Stars+on+the+Field

Professional athletes certainly have high pressure jobs. Granted, they are paid highly for what they do, but it is stressful, nonetheless. They must work tirelessly to keep their bodies in peak condition, they constantly have new talent itching to steal their job, and they are one injury away from an early retirement. If that was not stressful enough, athletes must also find ways to win with some regularity to ensure that their fan base does not turn on them and their coaches. As soon as the losses begin tallying up, those that cheered them with all their might suddenly become very hostile. Athletes have dealt with these issues for years, but today’s professionals have it even worse. Factors like social networking sites and the media change them. There is no telling whether they will choose the right path or the path that leads astray.

Merriam Webster says that an athlete is “a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina”. The same source refers to skill as “a : the ability to use one’s knowledge effectively and readily in execution or performance” or b : “dexterity or coordination especially in the execution of learned physical tasks”. Basically, an athlete would be one who uses what has been physically and intellectually learned to do the best they could do at any given time. But this is what they do on the field or court. What about when they are off of it? The archetype of an athlete can be judged many different ways, both positively and negatively.

Many sports writers emphasize that athletes should not be role models. Spoiled-athlete syndrome begins early in sports socialization. From the time athletes could be picked out of a lineup because of their exceptional athletic ability, they have been pampered and catered to by coaches, classmates, teammates, family members and partners. As they get older, this becomes a pattern. Because they are spoiled, they feel they are not accountable for their behaviors off the field. They are so used to people looking the other way. One example is the case where pro basketball player, Kobe Bryant, was accused of rape. The idea that people who make millions of dollars to play a game should be idolized by our youth today is a travesty, as some view it. What are kids supposed to think when they see stories regarding steroid use among baseball’s greatest sluggers, including Bonds, McGwire, and Sosa? Is that the type of message that people should be sending. That one must do whatever is necessary to succeed, even if it means cheating, lying and hurting oneself in the process. More and more, high school athletes are taking the lead from professional athletes who are at the pinnacle of their respective sports, and more and more it is leading to disaster. Steroid use is at an all-time high among high school seniors, a direct correlation to the high statistics by superstar sluggers who cheated the game. Many novels, movies, sitcoms, and real-life athletes prove these facts: Mick’s use of steroids in Gym Candy, Max’s jerky attitude towards everyone in The Hard Times of RJ Berger, Juwanna’s bad attitude in the movie Juwanna Mann, and, of course, the famous Kobe Bryant rape accusation. Despite this, the pro-athlete world has shown that they can make a positive impact on the world.

==== Americans’ favorite pass time is enjoying professional sports. The pro athletes that excel in professional sports are, to a large extent, viewed as heroic figures by sport enthusiast and in the mass media. With the elevated status given to pro athletes comes an unwritten expectation that they will in turn be societal role models. These athletes must live up to this role. As the novel Nights of the Hill Country and the poem “What I Am” say, athletes are not thieves and they have the potential to make the right decisions. In the novel Knights of the Hill Contry, Hamptom stars as the lineback of his high school football team. On the field, he's so in control you'd think he was able to stop time. But his life off the field is a different story. His father walked out on him and his mom years ago, and now his mom has a new boyfriend every week. He's drawn to a smart, quirky girl at school--the type a star athlete just isn't supposed to associate with. And meanwhile, his best friend and teammate Blaine--the true friend who first introduced Hampton to football back when he had nothing else--is becoming uncomfortably competitive, and he's demanding Hampton's loyalty even as Hampton thinks he's going too far. Hampton makes right choices in order to succeed. Right decisions lead to doors of success. One program that leads to success runs merely by professional athletes has helped thousands of people around the world. With the name of NBA Cares, many talented basketball players take time out of their lives to improve the lives of children all across the globe. ====

Although many athletes believe it is unfair to hold them to a higher standard of behavior, a survey conducted by the American Bible Society showed that athletes were considered important role models to 18.3% of the teens who participated in the survey. Whether an athlete accepts it or not, he or she is definitely seen as a role model to some children. Whether they are a constructive or destructive one is up to them.

= Citations =  social-media-affects-athletics-preview>. > .
 * "'How Social Media Affects Athletics' Preview." //WLFI TV //. Web. 18 May 2012. .
 * "The Kobe Bryant Case." //About.com Crime / Punishment//. Web. 18 May 2012. .
 * "Steroid Statistics - Rising Use of Steroids." //Steroid Statistics - Rising Use of Steroids//. Web. 18 May 2012.
 * Tharp, Tim. //Knights of the Hill Country//. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Print.
 * "Moore Hosts Reading Timeout." //NBA Caravan//. Web. 18 May 2012. .
 * "What I Am by Drayton Berg." //What I Am by Drayton Berg//. Web. 18 May 2012. .
 * //Juwanna Mann//. Dir. Jesse Vaughan. 2002.