Big Ben's Night Out

I don't know if it's been covered, but the ajc has a good write-up today about the officer on the scene. His actions are about as bad as all the old cliches that would come to mind of a small town cop dealing with a bigtime star.

 

Just read that story.

How many girls can there be in the Zeta Tau Alpha house at GSCU? The story might as well have made it a guessing game.

Again, the kid was so smashed she doesn't remember what happened in the bathroom. Her friends tried to get in there and the sub-primate 'guarding' the door wouldn't let them by.

 

I know. I'm just saying relating it to the head injuries is a shaky idea at best. Polamalu has had at least seven concussions and, as far as we know, he isn't out doing that crap.

 

Exactly. As much as some people are filling in the blanks for themselves, the information is not there. Alleged is exactly the right word. The fact that the police work in this case was a joke doesn't change that.

 

Agreed. It's probably good that the cop in question is no longer on the job, however.

As for the head injuries, it's just something interesting and highly speculative to contemplate. Just people in a bar tossing around why an asshole becomes an asshole.

 

I don't think it is shaky, brain injuries can lead to changes in behavior. But I still think the biggest problem he's got is alcohol.

 

There has been plenty of talk about other causes. Former Steeler Steve Courson, who admitted using steroids, pushed the conversation for years before a tree fell on him (seriously, some really weird shit has happened to former Steelers' linemen).

Mike Webster most likely used steroids, though I don't think it was proven. Terry Long definitely used them. But there was no evidence of steroid use with Justin Strzelczyk.

Steroids do have an impact on brain funtion, but I don't know of any studies that show that it causes long-term damage. Concussions, on the other hand, can cause long-term brain damage.

 

On that last part, we definitely agree. As I wrote above, I'm just very uncomfortable with any theory that might be used to excuse his behavior.

 

Have you ever seen an alcoholic's brain scan? It's already very clearly being 'hijacked' by certain stimulators. That's not even taking into consideration the concussions.

 

Which is why I agreed with Inky that alcohol may be his biggest problem.

 

Then don't dismiss it as 'theories.' This is basic neurology. This has been studied and written about plenty. Don't be intimidated by it just because you have no interest in it. He has engaged in destructive behavior and his brain is already in some state of damage. There are causations for things. It's not making excuses. The guy is probably legitimately sick, on many levels. Look at the change in his appearance in five years. Why would someone wear that ridiculous hairdo to his press conference to discuss his sexual assault allegations? He didn't come into the league looking like that.

 

Spare me the lecturess. I didn't dismiss it. I said that it ventures too closely to excuse-making. Saying alcohol is an issue is not excuse-making. Drinking is behavior for which he is responsible.

Roethlisberger exhibited bad decision-making before the concussions started piling up. It is just as likely that he was always a jackass and he simply didn't have the opportunity to get away with it as much until he came to the NFL.

Are you kidding with the stuff about his appearance? Roethlisberger has made drastic changes in that area a number of times, going back to his first couple of seasons in the league, so that is nothing new.

As I mentioned earlier, I have problems with people holding him accountable for things that we are not even sure he did. But it is just as big of a problem to start making excuses for him based on brain damage some people think he might have. Maybe something will come of these evaluations the NFL is forcing on him. But at the moment, we have no data to go on. We just have his behavior, which has been inappropriate before.