So Who Is A Role Model?

"I am not a role model..." Charles Barkley 1993 Nike Commercial

So this Tiger thing has created alot of responses to my last blog. Of course it got me thinking some more, so here goes.

First thing I thought of was the Barkley commercial from the early 90's. Fact of the matter is, he's right. He's not a role model. He went on to say "Well, I don't think athletes should be role models. I think we are very lucky and blessed, but I think, the only thing we do is we have a God-given ability, just because I can run and dunk a basketball that shouldn't make me a role model."

For the record, Tiger was never a role model for me. I'm older than he is, and I have always had great role models in my life. Even when I was younger and Tiger was bursting on the scene, he was just the next great thing. I started following him.

I think Jared and Dave said it best. Admiration. I had alot of admiration for what he has done, and for how he carried himself. What I liked about the early to mid-90's was that I saw my generation saying "We don't have to wait to be great." I was a huge fan of the Fab Five at Michigan. We graduated from high school in 1991, and so I related to them that way.

Up until then, and there were always exceptions, youth had to wait to make an impact in sports. Occasionally, guys like Isiah and Magic would come around and be great right away. But they were the exception more than the rule.

I admired the Tigers and the Fab 5 because they knew they had the ability to be great at what they did and went and did it. I guess I lived vicariously through them because I, like any other kid, would always hear people tell us we had to wait. Our time would come.....

So Tiger came along, started whupping up on the old timers, winning majors before he was "supposed to" and things like that. And he handled it in a professional, classy way. I admired that and became a big fan.

But things change and my view on Tiger has to change now. I will always admire his golf ability and talent. But we are who we are. Tiger the golfer is Tiger the cheater. He's not 2 different people, but he lived 2 different lives. He had his public, competitive, marketing driven life, and he had his private life. His private life IS his private life, but we were led to believe it was a private, family focused life.

So my search for a role model is not for me. It's for my boys. I'm closer to age 40 than 30 these days and thus gave up on athletes and celebrities as role models long before Tiger even came along. I recognized they live in a different world. My role models are many, and basically they are examples for how I would like to be. They are men like my dad, my father in law, my uncles and Liza's uncles. They are great men who put God and family first. A bad word could not be spoken of any of them. That's how I'd like to think people look at me.

So I know how to be a good example to my boys. I believe I am and will be a good role model to them. But I also know that young boys watch television. Kids are the ones who want to buy jerseys in order to be like so and so. They are the ones who are in the backyard playing ball saying "I'm A-Rod". They're the ones in the driveway putting on their Lebron jerseys and working on copying his moves.

My boys are still young enough for me to be their hero. But in a few years I just become Dad and professional athletes become the heroes. I'm convinced that's the natural course of things in today's world. It doesn't mean I've changed. But Dad isn't on television. Dad doesn't dunk a basketball. (Especially this one.) Dad doesn't have his own line of shoes. At some point I will just be Dad, the guy who is unappreciated for putting a roof over their heads, food on the table, and clothes on their back. I was that way until I really grew up and learned to appreciate what my dad did for me.

That's why I say I'm looking for a role model now for my boys. They will latch onto the things and people I like right now. I can influence them their entire lives, but they are very receptive and moldable now. I want to show them that the athletes to cheer for are the ones like Alan Trammell, Joe Dumars and Steve Yzerman. Guys that I wanted to be like as a kid. Guys that do good in their arenas AND are good, moral people off the field. There aren't many these days.

So....I'm going to be looking for someone to trumpet to my boys. I plan on being THEE role model for my boys. But when the day comes to buy my boys their first replica jersey, I know it won't be one of mine. The million dollar question is: Who do I want it to be?