Roethlisberger is a Douche

Today we will all find out what Ben Roethlisberger's (star quarterback of the Steelers) fate is regarding a likely suspension. By now we all are familiar with the fact that he has had more than one accusation of misconduct with women. What most people aren't familiar with is how he has conducted himself in these situations.

While none of these accusations have been proven in court, some of these stories seem too outlandish to not have bits of truth in them. In any case these accusations paint a very scary picture.

Ben was accused one year ago by a woman in Tahoe that he raped her. Nothing came of this because she was portrayed as a person with a grudge against her employer and as a gold digger.

Only a month ago he was again accused of sexual misconduct. However this time it was a 20-year-old girl who claims she was encouraged to drink alcohol, forced into a bathroom with Ben, and held captive in there while a bodyguard stood outside the door preventing anyone from entering.

So many things smell to high hell with this latest accusation that you need a gas mask to read it. First what is a 20-year-old doing at a night club drinking alcohol. Second does anyone know that both of Roethlisberger's bodyguards are active police officers. Lastly the officer that was assigned to investigate the incident was seen taking pictures with Roethlisberger. He resigned after the investigation.

Roethlisberger is obviously wise enough to surround himself with police officers and compromise the integrity of an investigator. So Roethlisberger will get away from criminal penalty because of the Blue Wall of Silence. Ben is a creep in the first degree.



While his wallet will be lighter because of the impending suspension and subsequent civil suits, it just doesn't seem like justice will be served. Roethlisberger needs to clean up his act. Steelers' fans are already outraged by his horrid behavior. How long until women's groups begin to picket outside of the games?

New Rules for NCAA Football are Racist

Ok I can't prove that they are racist. It's a nice catchy headline, but I do believe that it is motivated by racism.

This past week the NCAA made some rule changes for the 2011 season. The wedge will be banned from kickoffs, writing on eye black will be banned, and leaping into the end zone in a celebratory fashion is also banned.

Two of these rules bother me. The eye black and the leaping.

Isn't it convenient that writing on eye black is now banned after "Saint Tebow" has graduated from college. Tebow used to write Bible verses on his eye black. Other players would also do it. However most of these players are black. Reggie Bush started the trend, and others followed suit.

The NCAA claims that the rules are to conform with professional rules and a cleaner look. There is a problem with that statement. College football is an amateur sport, or at least it is supposed to be. College football makes millions every year. The NCAA cannot allow anything to get in the way of its almighty coin. Nobody will actually say it, but a few "thugs," or what is perceived to be thugs by the consumer will hurt business.

The celebration penalties are out of control. Some players currently somersault into the end zone just as they are about to cross the goal line. Now the NCAA will severely penalize a team that does such an action, up to taking away a touchdown. This is just a continuing trend of banning all emotion out of football that began around the time in the early 90's of the Miami Hurricanes prominence. Miami's players used to take their helmets off, draw attention to themselves, try to embarrass the other team, or otherwise do something creatively entertaining.

Well that had to be stopped. Some people were upset because they felt celebrations added insult to injury. Others wanted it stopped because it's not good sportsmanship.

Bull.

Football is an emotional game, probably the most emotional game. Scoring a touchdown is an unmatchable thrill.

I get that some people feel hurt by someone celebrating. There is a solution other than banning things. Stop them from scoring or get back at them by scoring on them. People celebrate when they are happy. It's human nature.

Football is predominantly played by black athletes. It is run by white men. I have no proof that these changes are racially motivated, but the fact is we are a country that has a history founded on racism. We have an ugly past of racial problems. Knowing that there are still a lot of negative black stereotypes out there, these rules only seem racially motivated.

The Dolphins Acquire Brandon Marshall

The Dolphins just picked up a true number one receiver in Brandon Marshall. They gave up a second-round pick this year and what could amount to a second-round pick in the 2011 draft to the Broncos. This seems like a good deal for both teams to me.

The Dolphins needed to give Chad Henne some legitimate weapons on offense. He finished his first season of actual playing experience. When Chad Pennington injured his shoulder, Henne started the remaining 13 games on the schedule. He won seven games with relative no-names at receiver. (Ted Ginn, Greg Camarillo, and Devone Bess)

The wildcat made life easy for him early on, but when Ronnie Brown went down with an injury, the team had to revolve around Henne. For the circumstances he was given he did well.

Now a new season begins. Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams only have so much left before the wall smacks them in the face. The Jets have loaded up on weapons for Mark Sanchez, acquiring Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes over the past two seasons. The Patriots must still be respected with an offense that is focused around Tom Brady and Randy Moss.

For the Dolphins to contend in the AFC East, they needed offense. Particularly in the passing game. They got that in Brandon Marshall.

Marshall produced similar numbers in 2008 and 2009. (100-plus passes and 1,200 yards) That's significant considering the Broncos switched offenses and quarterbacks.

The AFC East will certainly be a highly contested division for the 2010 season. It will definitely not be a gimme for any one team.

Santonio Holmes. Tannenbaum is Kick Ass.

This is short and sweet. For years I have been singing the praises of Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum. Even when many other fans were killing him, demanding he be fired, I stood by my belief. He is one of the most underrated GMs in the NFL. Only now is he getting the credit he deserves.

