Sporting Madness

Two prominent cases involving NFL players have hit the headlines recently. First, current Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was accused of sexual assault [ Will Brinson , NFL FanHouse ] for actions in the bathroom of a Georgia nightclub with a drunk 20-year-old college student. This, of course, was the second time in less than two years Roethlisberger faced similar accusations [ USA Today ]. . Second, former New York Giants star Lawrence Taylor was accused of third-degree rape this week regarding an incident in a small-town New York hotel room [ CBS ]. Both incidents present serious image problems for the NFL [ Scott Stinson , National Post ], especially when seen in the light of all the other off-field criminal incidents involving NFL players. However, there are significant differences between what happened in each case, and those are worth looking into. Despite compelling evidence that Roethlisberger may have forced himself on his accuser, he is currently fa...

A quick note that blog activity will be light around here today: I'm back in Vancouver, and heading down to Seattle to cover the first day of the court case between the Sonics and the city. I've got a preview of the case up at Out of Left Field (yes, I decided I wasn't busy enough with the Journal and two blogs, so I jumped at Neate's offer to join the team there) and will have more both there and in this space once I get back tonight. I'll also have a Euro recap of both yesterday and today's action up late tonight.

"We must kill them. We must incinerate them. Pig after pig. Cow after cow. Village after village. Army after army. And they call me an assassin. What do you call it when the assassins accuse the assassin? They lie. They lie, and we have to be merciful, for those who lie. Those nabobs. I hate them. I do hate them." - Marlon Brando as Colonel Walter E. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now (Photo from Michael Heilemann ) "The European Union is an economic and political power with 27 members and 30 (soccer) associations — 15 per cent of the total of the FIFA family. Shall they make the rules for all the others? This is political interference. We should not be afraid to intervene." - FIFA president Joseph S. "Sepp" Blatter What's the connection between one of Hollywood's most interesting characters and the world soccer El Supremo? It's not as far-fetched as you might think. One is a power-crazed maniac willing to do anything to accomplish his nefarious goals; t...