The inescapable news of the weekend was the melee at the end of the Pistons-Pacers game at Auburn Hills, Michigan on Friday night. For those of you who were just rescued from a desert island, with under a minute to go in the game, Ron Artest of the Pacers committed a hard foul on Ben Wallace of the Pistons. Wallace took exception and shoved Artest and both benches decided it was time to vent some frustration.
As the referees attempted to calm things down, the fans decided to get in the act and one of them hit Artest with a full cup of some liquid refreshment. Artest proceeded to unleash his rage in the stands and several players followed suit and the fans proceeded to give as much as they got. The arena security detail was ill prepared for such happenings and at least one chair was thrown and an elderly person had to receive medical attention.
The most enduring image of the night, though, was the sight of two young children clutching each other for dear life with tears in their eyes. I don’t know if these were children of spectators, children of players or what role the adults with them had played in this scene. It really doesn’t matter. I couldn’t get past their faces.
It took me back roughly ten years ago when outspoken NBA star, Charles Barkley, made the infamous statement, “I’m not a role model.” I recall that statement being debated and discussed without a definitive answer given. I don’t think we can avoid the obvious answer anymore. We are ALL role models.
Someone is watching us as we live day to day. Someone looks up to us. Professional and college athletes exist because people watch them. Sure, somewhere in our history, competition existed for the sake of competition; but now, competition exists for the show and the money such a show generates. Every kid in the backyard throwing a football envisions himself as Peyton Manning or Bret Favre. Every kid working on a jump shot or a lay up sees himself as Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant. Unfortunately, when one of these folks screws up in their personal life, these same kids see that as well.
We might not be on television, but our kids are watching us as well. If we berate an official or coach at a Little League game, our kids see it. If we cut someone off on the Interstate and then give them the finger, our kids see it. If we treat a spouse with disrespect, our kids see it.
Those kids went to Auburn Hills, Friday night, to see their heroes on the court and to spend time with their everyday heroes as well. What they saw was not heroic. It was not inspiring. However,it was instructive. This is how adults behave. Is that what we want kids to see? We are all role models. We can never allow ourselves to forget that.
5 comments:
Unfortunately, many have forgotten this important lesson.
In the sporting world, professional athletes are paid tremendous amounts of money, and hyped by the media so much, they believe they are beyond reproach.
Fans believe that since they are paying for the salaries of the athletes, they have free reign to act as obnoxiously as they want. A few beers helps strengthen that argument.
And kids--not to mention everyone else--see all of that, and begin to justify that behavior, regardless.
We've put less emphasis on the Golden Rule--and then wonder why our children grow up so unruly.
Let's hope that at the least, this incident will be a well-taught, and well-learned lesson for all.
Great commentary, as usual, Lone.
Those kids went to Auburn Hills, Friday night, to see their heroes on the court and to spend time with their everyday heroes as well. What they saw was not heroic. It was not inspiring. However,it was instructive. This is how adults behave.
Hey, Steve. Greetings from the land of Tombstone. Rain day today, so I'm off early. Talk radio is jammed with discussion about the brawl, and the "culture" as a whole.
About 15 years ago, before the "internet", I used to write letters to the editor, discussing the moral cesspool of our popular culture, and it generated hate mail and hate phone calls to my house. Anytime you mention asking people to clean up their irresponsible behaviors, or expecting personal responsibility, you get the visceral reaction that you are "jamming" your values down their throat.
We see where THEIR values lead.
It's as simple as this: Basketball is a ghetto thug sport. The amount of money they are paid has nothing to do with it. Europeanize the sport and this won't be an issue.
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The Ron Artest melee will forever be a black eye (no pun intended) for the NBA. However, seeing how the National Hockey League was on strike, SOME professional sports had to pick up the "gratuitous violence" banner. Leave it to the National BasketBRAWL Association to do just that.
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