I've been a sports nut since I was little, and while I have always had favorite players, I never turned them into more than that.
I wanted to hit like Chipper Jones, so I patterned my batting stance after him.
When it didn't work out for me, the message was loud and clear: You can't become your favorite athlete, so don't aspire to be him.
So I've never understood the phenomenon of using athletes as role models. Sure, I always wanted to be number 10 in honor of Jones, but that was where it stopped. I wanted to be a good baseball player like him, not tie my happiness to his off-the-field actions.
In the past few weeks, we've seen three "role models" come crashing down to earth. Swimmer Michael Phelps had angry fans outside his apartment and lost an endorsement after a picture ran in a British tabloid that showed him using a bong.
Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade - who won a "Father of the Year" award in 2007, an honor shared by Hulk Hogan and John Edwards - is in the middle of a nasty divorce, and allegations abound that he's an absent father and sexaholic.
And this week, word broke that New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003.
Now, it's depressing enough that almost all the sports news right now is negative, but the thing that bothers me the most is hearing how these guys have let down all the people who look up to them.
Why do people build athletes up into role models, hold them to a moral standard that is probably out of reach, and then act shocked when they fail to meet expectations?
Phelps is a 23-year-old with millions in the bank and a DUI arrest from when he was 19. But because he swims fast and has a goofy smile, people look up to him.
Same with A-Rod. He hits a baseball well, but why do people put a stake in his morality? He was caught running around on his wife, and now we hear that he cheated in sports, too.
And I don't buy his apology, either. He went into a choreographed interview with ESPN's Peter Gammons, who he knew wouldn't bury him with tough questions, and then he lied.
Rodriguez said he was under pressure and he experimented with some supplements, and he implied that he got them at GNC.
Only problem: The things he reportedly tested positive for, testosterone and Primobolan, can't be bought at GNC. Those come from people who specialize in dealing steroids.
So A-Rod is a cheater and a liar, and Phelps is prone to lapses in judgment. Honestly, who hasn't fit into those categories from time to time?
It's only a big deal because, for some reason, we expect more from them.
This is the worst time to be a role model. There are entire Web sites set up for the sole purpose of showing famous athletes and celebrities getting in trouble. There are eyes everywhere.
Athletes in the past didn't have to deal with this level of scrutiny, but that will never be the case again, meaning we should be far more hesitant before we name a fast, strong or big dude an exemplary human being for all to emulate.
Luckily, there's an easy way for us to stop this trend. When you have children, be a role model for them. Don't let them use athletes.
Except for Tebow, of course.
