Rothlisberger Hurt In Accident

Off Topic
61

Quite a bit of idiocy with the responses here.

I certainly doubt anyone here wishes ill will to him. I hope he recovers and is okay. He is quite the ahole off the field. Many performances in local bars.

  1. If one is dumb enough to ride without a helmet, then you live with the consequences.

2.No matter what the argument is…helmets save lives. This lovely state I live in has the most asinine lawmakers. We rescind the helmet law but now make it a law to wear seatbelts and be fined for not having one on. Motorcycle vs. car with airbags boy does that make sense.

  1. everyone was so quick to jump on the lady that was involved in the accident. It appears the big ahole was now at fault. Early reports seem to say he went through a red light, was moving at a fairly good rate of speed and he did hit her in the side of the car. This at least in PA. would mean that he was not in control of his vehicle.

4.Our society is sad. We care when some idiot athlete or actor gets hurt in some mishap but no one seems to care that this happens probably a 1000 times a day to everyday people.

  1. You genius’s who say it is only his face, he does not need that to play football. He spent 7 hours in surgery to repair broken jaw, crushed sinus, I believe a fractured orbital bone, missing teeth, broken teeth and so forth. You obviously do not understand the extent of this surgery nor blunt force trauma or deceleration injuries.
    There could be problems from this for the rest of his life. He wears a helmet with a chin strap, this squeezes his cheeks and is held in place by his chin. He may have a future problem with this as well as getting hit and absorbing the impact.

6.He is paid for his physical ability. If, as an owner I invest millions into an athlete, I certainly have the right to limit what he does in his personal life that may effect my investment. If a player does not like this, then go get a real job and work like the rest of the world.

62

[quote]Bauer97 wrote:
PGA200X wrote:
I wonder if he’s in breach of contract. Most pro athletes have clauses in their contracts that prohibit it. I know MJ did when he was on the Bulls. Jeff Kent did also when he was with the Giants. Thats why he made up the “I hurt my wrist washing my car” excuse.

All NFL player contracts say in them that they player is prohibited from “participating in activities that involve excessive risk of injury outside of the game of football”.

That is pretty broad statement, and can be applied to many situations, including the current one with Roethlisberger.

From what I’ve heard, if Ben misses any regular season games due to this incident, he’s likely to be docked his signing bonus for the year.[/quote]

The pretty broad statement is standard language in all NFL ( and probably all other major sports) contract. The specific clause that includes motorcycle riding, scuba diving, and what ever else are in some but not all contracts. The broad language in Big Ben’s contract could include tearing a ligament playing touch football on the beach with his kids (if he had any).

63

[quote]UtahLama wrote:

I agree it is a stretch. But look at the basic concept, Ben is the face of that team. The quarterback for good or bad is held to a higher standard than anybody else.

The quarterback for good or bad is the most important person on that team; he needs to realize that even though it is his right to ride, people depend on him.

When teams lose coaches get fired, assistants get fired, GM’s get fired, and players get released. It is a slippery hillside.
[/quote]

Yeah, I see what you are trying to say. And like you said, it is a slippery slope. But at the sametime football is still a team sport. And you can have the best QB in the league and still not win. Marino never won a championship, but Trent Dilfer did. Does that mean that Trent Dilfer is a better QB than Marino? Absolutely not. I guess i’m just trying to say that while the QB position is arguably the most important, it still doesn’t mean that people’s careers are at stake. A team can and has won without a decent QB.

I just think that sometimes people hold professional athletes to such a high degree that they don’t realize that they are just people like you and me. But with all that money comes more responsibility than regular people. I realize that too. I just wish we would stop putting these guys on pedestals and think they are infallible. When in fact, they are just men, the same as you and I.

64

[quote]Kayrob wrote:
… The broad language in Big Ben’s contract could include tearing a ligament playing touch football on the beach with his kids (if he had any).[/quote]

I heard he had all his ligaments removed so this would not be a problem.

65

in the trauma unit we call motorcyle riders “organ-doners”. sad but often true.

