Big Lead Sports Bar

3/17/2008

Steelers = Bengals?

Here's a real think piece from ESPN 1250/Beaver County Times sports personality Mark Madden: are the Steelers no different from the Bengals?
As Mr. Madden points out, the number of current Steelers involved in domestic abuse cases has risen to an alarming four: Najeh Davenport, Santonio Holmes, James Harrison, and Cedrick Wilson.


But why do the Steelers' incidents mostly fly under the radar, while the Bengals are a national punchline?

Looks like a misbehaving Brady Bunch

Says the Super Genius:
Make no mistake, this is epidemic. Steelers fans glory in knocking the Cincinnati Bengals for all their legal peccadilloes, but eight percent of the Steelers’ roster has been involved in domestic abuse. Yet few seem to care. There is zero public rancor.
Making the situation more ironic is the club-fueled myth that the Steelers don’t employ bad apples, they strive for a better class of people. There is no lower class of person than a domestic abuser.
He brings up some interesting discussion points. Any thoughts, Steeler fans?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

"There is no lower class of person than a domestic abuser."

While anyone would agree with this statement, it also opens the door for some quality Mark Madden bashing....

Louis Lipps is my homeboy said...

While I recognize that NOTHING makes Madden happier than an oppurtunity to bash the Steelers to basically draw attention to himself (I mean, he bashed Myron Cope and Dan Rooney before... c'mon). I still think he's a hack that will do anything for ratings, and that includes saying ridiculous things to anger the large Stiller fanbase.

So even though I believe that Madden just used this as a another oppurtunity to get a rise out of a lot of people, he's still 100% right. I know this, because I've said the same thing myself. Wrong is wrong, regardless of what uniform you wear on Sundays.

This bad behavior seems to not only becoming more commonplace with the Steelers (and to a greater extent the Bungles), but the NFL as a whole. That league has to be waaaay worse than the NBA at this point (and in the NHL everyone knows most of the crimes are committed on the ice). Maybe it's because football players get their asses kissed more than any other athletes from the time they're kids. Who knows?

Kind of off topic but, why does Ced Wilson get lumped in with guys who apparently beat up women? I thought all he did was get into a big arguement with her, which caused her to start threatening people with a gun. I didn't think he actually hit her, I just thought it was an arguement gone awry. Whatever.


Also kind of besides the point but: Murderes/Child Molesters/Rapists < Domestic Abusers IMO.

Mark said...

Well, as the previous poster mentioned I don't think that Wilson deserves to be part of this conversation (thus bringing the number to 3).

And, there's the simple fact that there are more than twice as many Bengals having legal woes (three times more if we take out Ced). And, the Steelers haven't had significant jail time or league suspensions - unlike Misters Henry and Thomas of the Bungles.

So, uh, that's why the media focuses on the Bengals.

Mark said...

Meant to say Thurman (Odell), not Thomas.

Robert Ullman said...

Yeah, Madden's a turd. An obnoxious hack who exemplifies everything bad about sports talk radio. He loves to spout negative invective about the Steelers to pump up his ratings, and to goad people into calling him up so he can hang up on them and then imply that they're gay.

As I understand the situation, Wilson doesn't belong in here at all...was he ever accused of anything besides being in an argument? I got the idea that he was the one in danger. And Davenport...while taking a dump in someone's closet is certainly not cool, I don't think I'd lump it in with beating up a woman.

Harrison and Holmes, yeah, that's a little more troubling...as a Kent State grad, it pains me to say it, but if he's guilty, they really oughta cut Harrison. It worked out okay with Bam Morris.

Louis Lipps is my homeboy said...

Dumptruck got accused of getting into a fistfight with a woman in a car in Cleveland that was apparently his girlfriend.

I heard they were both hitting each other. Still unacceptable IMO.

Santonio's accuser immediately dropped the charges against him. But we'll probably never know what really happened, good or bad.

Harrison confessed to smacking his girlfriend. Still doesn't make it right.

mai wen said...

I think the reason the Bengals get more attention is because 1.) they have many more offenses than the Steelers and 2.) most of their offenses are something that they can be charged with (you know, like parking on a sidewalk then getting into an altercation with a police officer over it). Domestic abuse is a very grey charge. Now I'm a strong feminist and have volunteered for the Rape Crisis Center, so I'm not downplaying domestic abuse, but it is definitely a grey charge that is often dropped and is often charged when a neighbor hears a couple fighting loudly, the police come and arrest the male for domestic abuse with not other proof then the fact that he is irrate and off of the neighbors report. I think that the players that do get charged with and admit to domestic abuse are despicable because obviously they have monsters amount of strength over their victim, being an NFL player, and they lose my respect. Although I'd admired Harrison in the famed Baltimore Monday Nighter, from the beginning I was seriously annoyed that Ben did not get team MVP, but now I think they should retract it and give it to Ben because not only did he truly carry the team behind an awful O-Line last year but I believe he represents what the Steelers fans and franchise want to represent for the Steelers image.

And Madden is a complete 'tard.

mai wen said...

Correction, Madden's a Drunken 'tard.

mai wen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Narc said...

I am a server at a restaurant in the North Hills (not saying which one), but my restaurant is not far from many of the Steelers' homes in this area. I pass Ced's place on my way to work everyday actually. Ced, Harrison, Keisel, Ben, and Dick LeBeau all have come in. Ced is there a couple times a week; I have waited on all these guys multiple times, and each at least once this month. All I can say is, Dick = Nicest guy ever (actually didn't realize who he was until I took his card, simply because he is so much bigger in the flesh than he is on TV, and he still has the thickest Southern accent ever), while Ced and Keisel are great guys also, just with proficient livers (Keisel is the place beer goes to die). Ben is an asshole sometimes, simply because he assumes you always know where he is. And Harrison...well he just seems like an angry guy. Always on edge. He ordered a large bottle of Saratoga water when he came in last time, and when I brought him it, I also brought a glass with ice in it. Convo as follows:
"What's that?"
"A glass of ice, sir"
"What the fuck would I want that for?"
Silence, grab glass
"Why would I order bottled water if I wanted ice water?"
"Sorry, sir. Usually people want me to bring this."
"Fuck that"

Yes. That is not a stable man.

Oh, and when Ced's girlfriend went crazy, he actually took off and hung out at our bar. Could be immature, could be self-preservation; but definitely not criminal.

dasoopamanluva said...

As for Madden, why do you guys even bother with this clown? He is just laughin at anyone who acknowledges his antics.

If nothin is worse than a domestic abuser, surely this terms refers to rapists, child molesters, thieves, and drug dealers. All of these crimes are forms of domestic abuse. Any Stillers out there facing these types of charges? In fact, how many Stillers are even facing charges?

Get off my boys, none of you guys were there, none of you guys have a clue what actually happened. Do I promote domestic violence? No! In fact, I have NEVER had any issues with violence in my relationships. But I do know that there are just as many if not more women than men out there who will fly off the handle and slap the spit out of their boy/girl friend's mouth. So let the truths come out before the nooses, and consider the possibility that the women aren't always the victims.

Truth be told, any woman who swings on me is gettin left in dust. So, any woman who allows herself to be mistreated should hold herself responsible. Screw me once, shame on you. Screw me twice, you know the dill, pickle.

There are two sides to every story, it takes two to tango, and the idea that the Stillers are even remotely similiar to the Bungals is too cheap for TV, its all yours Madden...