Aren't sportspeople supposed to be examples to our kids?

[Tazio]

who is the other footballer? :?

Well I watched Frank Lampard last night so he is one.

Between media opportunities I presume Beckham still plays on occasion.

 

[Neil]

who is the other footballer? :?

Well one other thing to consider - not that I'm buying your tenuous appeal to authority... ;-)

On that list, there's 3 that look to be famous just for being famous. With that in mind, is it any great suprise that kids growing up (perhaps predominantly male) see many footballers as role models?

 

[clockworkgazz]

well in the arabs

Schadenfreude is no way to enjoy sport

I'm getting nervous, you're only 13 points behind us now :roll:

agree and the dirty dundonians have our spot in europe baa :evil:

 

[clockworkgazz]

Thinking about this again I agree that footie stars are role models as far as inspiring boys and girls to want to become better at football but thats as far as it goes- I would change the term to hero or some other variation on that theme which does not imply positive qualities of character and morality- for those I would always look to a man/woman of the cloth









Not!

 

[lumos2000]

A good example like Tony Hawk > http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/skating ... kBln1vTTGO ?

These people are paid to play football (or whatever) so in a way their personal life should be secondary to their ability on the pitch (or wherever). That said people like Terry are in the public eye and there are certain expectations - you would think that for £120k a week you could act with decency or at least not get caught.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -wife.html

stop buying news papers. they will say anything to get you to buy them

 

[Stick Legs]

During the 'comfortable' period of the Roman Empire (by which stage it was already sowing the seeds for it's downfall) the Gladiator held a similar position in society to the professional sports person.

They used the arena to bring themselves up from poverty or worse (prisoner of war or slave) to become a Roman citizen. The famous ones were popular with the crowd (and no doubt their antics were mimicked by childern in their games). Wealthy Roman women were reputed to have used them as 'recreation' and it is quite probable that had there been a mass media they would have become as well known as Becks and co.

It is an interesting comparison as even after they had attained fame and fortune and the ulitmate goal of citizenship some continued to fight in the arena and risk death, why? Because the pressure of their celebrity menat that their popularity was based on an image, and their continued financial patronage also depended in many cases on wealthy benefactors.

Why does this matter to this post?

The sport person today has less risk and greater remuneration than the Gladiator, but ironically appears to have the same conflicts of interest and vices. 2000 years is not that long!

 

[Neil]

Thinking about this again I agree that footie stars are role models as far as inspiring boys and girls to want to become better at football but thats as far as it goes-

I think you've committed yourself to a line of thought, here, on this one example, and can't see past it. Perhaps the proposition or consequences of it, offend your principles, but all the same, I think your inferences are ideallistic rather than realistic.

Why would footballers being role models inspire any less aspirations than, say their wives and girlfriends? 'cos plenty of females see them as role models.

As I mentioned, before, for some, Katie Price / Jordan is a role model, for some Jade Goody was.

Hell, the list you posted, previously, of people that some teachers had decided by committee were role models - some of them have no tangible skills or careers - some are merely famous for being famous - whether it's because they've inherited fame, or found 15 minutes of it through reality TV - all the same, there's many in society that see people like that as role models.

So the sugggestion that people see footballers as purely inspiration for being better at football, is clearly flawed. Some may have that perspective - but no way do all - you've only got to look at the other factors and other people who people see as role models to see that for many, the appeal is lifestyle, attitude, fame, wealth, fashion... etc

Don't let intellectual investment in a certain initial standpoint, make your contention look entirely illogical and bogus - because your take on where footballers fit in, above, does. You've only got to listen to young people, read other fora, look at tabloid press, look at other media - the celeb part of all that, to see that role models are hardly so for objective, skill or talent criteria alone.

Some athletes may well fall into that category - but make no mistake, that's not true for all the aspirations that people have about people like, say, pro footballers. You've only got to see how things like footballers hairstyles influence those in kids, to see, it's not just what they do on the pitch that matters.

 

[silverclaws]

However, was it not in the last government the then prime minister encouraged the act ?

I just don't get why you're attributing it to a government notion?

People didn't need telling or encouraging by government to idolise sporting (or other, for that matter) heroes - it's been going on practically, for millenia.

Celebrity culture may be (and probably is) a different thing, but then again, it's kinda hard to ascribe that to government influence, either - at least not directly.

Maybe I am incorrect, but I seem to remember Tony Blair saying that young people should idolise famous sports people, this was around about the time it came out in the press that Tony Blair always idolised Mick Jagger

 

[Neil]

However, was it not in the last government the then prime minister encouraged the act ?

I just don't get why you're attributing it to a government notion?

People didn't need telling or encouraging by government to idolise sporting (or other, for that matter) heroes - it's been going on practically, for millenia.

Celebrity culture may be (and probably is) a different thing, but then again, it's kinda hard to ascribe that to government influence, either - at least not directly.

Maybe I am incorrect, but I seem to remember Tony Blair saying that young people should idolise famous sports people, this was around about the time it came out in the press that Tony Blair always idolised Mick Jagger

Truth be told, I can't remember every single platitude that came out of Blair's mouth, but you'd have to be monumentally naive to believe that the concept of young people idolising famous people - be they from sports, or other endeavours - only had any real take-up after he said it.

It's been going on for millenia, so regardless of what you'd like to pin on one politician - that's just either asinine, or hint of agenda.

 

[silverclaws]

And truth be told, I only tend to remember the comments that irritated me, as I knew full well the idolising of sports personalities had been going on long before he tried to make a political gesture out of it, for it came across as a new labour idea.

But as a sprog I was not competitive, so I didn't idolise anyone, never knew any sports persons or musicians names, still don't, I am just not interested. Now if I hear of somene achieving something momentous on the news, I wish them well in their success, but I never remember their names.