Tiger Woods Sexcapades Versus Ben Roethlisberger's Alleged Rapes: The Writers Have Spoken

At the end of this article, I have provided a sampling of articles from nationally respected sportswriters Mike Lupica, Filip Bondy, Bill Plaschke, and Christine Brennan. All of them have one thing in common:

Where is the outrage over Ben Roethlisberger?

It's fair to accuse me of not sampling the nation's sports writers at large. It's also fair for me to say "I don't have to." The bullet always tells the truth, and so does the sports page. Tiger continues to get play while Big Ben continues to get the benefit of "reasonable doubt," and silence. The fact is that, over the same period of time, when Tiger was competing in Augusta and, just down the road a piece in Milledgevelle, the state's attorney was considering filing rape charges against Big Ben, neither they nor anyone else considered Ben Roethlisberger's story worthy of attention.

What, a two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback who has all the hallmarks of a serial rapist isn't newsworthy?

They pontificated from on high about Eldrick at The Masters, but come on...that was picking the low-hanging fruit. What's telling is the utter dearth of opinions regarding Ben Roethlisberger. Why the silence? (I see you, Mr. Racism...and I don't know that I can't allow your questions when I'm finished here.)

By the way, please, PLEASE don't try to hide behind jurisprudence on this one. I'm not an attorney and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but many states allow "no fault" divorces precisely because adultery ain't a crime. (This doesn't mean that it won't send you to hell, but only that it's not illegal...but I digress.) Tiger Woods is guilty of forsaking Mrs. Right for Mrs. Right Now. He humiliated himself and his family with his actions...and, uh, that's about it.

Rape, on the other hand?

RAPE?

Bill Plaschke can't break me off a little something-something about Ben Roethlisberger acting just like the unidentified subject of an F.B.I. Behavioral Analysis Unit profile?

Filip Bondy can't sound off about how the Steelers should cut ties with this bonehead immediately or risk becoming the standard-bearers for misogyny in professional sport?

Really, Tiger Woods is the Steve Urkel we all thought he was...now imagine that same Steve Urkel inheriting the Playboy Mansion, and all the Playmates and Bunnies knowing that they needed his favor to stay on the premises.

I'm thinking he might find out why Hef just found it easier to just wear silk jammies all the time. That's just keeping it 100...but I digress.

Ben Roethlisberger, on the other hand, is at least an idiot and probably a monster. You'd think that certain of these writers could smell the ink in this story...and you'd be wrong.

You'd think that Roethlisberger'd be worth 750 words, especially since what he's potentially guilty of is so much worse, so much more horrifying than anything Tiger Woods promised a porn star in a raunchy sex-text. Mike Lupica (et. al.) is not alone. The list of big-time sports writers who have NOT written about Ben Roethlisberger is far larger than the number of women Tiger Woods had sex with, and the silence is almost as significant as the statements that continue to leach into the press about how Big Ben likes to get down.

Just so we are clear on the difference: all of Woods' dalliances were...wait for it...CONSENSUAL. Whether they happened in his home, in the IHOP parking lot, or a room in Vegas, both parties were willing to what happened.

As more comes out about Ben Roethlisberger and his particular pecadilloes, some disturbing similarities continue to arise. There aren't any jilted lovers coming forth with NSFW text messages here. These aren't porn stars and reality show actresses and Maxim models (if there's a difference, only their mothers and their W2's can tell...but I digress again).

These are regular, ordinary women in the company of a national celebrity, the kind of person who doesn't meet a national celebrity every day, and who might be overawed.

You know, kinda like the 8-year-old altar boy who is invited into the priest's private study...or the bench-warming 8-year-old shortstop who gets to go to his coach's trailer and drink beer.

Let me help you with a thought. I'm not suggesting anything. I'm flat-out saying that sexual predators have a type in mind when they hunt. I'm saying that most of us do not understand rape because the mechanics of sex seem to be involved, and I'm saying that rape is not sex, is never sex.

I'm saying that I'd be a damned fool to let my little girl date either Tiger Woods or Ben Roethlisberger...but, in Woods' case, I'd have the small comfort of knowing that she chose it as much as he did.

In Roethlisberger's case, I'd likely remain silent on the advice of my attorney, pending the formal filing of charges.

That's the difference in these situations, and for nationally respected sports writers to be silent is more than a shame.

It's somewhat akin to aiding and abetting.

Mike Lupica - here, here, and here.
Filip Bondy - here, here, here, and here.
Bill Plaschke - here, and here.
Christine Brennan - here