Is the trouble over for Big Ben, or just starting?

Ben Roethlisberger, the quarterback for my favorite football team, the Pittsburgh Steelers has been charged twice in the past few years with sexual assault. The most recent one occured in Milledgville, Georgia on an Friday morning. The alledged victim was treated and released, this isn't the first time Big Ben has alledgedly sexually assaulted a woman in a club, one happening in Reno, Nevada in 2008. The women in Reno has just recently decided to sue. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/05/ben-roethlisberger-sexual_n_487877.html

In lieu of his recent troubles, the NFL commissioner has decided to suspend hime the first six games of next season. Commissioner, Roger Goodell punished Roethlisberger a week after he was not charged. He has to undergo a comprehensive behavioral evaulation, if he doesn't comply with the NFL's ruling it could be a longer suspension. In addition to bein suspended 4-6 games he can't participate in Steelers' offseason activity until he completes the evalutaion. He can participate in training camps and preseason games in the summer as long as he is cleared by the evaluators and Goodell. He is the first player suspended under Gooddell under the conduct policy who hasn't been arrested or charged with a crime. There is a list on http://www.espn.com/ of 16 NFL players that have been suspended since Goodell took office in 2006. In a letter written by Roger Goodell to Roethlisberger, "In your six years in the NFL, you have thrilled and now disappointed a great many people. I urge you to take full advantage of this opportuity to get your life and career back on track."http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5121614

I'm a Steelers fan and I can't say that I'm upset with what has happened recently, I think that this is just the right thing for Ben to do. People may disagree with what I say but I still think it's a good idea that he got suspended, so hoepfully that this will get him back on track. I think by suspending him and the fact that he has to stand and watch someone else do his job. Hopefully that will trigger something in him and he will get his life back on track.

Ther have been trade rumors recently and the Steelers have talked to 10 teams, the Rams or Bills are not interested. Art Rooney, the team's President, says they can't answer questions about trades so close to the NFL draft. Troy Polamau, Roethlisberger's teammate, had this to say, "I think if Ben has shown anything, it's that he's able to recover whenever he has been face with adversity, everything is not always so peachy. Not everybody has that unblemished image. If he has that repentance, the way he is going to have it to continue to live his life, this will be the great example of that."

I'm not trying to stick up for him, we all know what he did was wrong, and hopefully he realizes that. Also, in remembering the movie we watched in class. I wonder how she was dressed and how she was acting. If you were in a bar and you saw an NFL quarterback? What do you think you would do?

It's Over.

We have all heard the news about the University of North Dakota's long battle with nickname change. It finally came to an end a couple of days ago, North Dakota State Board of Higher education has decided to drop the logo and nickname of the Fightin Sioux during a news conference in Grand Forks on Friday, April 9th. This decision has made people angry and frustarated, and others don't really care about it. If you had attened a Sioux game prior to the decision, the national anthem was sung and instead of "home of the brave" it was "home of the Sioux". Many people don't think that will ever change because like most other colleges UND is steeped in tradition. Another example of this kind of tradition is the Civil war even though it ended over a hundred years ago, people in the South still fly Confederate flgas. Associations and identities don't change over-night or even in a couple of years, but maybe it will change over a few generations.

One of my friends attends UND and she was really upset about the board's decision and she texted me and said what am I going to do with all my Sioux stuff? Then by the end of the conversation she decided to still wear it around in support of the tradition. In an article written by the Fargo forum, the writer has said that most people from, in, or around North Dakota will still proudly wear Fighting Sioux apparel, which I can't blame them for because it's the tradition of the school Von Pinnon states in his article, "UND freshmen will be indoctrinated in the Fighting Sioux tradition by upperclassmen. Underground clubs may form to keep the traditions alive. People will identify as either Fighting supporters or not."
http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/275057

In the Forum's Saturday edition in the Sports section, they had interviewed the hockey coach who said that in the hockey locker-room there is a quote that reminds the players to honor the Sioux tribes in how they perform and carry themselves for each game. Even if the team isn't the Fighting Sioux anymore it isn't going to change the team's approach. He also sated that, he wants to honor the traditions of the Fighting Sioux in the right way.
http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/275145/group/Sports

The media in North Dakota has been going crazy about this, I realized the media has only interviewd the coaches, players, and other people connected to the University, but nobody has interviewed the people, the Sioux nation, that it has really affected. There are even groups on Facebook that thousands of people have joined, there are some people that think if they join then the nickname won't be chanaged, but the decision has been made, now drop it.