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the champion athletes of yesterday felt that they had an obligation to the public to be positive models of behavior. something happened.
Did you not read the names I listed before?
Willie Mays, the greatest player of the last half century was known for not only doing speed, but for introducing other players to it.
Babe Ruth, the best of all time, was a raging alcoholic who also was abusive towards his wife.
Wilt Chamberlain was not exactly the person you wanted your son to emulate
Denny McClain was involved in all kinds of shady things
Boxing...don't even get me started on corruption in boxing.
Ty Cobb was a violent racist, as were most of the rest of the players in all the major sports for the first 50 years of the 20th.
Mickey Mantle was a raging alcoholic who ruined his chances at the best career of all time by drinking too much. Most athletes partied like crazy...and still do.
Sure, there were plenty of great athletes who were role models, but they became that way because they were admirable people who built up that respect from years of earning it. Today with the lack of any creativity in the Media, if an athlete is drafted high, he immediately gets endorsement deals and is thrust into the spotlight as a role model. But when a player works his way up from scrub to benchwarmer to starter to all-star, he's usually ignored by national media.
The huge amounts of money given to unproven players is a huge factor as well. But it's simply the fact that we assume that just because someone is a great athlete that they have other admirable traits as well...that's why so many kids idolized Michael Vick, because they were told to by Gatorade, Nike, ESPN, Under Armour and whoever else he was sponsored by. Meanwhile, Allen Rossum, one of the NFL's most charitable and nicest people, is completely unknown.
People that are not good at playing sports show their incompetency at everything else they do. Becoming good at sports makes you drive harder and accomplish higher grades in your academics. I don't know how many people agree though.
People that are not good at playing sports show their incompetency at everything else they do. Becoming good at sports makes you drive harder and accomplish higher grades in your academics. I don't know how many people agree though.
This issue, are athletes role models, comes up a lot. I'd have to say, yes, they are, even if they don't want to be. Kids look up to them, want to be like them. Does that put an extra burden on the athlete? Well, yes, and it's a shame, b/c really, usually they are just very good at a sport and like you and me in every other way.
At a minimum, I would say athletes have the onus of the burden to not break the law. They also ought to be smart enough (or their agents should be smart enough) to know they are being watched, watched, watched, and keep their noses clean if out in pubic or at any kind of a gathering including a party.
Athletes should not be role models, but we can let them show our children what hard work can provide. I have no problem looking up to athletes for what hard work can accomplish, Phelps (whether genetically predisposed to be a swimmer or not) has had to work very hard to achieve his success, good genes can only take you so far.
Tiger Woods, one of the very few sports people that i would consider a good role model, has a singular focus when it comes to golf and the ability to put that focus to good use, to the point that he seems to be playing by a different set of rules.
I doubt that anyone would argue that most professional athletes work very hard at their craft, but to say to our children that they should emulate their behavior is asinine.
as a role model, look to people who have started companies that are successful, people who have made something of themselves without family money or ridiculous salaries for playing a game.
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