66

oh and the crowd that is talking about riders being “safe” and most accidents caused by car drivers, HA!

on my way to work in bay area traffic, when when all four lanes are at a dead stop, i get buzzed by several bike riders EVERY DAY dodging in between the slow/stopped traffic at speeds that are just begging them to get really fucked up. i mean these pinheads are whizzing by me so close that if i had my arm out the window they would fucking clip me. literally inches away from my truck, and the vehicles in front of me.

IMHO too many (not all i admit) people get on a bike and think they can do anything.

67

[quote]Professor X wrote:
He signed a contract to not ride a motorcycle?
[/quote]

He signed a contract that said he would wear safety equipment while riding a motorcycle or not ride one at all.

So yes, he did.

68

[quote]vermilion wrote:

Go to every superbike race track in the country and you’ll see that a helmet with a visor and chin guard is standard equipment, worn by everyone. I wouldn’t expect a casual cyclist to climb into racing leathers every time he leaves the house, but no rider who knows his ass from his elbow gets on a GSX1300R without a full helmet.

Bull shit, anyone with a lick of sense can get on a Busa and ride it with out a helmet, I have. If I’m just running to the corner store I do not wear a helmet, speed limit is 20 in the neighbor hood, but if i have to go for a longer ride on surface roads, 45+ MPH I will strap up.

By the way, it’s not called a chin guard, it called a full face helmet. And yes, you would be an idiot not to ride with out a full face helmet, but to each his own.

Bullpup

69

[quote]heavythrower wrote:

IMHO too many (not all i admit) people get on a bike and think they can do anything. [/quote]

In all reality, it takes much self control to get on something powerful…and not use it to its full ability. I am wondering how many of you would get in a (insert whatever car you think is the fastest car on the planet) and NEVER see how fast it can hit 60mph or 100. It takes a lot of skill and the natural ability to see shit coming your way a mile before it hits you to ride a sportsbike successfully. I don’t take up for people riding like dumbasses, but I also won’t pretend as if many people in cars don’t get attitudes around bikes that also cause wrecks. It is ridiculous how many times people ride along side of me and either try to outrace me (the same idiots that speed up if you try to pass them) or ride my ass too close. People in cars are idiots just like anyone on a bike. the ONLY difference is the guy in the car thinks nothing can hurt him.

70

[quote]spartanpower wrote:
The lady that ran into him should take one for the team and throw herself off Mt. Washington. I love how this becomes Ben’s fault when he got fucking run over by some old blue-haired broad that can probably barely see over the goddamn steering wheel of the huge boat she was driving. Now everyone in Pittsburgh wants to play devil’s advocate and tell everyone they know how stupid they think he is for not riding without a helmet. Meanwhile they completely ignore the stupid cunt that caused the fucking accident in the first place.

Unless he was wearing a helmet with a full visor and chin guard, he’d still have suffered the same injuries, maybe minus the gash in his head (he faceplanted into the windshield).[/quote]

It has not ben determined who was at fault yet and I have already seen her home phone number listed on the net. You can bet dollars to doughnuts the lady (likely very distraught) has already received, or will receive death threats. That kind of mentality is pure dumbassery.

71

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Professionals can’t ride motocycles? What about doctors, lawyers, or other professionals? They are all idiots for riding motorcycles?

Moriarty wrote:
I feel you ProfX, but I’ll be real with you…as a working “professional” and a rider myself (CBR600) sometimes I do feel like an idiot going out on my bike. I mean the risk is just insane on these things, for just the reason you mention in a later post: the streets are simply filled with idiotic drivers. You can be the safest biker in the world, do everything right, and a car will literally just run into you as if you didn’t exist. I’ve seen it happen.

As a biker I go out with the mindset that I WILL get in an accident at some point, and sometimes that makes me think: “well why am I doing this?” I’ve yet to meet a biker that’s been riding for over 10 years and hasn’t hit the ground at least once.[/quote]

I took my MO test at age 16. At a regular (no arrows) 4-way light I was taking a right and a lady turning left accelerated acorss the intersection from the opposite side and cut me off. All this with a DPS car right behind me!

The trooper deducted points from me for having to slam on my brakes to avoid a wreck with the stupid bitch.

“But it was her fault!” the brash 16-yr old blurted out.

