animal909

i remember growing up and remember players like Magic Johnson, Micheal Jordan, John Elway, Wayne Gretzky, David Robinson, Jerry Rice, Bo Jackson, and others and now it seems like all the "star" players just don't cary that kind of stigma anymore. Its all about bling bling and the Maybachs and Escalades... Iunno, maybe its because when I was a kid things were different (idolozed players in a different way) or maybe I was just in a different era. Don't get me wrong, Micheal Vik and Kobe bryant are good players but they just don't carry that "something" these other players did.

aerozeppelin

A good many of those players you mentioned (MJ, Jerry Rice, Gretzky) were very arguably the greatest players to every play their respective sports. Plus, they all had enough media savvy and character to not look like assholes (a la TO, Kobe, etc...). I agree though, the players just don't seem to have as much "star" power as they did. I think it is because we are coming off a period of tremendous talent (MJ, Rice, Gretzky again, not to mention some of the others you mentioned) and also because most of the stars of today either have off the field problems (like Kobe) or get injured and in general are just overhyped (Vick).

Paradise Lost

I'm with Aerozeppelin that I think it's because we have within the past 5-10 years come off
of a huge dynasty of great players, and for the time being, it's tough to be able to replace
the past stars of the 70s, 80s, and early 90s. It's almost like after the First Hall of Fame
inauguration in baseball, all these greats of baseball, like Babe Ruth, and Honus Wager, and Ty
Cobb have left the game and it would seem like it's impossible to find players of that
caliber, and indeed, most players from '35-'50, to me, seemed almost forgotten until a new
batch of great players from the 50s and 60s made their mark on the sport.

I think once strong memories of the old generation leave us, and this present generation
passes by, the next one will start to pop up its fair share of sports heroes.

byesman

I think that one problem with the lack of heroes is the instant knowledge we have about anybody and everybody. In the old days, it was never mentioned that players came to games hung over, had affairs, and were generally sometimes rotten people. The sportswriters rode, lived, ate, drank and slept with the teams they covered. They didn't report the negatives. Today, thanks to sites like badjocks, fark and even thi one, we know when a sports figure gets a DUI, is caught out on the town without the spouse, and are acting like a rotten person. But we rarely hear about, for example, Albert Pujoles (spelling?) who work with children that have Downs Syndrome, unless they need a puff piece on ESPN. Those people need to be highlighted, and the others relegated to the back pages of the sports section.

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forgive some sinner, and wink your eye at some homely girl.

H.L. Mencken

quicksteal

Guys like Curt Schilling, Pujols, Peyton Manning, and Michael Vick have both talent and character, and while they may not be "heroes" as others were, they still represent very good role models. The NBA has most certainly become a thuggish league, with some of its most famous players making rap albums, and others being criminals. Football hasn't succombed to this culture yet, but people like Ray Lewis and and Jamal Lewis (and does anyone remember Rae Carruth?) bring the NFL down a notch. Baseball would be quite clean except for the steroids rumors lately. I'd talk about the NHL, but it doesn't exist any more.

animal909

i guess maybe the biggest example of this would be the previous Olympic basket ball team vs the one with jordan, bird, pippen, etc.

lk_3000

terrell owens is my hero for his ray lewis celebration.

pan6467

I don't think sports has all bad players. I think there are some very great guys in sports that could be heroes. The problems are F/A produces greed, the press focuses on the bad guys and very very very rarely focuses or even mentions the good things some players do. The Advertisers go for the marquee names and NOT good players with great off the field lifestyles.

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I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

YellowBlaze654

I agree with pan. The reason why heroes of those are becoming more and more rare is because the media doesn't focus on them. They want to put the spotlight on the athletes that cause drama and make scenes because it makes better tv.

sailor

I wouldnt say it has completely lost all its heroes, although with the flying spectres of money and doping, it certainly has lost many.

Hell, look at what Lance Armstrong has done--thats effing incredible. Hero material if there ever was any.

