I think we've established that ESPN should have reported on Ben Roethlisberger's lawsuit last week, and that we've all moved on. Well apparently the Sports Reporters haven't. The civil suit was the opening topic on the show over the weekend, and it sparked a war of words between, Mitch Albom (Detroit Free Press) and Bill Rhoden (NY Times). Tom Jones of TampaBay.com took notes....

ESPN's Sports Reporters got a little testy Sunday when Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom and New York Times columnist Bill Rhoden got into an argument about Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger who is being accused in a civil lawsuit of sexually assaulting a woman. The argument essentially started because Rhoden came off highly critical of Roethlisberger. Albom, who made a point of saying he didn't know whether Roethlisberger was guilty, brought up the possibility that the allegations are false, saying, "There are many women who make false claims.''

To which Rhoden said: "Many? Name five.''

Albom said, "You sound as if you already presume he has already done this.''

Rhoden: "I'm presuming he put himself in a bad position.''

Jones notes that Mike Lupica then pulled the reins in on the argument, and the topic was quickly switched (presumably to Brett Favre). It's actually a bit ironic that ESPN decided to ignore the fact the whole week, and then when it's finally brought up in a debating format, the kibosh was quickly put on the topic. To say ESPN's stance and reporting on this has been schizophrenic, is an understatement.

Shooting from the Lip/Monday edition (TampaBay.com)

Ever since ESPN decided to make a non-issue of this, I've been intrigued by the Roethlisberger civil lawsuit. Well today, Roethlisberger made a short, yet very confident statement, denying the allegations of Andrea McNulty. For as much as ESPN ignored the story, they predictably aired the press conference, and discussed the issue with one of their many law consultants. Here's a clip....

He was pretty adamant there, and since Nevada authorities aren't pursuing criminal charges, you can expect either a trial in the near future or a dismissal of the case. I'm personally expecting the later to happen.

It's an all ESPN day today, with the main stories being the EA fallout, and the "Leader" denying to report on the Ben Roethlisber sexual assault lawsuit. Well last evening, not only did ESPN make the decision to ban Post writers, but they also decided to report on Big Ben....at 11:27pm....


ESPN had taken the stance that they don't report on civil lawsuits, only criminal, and for the most part....they've stuck to that. Two years ago, the "Leader" didn't report on Randy Moss' alleged "dating violence" case, until a restraining order was filed.

As far as Roethlisberger goes, ESPN's Bill Hofheimer had this to say to PFT today, "Based on the sensitive nature of the story and other factors we mentioned, we initially exercised caution and did not report it. Since then, we've been observing how the story has progressed, monitoring other news outlets, and doing our own reporting. We decided to report the story tonight."

Obviously, it's a tough spot to be in, but there are ways to handle it without upsetting the people involved. As long as you report it as "alleged", and add that authorities don't plan on looking into it, you've got your bases covered. If they had just done that days ago, none of this would have been an issue.

In the end, I don't think ESPN entirely "swept this under the rug", but they have to understand that it will (and can) be perceived that way. It's also amazing that the web can now force ESPN's hand, when it comes to matters like these.

Update: Ben will speak on the lawsuit at 2pm, but won't be taking any questions. You can bet ESPN will air the press conference live.

ESPN explains position on Roethlisberger (PFT)
Authorities won't look at Roethlisberger (ESPN)

ESPN lets a lot of athletes through their "carwash" of interviews on a regular basis, and there's obviously some that they have cushy relationships with. However, it's honestly rare that they choose to ignore certain items, about said athletes, entirely. According to a few websites, Fang's Bites and PFT, the "Leader" is completely ignoring the fact that Ben Roethlisberger is being sued by woman in Nevada. Obviously saying that a pro athlete "sexually assaulted" you, has become taboo at this point, but there should absolutely be a mention of it somewhere. Via FB....

Despite news outlets picking it up, ESPN remains steadfast in its stubbornness to ignore the Ben Roethlisberger lawsuit story. Last night, it was reported by various media outlets including CBSSports.com, Yahoo!, Pro Football Talk and others that the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback is being sued by a woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by Roethlisberger in a Nevada hotel last year.

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio wonders if ESPN is attempting to protect a relationship with the quarterback. In the story, it's pointed out that Roethlisberger is appearing on ESPN corporate sibling ABC next month in Shaquille O'Neal's new reality show.

But shortly after 1 p.m. ET today, Florio discovers that ESPN has issued a strict "DO NOT REPORT" order, baffling its staffers. Thanks to the Sports Media Watch for the link.

So is ESPN protecting Roethlisberger to maintain a corporate relationship and access to the athlete? If it is, it's another arrow for critics to shoot at ESPN as allegations continue that the network gets too close to certain athletes it covers.

In addition, the network's silence on the story while others report is a hole too big to ignore. And the fact that ESPN jumped all over the Pacman Jones story while refusing to mention Ben Roethlisberger now gives the African American community fodder that the Alleged Worldwide Leader caters to white athletes.

While I don't think race is an issue in this case, I do think ESPN caters to the athletes that give them more appearances than others. I thought the "Leader" had made inroads last year when they hammered their darling Patriots during the whole "Cameragate" months, but apparently they've reverted back to their old ways.

ESPN Will Not Report Roethlisberger Story (Fang's Bites)
Source: ESPN issues "do not report" alert on Roethlisberger story (PFT)

I made the mistake of "Billy Packering" the Magic after a terrible first quarter, but it was for a good cause. Lebron finally figured out that he needed to drive to the basket, and in his deciding to do so, opened up the floor for his teammates. So much so, that he was a part of almost every basket for the Cavs in the 4th (A point or assist on 32 straight points is just ridiculous). Here are your highlights from the end of the game....

So that was pretty a pretty entertaining Game Five, but the Magic still have the upperhand and none of the pressure. On a side note, I loved that section of the vid where Reggie couldn't get a single person's name right in the crowd (Hi A-Rod!!!). Who is this Mario Rivaro you speak of? At least he wasn't the only person on TNT's crew who couldn't figure out exactly who Ben Roethlisberger was. Via Sparty and Friends....


TNT Knows Their Quarterbacks! (Sparty and Friends)