From Pin Stripes to Prison Stripes

I’m a little sad about the whole Roger Clemens ordeal. I had been a fan of his for a long time, but my feelings for him have changed over the past year. He has become somewhat of a bully on the mound, and his temper tantrums do not portray him as a positive role model. What happened? Why did he become so bitter? Was it ‘roid’ rage?

The sports role models we had as kids no longer exist. Media exposure and our culture's fascination with athletic achievements will insure that professional athletes will, for some time, be highly recognized and admired. But a closer examination of the headlines does not provide the role models parents are looking for. The modern athlete, more often than not, is materialistic, greedy, self-centered, arrogant, chauvinistic, and selfishly individualistic. Are these the values we want in our kids? I think not. And to be fair, not all athletes are like this, but the good ones are over shadowed by those in the media. Like Roger.

On the other hand do we have the right to judge our athletes any harder than the rest of those who make up our society? We want athletes to be more than a model of a role; we want athletes to be a model of all personal and public virtues. Why should we expect athletes to exhibit non-athletic virtues to any greater degree than we or others model such qualities? Virtues such as honesty, integrity, self-control, humility, kindness, generosity and the like are immensely important, but they are no more important to the athlete than they are to the rest of us. Why should I expect to point to an athlete or other celebrity to show my children an example of humility or generosity, more than I should live a life where I can point to myself?

My children are grown and can certainly watch the Roger Clemens story line unfold and come to their own conclusions. But if they were younger, I would certainly take the opportunity to explain that rules are rules, and players who flout the rules cheat the game, much as talented players who squander their innate gifts cheat the duty they owe to their employers and, by extension, their fans. This is the message I would want my children to learn.

As for Roger, I do hope the truth eventually plays out. I want to believe that as one of the great pitchers of my time, he is innocent. But if he isn’t, then I want to know that he is punished fairly for the crime, and that he accepts his punishment like a man and not a bully. Then he may better serve as a role model for our kids.