The?New York Knicks?open their season Tuesday night, and all eyes will be on point guard?Derrick Rose. Cheap NFL Jerseys . Less than a week after a jury in a civil suit found him and his friends not liable for gang rape, fans and media can now look upon the unfamiliar sight of Rose in a Knicks?jersey?free of guilt.That seems to be the biggest takeaway from the publics reaction to the verdict: relief that we can all go back to talking about basketball -- that we can go back to worrying about Roses health instead of his legal status.And as a lifelong Knicks fan, that just doesnt sit well with me.The first thing that always happens when an athlete is cleared of these types of accusations is for people to take a verdict as a definite statement on guilt or innocence. To be clear: The jurys decision simply means that its members found Rose to be more credible than his accuser. As rape cases tend to go, the truth of what happened on the night in question is likely murkier.Legal experts doubt that criminal charges will be brought against Rose. But without assigning him guilt -- or proclaiming him completely innocent -- the sheer glee with which many reacted to the decision is rather disturbing. The burden of a long rape case -- in which we learned some unsavory things about the accused -- has been lifted from Rose and many fans, but it still rests on his accuser and some of the more conflicted among the Knicks faithful.We dont know for sure what exactly happened on the night in question. But heres what we do know: This case played out as a textbook example of athlete privilege in the court of public opinion. Everyone seemed to forget about the charges when Rose was traded to the Knicks from the Chicago Bulls. Knicks president Phil Jackson insists he was aware of the case, but last month, he refused to answer questions about just how much the team investigated Rose. He said that he was not concerned with the then-pending trial and stated with erroneous optimism that he didnt anticipate Rose would miss any preseason games.As details of the case trickled out, so too did the proven strategy of discrediting an accuser by dredging up her sexual history. Fans came out in full support of Rose. They didnt want to believe a star player could commit such acts, but they were all too willing to believe the exaggerated notion that women are automatically out to get famous men, and that going to a civil trial -- which carries a lower burden of proof than a criminal one -- signaled a desire for money, not justice. That somehow a seven-figure payout can lift the burden of a rape accusation.Heres another thing we know: Derrick Rose does not understand the concept of consent. That seems to be particularly relevant in a case in which the judge deemed consent to be the central issue. It should be noted that Roses?accuser said?she was unconscious at the time, which would settle the consent question. According to Roses toxicology expert, she had a blood alcohol content level of 0.2, which is 2 1/2 times the legal driving limit. A motion filed by the accuser in August states that she was asleep, evidenced by her repeated failure to respond to texts and calls from Rose and another defendant.As ThinkProgress Lindsay Gibbs reported in September, depositions also show that Rose didnt seem particularly concerned with consent on the night in question. When asked whether he and the two other defendants had discussed sex as the purpose for going to the accusers home, Rose said, No, but we men. You can assume.He went on to clarify: I said we men. You can assume. Like we leaving to go over to someones house at 1:00 [a.m.], theres nothing to talk about.And while Roses attorneys used transcripts of text messages in which the accuser invited Rose to her home that evening as evidence that she ultimately consented to sex, the plain fact is that any inkling of consent is wholly absent from their conversation that night.From the deposition:Q: All right. Is there ?--? within what you just reviewed in those text messages, is there anything within them that would lead you to believe that plaintiff wanted to have sex with you and the other two defendants on August 26th, 2013? ...Rose: No.?Furthermore, the accusers attorney read a portion of the deposition to reporters on a teleconference call in September in which Rose clearly states he does not understand consent:Q: Do you have an understanding as to the word consent? Rose: No but can you tell me? Q: I just wanted to know if you had any understanding. Rose: No.Its extremely telling that, despite heightened awareness on sexual violence in the past couple of years, especially in sports, a star athlete still has no idea what consent is -- nor does he seem particularly concerned with needing to know more. Like his fans, Rose just wants to get back to the basketball court.Roses case highlights the need to continue to have these