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Pros make poor role models
By Ben Birnell
Ah, but yes, what it's like to be young and dumb. I'm not talking about being a college student at this fine institution. I'm talking about pro athletes these days.
What the heck has happened to athletes in recent years?
Some have rap sheets longer than the wait in a men's restroom at any sporting event. The thing is, they don't care. Whether they like it or not, kids look up to athletes as idols because they're doing something kids wished or hoped they could do one day.
Personally, I don't think many athletes are responsible enough to be role models. Ask any elementary kid who his idol is and they'll most likely give you an answer of one pro athlete or another.
Keyshawn "I'm a whiner" Johnson, the entire Portland Trailblazers team, Kobe Bryant - are any of these guys positive role models these days? Nope. Did you really know Kobe before his whole scandal came out? I sure as heck didn't.
Keyshawn whined after his rookie season with the New York Jets to "get him the damn ball." Something tells me, however, that it wasn't Me-Shawn's involvement in the Tampa Bay Bucs that led to his placement on the inactive list a few weeks ago. Has Keyshawn backed anything up on the field where he's actually supposed to be backing things up? No, not since his days at USC when he had a smaller mouth and less of an ego.
The Portland Trailblazers. Where do you even begin? They give a whole new meaning to the word "trailblazing."
Zach Randolph was arrested a few weeks back for driving under the influence. Before that, Randolph seemed like a nice guy. But then you threw him in the mix with bonafide ganja smokers Damon Stoudamire and Rasheed "high all the time" Wallace.
Wallace also can't get a handle on his temper, which is a great combination. But the two seem to me to be more on a journey to rewrite the script of "How High" then they are on a journey to become the NBA's elite.
Added into the equation is Bonzi Wells, who at no stretch of the imagination is one of the better point guards the NBA has. But he decided to butt heads with Blazers head coach Maurice Cheeks and Wells was sent backing. Does anybody else see it or do the Trailblazers look to be auditioning for a real season of ESPN's hit show, "Playmakers?"
Even Lawrence Taylor, the old school linebacker that every kid should play like on the field, has come out and talked about his escapades as an NFL player.
So how do the leagues try to stop them? Throw a million dollar fine in their faces? That's pocket change for these boys that are causing a ruckus. A slap on the wrist and the proverbial "no, no, no" finger wave in front of their face seems to have owners alike thinking it'll work. And they wonder why players keep messing up.
Problem is you throw kids just out of college into a room where money is being thrown at them, drugs are being passed around, put in front of lying coaches and agents and groupies and you're looking at a recipe for disaster. It's not shocking anymore that these players are getting away with uh, I guess murder.
What happened to the days where athletes would be happy to sign an autograph for a young autograph-seeker? What happened to the athletes that cared about their reps.
Imagine if someone handed you a million dollars and gave you more free time than you really needed and no supervision - you'd probably run out and cause a ruckus too.
Maybe that's the problem. Maybe these boys need a little bit more supervision and little more than just a slap on the wrist. Throw them in jail, suspend them indefinitely, maybe then you'll finally get a role model that's worth salivating over.
I remember reading a quote book not too long ago, I forgot if it was a poet, a writer, etc., but the quote was something along the lines of "the true measure of a person is how they treat those that are unimportant to them."
Maybe that's all this world needs is an athlete who actually cares what happens, whether it be pro or collegiate level, to step up and really show a kid (maybe even this kid) that athletes truly can be good role models.
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