ESPN ignores Big Ben story, so far

It’s been more than 12 hours since we reported on the existence of a Nevada lawsuit against Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.  It’s been roughly 12 hours since we reported that the case includes Kobe Bryant-style allegations against the two-time Super Bowl winner.

As expected, the Associated Press has finally caught up with the story, and as usual failed to credit us in any way, shape, or form, despite the quasi-legitimacy that our NBC partnership provides.

But the folks in Bristol, to whose news desk we sent an e-mail not long after the story was published, have said nothing about the lawsuit.

It conjures memories of the Mike Vick “Ron Mexico” lawsuit from several years back, which was flat out ignored by ESPN and others for days, if not weeks.

So why?  Would ESPN have squatted on the thing if a member of the NFL reporting army brought this one to the table?  Or does the adage “if it’s not our news, it’s new to us” still apply?

Our money is on the latter.

But let’s see if the story makes it into the Tuesday morning SportsCenter loop.

34 responses to “ESPN ignores Big Ben story, so far

  1. Why talk about Big Ben when THE MOST ELECTRIFYING ATHLETE IN THE HISTORY OF RECORDED EXISTENCE IS GOING TO BE REINSTATED TO SHOCK THE WORLD AGAIN!!!!!!!! YYYAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!!

  2. oh how shocking. PFT uncovers bias in the media!
    Mike you mean to tell us that they report what they want us to hear and not everything. OMG – I can’t believe it. Oh you mean like they twist and turn the headlines and the facts! OMG – you mean they bury stories they dont want us to hear. Yes Mike, only kidding here. You are correct and ESPN is the same as ABC, CBS, and your new pal’s NBC.
    But hopefully, they wont put the squeeze on you. PFT has been fairly fair in their treatment of all stories for the most part.

  3. Obviously they are waiting until the AFC Championship game to do an “Outside the Lines” report on this, why else would they wait?

  4. As expected, the Associated Press has finally caught up with the story, and as usual failed to credit us in any way, shape, or form, despite the quasi-legitimacy that our NBC partnership provides.
    ================================
    Why would they credit you if they came upon the story through other means? Have you ever thought that they don’t read every little piss ant blog on the internet?

  5. Florio, you don’t need ESPN to legitmize your reporting. I like to come here instead of ESPN for my NFL news. I mean seriously, to I really need John Clayton telling me what Brett Favre ate for breakfast?

  6. So you comparing a rape allegation to a std case. C’mon Florio, its because he a golden white boy. How does the commish handle it. Does he suspend him indefinitely or what. I know its not a criminal complaint but the embarrassment to the brand….

  7. The AP doesn’t have to credit you if they looked up the court records themselves after hearing of the news from your site. Happens all the time – news outlets hear about a story and source it themselves so they don’t have to credit whoever broke it.
    And why do you care so much if ESPN covers it, so much so that you would email them to tell them about it?
    You can dismount your high horse at any time.

  8. They are too busy chasing witnesses to Tom Brady’s harrowing kayak disaster. That was front page news, right?
    If this was Brady being accused of sexual assault all of the hater “reporters” out there would be drueling over every little nugget they could get their scummy little paws on. But it’s just Big Ben and nobody cares. Thats great.
    So much for subjective and insightful “journalism”.
    Just make sure they don’t complain when nobody gives them any respect for what they do.
    Scuzbags.

  9. “Ben has never sexually assaulted anyone; especially Andrea McNulty,” Cornwell said.
    Is code for Andrea McNulty is not so easy on the eyes.

  10. whats wrong Florio, where you hoping that ESPN would legitimize another one of your exclusive non-stories?

  11. ESPN is a joke, I only watch it when I’m forced to at the gym when I’m on the eliptical. Other than that I don’t give them my ratings at all.

  12. “It conjures memories of the Mike Vick “Ron Mexico” lawsuit from several years back, which was flat out ignored by ESPN and others for days, if not weeks.”
    and that is exactly what you just did. conjure up some bullshit comparison. u trying to get a gig at espn now mike. is that the memo they sent out. are u towing the espn company line now
    seems like it. seems like you are trying to give them an out, or do all of you just stick together like that.

