Published: February 14, 2009 12:21 am      

CORTESE: Parents are the real role models

Was Charles Barkley correct when he said parents should be the true role models for children, rather than those in the limelight?

In the last two weeks I have been crushed reading about two of my most recent favorite sports heroes being involved with illegal drugs. Michael Phelps and Alex Rodriquez, both athletes who I thought were good role models.Both turned out to be soiled. Making millions of dollars because of their popularity from athletic successes, both have fallen from my list of heroes.

I know, I have been burned before and will probably be burned again. I still cringe when I think of how much I respected OJ Simpson. Watching him race up and down the football field when he was a Heisman Trophy winner at USC got me to appreciate and respect him. I still get goose bumps when I see the replays of him getting the game ball after he broke the NFL rushing record on a cold snowy Sunday afternoon in Buffalo, New York.

So he allegedly butchered his ex-wife and her male companion. Jurors found him innocent but I never did or will. Eventually this fallen hero of mine was put behind bars for a robbery in a Las Vegas hotel.

Then there was Michael Vick, the Atlanta Falcons starting quarterback and one of the highest paid players in the NFL I thought this kid is not only talented, but very respectful and genuine. He was sentenced to two years in a federal prison for his role in a dog fighting conspiracy.

How about Barry Bonds, Pete Rose, Ron Artest, Plexico Burris, Roger Clemons and Pacman Jones. Not all heroes of mine but could have been worshiped by someone someplace. All sport stars and former heroes who have fallen to some kind of disgrace. John Daly was a golfer I enjoyed watching over the years. Now you can’t even find him in a tournament. His bouts with gambling and alcohol has made him an embarrassment not only to himself but the PGA.

I remember well, when young Mike Tyson was just starting to make his name in the boxing world, I was a BIG fan.

Now, I think he is nothing more than just a punch drunk punk.

If you just think getting soiled is limited to the male gender than you are sadly mistaken.

Remember Tonya Harding. he actually had her main rival’s leg clubbed in hopes that her skating career would be over so Ms. Harding would reign supreme. Marion Jones admitted to using steroids in 2000-2001.

She was immediately stripped of her medals. Locally, University of Oklahoma women basketball standout Jenna Plumley was a great success story. She was an inspiration to many young American Indian girls until she broke the law and was bounced from the team.

Allowing our kids (and me) to worship athletes needs to be re-evaluated. Mothers and fathers rather than baseball, football and basketball players are meant to model morality for their children. If kids need heroes way not someone like Pat Tillman who gave up his professional NFL career to serve his country. Don’t make him a hero because he was an outstanding football player, but because he gave up so much for a cause that cost him his life.

Martin Luther King and his speech about being taken to the mountaintop would make a good hero. This clergyman was a prominent leader in the African –American Civil Rights movement. What about Captain Chesley Sullenberger who crash landed his plane in New Yorks Hudson River saving the lives of 155 people.

Please take heed, Sam Bradford, Courtney Paris, Tiger Woods, Blake Griffith, Payton Manning, Labron James, Annika Sorenstrom and others. Right or wrong, we are all watching.

Thought for the Week: “Sports do not build character. They reveal it. — Heywood Hale Broun