Satchboogie3
In the Starting Line-Up
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2007
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People just need to learn that Athletes are regular people too. Some are good, some are bad, most are somewhere in between. Humans have a habit of putting people up on pedestals and worshiping them, just because they are great athletes doesn't mean they should be worshiped.
If I was an aspiring young athlete, I'd make sure to separate the sport from personal life. If their was a player who was amazing and I wanted to learn from/mimic, I'd do so, but it would only be what they do on the field, I wouldn't be worshiping them or anything. The guy might be totally despicable, but that doesn't mean there isn't anything to learn from him.
Also, we simply can't know the intentions of everyone. Everybody has skeletons in their closets, some a lot worse than others. We just have to remember people are human and someone who seems perfect could have a dark side or just end up down the wrong path later in life. Shows like "American Idol" certainly don't help to eliminate this problem.
Manny Ramirez is such a character for me. There have been rumors of him having locker-room and anger problems, etc etc. Do I care? No. I don't know him and I don't know what his personality is actually like. I watch him because he's an amazing hitter and I love his "antics" on the field. Short of being a convict, I don't care what he does off the field.
As for the HOF, I don't think it's intentions are just to "idolize" the top athletes as much as it is a record of the best players in the history of the sport. There will be some that were terrible human beings, but that doesn't erase what they did on the field. Hitler was evil, but that doesn't mean we should just erase his name and the Holocaust from history, I see no reason why we should do so in sports either.
If I was an aspiring young athlete, I'd make sure to separate the sport from personal life. If their was a player who was amazing and I wanted to learn from/mimic, I'd do so, but it would only be what they do on the field, I wouldn't be worshiping them or anything. The guy might be totally despicable, but that doesn't mean there isn't anything to learn from him.
Also, we simply can't know the intentions of everyone. Everybody has skeletons in their closets, some a lot worse than others. We just have to remember people are human and someone who seems perfect could have a dark side or just end up down the wrong path later in life. Shows like "American Idol" certainly don't help to eliminate this problem.
Manny Ramirez is such a character for me. There have been rumors of him having locker-room and anger problems, etc etc. Do I care? No. I don't know him and I don't know what his personality is actually like. I watch him because he's an amazing hitter and I love his "antics" on the field. Short of being a convict, I don't care what he does off the field.
As for the HOF, I don't think it's intentions are just to "idolize" the top athletes as much as it is a record of the best players in the history of the sport. There will be some that were terrible human beings, but that doesn't erase what they did on the field. Hitler was evil, but that doesn't mean we should just erase his name and the Holocaust from history, I see no reason why we should do so in sports either.
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