Memo to Youths: Athletes AREN’T Role Models
I guess Charles Barkley was right.
Who knew?!
I’ve gotta say I’m a huge hypocrite. I can recall watching my dad watching the Lakers play against the Celtics and thinking how cool Kareem Abdul Jabbar and “Magic” Johnson were. It seemed like they were almost like living cartoon characters. There images were so wholesome and squeaky clean. Then during my teenage years I figuratively idolized Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboys, Desmond Howard during his years at the U. of Michigan, and Charlie Ward as he stormed towards a dominant campaign for the Heisman Trophy while at Florida St. Each of them to varying degrees noted Christ as their inspiration and personal savior as I began to develop my own individual relationship with Christ. Even when I felt the need for a little “bad boy” inspiration I looked towards Michigan’s Fab 5 for which basketball worldwide can thank for ridding us of those disgusting “get it boy” shorts of the 70’s and 80’s (see John Stockton http://youtube.com/watch?v=nbqdxlZr4_0). Then Charles Barkley came along and ruined it for all of us in 1993 when he proclaimed parents should be role models in a Nike ad. Let’s take a little tour of some of the worst/most shocking athletic indiscretions of the past 14 years since Sir Charles made that commercial and look at athletes in trouble:
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My heart goes out to the students, faculty and families at Virginia Tech. As a parent, you want the best for your child, so you make the necessary sacrifices to get them a quality education. Only to have someone in a senseless act of violence, take their life. It’s situations like this that make you realize how important it is to make the most of every minute given to you. I don’t know what I would do if faced with the harsh reality of losing a loved one in that manner.





