Where Have All Our Sports Heroes Gone?
By Bradley Blakeman
FOXNews.com
Today it seems we
are surrounded by sports scandal and greed. From
the looming NFL shutdown of the 2011 season to
the criminal conviction of baseball star Barry
Bonds for obstruction of
justice or the homophobic rant given by Kobe
Bryant to an NBA referee, there are plenty of
examples to illustrate my point.
The great escape from reality that sports used
to offer has become just as troubling and
tiresome as the trials and tribulations of our
daily lives.
Kids used to look up to sports heroes whojm they
saw as bigger than
life. That because the sports
stars of days gone by
were
people you could look up to and aspire to be.
Sports used to be an oasis where the back of the
paper or sports TV reporting was a respite from
the "news" of the day. Today, the excesses we
see in sports are exposed on the front page and
business pages of the
newspaper with the same greed and coldness you
might find in a rogue Fortune 500 company.
Today more than ever, America needs heroes --
people we all can look up to and admire. Sports
figures, celebrities, politicians and
entertainers who choose to enter public life
have a special responsibility to live their
lives in a manner which brings respect to
themselves and their professions. Of course,
parents should be the ultimate role models for
their children. But let's face it, the kinds of
people kids look up to and seek to emulate also
have an influence on them. And you know what,
often, the people kids look up to most are
sports figures.
How many sports stars realize how very lucky
they are? They are paid millions of dollars to
play a sport that they love. It is a career they
worked years to break into to and in the end a
career that they chose. They knew it carried
special responsibilities because of the very
public nature of their work.
Realizing of course the frailties of
individuals, it is not that we should paint
athletes as saints. We should, however, hold
them to a higher standard than the mere mortal.
In 2009, Steve Raich's stellar book "True
Heroes of Sports: Discovering the Heart of a
Champion," the author defined what a hero should
be.
"What do you think of when you hear the word hero? When I think of the concept of a hero, the word character immediately comes to mind."
"We look up to our heroes, admire them, and even follow them. But how can we do any of these things if our heroes do not possess good character?"
Raich goes on to wrestle with the problem of defining a hero based on the current culture of a 24/7 news cycle and athletes who having little or no privacy.
"A hero is not merely someone who can hit a baseball 400 feet, sink a 40 foot putt, nail a 3-pointer, leap into the end zone, or win a gold medal."
"Heroes are much
more than that. They are people who do not live
for accolades or big bank accounts. Rather they
live to fulfill their God-given destinies and to
use their talents and gifts to leave the world a
better place because of their influence."
I agree with Raich's assessment that although we
may have a hard time coming up with a definition
of what a hero is, there is no doubt that we all
can clearly identify when someone possesses that
special something. That "it" which we cannot
adequately define but can identify is the heart
of a champion. And that heart is not beating to
the same rhythm in the run-of-the-mill athlete.
I respectfully submit that heroes are not made
when they sign a multi-million dollar contract.
Heroes are born into a family, whose values and
character shape their ultimate destiny. Little
League coaches can have a greater impact on a
developing player than a college or professional
coach could ever hope to have.
That is why it is so very important that kids
have heroes.
But in order for kids to have heroes they have
to have access to them beyond what they see on
television. That is why it is so important for
sports to be accessible and affordable to
families.
Owners must make it their mission to keep ticket
prices and the experience of sports within the
affordability of the average fan.
Our country continues to face the worst economic
crisis since the Great Depression. Our national
unemployment rate still exceeds 8 percent.
Businesses are closing, folks
are losing their homes and cars, yet, and at
ballparks with high-ticket prices you would
think we are in boom times. A recent study shows
that 63 percent of fans believe that high-ticket
prices are preventing families from attending
sporting events.
The average cost for a family of three to attend ONE game is as follows:
3 Loge Level
tickets: $150.00 @50.00 per.
3 Hot Dogs, Sodas, and Cracker Jacks: $44.00
3 Baseball Caps: $57.00
Parking: $20.00
Total
cost: $271
If you can believe
it, the average cost for a ticket to a
MLB game went up this year by
5 percent. Is it any wonder ballparks all across
the country are suffering from low attendance?
Attendance nationally is down by 6 percent. It
is just plain wrong that sports fans from
infants to seniors are denied the ability to be
there to enjoy their favorite sports because
they are priced out.
Owners should be role models too. After all,
what would their franchises be worth if no one
came to see their teams play? They should set a
good example for their employees and fans by
acting responsibly, with character,
determination fairness and passion. All the
attributes they expect from their players on and
off the field.
I say we can never have enough heroes in
America. The hard part is finding real honest to
goodness ones.
Bradley
A. Blakeman served as deputy assistant to
President George W. Bush from 2001-04. He is
currently a professor of Politics and Public
Policy at Georgetown University and writes
frequently for Fox News Opinion.