By: Anthony Garcia

January 30, 2013

“How much of a warrior is Lance Armstrong folks?”

“What a heroic performance by Barry Bonds!”

“These Saints are truly an inspiration for New Orleans and the nation.”

Phrases like these are tossed around daily when people describe professional athletes, placing them on a figurative pedestal above all others in society.

Statues and mini-monuments are enacted to commemorate and idolize these athletes for years and years.

They are portrayed as heroes and role models for our children, flag-bearers for everything that our country represents.

And yet, when they fall from grace, whether they are caught cheating the respective games they dominate, when they commit acts that everyday people would never even dream of and even when they make mistakes everyday folks make, the media and society are stunned and are in disbelief and blame athletes for letting down their fans around the country.

“How could you dope your way to 7 cycling championships Lance?”

“How could you even accept your 6 MVPs and marvel over your record-breaking homerun numbers when you knowingly cheated Barry?”

“You were my hero Sammy.”

This is the general mindset and frame-of-mind our society takes after building up images of athletes so high, and watching them tumble to the ground like a game of Jenga.

Take the recent results of the Baseball Hall of Fame for example.

Not one member of the so-called “steroid era” was voted in this year due to the suspicion of steroid and PED use during their careers.

Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa, roundly believed to have taken performance enhancers during their careers, especially during their epic 1998 homerun chase, galvanized audiences and the media around the country with their performances.

Sosa and McGuire were labeled as heroes to the game of baseball, ambassadors of the highest regard and inspirational figures to young, aspiring ball-players.

While Sosa and McGuire ended the season with over 60 homeruns each, how did this feat equate to them overshadowing local inspirations like firefighters, policemen and teachers?

The public demand and desire to apply sports to all facets of life is what drives the rise and fall of the modern day athletic idol.

We shouldn’t be blaming professional athletes for wanting to make as much money as possible or set world records; we should be blaming ourselves for turning figures like Sammy Sosa into cult-like heroes and role models for little eight-year-olds Timmy and Jane.

Hitting a game-winning grand slam or throwing a 60-yard touchdown pass does not or should not substitute a child holding family, friends and educators as legitimate role models.

We need to refocus our attention to the home, to family and friends who constantly and consistently shape the minds of young people on a much more intimate and personal basis than Lance Armstrong or Roger Clemens ever did.

Maybe then our image of sports figures as heroes will disappear faster than Manti Teo’s online girlfriend.