  13. ESPN is just waiting for the grainy hotel wall footage of the incident be released.

  14. And this surprises you? This is the network that airs a show called Sportsnation. IMO, that is the biggest waste of time on any network. Like I give a crap about polls. And I thought First Take was a pant load.

  15. as of 9:22 a.m. est, no story at espn.com (man I havent been there for a while), but there IS a Brett Favre update! (no kidding).

  16. @ goose08
    Maybe they will play it before SB 44 so the Steelers have an excuse for their 44-0 loss to the NY Giants.

  17. it didnt seem as though they waited to long to report on allegations of vontae davis’ alleged DUI, or the mike Tyson rape allegations…. The only difference I can see is that big ben is white….

  18. now_im_done says: “Florio, you don’t need ESPN to legitmize your reporting. I like to come here instead of ESPN for my NFL news.”
    ==============================
    Couldn’t have said it better myself. I visited ESPN.com recently to read up on Arturo Gatti’s murder and get an update on how Lance is doing in France. Other than that… maybe once a week – I hardly visit NFL.com anymore either.

  19. now_im_done says: “Florio, you don’t need ESPN to legitmize your reporting. I like to come here instead of ESPN for my NFL news.”
    ==============================
    Couldn’t have said it better myself. I visited ESPN.com recently to read up on Arturo Gatti’s murder and get an update on how Lance is doing in France. Other than that… maybe once a week – I hardly visit NFL.com anymore either.
    —————————————————–
    As a noob here (4 weeks reading couple days commenting) I agree as well. I bet the league cites this site more than ESPN anyways.
    By The Way Sportsnation is the worst show idea since the Magic Johnson Late Night Talk Show “The Magic Hour”

  20. You should have inferred that Matt Walsh had some videotape of Big Ben in the act (even though there is absolutely no proof, just like before). This would have prompted 24 hour a day updates from the mothership.

  21. Surprise, surprise, NFL.com and the ESPN AFC North Blog have absolutely nothing on this story. If it wasn’t for PFT we would be totally in the dark that this story even existed and as it comes out further because of PFT we will actually receive some kind of REAL ANALYSIS.

  22. If the AP secured a copy of the complaint or verified through legitimate reporting that the lawsuit was filed IN A COURT, they don’t have to credit you. You fool.

  23. It still gets to you when you are not recognized by the big boys. As often as you hammer ESPN, why should they acknowledge anything you say? This is a popular website, but you are not a journalist (you do get paid to write now), but 80% of your stories are taken from someone else and have bias inserted in them
    You do have Gregg Rosenthal on staff, which lends some creditibility to your site. But you are still “that lawyer with the popular NFL website” and not a news outlet. If I was ESPN I would take my time to make sure you actually had breaking news before I did anything.

  24. You should have some how mentioned the Raiders or Al Davis in the email….they’d be all over it

  25. Perhaps theyre waiting for some real facts before they report on the “sensational”. This isnt like Kobe; at that time of the incident the claimant filed a police report – she didnt wait until the next year and then only file a civil suit. I would like to see some evidence of wrongdoing before I gave this any credit as, from the way its laid out now, it looks like someone looking for a settlement and using the threat of character assassination as their leverage. So upset about this “rape” that they waited a until the start of the football season in the following year to bring it to light? If there really was a rape then it really needs to be a criminal case (and if he did, he needs to go to jail for a long time), but this looks like a money play to me.

  26. I think “Manny Being Tranny” hit a home run yesterday, and after SportsCenter shows that 4 million freakin times. I’m sure they will break out the “Breaking News” headlines….As if they broke it……

  27. Why do news organizations give a flying turd about getting credit for being the first people on a story? It seems like a ploy from the old days that media organizations used to use to sell papers and get viewers.
    I am pretty sure none of your loyal readers are going anywhere just because the AP didn’t mention this sellout of a blog.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to leave a comment. Not a member? Register now!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.