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Athletes are not real heroes, troops are
By Adam Czech
Published:
Monday, March 31, 2003
Adam Czech -- Staff Column
You want to cover your ears and ignore it. You want to close your eyes and pretend it's not the lead story on the evening news. But no matter how much you try and deny it, it won't go away.
Kirby Puckett is charged with false imprisonment, a felony, fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct, a gross misdemeanor and fifth-degree sexual assault, a misdemeanor. The charges stem from a Sept. 6 incident at the Redstone American Grill in Eden Prairie where Puckett allegedly forced a woman into a bathroom stall where he grabbed her breast before she escaped.
No, this isn't O.J. Simpson we're talking about. This isn't J.R. Rider or Rasheed Wallace, this is Kirby Puckett. This was the man who was a hero to people both young and old in Minnesota, the man who almost single-handedly won Game Six of the 1991 World Series and the man who was always smiling, with something positive to say.
People admired and felt so close to Puckett that they often referred to him by his first name in conversation. This type of admiration is saved only for those special types of sports figures - Kareem (Abdul Jabaar), Wilt (Chamberlin), Magic (Johnson) and Mark (McGwire) - that come along once in a lifetime.
When Puckett's Hall of Fame career was cut short due to blindness in one eye, everyone's heart went out to him. How could something like this happen to someone like Puckett? It was almost as if a part of Minnesota was lost. Now, you want to slap yourself for being so stupid.
First it was learned that Puckett has been unfaithful to his wife and had a mistress for many years. In fact, he was even unfaithful to his mistress. There were allegations that Puckett held a gun to his wife's head at one time and has been abusive in the past. Then came the Sept. 6 incident.
A recent article in Sports Illustrated said that Puckett often does odd things such as urinating in public parking lots in broad daylight.
Why did we build Puckett up the way we did? Didn't we learn from Jim Brown, the legendary Cleveland Browns running back whose image is marred by abuse towards his wife. Or how about Mickey Mantle, the greatest center fielder that ever lived who was a raging alcoholic. Then, of course, there's O.J. But this was Kirby. He was different. At least that's what everybody (myself included) thought.
Maybe with Puckett we'll finally come to our senses. Athletes are not heroes. They're people like us - only grossly overpaid.
Our troops fighting in the Middle East, those people are heroes. I'd like to see Allen Iverson put his life on hold and travel across the world to try and topple a regime that is fond of using biological weapons. Or how about Barry Bonds leading an infantry division into an abandoned part of a city where snipers could be staked out on the top floor of any building, waiting for an open shot.
Our troops are doing this right now, despite the fact that a portion of their fellow American citizens do not fully support them by protesting the war effort. What would Randy Moss do if 50,000 people stood outside the Metrodome and protested the fact that he was playing in a game? He'd likely climb in his BMW, go back to his mansion and hide.
Maybe the war in Iraq will finally make us realize once and for all who our real heroes are.
They don't toss an orange ball through a hoop or try and hit a round ball with a bat. They don't get busted with a couple joints in their brand new Mercedes and then blame it on the media; and they definitely don't cheat on their wives and forcibly grope women in bathroom stalls.
Real heroes risk their lives to defend our freedom and the freedom of people around the world. That freedom allows us to choose who we want to idolize and who we want to put on a pedastal. Unfortuantely, we've been choosing the wrong people.
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