Role Model

In a 1993 Nike TV commercial, Charles Barkley told us, "I am not a role model. . . parents should be role models." For some absurd reason, people ripped on Barkley because of the ad. They thought Barkley was trying to excuse himself & other professional athletes from any personal responsibility. What I think he meant was that we don't know these athletes - they are real people that we are entertained by. While we can admire their athletic ability and want to play like them, we shouldn't look to them to teach us how to live just because they have a lot of money and are on TV.

Anybody with common sense knows the absurdity of choosing a role model just because someone is famous or entertains us - see Kurt Cobain, Dennis Rodman, Jose Canseco, etc. Now we have another chapter in the sad story of an athlete who could have used a role model of his own. ESPN reports that former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett was arrested early this morning after leading police on a chase. Officers used a stun gun, and then mace to finally apprehend Clarett, and a search of his SUV yielded 4 loaded guns - including a 9mm under the driver's seat and an assault rifle on the passenger seat - and a half-full bottle of vodka.

As you may know, this is not Clarett's first run-in with law enforcement, as explained in the article:

The 22-year-old Clarett is currently awaiting trial on two counts of aggravated robbery, four counts of robbery and one count of carrying a concealed weapon in a separate case. He appeared at a 4 p.m. ET hearing Wednesday that was scheduled previously in relation to the January robbery case. A motion was made to revoke Clarett's bond in the case. Instead, bond has been raised to $1.1 million. If Clarett can post it, he must stay in Franklin County (the county Columbus is in), provide an address and adhere to a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew. Authorities said he was identified by witnesses as the person who flashed a gun and robbed two people of a cell phone in an alley behind the Opium Lounge in Columbus in the early hours of Jan. 1.