“You should expect things like that all the time” the trooper said. It’s 28 years later and I’ll never forget those words.

I’ve had three friends — two within a week of each other — go flying over someone’s hood or rear trunk because someone just decided to pull out at the last minute. Two just had broken collar bones and the third had head injuries too and was totally laid up for 2 months.

Simple Rule: Drive like you’re invisible, because to many drivers out there you are.

72

You do know that the particular model of “sissy crotch rocket” is pretty much the fastest bike you can buy. It is the equivalent of the average driver going and buying an Indy car to drive around on the streets.

73

[quote]vermilion wrote:
If she caused the accident, why wasn’t she cited? All reports say she was dismissed from the scene without being charged. You think the Pittsburgh cops just forgot to write her a ticket for ramming their Super Bowl winning quarterback? [/quote]

I heard she was given 15 yards for roughing the passer…

74

It’s his own fault for being heavy and un-functional.

If he had the enlightenment and discipline to keep his bodyweight under 160 lbs his injuryies would be healed by now.

He obviously hit the ground hard due to his obesity.

75

Dang, poor SOB. Even though I would still trade lives with him.

Risky ride

Athletes and motorcycles can be a dangerous mix. Here is a list of incidents and injuries involving athletes and motorcycles - some severe, some minor - during the past few years:

– Three months ago, Jerome Mathis of the Houston Texans, a Pro Bowl kick returner, sustained scrapes on his wrists and hands in a motorcycle dust-up. One message board poster on a Texans fan site noted that Mathis’ injuries were minor and wrote, “At least he wears a helmet, unlike Ben Roethlisberger.”

– In January, former bodybuilder and current California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger cut his lip, requiring stitches, when his Harley Davidson smacked into a car on a residential street. Schwarzenegger later admitted he did not have a license to drive a motorcycle.

– Cleveland Browns tight end Kellen Winslow missed the 2005 season while recovering from injuries to his right knee and shoulder. Winslow was learning to ride a motorcycle in a parking lot and hit a curb at about 35 mph. He was wearing a helmet, but it was unstrapped and flew off while he was in midair.

– A month after winning the E1 Tour de Phoenix, cyclist David Young lost his left leg in a motorcycle crash. Fitted with a prosthetic, Young competed in the Tour de Tucson six months after his accident.

– The day before the start of the 2004 Olympics, Greek sprinter Ekaterini Thanou missed her scheduled drug test because of what she said was a motorcycle accident. Thanou, who was uninjured, later was charged with making a false accident claim.

– In April 2004, LaKisha Gentry of North Texas University died of injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. Gentry was the Sun Belt Conference champion in the javelin.

– On March 30, 2004, Olympic gold medalist Rulon Gardner flipped over the handlebars when his Harley Davidson collided with a moving car in Colorado Springs, Colo. Gardner, who suffered some scrapes on his left side, said his training as a wrestler helped him land safely and avoid serious injury.

– Indy Racing League driver Dario Franchitti broke his back in a 2003 motorcycle accident and missed several races, including the Indianapolis 500.

– Jay Williams, the second overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft, has not played since he lost control of his red and black Yamaha sportbike and rammed a utility pole June 19, 2003. Williams severed a nerve in his leg, fractured his pelvis and tore three ligaments in his knee.

– In 2002, San Francisco Giants second baseman Jeff Kent injured his wrist when he ran into a curb while popping wheelies. At first, Kent told team officials he was hurt while he was washing his truck.

– Olympic champion skier Hermann Maier shattered his left leg in August 2001 when a car hit his motorcycle on a road in Austria. Maier had a titanium rod inserted in the leg and sat out the 2002 Games. But he made a dramatic comeback last year by winning two medals in Turin, Italy.

– Major-league pitcher Steve Howe, who in 1997 was attempting a comeback at age 39 with the Sioux Falls Canaries of the independent Northern League, was critically injured in a crash and later charged with drunken driving. Those charges were later dropped after prosecutors decided his blood test was improperly obtained.

– Former NHL tough guy Bob Probert, who played for the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks, sustained minor injuries in a motorcycle accident in 1994. Tests showed alcohol and cocaine in his system, and he was placed on inactive status for the 1994-95 season.

