Sports Heroes

Heroes. Who are they? What are they? Do they truly exist on earth? When one talks about heroes in the sports world, the first to draw mention are those who we idolize for being stars in their respective fields. They’re heroes just for being the best in what they do. For basketball, that would be everyone from Bill Russell to Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Lebron James today. For golf, it’s easily Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. For athletics or track, there are Carl Lewis, Usain Bolt and Haile Gebrselassiee. In tennis, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are idols. There are so many more top athletes who we all admire and idolize as if to god-like levels. To the common fan, they’re perfect and free from any form of sin. Nothing can seem to ever go wrong for them.

And so we’ll mention more heroes like Lance Armstrong, Oscar Pistorius, Tiger Woods (again), the cycling world, Marion Jones, Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco and so many more. Are they heroes, too?

Armstrong has come out to admit that he took performance enhancing drugs (PED) when he competed at the highest level of cycling, winning seven Tour de France titles. After all these years of being idolized and “posterized” by fans, the verdict is out. He cheated. He broke the rules. He fooled us. Hero still? We all bought his Livestrong baller ID’s, didn’t we? We all followed his pursuit of the yellow jersey every even if we knew nothing about cycling, didn’t we? Today’s weekend cyclists are wearing his Discovery or Radio Shack cycling top. But today? A huge question mark is now raised over everyone in the sport. With the sport’s top cyclists busted for using PEDs, a cloud of doubt now hangs over the entire cycling family. The question now is all about who isn’t using PEDs. The impression that one gets is that it may be the norm to PED up if you’re a cyclist. So who is clean among the world’s cyclists? In Armstrong’s case, his seven TdF titles have been stripped, but does it really matter now? Do we even remember who placed second in all the seven TdF’s? And what will it mean to the winner if he receives the title through the media and not at the podium? Ditto for Marion Jones, Ben Johnson, Mark McgWire and all those who loved the initials PED (some call it the P.E. Department). Rodriguez is now gaining attention and talk about his alleged relationship with PEDs.

Tiger Woods was a picture of perfection on the golf course and was pictured to have a stable family life until all hell broke loose. It looked like he had his eyes fixed on more than just his beautiful wife. Some even envy his machismo and his many jousts with other women. Suddenly, he also became an idol for the wrong reasons and activities (which some didn’t mind). Tiger’s case though, is different from that of Lance Armstrong. This wasn’t about cheating on the golf course. But some say this might be just as big (or even bigger) as it dealt with another form of cheating for which one doesn’t get a red card from a referee or an umpire. A family was already directly involved here.

Pistorius is the latest man in the middle of huge storm now, isn’t he? He’s now accused of killing his girlfriend by shooting her. Locked up behind a bathroom door and most likely defenseless, Reeva Steenkamp didn’t have a chance. At this point, we don’t know what really happened, but one thing is clear. They were the only ones in the house when it happened. And she was shot while locked behind a bathroom door;  the bullets piercing the door and killing her. Pistorius says he shot her as he thought she was an intruder. (Wouldn’t I love to have an intruder like her!)

A very important fact that we all have to accept is that all these heroes are just like us. They are also human beings who commit mistakes and who go through difficulties and tough trials in life. They seem to be perfect because of all their “super” human skills and talents which stand head and shoulders over anyone else considered “normal.” The sad part is that we all fall for them. The sadder part though, is that through the veneer of perfection, our heroes are weak, and they made very wrong decisions which now have a great effect on their lives and possibly the lives of their fans. They all did it for personal glory more than anything else: money, fame, stardom.

Looking for heroes? Check out those who work genuinely for a more superior motive. And who would work hard and grind it out the old fashioned, clean way for. Fame, power, wealth? No worries. These are nothing when compared to the final bus stop of life.

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Time-out: Happy birthday to Khanz Golez! >> You can reach me at [email protected].