Role Models?!

Sometimes I think we live in a short-term memory society. Day in and day out the media projects images of athletes that are larger than life -- larger than the universe, really. It's like we keep forgetting that pro athletes are human beings too.

I'll be the first to admit that Charles Barkley has done some things that would suggest that his big, bald head isn't solar powered, but he did have at least one quality philosophic moment nearly ten years ago when he boldly stated: "I am not a role model." Parents were outraged. Kids ate it up with a spoon, because their parents were outraged. Why anyone would be outraged by Barkley's proclamation is a mystery to me. Barkley isn't a good role model for children -- few pro athletes are.

Some parents still cling to the hope that Cal Ripken Jr., Michael Jordan, and Kurt Warner can provide positive examples for today's youth. The problem is this: when you rely on a pro athlete to provide life-lessons for your children you are also subjecting them (the children) to the other spotlight attractions in the media circus of professional sports. Rae Carruth. Steve Howe. Darryl Strawberry. Mike Tyson. For every positive story reported about pro sports there are seemingly three negative stories reported.

Parents are always telling their children not to talk to strangers, and there is a good reason for that. No one knows the moral character of a stranger off the streets. Well, can't the same be said about any pro athlete? It's absurd to think we can rely on athletes to be role models just because we see them on tv and in newspapers.

Sometimes I think we live in a short-term memory society. Pro athletes should not be role models for children. Thank the lord that Michael Jordan was an upstanding citizen, because if he had turned out to be another Steve Howe or Mike Tyson, the youth of today would be permanently scarred. Jordan was hyped to a level usually reserved for biblical heavyweights, but if there would've even been a sniff of immorality in his life you can rest assured that the media would've tore his image down like the walls of Jericho.

We live in a society where "The Sopranos" rule the airwaves. Speaking of shady characters, the most recent media love affair is the Gold Club scandal. Bada-Bing. Reportedly, Patrick Ewing received sex from strippers at the Gold Club. Bada-Boom. Reportedly, Broncos' runningback Terrell Davis was involved in similar practices. A slew of pro athletes have been accused of Gold Clubbin', which is further proof that admiration for pro athletes should stay between the white lines. (No, Steve Howe, not those white lines.)

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