Athletes Good Role Models?

In today's world, sport stars and other athletes are looked up to by all ages. Everyoneloves them. They look great in the eyes of the everyday public. They appear ontelevision, they perform like rock stars, and do this with the entire world watching. Nowonder we make heroes out of our favorites. They are seen, as heroes because they can dothings that most of us can't. They hit fastballs at 95 mph, leap at balls in mid air, ordefy gravity and throw down a dunk. Their words are repeated and broadcasted throughoutthe world and their faces have appeared on the front of cereal boxes. But if you examineathletes while they're not on the court or on the field, you can see what they are likein every dimension. Athletes have many positive and negative sides that affect theirpublic face and both benefit and harm their abilities to become role models. The athlete as role model is by no means a new issue. In fact it is quite ancient. Asdistant as 800 B.C., when the Olympics were first played in Greece, the athletes all paidhomage to the Greek God Zeus. Olympia was originally on the sacred site of Gaia. Sportswere started as a religious ritual and the athlete was considered a demi-god,representing both the spectator and the gods. In Roman times 2000 years ago, athletesrepresented the state during the gladiator games and chariot races. They were seen assoldiers who reassured the citizen that the nation was strong. Today, athletes are notconsidered to be religious figures but nonetheless are accorded great material wealth,privilege, and fame. These figures are visible to us on a weekly basis. Because of theirtalent, salary, and positions as leaders, it's inevitable that we admire and identifythem with such integrity (Ferraro).Courage and determination aren't the only lessons we can learn from successful athletes.Some of the best athletes in history are the ones who can take their achievements instride. You have to love a sport in order to do it well. Hard-working and