Athletes Are Role Models…

Ick — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 03:52:07 +0000

Some years ago Charles Barkley made the statement “I am not a role model“. Not only talking about himself, but athletes in general. I, like most people, beg to differ on that statement. Athletes have always, and will continue to be looked up to, and put on a pedestal if you will. For every athlete that signs a multimillion dollar deal, there is a little kid with their poster on his wall, their jersey on his back, and their shoes on his feet. At the height of Micheal Jordan’s career, everyone wanted to “Be Like Mike”. Kids went out and bought

his Air Jordan’s (brand of Nike Shoes), they ran out and bought his jersey, and whatever they could buy to dress like Mike. Kids in the neighborhood that were tall enough to touch the rim, tried to dunk like Mike. Complete with hanging their tongues out of their mouth. Some years later these same kids would learn that their childhood hero had a massive gambling problem. So how Charles Barkley can make the statement, athletes are not role models is beyond me.

It’s a natural thing for kids to look up to athletes, movie stars, and musicians. Kids used to look up to doctors, lawyers, teachers, firemen, and police officers. Those days are long gone I’m afraid. Sure there are still a small percentage of kids that aspire to be a fireman, police officer, or doctor but nowadays with the millions of dollars being paid to athletes, being a pro (insert chosen sport here) is the way to go. For all the flash, bling, glam, girls, and multimillion dollar contracts there are thousands of kids that don’t make it big.

Now you do have some athletes that came from extremely poor upbringings, and the only way out was to use their god given talent and excel in sports. Then when you hand the kid a signing bonus check on draft day for $10 Million Dollars you get a Pacman Jones. Or you overspend on a player and sign him to a $130 Million dollar deal and you get a Michael Vick. On the other hand you get players that came from the same extremely poor upbringings, you sign them to a big contract, give them a bunch of money and they continue to make the right decisions because they have a great inner circle of people that want to see them succeed. Sadly those type of stories are few and far between in this day and age of the business known as professional sports.

Now all of this brings me to my latest issue with athletes and their role model status. Dallas Maverick Small Forward Josh Howard finds himself in the news yet again for basically, either being really stupid, or just being himself. Either way his actions, and his comments have left a bad taste in most peoples mouths. Josh Howard has made headlines for throwing himself a Birthday Party, during the Mav’s playoff series with the Hornets last season. This is after Avery Johnson asked the team not to go out and party. He wanted his team to stay focused on the series. Next Howard thought it would be a great idea to let the world know he enjoys smoking pot. Now smoking pot nowadays is really not that big a deal, there are worse drugs he could have chosen, but after you sign a $10 Million dollar a year contract, probably not the smartest thing to openly admit you smoke pot. Especially when you run a summer youth basketball camp. Plus factor in the fact that your performance on the court left something to be desired for most of last season.

Then Howard is arrested for street racing. Apparently Howard felt it necessary to race a Volkswagen while in North Carolina. Howard was clocked at 94 in a 55. He would be released the same night after signing a promissory note to appear in court in September. Once again this screams just plain stupid. Maybe he was trying to be like LeBron James.. only problem is James was not arrested for speeding, only ticketed. Now we move on to the latest bout with stupidity, and this is really what fans are having the most problem with.

This video was shot at a charity flag football game hosted by Allan Iverson. Needless to say Josh Howard once again does not get it. If you don’t support the National Anthem keep that to yourself! Especially being a high profile athlete. Why Mark Cuban continues to support this knuckle head is beyond me. I was listening to my local sports talk station, as I do everyday and I heard one of the radio hosts make the comment “If he was playing well on the court, I wouldn’t give a damn what he did off the court”. Well there is yet another problem with sports today. We the fans are not supposed to care what our athletes do, as long as they are playing well? WTF is that?? Once again people need to wake up and realize athletes are role models for our kids! Regardless if we as parents want them to be, or if the athlete wants that responsibility, they are! Right now there is some thug somewhere watching this video and saying “Look at Josh, he is keeping it real”! Or better yet, there is some kid out there with a real chance to make it listening to his coaches, and family telling him do the right thing, watch who you run with, don’t get in trouble.. and he sees Josh Howard out there street racing, smoking pot, and now bashing the National Anthem. This kid probably thinks.. Hell Howard made it, and he is still a knuckle head, coach and my family don’t know what the hell they are talking about!

As soon as that thought enters this kids mind, they have already started heading down the path that Pacman, Vick, and many more athletes have journeyed down before. For some athletes, they never recover from constant trouble with the law, and the inability to control what comes out of their mouth. Freedom of speech is a constitutional right in this country, it also comes with consequences and responsibilities. Yes Josh, you can say whatever you want, hell you can continue to look like a common street thug, that’s your right. Don’t for one second think that your actions, and what you say doesn’t come with a price tag. In closing, this is what all the fans hard earned AMERICAN dollars have done for Josh Howard.

Say It Aint So???

Ick — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:53:41 +0000

Rumors are flying around the Metroplex that the Mavericks are in trade talks with the Kings for none other then Ron Artest. Just so were all on the same page, Ron Artest is not known for his abilities on the court… this is what he is better known for. Keep your eye on number 31..

Ron Artest was suspended for the rest of the season for his part in the brawl. These are the detail of trade talks right now. The Mavs have offered up Jerry Stackhouse, and Brandon Bass for Artest. The Kings are only interested in a trade that would involve Josh Howard. Let see.. trade our resident stoner, for a loose canon with a major attitude problem. I think if it was me, I’d stay with the stoner. At worst Josh Howard will get the munchies, and spare us all to death on the court. I don’t think we would have to worry about him beating the hell out of a fan, or getting into trouble off the court.

At this moment, these are merely rumors. More to come as things develop.

Ick's Corner » Josh Howard

Athletes Are Role Models…

Say It Aint So???