conversations, to make sure men and women alike understand when it is and is not OK to have sex with someone. This isnt just to protect accusers: If athletes see themselves as such targets for gold-diggers and cleat chasers, you would think theyd want to learn more about consent in order to make sure they always have it.It also underscores the importance of continued educational programs for athletes at the high school, college and pro levels.?Detroit Lions?linebacker?DeAndre Levy, maybe the most socially aware athlete out there when it comes to gender issues, credits the NFLs often-mocked awareness program with helping him understand consent and assault. In an essay for the Players Tribune in April, Levy said he has learned so much after having been ignorant of such issues for so many of his formative years.My understanding is that most women have heard the talk about how to avoid becoming a victim, but growing up, I was never involved in a conversation about what consent is. I was never even flat-out told not to rape or sexually assault anyone, he wrote. An athletes sense of entitlement to a womans body is exacerbated because he has been idolized and put on a pedestal in a hyper-masculine culture. Not only am I a man, but I am also a strong and successful man. Why would someone say no? You should all want me.Unfortunately, its not just athletes who have absorbed this mentality -- its the fans, too, as weve seen in the reaction to Roses case. A womans sexuality seems to discredit her right to consent in the eyes of many, while an athletes status only raises his credibility, assigning him the automatic benefit of the doubt. But that collective sigh of relief breathed by Knicks fans after the jury cleared Rose wasnt just about the desire to get back to basketball. It was taken as an implicit affirmation that all these beliefs about athlete targets and women who lie must be true.Its fine to be excited about the NBAs return -- Im looking forward to this season myself. But if you celebrated the Rose decision, youre celebrating a system that you seem to think works in favor of accusers, which is contrary to all the evidence on reporting, prosecution and verdicts. Its also contrary to all the psycho-social implications of sympathy toward famous defendants versus Jane Doe plaintiffs. Thats how we get the utterly bizarre images of jurors posing with Rose and his attorneys after delivering their verdict. Though the trial played out in Los Angeles, they look just as excited as Knicks fans to move on. Wholesale Jerseys . Defenceman Yannick Weber scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Canucks breathed a sigh of relief with a 2-1 win on Saturday night. Cheap Soccer Jerseys . The International Olympic Committee released the official list of bid cities on Friday after the deadline for applications had passed. The candidates -- all previously announced in their own countries -- are: Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing; Krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; Oslo, Norway; and Stockholm. http://www.wholesalejerseyssundaynfl.com/ . "It was nerve-wracking, but we pulled through," said Collaros, who threw four touchdown passes to lead the Toronto Argonauts (8-4) to a 33-27 win over the Calgary Stampeders (9-3) in front of 28,781 fans at McMahon Stadium. RIO DE JANEIRO -- It is an oft-used phrase in soccer, but there was the proof around their necks as German players stood on the top level of the hastily constructed podium on the field at the Maracana and listened to their anthem play for the second time Friday night.A generation became golden when it claimed the only prize missing from Germanys trophy case.This is definitely a new summit for German womens football, said coach Silvia Neid, via a translator, after her final game in charge.But it isnt exactly a golden generation. It is, well, another German generation.Even the member of it born in Budapest, Hungary. In fact, maybe Dzsenifer Marozsan most of all.In a sport in which Olympic gold is arguably as meaningful as World Cup titles, Germany became just the third country to win both. Nine years after winning the second of back-to-back World Cup championships, Germany defeated Sweden 2-1 to win gold in one of soccers iconic venues.The Germans solved the puzzle that flummoxed both the United States, reigning Olympic and World Cup champion, and Brazil, the host that finally had the support of a nation behind it. They scored twice against the Swedish team that had allowed just one goal in 300 minutes in its three most recent games. More specifically, Marozsan scored once by picking out the top corner of the net, and came close enough to a second, a free kick that caromed off the post with such force that a Swedish defender mishit a clearance for an own goal, that Marozsan jokingly awarded herself one and a half goals on the night.I was really, really