Dear Pittsburgh media, Sid's a class act

... and happens to be a great role model unlike others from the city 

When I think of the great athletes who came out of Pittsburgh, I go back to my youth. The most important aspect of those players I saw or read about was the kind of role models they were especially for a young boy in grade school.

My first recollection is of the Pirates in the 1950s when they started improving and finally won it all in 1960. The names I remember are Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski, Dick Groat, Elroy Face ... and what is great about them is that they were true role models, both on and off the field.

Roberto was a class act

For instance, take a player like Clemente, the Puerto Rican who never forgot where he came from and tried to motivate the young athletes from his home country and throughout Latin America.

And most important, remember how he died. The Pirates won the World Series in 1971 when he was named MVP, but he never forgot the downtrodden in his home area. On the last day of Dec. 1972, Roberto was killed when he was delivering aid to victims of a terrible earthquake in Nicaragua and his plane went down in that process.

Can you imagine any Pittsburgh athlete in the 21st Century who is classy enough to do something like that?

I can think of one: Sidney Crosby.

Crosby

Sid the Kid has certainly demonstrated that he is one of the best in the game. He has been on two Stanley Cup teams, has won the NHL MVP twice, was the leading NHL scorer twice, won the playoff MVP last year ... and down the list.

What I like about him is that he is in the same category as Clemente, Groat, Mazeroski, and later Willie Stargell in terms of a quality human being.

For contrast, can you name any current Steeler who is in his class as a role model and quality human being? I cannot.

In fact, can you name any current Steeler who could be regarded as a great role model? Or just a role model?

Troy Polamalu would have been my pick for many years, but he is gone ... and has not been replaced in the role of "role model" or quality human being.

The media and the concussion

That brings me to the questioning of Crosby by the media about his concussion, which kept him out of the joyous home opener Thursday night when that fourth banner was raised.

Earlier this week, Crosby explained what had happened, that he had been injured in practice last Friday. Then he was grilled by media members who were certain that this had occurred during the World Cup competition.

I could not hear the entire text of what was asked by one member of the media but it went something like this:

Media: You're sure it happened in practice?

Sid: Yes, I know that it did.

Media: Well, I watched practice Friday and did not see you get hit.

Sid (incredulous): Well, believe me, I did.

Analysis

First, the media is right to question him about whether or not this happened in the World Cup. That is a matter of public interest particularly if it will hurt the Pens for an extended length of time.

But second, the tone of the questioning was unbelievable. It showed utter disrespect for him. Again, a class act, not someone who lies to the media or who disrespects his team and franchise.

Compare to Steelers' "role models"

When Le'Veon Bell was suspended by the NFL for three games this summer for failing to show up for drug tests on four occasions, later reduced to three, the outrage in the Pittsburgh media was passive. [He also served a two game suspension in 2015 for marijuana use and DUI.]

The only one who really ripped him in print was the Post-Gazette's Paul Zeise, though talk radio apparently did so, too.

Zeise was intense and was correct, even going so far as to write that the "Steelers should not offer Bell a new contract."

Zeise was brutal in his evaluation of Bell's conduct, saying in July that Bell "either tested positive or missed four different drug tests, which tells me he either is too dumb to understand the rules or too arrogant to care about them."

From what I can tell, Zeise was in the minority at the PG in his feelings about Bell based on the writing of the others.

Roethlisberger and rape charges

Some may regard Ben Roethlisberger as a role model. Compare his action after being accused of rape and sexual assault twice in 2009 and 2010. He settled the one case out of court and paid the defendant an amount that was not made public, but he was not charged in the Georgia case of a co-ed. The reason was because her blood-alcohol level was so high and because her family did not want her to have to recreate such a traumatic memory.

Here is what the Post-Gazette's Ron Cook wrote about Roethlisberger in April 2010 after the incident:

"Other high-profile NFL quarterbacks seem to get that. When is the last time you heard of Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Brett Favre or Drew Brees making the kind of headlines that Roethlisberger did Friday? ... The other sports stars in town also get it. When have the Penguins' Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin or Marc-Andre Fleury been linked to any kind of controversy? Or the Pirates' Andrew McCutchen, for that matter? ... He has brought shame and embarrassment on the Steelers."

Neither Bell nor Roethlisberger are great role models.

Media coverage

After the rape case and the subsequent SI cover story about what a sleazeball he was in Pittsburgh, Roethlisberger has tried to get his life in order. He has tried marriage and fatherhood, but those charges from six or seven years ago will not leave.

Yet, the Pittsburgh media treats him with kid gloves, rarely criticizes him today, and generally does so with respect.

Bell seems to get the same soft treatment, which begs the question:

Why do the Pittsburgh media refuse to treat a true quality human being like Crosby with respect?