In recent years there has been no shortage of athletes who have risked, ruined or forever altered their promising careers because of their own stupidity. Don’t give me the old “boys will be boys” nonsense.
Stupid boys will be stupid boys, plain and simple.
Super Bowl-winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberger decides that he’s not a helmet kind of guy when it comes to riding his motorcycle in the helmet-optional state of Pennsylvania, and goes out and rams his melon into the side of a 2000-pound Chrysler. Through this act of stupidity he has forever altered the track of his career and affected the fortunes of the Pittsburgh Steelers for at least this season. There’s no excuse for this.
Duke point guard J.J. Redick, who won numerous player of the year awards this year, had a few pops and was driving home when he came across a license checkpoint near the Duke campus. Rather than run the risk of getting busted, Redick decided to pull a “huey” in order to avoid the man. Smooth move.
After pulling into a parking lot the police did their thing and collared J.J. As it turned out he blew a .11 on the Breathalyzer, which put him over North Carolina’s .08 blood alcohol limit.
Oh and by the way, we’re being told today that Redick cancelled his Wednesday and Thursday NBA draft workouts because of a bad back. Hmmm, arrested Tuesday at 1 a.m. for drunken driving and he cancelled his Wednesday and Thursday workouts…how about a bad hangover?
Out drinking on a Monday night before big NBA draft workouts a few days later? Hey J.J., you’re stupid!
Don’t give me the youthful indiscretion baloney. Redick spent the last 16 years in an educational system that has taken great pains to educate kids on the evils of sex, drugs and drink, culminating with a successful college career at Duke where he is considered a first round NBA draft pick. How many times do you think this “kid” has been told not to drive drunk?
Redick is stupid. Roethlisberger is really, really stupid. Big Dumb Ben not only chose to ride his “hog” without a helmet, but he didn’t even have an operator’s license.
And this just in, Oakland A’s pitcher Esteban Loaiza is stupid. Early Wednesday morning Loiaza was stopped in his Ferrari for driving in excess of 120 mph at 3:30 a.m., and he failed a field sobriety test to boot. Loaiza is a 10-year major league veteran. For those of you who want to make excuses for athletes, what’s your defense for Loaiza?
Article comments
1 - Rebecca
I think part of the problem is that we treat these people like Kings. Alot of us might get fired or severely disciplined for doiing stuff like this, but for these guys its just a blip on the radar. I heard one sportswriter on ESPN say that Ben's accident just added to his, "tough, mountain man image." Now, that's stupid.
2 - TheBigRedOne
"...and rams his melon into the side of a 2000-pound Chrysler."
Sal, please show me a picture of this or any Chrysler that weighs 2000 pounds...
3 - Kevin Davis
Cheers, Sal. I agree; what morons.
4 - sal m
Here are the categories of the weights of cars as they appeared in a DOT study that looked at cars from 1996-2000, NHTSA Report Number DOT HS 809 662 October 2003.
Assuming even a reduction of a few hundred pounds per year the average mid-sized 4-door car, of which Chrysler offers plenty, would still be well over 2000 pounds.
Vehicle Weight, Fatality Risk and Crash Compatibility of Model Year 1991-99 Passenger Cars and Light Trucks
Vehicle Type and Size Average Curb Weight Prorated* Fatal Crash
Involvements Per Billion Miles
Very small 4-door cars 2,105
Small 4-door cars 2,469
Mid-size 4-door cars 3,061
Large 4-door cars 3,596
The Chrysler LeBaron, Imperial and New Yorker all weighed in at a curb weight of well over 3000 pounds back in the year 2000.
5 - lori
I like dumb young people. They help write my paycheck.
6 - Jared
Williams' career isn't over; he worked out for the Raptors very recently. Ben's accident will have little to no effect on his play this season, or so the medical pros are claiming. I like the general push of the article, but check your facts before posting.
7 - sal m
williams was pegged as a future star, so just getting a workout for a subpar pro team hardly is an indication that he will ever play again. and even if he does, his career WAS ruined , and as of now, it's ended.
furthermore, given the nature of roethlisberger's injuries, what he has been through will definitely have an effect on his season, and as a result his career. the recovery from severe facial injuries - both in the long term and short term - with regards to the problems not only with the injuries but with the impact on a person's body can have a lasting effect on a person.
when you consider that roethlisberger plays in a collision sport, these kinds of injuries can be more troublesome.
what "facts" do you have a problem with?
8 - Matthew T. Sussman
So I'm not supposed to cut of my hand with a knife? I'm confused.
9 - Don
Hey sal get your facts right if ya don't know the differance between a hyabusa (sport bike) and a hog (harley davidson) ya shouldn't open your piehole and talk about it it makes you sound as if you should add your name to that list of stupid people ............ maybe i will start my own blog featuring your sorry ass ! PS by the way it was a hyabusa he was riding not a hog
10 - Tony
NFL Football is a high risk, full contact, and adrenaline junkies dream sport.
Mark Clayton walks away from a collision hit by two defenders that sent him into a 360 degree spin in the air. Dennis Byrd of the Jets, runs into his own teammate head first and ends up being paralyzed from the waist down for a time. Reggie Brown of the Lions, Joe Theisman, and other players who have sustained major injuries on the field that ended their careers.
Stupidity is a coach telling a QB to stand in the pocket between a 250lb linebacker and a couple 300lb lineman running at him at full speed and getting creamed. Then telling him he cannot get on a motorcycle cause he might get hurt.
People have concentrated on Ben on a bike, and not on the elderly lady making a wrong or last minute turn.
Freedom of choice is what makes America free, until you put it into a contract.
11 - sal m
don:
gee thanks for the enlightenment...if you read the interview with ben on espn this is what he said.
