Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Big Ben Goes BONG!...

OK, it's not funny that Ben Roethlisberger cracked his Hayabusa off of the front fender of the little old lady that cut him off. Really. But, I must say, it is more than a little ironic that, a little over a year after he and Drew Bledsoe are featured in and ESPN piece on NFL players that don't wear helmets when they ride, he's in a motorcycle accident. Trey Wingo had a good observation in discussing Big Ben's interview from that piece...Ben did seem almost defiant when he said why he doesn't wear a helmet.

Now, for a couple of questions that have come up since the accident yesterday...

  1. Should professional athletes be banned from riding motorcycles? Altogether, no. I do think that teams should have the ability to restrict their players from riding them during the season (as many teams do), but, the players should be free to ride their bikes during the off season.
  2. What are the odds that Ben's contract will have language addressing motorcycles in the future? Pretty good, I'd say. I think that the teams would be well within their rights to place language in the contracts requiring that if players ride, they wear helmets. These guys may be grown men, but they and their talents are also investments for these teams, and it in the best interests of the teams to try to protect their investments.
That's just my opinion. Nothing will probably change, though. Probably not until a high profile player dies on a bike.

8 comments:

The Mighty Buzzard said...

Wow, spence, that sounded almost pro-business. I take it you won't be suggesting a sympathy strike if the players union decides they don't like helmet clauses in contracts?

Spencemo said...

Well, first and foremost, it's complete stupidity to ride a motorcycle without a helmet. Secondly, I don't have much sympathy for any union member that's a millionaire, so no, I wouldn't be calling for any wildcat strikes from the NFLPA if they make them have those clauses in their contracts. As far as I'm concerned, there should be laws on the books in all 50 states requiring helmet use, then it would be a moot point.

The Mighty Buzzard said...

Yeck, you're probably a big fan of adult seatbelt laws too then? Me, I absolutely never wear a helmet unless either it's raining or I have to go through a fascist helmet-law state.

Spencemo said...

Yeah, pretty much.

The Mighty Buzzard said...

Yeah, I just never cared much for laws that take away your freedom when what you're doing only affects you. Doesn't really matter which side it's coming from either. I like the left's helmet and seatbelt laws about as much as I like anti-sodomy laws and the law that makes it illegal to sell nudie mags in my county. It's my unwavering opinion that I should be able to both recieve a blowjob and drive around without a seatbelt, though I'll go along with not doing them at the same time cause then you're risking other drivers' lives.

Spencemo said...

They can't sell nudie mags in your county? Is it the buckle of the Bible Belt or what?! Oh, wait, you're in Ooooooooklahoma. Sorry, I forgot. As far as the helmets go, one would think that you wouldn't want your brain freed from you noggin, but, I could be wrong...

The Mighty Buzzard said...

True, but I don't particularly want to smash my thumb with a hammer either yet it'd be a silly damn idea to force carpenters to wear thumb protectors. It's the government's job to protect me from criminals and hostile foreign powers, not myself.

The Mighty Buzzard said...

And yeah, no nudie mags. Also bars here can't serve liquor by the drink; it's either beer or you have to bring your own bottle of hooch for them to keep behind the bar. The good news is the county line is only a quarter mile east of town.