Big Ben's Big Mistake

Just when the sports fans were getting used to Tiger Woods, Steve Phillips and all the other figures in their world involved in sexual controversies, along comes another icon who find himself in the midst of another good old-fashioned sex scandal: Big Ben Roethlisberger.

For those of us who are either not too interested in sports to begin with or have been hiding under a rock for the past few weeks, Roethlisberger was thrust into the negative spotlight once again in early March when he was accused of sexual assault by a young woman who was present at a night club in Georgia that Roethlisburger made an appearance at.

While most people would probably say that this a case of someone trying to make a little money off of someone who has quit a bit of it, the fact is that Big Ben has already seen his share of trouble in this sector, having been accused of rape in 2009.

Now to top it all off, police in Milledgeville, Georgia, are saying that, although they are preparing to rap up their investigation into the incident, Roehtlisburger is apparently refusing to meet with police again.

Don't get me wrong, I completely understand why some would rather stay a whole month with their in-laws than meet with the police for just one minute. With information aside, however, if I were someone who was being accused of something I didn't do, especially something as down-right pathetic as this, I might just try to suck up my anxieties and do the best I could to meet with police personnel and clear my name.

With that being said, this ploy put on by Big Ben is making it look more and more like he is guilty and afraid to talk anymore for fear of the truth coming out.

But the true fact is that Roethlisberger's first mistake occurred long before this most recent fopah.

Many athletic and entertainment celebrities today forget the fact that celebrities have never been under such a close watch, by both the fans and the media. Everyone is under the bullseye, and one small slip can ultimately lead to big trouble these days.

An appropriate summary for the current public situation can be described with a quick joke: "If a celebrity makes a mistake, and no one is around to see it, does a video camera owned by TMZ still make a sound?"

Big Ben, and all the other celebrities out there for that matter, have to realize that the best way to get yourself in trouble is to place yourself where trouble's bound to happen. With that thought in mind, most people can, and already have, come to the conclusion that Roethlisberger is nothing more than a victim of his own lifestyle.

Perhaps the best way for our athletes to behave themselves is to hammer the first rule of a good public image into their brains.

Rule number 1: Always act like someone is watching, even if there's no one there at all.

Until athletes get that point, shops like TMZ and Extra will surely have no shortage of work on their hands, because it always seems that the next case of a lack of good judgement is just around the corner.