ESPN: What is the difference between what you're talking about, recreational riding, and what Kellen Winslow was doing? What kind of bike do you ride?
Roethlisberger: I ride a Harley and a chopper. Those are the two bikes I ride the most.
if he picked up something else in the last year, i don't really care. maybe he should have learned to drive it before he took in onto the road.
tony:
there aren't laws for a lot of things that are still stupid if you do them. as the qb for his team and a guy with his career and life in front of him, ben was not stupid to ride a motorcycle, but stupid for not wearing a helmet.
the steelers have invested their franchise in him so the least he can do is have some respect and common sense. stupid people like ben are the reason why there are exclusions in contracts for this kind of behavior.
12 - Jared
Now why didn't you make that distinction about Williams in the post itself? His stock isn't what it was, but at least give the man the benefit of the doubt. He may still have a career in the NBA, even if it won't be as great a career as it could have been. It's not a very pivotal point in the article, and I know I sound like I'm griping about technicalities, but overexaggerations like that one make me view the rest of the piece with a more critical eye.
Obviously I can't refute your response to my remark about Ben. Only the upcoming season will take care of that.
13 - sal m
there is no need to make a distinction with regards to jason williams.
his career is ruined and it is over.
here's the original passage,
"Former Duke and Chicago Bulls point guard Jason Williams who after his rookie year had his career ended by a motorcycle accident in June of 2003, in which he suffered a multitude of serious injuries and almost lost his leg."
where is the need for distinction? how is what i wrote an exaggeration? have i missed something? if he had a tryout for the raptors - one of the five worst teams in the league - did he get signed?
14 - Joey
According to the Hurt report (real name) Ninty percent of M/C accidents happen to riders with less than a year of riding experience. Ask Gary Busey what it's like to kiss a curb with a noggin. It probably hurts really really bad.
I rode for 30 years, my back took me off the road. And I can count on 1 hand how many times I rode helmetless. I used to ride without a full face until a gravel truck rained on me at about 60 mph. This was before all the faring and other stuff became almost normal for models.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that Roethlisberger is a poser. Not a rider, and as such, is dangerous to himself mostly... however a bike certainly has the potential of killed automobile occupants. Notwithstanding, the laws of gross tonnage, and stupid hurts are usually in an automobile's favor.
15 - sal m
joey:
i'm not a motorcycle guy, so i can't make the call on people who are poseurs with regards to the motorcycle fad. but i certainly respect your opinion, and don't disagree with you.
by fad, i don't mean to insult lifetime riders, but i'm refering to those - mostly - guys who, especially celebrities and jocks, got into the bike craze just so they can get their
pictures taken on them.
and another great point is what you said about inexperienced riders being dangers not only to themselves but to other people on the road.
16 - Jared
If this still is a career ended, then I apologize for having criticized the article.
17 - sal m
apology accepted.
there are hundreds - if not thousands - of guys working out in the hope of making it in the nba. this does not mean that they have an nba career and jason williams - as much as we all hope he will - does not have an nba career.
if you read the article you linked, you would see that the motorcycle accident ruined and ended his career. just because he's had a few tryouts doesn't change this.
exhibit number 1:
"Williams was in a hospital for 3½ months and hasn't played since his rookie year in 2002-03 when he averaged 9.5 points with the Chicago Bulls."
translation, he hasn't played in 3 seasons, therefore his career ended.
exhibit number 2:
"Still only 24, Williams no longer has the speed, mobility and explosiveness that made him the No. 2 pick in the 2002 draft. "
translation, career ruined. show me an nba point guard who has lost speed, mobility and explosiveness and i'll show you an ex-nba point guard.
exhibit 3:
""I'm definitely confident I'm going to play somewhere," said Williams, who sprained his right ankle during a drill Friday."
translation, he gets banged up from doing things that other 24-year old nba players can do in their sleep.
so to sum up, he was hurt, his career ended, he's lost function, he hasn't played at any level of competition - not even the cba - in 3 years going on 4.
it's nice that he's trying and that guys are saying nice things about him - who wouldn't want him to succeed? - but it doesn't change the fact that he's done.
18 - Jared
We agree to disagree, then. I liked your article. I still think he might get a spot on someone's bench. You can't have played at Duke and not have understood the game better than the average NBA hopeful. That won't completely offset his loss of pure physical ability, but it might be enough to get him a spot as a specialized role player.
19 - sal m
actually i don't think we're that far apart! we're just splitting hairs.
and if he makes it back i'll be happy for him...and if he could play for the nets that would be even better...i'm in nj, he's a nj kid who grew up about 5 minutes from where i live, and it would be a happy ending if he wound up in the nba and at home.
20 - Jared
As long as he didn't come off that bench to hit some key shot against the Pacers in the playoffs, heh.
21 - mike s
ok its obvious your not a steeler fan well i was raised on the steelersbeing i grew up near pittsburgh why dont ya trash theold lady who cant drive and is to old to be operating a vehicle to begin with no you gotta put down ben when you should be putting down the dumbass person driving who caused the accidentbutno its easier to trash a sports hero and lie than it is to put the blame on the real dummy that being the driver of the chrysler
22 - mike s
and further more theres just as many dummys who are not famous who wreck and do dumb stuff but i forgot there nobodys so it doesnt count and this is for ben hope ya get well soon go steelers 5 time superbowl champs and another comment dont trash the steelers or any player cause us die hard fans dont take it lightly listen to charlie daniels song steeler fans are the best there is in loyalty to our steelers
23 - sal m
while i don't live near pittsburgh, i am a big fan of the team and their style of play.
i was certainly rooting for them all season, especially against the cry baby seahawks.
being a fan has nothing to do with being able to criticize a player or team that you like.
ben wasn't wearing a helmet and doesn't have a license...he's a dummy. and by the way i'll bet charlie daniels wears a helment.