Trader Mike as he is now known, just pulled off an incredibly shrewd trade. One of many he has conducted in the past few years. He acquired Santonio Holmes from the Steelers for a fifth-round pick. Yeah, the 2008 Super Bowl MVP for a fifth-round pick. Sure Holmes is one parking ticket away from a year-long suspension, but he is in his contract year and knows he has to tow the line in order to get paid.

The Jets will be without Holmes for the first four games of the season. That's fine. They acquired him to compete with the Colts in the playoffs.

Here's a recap of what has Tannenbaum done. He has acquired three former first-round players in two years for roughly two third-round picks and two fifth-round picks. They are Braylon Edwards, Antonio Cromartie, and Santonio Holmes.

He traded a third and a fifth for Kris Jenkins. He signed Damien Woody and Alan Faneca. He may have overpaid for Calvin Pace, but Pace has certainly not underperformed. He may be one of the hardest working players on the defense.

Now look at his good draft picks. D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Nick Mangold, Darrelle Revis, David Harris, Dustin Keller, Leon Washington, Mark Sanchez, Shonn Greene. Some of the picks that won't catch the headlines but have contributed. Eric Smith, Chansi Stuckey, and Brad Smith.

Sure there have been some bad picks and signings, but nobody is perfect in the NFL. It's whether you learn from the bad moves, correct them, and continue to improve the team. Tannenbaum and the scouting department of the Jets have made a team that many have suffered with, a team to be truly excited about.

Jets May Sign Jason Taylor?

Yes the guy who only a few years ago not so subtly stated he cared more about his off the field career than continuing to play football. The same guy who has said about Jets fans:

“[Jets fans are] a bunch of them chanting their dumb-ass chant and all that other stuff, being the ignorant fans they are. I said it. I don’t care if they get mad at me or not. They don’t like me anyway. Quite frankly, I don’t care… I’m just being real. I’m telling the truth. You carry yourself with some class, and we’ll talk about you as if you’ve got class. If you want to act crazy and do all the crazy things they do, I’ll call a spade a spade.”

I don't want this guy on the Jets. He's old and hasn't hit double-digit sacks since 2007. He hates the fans; he thinks we are all dumb, beer swilling, foul mouthed imbeciles.

“I’ve had a lot of history saying bad things about Jets fans. The fireman hat guy and all of those people in New York that are Jets fans aren’t the ones working on Wall Street. I’ve said all of those things, so I’ve got to leave it at that.”

What the hell does working on Wall Street have to do with being a fan?

What he fails to understand is that we aren't we just appear that way because we are the most passionate fans for our team. We live and die with the Jets.

I know Taylor isn't washed up, but he certainly isn't the same player that won defensive player of the year.

I'll hate it if it happens, but I trust Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum and head coach Rex Ryan. If they think he'll help, then I'll support it. Why? Because I'm a Jets fan.

Dez Bryant

Over the past few months Dez Bryant has been getting killed by the media. The former Oklahoma State wide receiver and uber-talented draft prospect seems to be on the bad end of a story every week. Has he really done anything wrong? Is anything he has done criminal?

Things that have been written about him range from sleeping late for class, having a bad attitude in team meetings and possibly showing up late for games. His integrity has been questioned after he lied about meeting with Deion Sanders while he was in college.

Meeting with Sanders should be a non-issue. It's a dumb rule created by the NCAA to create the illusion that the players are amateur. The other things that have been written about him are not important. He's in college. He is a young man having fun in college. Didn't you? So what if he is late for class or a meeting? It isn't like he can't grow up, or won't take the professional game seriously.

Bryant's draft stock is falling and it isn't fair. So he ran between a 4.5 and 4.6 at his pro day. Whatever. You know who else ran a 4.6? Jerry Rice. 40 times are overrated because of know nothing sports journalists.

Look, Bryant dominated when he played in college. He's physical and fast. I believe he is one of these once in a decade players. He's the kind of guy who will dominate the league for at least 10 years. Randy Moss slipped in the draft because of dumb character concerns. Sure there were some hiccups but he was a difference maker.

I can only hope Bryant falls into the late teens or early twenties. I would love to see Mike Tannenbaum grab him up.

NFL's New Overtime Rules

It finally happened. After years of complaining from the fans and the media, the NFL changed its overtime rules. Granted it's only for the playoffs right now, but that may be amended for the regular season in May.

It makes sense, the teams play for 60 minutes of relatively even football. Yet when they enter overtime, a coin toss redetermines possession of the football. Roughly half the time the team that wins the toss, wins the game. More often than not the win is determined by a field goal. On the kickoff the team will probably return the ball between their own 20 or 30 yard line. To get a winning field goal, they only need to drive the ball about 40 to 50 yards.

The first team to score wins. Not quite fair to the opposing team's offense if they never get to touch the ball. A coin toss and possibly poor defensive play prevent a team from making a legitimate matching effort.

So the new rules can be called a first to six rule. If a team kicks a field goal, the other team gets an opportunity to match or beat it. If the first team scores a touchdown the game is over. If both teams match field goals, then the next score wins. There are more technicalities such as safeties and defensive touchdowns, but those weren't really points of contention.

Yes, some are unhappy with the new rules, but the only way that may solve this issue is to play a full quarter. This likely won't happen, so this is the best alternative given.