Do you hear that sound? It's the
sound of silence. More to the point, it's sound of ESPN -- you know,
the Worldwide Leader in Sports -- and their astonishing lack of
coverage of the Ben Roethlisberger situation.
Sure, on Big Ben's ESPN player card,
there's a Topix link to an article discussing the story in question,
but that's about all you see. When you consider the source, coupled
with the growing veracity of the Roethlisberger
story, the description changes from "astonishing" to "appalling." Keep
in mind, this is the same company that essentially dictates talking
points, opinions, as well as the tone these topics are discussed with.
If you doubt that, reflect back to the summer of Terrell Owens. Or last
summer, otherwise known as the summer of Brett Favre.
ESPN spearheaded the never-ending, well, blabber that surrounded
these two. Remember T.O. doing sit-ups in his driveway? How many times
did you see that on SportsCenter? As for Favre, God only knows how much
minutiae we were exposed to during his transition from Green Bay Packer
to retiree to New York Jet. I'm willing to bet it was borderline toxic
amounts.
With that in mind, ESPN's lack of Roethlisberger coverage stinks of
an "ignore it and it will go away" attitude, while coming across as
very self-serving. From the looks of it, ESPN is trying to protect
their relationship with the NFL, as well as Roethlisomething's (way to
go, Cowhah) reputation. In case you forgot, he is the reigning Super
Bowl-winning quarterback. If they gave the appearance of jumping the
gun on reporting the story, it could upset Roger Goodell and company.
Considering the way ESPN has hitched their wagon to the NFL and Monday
Night Football, as well as their utter silence thus far, these
conclusions are no longer jumping points.
Mind you, this isn't about whether Roethlisberger is guilty or not.
That's another story for another day. It's about ESPN and their
responsibility as a self-proclaimed leader of the sports industry, and
their blind-eye concerning a very legitimate sports story, something
the AP, CBS Sports, Fox Sports and the WaPo, et al, did not to do.
Newsflash, ESPN: If you want to be the leader in sports, you can't
ignore stories just because you don't like their mood. I'm sorry if the
Roethlisberger situation is considered "bad news." It doesn't release
you from your responsibility as an unbiased (yeah, right) news source.
Oh, and can we please save the excuses? Saying you don't report on
civil suits without criminal charges is a ton of horse manure. Don't
believe me? Ask Tony Zendejas.
On a personal note, there's one thing covering this story has
provided me -- the ability to spell "Roethlisberger" without error.
Before today, I wasn't exactly sure if his last name had an "e" in it
or not. Now there's absolutely no question in mind. Thanks, Ben.
