SubscribeAthletes as role models, take 157
There’s been a lot of fuss about the fact that LeBron James walked off the court following the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Eastern Conference finals loss to the Orlando Magic. Sports pundits decried his bad sportsmanship. The good folks at Pardon the Interruption ruminated on it at length. This is something you learn as a kid, said co-host Michael Wilbon: be a gracious loser.
Having played sports all my life on a much lower level, I can understand how, after having lost a tough game, a physical game, you might not be in the best mood, but it doesn’t much effort to pass by and bump fists or even offer a half-hearted handshake with a mumbled “good game.”
Eliyahu Fink, who serves as the rabbi at the Pacific Jewish Center in Venice, Calif., wrote about James and other athletes as role models in this piece from his blog. This part caught my eye:
That is bad sportsmanship. No question about it.
Do I care?
Absolutely not. (emphasis original)
I don’t expect better from an athlete.
People will make all sorts of excuses for ill-tempered behavior (see above), but it boils down to something more basic: before James was an athlete, he was (and hopefully still) a person. That goes for every one of us. Before we became a hot-shot lawyer, a multi-millionaire entrepreneur, a truck driver, we were people. Hopefully we learned how to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Occupation and station shouldn’t matter.
The rabbi continues
…I don’t turn to LeBron for messages on Sportsmanship. Nor do I turn to any athlete or celebrity for anything other than waht makes them unique or special.
As a parent it is my job to provide good role models for my children. I may need to be that role model at times. At other times it will teachers, Rabbis, family members or other people who command respect for their area of specialty. Athletes are not role models. Allowing an athlete to be the role model for your child is a failure in your parenting.
Ultimately, I agree, but professionals — be they athletes or journalists — come with a certain set of expectations that they have learned their craft and know how to do it correctly (typos notwithstanding). In that regard they should be role models. Learning how to be a good sport should come with the territory of being a athlete, regardless of the level of expertise.
Thanks for checking out my blog.
And yes I agree with you as well. Athletes are people who should act professionally. That is on them. And let the media lambaste them for their unprofessional behavior.
When they act unprofessionally it is on me to remind myself, my sons and anyone that may turn to me for advice that LeBron or any other athlete is not a role model.
I think the media is off base when it says that LeBron has a responsibility to all the kids out there who look up to him. If you look up to an athlete you are going to be disappointed. I guarantee that.
Therefore be sure that you choose appropriate role models for yourself and your children. That is my point.
By the way – interesting blog, I will check it out again in the future!
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Thanks for the kind words, rabbi.