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animal909

True, I forgot to mention lance armstrong but I guess that goes to show. Really they don't make themselves heroes but we as spectators and fans choose who is and who isn't. Unfortunetly, the media can also boaster the image of one player and cover that of another. Hell, SCANDAL sells right? oh well.

paddyjoe

There'll never be another Cal Ripkin Jr.

powerclown

Formula One sure has.
Mansell - gone.
Senna - dead.
Prost - gone.
Piquet - gone.
Alesi - gone.

This season was the worst season in 15 years easily.
1 guy won 13 out of 18 races.

MikeyChalupa

Where's Nolan Ryan when you need him?

HE was my all-time favorite athlete, my "sports hero". Immense talent, minimal flash, all the class in the world. I think I mentioned this in another thread, but do you remember the day Rickey Henderson broke Lou Brock's stolen base record? They stopped the game, Rickey pulled the base out of the field, held it above his head, and declared himself to be the greatest of all time.

That night, Ryan went out and threw his 7th no-hitter. After the game, he just walked off the field and tipped his cap to the crowd.

-Mikey

ancientk

This is only true if you don't like Michael Schumacher or Ferreri very much.

I happen to have loved the last ten years of the Schumacher era.

Lance Armstrong is a sports god. He is the epitome of everything that is good about sports in general assuming that he is clean which he clearly is.

drakers

For the most part money has ruined most chances that heroes will outnumber the idiotic and greedy. Heroes used to just play their certain sport at a high level every night and not care what anybody thinks. Now there is image, money, and fears of trade (because of money issues) loathing around all the time. The hero age is gone, but welcome in the greedy and egotistical age.

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CityOfAngels

The sports heroes are still there, it's just they're not necessarily the best players.

Andre Miller is my sports hero. No, he hasn't won any championships, but he not only has an amazing overall game, but shows fan appreciation like no one else. He's been known to stay in the arena until all autograph requests have been fulfilled. My friend went up to him and asked him for an autograph. Andre said, "Hey give me a sec. I have to go do my shoot-around." My friend wasn't expecting to get his autograph, but sure enough, Andre Miller walks right up to him after his shoot-around, taps him on the shoulder and says, "Well how 'bout that autograph?" I personally sent him 3 of his rookie cards in the mail, with a letter saying, "Please keep two of these as a gift, and if you will, could you sign one of them for me?" I get ALL THREE cards back from him, all signed.

As I said, they're there, you just have to find them. I've always found that the unsung heroes are usually the true heroes these days.

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heccubusiv

Should we be looking at sports figures at heros? Every athlete had its downfalls and should really not be treated as heros as a person. Their preformance on the field should be looked apon as great but to make them heros because they can throw a 60 yard touch down pass or shot a 23 foot jumper is bad.

There are a lot of other heros, teachers, fire fighters, the military people who spend their life helping and encouraging others. Not people who complaign they cannot feed their family unless they get a 2.4 million dollar pay raise. Most athletes make more money than people see in their lifetime and a good bit bitch and moan about how they need more money. Look at the NHL a big reason why they could not work it out is because they wanted a high salary and a reason why they did not play is because they had to take a lower salary, which would still be more than any teacher makes or fire fighter makes. When is the last time a teacher made 523,000 dollars a year.

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Fuck Ohio

maleficent

I had originally posted about this guy in Entertainment, because of the book just released and the movie rights being sold. But, while he's not an athelete, he's a coach, he's definitely a hero.
Bob Hurley, coach of St Anthony's High School in Jersey City. He's the coach of a Catholic High School in a pretty run down area of pretty rundown city. It's a place where kids going on to college are the exception rather than the rule. Not only does he have an impressive 843 - 96 record in his 33 years of coaching, to get to the hero portion of his record, all but one of his players (in 33 years) has gone on to college. 100 of those kids have gone on to play college ball, 5 of them(including his son) have gone on to the NBA.

What makes him a hero and someone to be admired, in an age where it's all about the money, he clearly could have gone on to a more lucractive career coaching at the college or even pro level. He opted to stay at St Anthony's because he could do a lot more good there. And he has...

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