I’m sure everyone has heard about Big Ben Roethlisberger’s little adventure in Middle Georgia by this point. Normally, I’d just steer clear of this subject since everybody and their illegitimate step-son has weighed in on it, but I feel like I have to say something since it happened on what I essentially still think of as my turf.
Here’s the story, in case anyone missed it. Also, this article probably portrays Milledgeville, GA in the worst light possible. It’s a pretty nice place, but just like any other college town, when the sun goes down, the crazy comes out.
Capital City, where the incident allegedly took place, is part dance club, part concert venue. They’ve got a large main room where a DJ spins the latest dance crap and all the little sorority girls and preppy frat boys gather to vertically hump. That’s typically how Thursday nights go down. On other nights, regional touring bands play there. I’ve seen Luke Bryant, Afroman, Rehab, and some version of Lynyrd Skynyrd there. It’s a pretty big room, so you’ve gotta be legit to fill it. We played there once or twice in Idle Yeti to decent crowds.
Personally, I don’t think Roethlisberger is guilty of anything other than being a dumbass. Here’s a guy who has a ton of money, that most people are going to recognize, and he decides to go out drinking in the middle of nowhere, GA with a bunch of drunk college girls. How is this scenario going to end well?
Here’s my idea of how the events went down. Big Ben rolls into town with fist full of dollars and his entourage. They hit up a couple of the local clubs and every girl in a 3 mile radius smells a chance to remove themselves from abject poverty and convenes on his location. A few get let into the circle and backstage-at-an-Aerosmith-concert commences.
I’ve learned through my flirtations with Rock N Roll stardom on a small scale, that the unholy trinity of (perceived) fame, money, and copious amounts of alcohol can lead womenfolk to do things they might otherwise regret. I’ve watched it happen with my own two eyes. Sometimes things just go too far, and for whatever reason, somebody has to get blamed.
Who knows precisely what happened here? Maybe Big Ben and this girl fooled around some and she has a boyfriend. Maybe she feels like she was snubbed in some way and wants to get even. Hell, maybe she just wants money. I feel like every time there’s one of these incidents that reeks of gold-digging it marginalizes situations where a woman is actually legitimately assaulted. Most of the time it takes two to Tango, but the man usually pays for the dance.
Ben Roethlisberger is a great football player, and truthfully he’s about the same age as me, so he’s still plenty young enough to make mistakes. I make them all the time. I’d really hate to see him hang if this is whole thing is trumped up, but if something bad went down, he deserves everything he gets, and then some. Regardless, he needs to find some super models to hang out with. Squiring a 20 year old college student about town is a recipe for disaster. Believe me, I spent six years doing exactly that in the same locale.
PS: Big Ben, next time you’re in the ‘Ville, just hang out at Buffington’s. It’s much safer that way.
