Do We Need Another Hero?

The day has passed when those who made their living throwing and hitting a ball or shooting a puck were deified by an adoring public, and are used as examples to the Youth of America of what they could achieve in life.

We're a lot wiser than that now, having witnessed athletes who shoot themselves in the leg, drove while intoxicated, breed killer dogs, committed acts of domestic violence, fathered children without regard to birth control, and being Terrell Owens.

The latest examples of bad behavior involve an Olympic swimmer and a current New York Yankee.

Michael Phelps was presented to us as this clean-living dude who won eight gold medals in swimming at the Olympics in Beijing. The world was at his feet, with endorsement deals and TV appearances. Then somebody with a cellphone camera caught Phelps smoking weed at a party, and a tabloid website puts that picture up for the world to see. As a result, Phelps is no longer selling Corn Flakes for Kellogg's, while other advertisers are taking a wait-and-see approach. He has also been suspended by USA Swimming for three months.

Phelps apologized for his youthful indiscretion, having not said whether he would go for more gold in London in 2012. Criminal charges against him may or may not be filed. And the world has moved on to . . .

Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees superstar whose previous tabloid-worthy moment was when he split from his wife and allegedly started dating Madonna. "A-Rod", the player who makes more money than anyone else in baseball today, and the one who could have wiped the stain off of Barry Bonds' home run record by breaking it.

After Rodriguez admitted to ESPN that he used steroids in the years when he played for the Texas Rangers (2001-03), he is now known as "A-Fraud", "A-Roid", and worse. He joins Bonds, Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens and others who have either confessed to, or have been accused of, being a part of baseball's version of the old DuPont ad slogan, "Better Living Through Chemistry".

We are often told that the Youth of America needs heroes, someone to look up to. Well, believe it or not, they're much smarter than we give them credit for. They know athletes and other supposed role models (soldiers, business leaders, law enforcement) are bound to screw up at one time or another. Heck, even President Obama has done it with Cabinet nominees who didn't pay their taxes. All they have to do is to watch their parents in action.

Just because athletes are caught getting high or getting juiced doesn't mean the fall of the republic is at hand. Oh no. You have to steal millions of dollars from unsuspecting people, close down stores and plants while asking Congress for a bailout, and take away civil liberties so you could hunt down suspected terrorists. That's the fall of the republic.