested in seeing how the commissioner and team handle it.

with the comments regarding media treatment of big ben vs other athletes "behaving badly". hard not to come to a conclusion that race is involved. however, i think you're way off on your comments regarding DA Bright. All opinions I've seen about the case from legal analysts have commended his handling of the case. they feel he took the appropriate amount of time to investigate and come to the correct conclusion based on what evidence he had. he had little to nothing that would lead to a guilty conviction and decided to not charge rather than dumping a dog of a case on a grand jury and throw his hands in the air when they would inevitably deny the indictment. and it's unfair to hold him to some sort of standard of "fairplay" because of what happened to genarlow wilson 5 years ago.

Black players aren't treated fairly? Really? What about Leonard Little? He's killed people while driving under the influence. Still in the league. Jerramy Stevens has a record of rape longer than Ben's stupid arse. Still in the league. Black or white these guys think they're above the law. They're all overpaid crybabies who run around in a world of self-proclaimed anarchy. It's sad and pathetic. I say put Ben and the rest of the scumbags in a car and give Donte Stallworth the keys. Maybe this time he can find a cliff. Oh, wait, he's still in the league, too.

I don't think Zirin is condemning Big Ben. It's more that he's comparing media treatment of him in comparison to certain black heroes who've run afoul of either law or public expectations.

I'm also a longtime Steeler fan, and I think both the Big Ben assault situations have been treated so similarly with the half-allegations and the media haze and the DA talking about "minor cuts and bruising" or whatever, so what kind of symptoms is she supposed to exhibit? is he such a burly man man that he's going to tear her a new one so this poor hobbled girl was obviously overpowered? I understand the bad decisions under the influence, but I mean come on. Although in his defense I hope he's wearing a motorcycle helmet, smearing 20 year olds is better than smearing your own face on windshields, although his judgment hasn't improved. I'm 26, a year younger than him, and the people that are frequently allegedly doing these things, do these things. It's no mistake, and I hope everybody has a little better judgement in the future, ben, random college-drunk girl, DA, Rooneys, Santonio. So my fellow Steelerite, why does Ben still need to grow up if, like you say, we weren't there, we don't know how our QB ended up smashed in a back bathroom at a bar with his boys watching the door with a 20 year old drunk chick who now has "minor cuts and bruises"? If he likes the bar scene fine but damn, be a little more respectable. We need people to look up to, not this.

The guard not allowing the girlfriends to get the girl out of there disturbingly reminds me of the rape scene in the movie Showgirls.

First of all, the bodyguard "dragging the accuser" was stated by a friend of hers. This same witness also has two different versions of how the accuser got into the back room, as well as two different versions of her demeanor once she got there.

Second of all, Ben can't refuse to give DNA if they get a court order for him to do so granted by a judge.

Third of all, Ben's lawyer did offer to give his DNA, they said they didn't need it.

Fourth of all, the whole case against Ben began to unravel when the ACCUSER and her lawyer would not submit DNA samples, from inside her cheeks for routine evidence samples.

NO arrest, NO probable cause.

Those are the facts you idiots in the media fail to report.