happy to be able to give this to my team, to help the team, Marozsan, 24, said, again through translation. Im just happy for our success. And Im particularly happy about having the gold medal around my neck.Born in Budapest, with a father who played internationally for Hungary, Marozsan was 14 years old when she first played in the highest level of German womens professional soccer. She won a UEFA Under-17 championship with Germany in 2008 and an Under-20 World Cup in 2010, the same year she debuted for Neids senior team. She has now appeared more than 60 times for the senior team.Technically she is probably the best player of them all, Neid said of the nights star.Presumably the coach meant just within the context of her team. Then again, maybe not.Injuries are one of the few things that have slowed Marozsan in a still young career. It is notable that when Germany lost to the United States in the semifinals of the World Cup a year ago, she played just a handful of substitute minutes while dealing with an ankle injury. There was an injury question mark again this time, what the translation described as a muscle injury, but it didnt impact her. She is a midfielder with power and craft, a playmaker who, as she showed Friday, can finish her own chances.Jenny was always an extremely good technician, already when she was in the youth teams, Neid said. She always stood out; she was a dominant player. And she was extremely successful in the youth teams. Her problem was that she had several injuries, but she was very tough.Yet this isnt a story about a nations soccer salvation. Marozsann was 13 years old when Neid first coached the German womens national team and 15 when Neid and Germany won their second World Cup, in 2007. Soccer Jerseys China. Germany doesnt win with golden generations. It wins with every generation.It won before Marozsan arrived, and it will win after Neid leaves.And it wasnt just Marozsan on this night. Germany attacked down the flanks for much of the game, 23-year-old Leonie Maier and 24-year-old Tabea Kemme stretching Sweden to the breaking point before the first goal arrived. The game was scoreless at halftime, but Germany should have taken the lead when Maier raced down the right side in the 25th minute and hit a ball that Swedish keeper Hedvig Lindahl could only parry -- directly to the feet of Anja Mittag. But the most capped player on the German roster failed to finish a chance she would most nights.Sweden coach Pia Sundhage called Germany the best team in the world after the game. With one-game sample sizes, thats a difficult thing to prove. Were left to go with the result. The United States won the final game of the World Cup a year ago, so it was the best team in the world. Germany won the final game of the Olympics, so it is the best team.What is undeniable is that the Germans have been among the best teams in the world for a very long time. Generation after generation.The way they keep possession and the way they penetrate on the flanks, Sundhage said of the comparison to the American and Brazilian teams Sweden faced here. And if you try to stop them on the flanks, which I think we were pretty successful with that, then they find another way, combinations centrally. Those are good players, and when theyre dispossessed, they know how to defend.When asked the inevitable question about what this meant for womens football in Germany, if it signaled a thrust forward, Neid almost visibly shrugged. She said Germany already had excellent infrastructure, including the best league in the world.Seven of Germanys starters who now wear gold medals are not yet 26 years old. None of them will be 30 when the next World Cup rolls around. Or the next Olympics.Jenny gets better the older she gets, Neid said of Marozsan. Shes 24 years old now, and I think four years from now shes going to be a grenade. Im going to watch her from the tribune and be happy.European powers will meet next summer in the continents championship. Perhaps France will finally find its footing in the later stages of a major tournament. Maybe Sweden will find a way to recapture the magic of the last few rounds in Brazil, although it might have to do so without Sundhage, whose contract is up Dec. 31.The world will gather again in three years for the World Cup. Perhaps the United States will emerge older and wiser and defend its title. Maybe Japan will find a new crop of talent after missing out on these Olympics.What we do know is that Germany will be in the mix, not because it now lives through a golden generation.But because Marozsan and the generation that won gold in Rio are German through and through. Cheap MLB Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping cheap nfl jerseys Cheap Jerseys USA China Jerseys Cheap NFL Authentic Jerseys Cheap Jerseys For Sale Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Cheap NBA Jerseys ' ' '