– Mike Nyeholt, an All-American swimmer at USC, broke his neck and was paralyzed from the chest down when he crashed his dirt bike in January 1981.

– Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Robin Yount injured his foot when he drove his dirt bike off a cliff a few days before the start of spring training in 1978. Yount began the season on the disabled list, enabling rookie Paul Molitor to take over at shortshop.

– Daredevil Evel Knievel went into partial retirement after a failed attempt to jump a tank full of sharks in late 1976. In the crash, Knievel suffered a concussion and two broken arms, and a television cameraman lost an eye.

  • Compiled by Rob Biertempfel, AP
76

I agree 100% with X on his post below. Most people drive like idiots whether it’s on a bike or car.

Especially if it’s something fast - They think they have to use it to it’s full potential all the time.

Most people just need to grow up.

[quote]Professor X wrote:
heavythrower wrote:

IMHO too many (not all i admit) people get on a bike and think they can do anything.

In all reality, it takes much self control to get on something powerful…and not use it to its full ability. I am wondering how many of you would get in a (insert whatever car you think is the fastest car on the planet) and NEVER see how fast it can hit 60mph or 100. It takes a lot of skill and the natural ability to see shit coming your way a mile before it hits you to ride a sportsbike successfully. I don’t take up for people riding like dumbasses, but I also won’t pretend as if many people in cars don’t get attitudes around bikes that also cause wrecks. It is ridiculous how many times people ride along side of me and either try to outrace me (the same idiots that speed up if you try to pass them) or ride my ass too close. People in cars are idiots just like anyone on a bike. the ONLY difference is the guy in the car thinks nothing can hurt him.[/quote]

77

rothlisberger’s incident brings up a larger dialogue which far too many people are afraid to chime in on: mandatory full-face helmet laws.

while motorcycling provides a certain independence and freedom, it’s that philosophy which seems to make many in the community afraid to speak out on the subject and step on the toes of fellow riders who choose not to wear proper head protection.

while pelnty of people recoil at the thought of government mandating behavior, it’s something that has always been in place, and often done with the greater good in mind. examples of this are seatbelt laws, speed limits, and even standards and specifications for what makes a vehicle road worthy to begin with (not to mention the tremendous amount of laws completely unrelated to vehicles and vehicle travel).

to take a mandatory helmet law as an insult to one’s personal freedom is to blindly dismiss the fact that these types of laws already goven a large part of our everyday lives.

rant over.

78

[quote]Tomfu wrote:
rothlisberger’s incident brings up a larger dialogue which far too many people are afraid to chime in on: mandatory full-face helmet laws.

while motorcycling provides a certain independence and freedom, it’s that philosophy which seems to make many in the community afraid to speak out on the subject and step on the toes of fellow riders who choose not to wear proper head protection.

while pelnty of people recoil at the thought of government mandating behavior, it’s something that has always been in place, and often done with the greater good in mind. examples of this are seatbelt laws, speed limits, and even standards and specifications for what makes a vehicle road worthy to begin with (not to mention the tremendous amount of laws completely unrelated to vehicles and vehicle travel).

to take a mandatory helmet law as an insult to one’s personal freedom is to blindly dismiss the fact that these types of laws already goven a large part of our everyday lives.

rant over.[/quote]

We don’t need more government regulation. We don’t need government telling us if we can eat fast food, wear certain clothing, or wear seatbelts. There comes a point where you learn to take personal responsibility for your actions…instead of relying on Big Brother to tell you what to do.

I will never understand why some people are OK with handing over that much power so easily.

79

[quote]Professor X wrote:
I will never understand why some people are OK with handing over that much power so easily.[/quote]

Amen, brother.

Anybody who rides a motorcyle, on something other than a motorcycle track, has a death wish. Period.

80

[quote]oboffill wrote:
Professor X wrote:
I will never understand why some people are OK with handing over that much power so easily.

Amen, brother.

Anybody who rides a motorcyle, on something other than a motorcycle track, has a death wish. Period. [/quote]

Anyone that crosses the street or rides in a car has a deathwish.