Finding role models on (and off) the court

Are athletes role models? Should they be? Charles
Barkley says no--kids should look to their parents. Other players respond that even though parents should be the idols, the hard fact is that children do look up to superstar athletes. And kids aren't the only ones. Advertisers certainly feel athletes have some pull. It's hard to explain otherwise Michael Jordan's endorsement contracts.

One thing is certain: athletes are people. Some are nice and some are not, some are quiet and some are loud. And some do rather outlandishly destructive things, while others exert remarkable positive influence. It is a shame that the media and the American public choose to focus on the negative. Strippers, call-girls, assaults, and arrests are simply more interesting than donations and acts of goodwill. Remarkable people and true heroes are too often overshadowed by bizarre antics.

Everyone knows about Dennis Rodman's latest escapade. The Chicago Bulls' forward is finally back on the court after serving an 11-game suspension for kicking a cameraman in a, shall we say, tender place, because apparently Rodman felt he was too close to the court. And the media went crazy. ESPN replayed the incident again and again. Every newspaper in the country covered the event and the ensuing fallout. Some felt the suspension too harsh, some felt it too lenient. But everyone had an opinion, and everyone expressed it. Rodman was the biggest sports story in the country.

Meanwhile, a bit further north, another story was transpiring. Carlos Rogers, a center on the Toronto Raptors, walked out of the arena for the last time. He said good-bye to his teammates, cleaned out his locker, and prepared to face life without experiencing the activity he loved most: basketball. Rogers' career was over.

Carlos Rogers was not cut from his team. Nor was he traded. And he wasn't tiring because he was old. Rogers, in the prime of his career, was retiring because his sister's life depended on it: he needed to donate a kidney to her. Rogers, without a second's hesitation, was sacrificing the most important thing in his life to save one of the most important people in his life.

Unfortunately, the story has a tragic ending. Rogers' sister died before he could have the operation to donate the kidney. Rogers, who broke down at a press conference after her death, did not have the opportunity to save his sister. Instead, he must face life without her. He has since returned to the Raptors, and even to the court, dedicating the rest of his career to the woman he tried to save.

Another tragedy, however, is that so few people know about it. Rogers is not as talented a player as Rodman. Nor is he as eccentric. However, that does not excuse the lack of coverage this professional athlete's remarkable courage received. Why is Rodman the lead SportsCenter story, while Rogers is held for the second segment of the program?

I doubt that anyone would suggest that Carlos Rogers is anything but an incredible role model. I hope that I would have the courage to do the same thing under similar circumstances. As a society, however, we choose to ignore, or at least de-emphasize, his courage in favor of Rodman's latest transgression.

Are athletes role models? Yes, they are. Because we force them to be. We place them on a pedestal and watch intently as they fall. We worship and envy them, and love nothing more than to hear juicy gossip about them. When a woman accused Dallas Cowboys stars Michael Irvin and Erik Williams of sexual assault in January, the nation watched with bated breath--not out of concern for the woman, but because it was another opportunity to discuss Irvin, the sad state of athletics, and the tragic nature of contemporary athletes.

But it is not the fault of athletics. It is not the fault of the individual leagues that we cannot find athletes to whom we can look up. We cannot blame the NBA for not providing heroes, only suspending Rodman for 11 games, rather than the better part of a season. We can't even blame the media for accentuating the negative; they only give us what we want to hear.

We can only blame ourselves. Professional athletes who are incredible role models do exist; Carlos Rogers is one example. There are many other athletes who have overcome personal tragedy with incredible inner strength, or who have simply shown impeccable character throughout their careers. These are the athletes we should admire; they are certainly there, we just have to find them. For now, let's just wish Rogers luck as he returns to the court, carrying his sister's soul with him, and try to emulate his courage.

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