Thoughts on Michael Phelps and A-Rod

The recent photographs of Michael Phelps holding a bong—a marijuana pipe—has created a lot of buzz, both on TV and over the internet. And now Alex Rodriguez’s admission that he used performance-enhancing substances for thee years in the early part of this decade has the sports world buzzing yet again.

But it’s not just sportscasters and sports blogs—regular news shows, entertainment programs, even politicians have been weighing in on what this means to the American society: “How will this affect our children?” “How will this affect endorsements?” “What kind of role model are they?” On the other hand, many people are asking, “Why should we care? They are just athletes. What he does in his spare time is nobody’s business but his own and probably no different than what anyone else his age is doing.” “Everyone else was doing it and it wasn’t against the rules at the time.” I believe at the heart of the matter is this simple question, “Is it wrong to look at athletes as role models?” My response is, to put it bluntly, it is not.

America has long prided itself on being the land of opportunity—where everyone has a fair chance at their piece of the American Dream. From the days of Thomas Jefferson (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness), through Horace Greeley (Go West, young man—that is where you will find your fortune), and right up to Emma Lazarus (your huddled masses yearning to breathe free), America has been about making it to the top. Once someone has made it there, we celebrate their accomplishments and hold them up as an example as to what each of us can not only aspire to but, through hard work and dedication, what each of us can achieve. So if our society is based on individual success, then certainly we cannot be wrong in looking at those who have become successful as role models.

So the question becomes, then…what defines success? Money? Power? Instant recognition? One’s face on a Wheaties box? For better or for worse (I will let you make that call), the answer to all of the above is “yes.” In a society that is based on fame and fortune, in a society where one’s achievements bring certain privileges—owning a large home in an exclusive community; having access to people and places most other can only dream about; being the object of everyone’s attention—being successful does make one a role model, whether one wishes to be or not. And as been quoted many times, most recently in Spider-Man, “With great power comes great responsibility.”

In America, success brings power: the power to draw attention to oneself wherever one goes; the power to fill a theater, a stadium, a concert hall, a restaurant; the power to motivate people to buy something, to vote for someone or donate money to a cause. Among the people who are among the most visible are sports stars. Now whether we place too much emphasis on sports in our society is a whole other matter for discussion; the fact is that it does play a tremendous role (who didn’t know the Super Bowl was Sunday before last?). And top athletes are among the most celebrated in society. So is Michael Phelps taking a bong hit a big deal? Does the fact that A-Rod used PEDs really matter? Right here, right now, in the America of 2009—you bet it is.