It's YOUR fault, Steelers fans.
... Or at least Sports Illustrated's Jeff Pearlman seems to think so. Or that you're all at least enablers. Along with the rest of America. Somehow.
In his most recent column, Pearlman attempts to link Ben Roethlisberger's behavior, and the tacit acceptance of it by seemingly anyone who has ever at least casually liked football, as further evidence that we are a society jogging toward Gomorrah and probably a 2012 Armageddon.
" ... by the time Roethlisberger hits Hines Ward with a deep slant pass in his return to action in October (the suspension can be reduced to four games), Steelers fans will return to wearing his jersey and kissing his feet and begging for autographs.This is who we are.
This is a shame."
Regardless of your opinion of Roethlisberger, and his actions -- real and alleged -- Pearlman's piece is at best trite and lazy and at worst insulting by suggesting that Steelers fans (and by extension, fans of all teams and fans of all sports) are trained clapping seals that cannot think for themselves, and couldn't possibly be intelligent enough to hold conflicting opinions on a matter, e.g., I do not like Ben Roethlisberger, nor do I condone anything he's done, but I still love the Steelers, they've been my favorite team for decades.
Thank God Pearlman is around to set everyone straight. This column was first pointed out to me by an email discussion group that I'm on; later I read the NC-17 'refudiation' (as ShakesPalin might say) of the column on Kissing Suzy Kolber.
Read Pearlman's column for yourself and weigh in with your thoughts.