Who are the real honest athletes? Who can we turn to for a rolemodel that is not cheating?

Question

I am writing a story about athletes and the recent cheating scandles in sports like baseball, football and nascar, and I am curious as to who people think are or were the real honest athletes that people revered from any era of sports.

Answer 1

There are countless true/honest athletes.
Sidney Crosby is one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Crosby
Jamie Sale is another:
http://www.sale-pelletier.com/
There are more honest athletes than not, but scandals are publicized where honesty is not... which makes it seem like cheating dominates.

Answer 2

Th Crux of the Problem lies with the Brain of The Beholder;as in this particular case that you have pointed out; the Smaller Head have Some How Managed to Over Ride the Decision Made by the Bigger Head. For the first Ten to 20 years of Marriage, the Bigger Head (That's the one on top of your shoulder) Managed To make all the Decision. After 15-20 years of Hearing the Yakking here.. and yakking there by the wife, somehow the Brain Cell was overclock like a CPU and burn itself out. With the Bigger Brain out of the Picture and can't handle all the question and come out with a Better Decision, Ahemmmmm.. the Small Head Took Over. All the YAM here being smarty guys & gals, I suppose you do understand what the smaller head means! The Small Head being Deprived of Decision Making for so long is unable to come out with a Intelligent Decision. The Only thing that he is Exposed to is what ever that happens Under the Blanket. So, in this instance, you can't blame the Guys for wanting a Second Spring as he is not in control of his mind. Let's All Plead Insanity! James C

Answer 3

I guess I am not one who thinks that athletes should really be role models for anyone. Its old and cliched by now, but that really does begin in the home and go out from there.

The sad part is it is getting harder and harder to even attempt to find someone who would be a good role model. One of my favorite baseball players while growing up turned out to be someone who suffered from a major drinking problem (but eventually managed to get his life together and actually ended up counseling other players who had the same problem).

And it doesn't take much to go back in history of any sport and find players who were less then ideal off the field, but worshipped for what they did on the field. In a way I suppose thats the problem - you have players who, from the beginning, were worshipped and idolized for their physical abilities and as a result were able to get away with more because of that.

The sad part is when there is a player who seems to be able to hold up to the scrutiny that player is often questioned because of the fact that he is an athelte and therefore must be doing something wrong. (The latest name that comes to mind is Phillies slugger Ryan Howard. Here is a player capable of hitting many HRs and who apparently is clean of any use of artificial substances, but yet because of the steroid scandle and players who used steroids or might have used steroids, Howard has basically been proven guilty before he even got the chance to declare his innosense. Heck, probably before he iwas even put on trial for anything.)

As I get older I am more drawn towards the less then major league sports. I am fortunate to live in a town that is home to an AA Eastern League baseball team, an OHL Hockey team, and an Indoor Football League team. Its fascinating to me to find players in their early 30s still playing minor league baseball - especially at the AA Level. You know they will never see the inside of a major league park, but they are still there and playing for the love of the game. Or the young hockey players fighting for a chance to be noticed by an NHL or even College Scout. These games and these players are the ones truly pure, or as pure and honest as any athlete can be. They haven't been tainted by the major league world.

I guess this is more depressing then I intended it to be. The truth is I still love major league level sports regardless, but seeing players close up as I have been fortunate to do has really opened my eyes towards what is important in professional sports.

Answer 4

Cheating and doping scandals have grown large only recently. The main reason is because of the high stakes and huge amount of money being thrown in. Definitely the real honest athletes belonged to the 1960s andd earlier. Jesse Owens is one name I can think of in this category.

Answer 5

It is important to note that in the current era the cheaters/steriod users are thrown in our face because they are the ones who get the stories. A headcase like Terrell Owens or Randy Moss is constantly in the headlines for doing dumb things while a reciever of equal statistical caliber in Marvin Harrison get's no attention despite being a strong, ethically backed person.

Do not try to paint decades past as having better atheletes. Babe Ruth was a drunk who constantly cheated on his wife(s). Mickey Mantle was even worse. Many players of the past are not regarded as negatively as we view our players today not because they were better people but because they simply weren't exposed by the current media.

The guys who are good role models for the most part aren't thrown into the mainstream as much. Barry Bonds most like used steriods and has seen his career flourish in the past few years with the HR's that has become of it. Ken Griffey jr. clearly hasn't used steriods and has suffered sustaining injuries as you would naturally expect out of an aging player at a demanding position.

Edit: Virtually everyone in professional cycling are using performance enhances...Lance probably used it. If the performance enhancers aren't harmful to their bodies, is using them unethcial if everyone has access?

Answer 6

i'm really not old enough to remember the "old days" if you will, but go back to the best athletes of the early to mid-1900s, when there were no steroids/performance enhancers/etc. and the game was played the way it was meant to be played...examples would be babe ruth, hank aaron, jim brown, richard petty, etc.

EDIT: i've always believed that lance is on some performance enhancer, i know it's unsentimental and un-American but that's the way i feel

Answer 7

Okay, crosscountry runners, skiers and track and field
I say this with complete confidence.
Marathon runners have nothing to gain with performance inhancing drugs.

Answer 8

easily lance armstrong...the cancer survivor...truly authentic