I read a column by a sportswriter who described the moment his “hero worship” of athletes began to crack. He was ten years old and he really looked up to Mickey Mantle. Then his father said to him, “What do you think Mickey Mantle does when he’s not playing baseball?” and the boy said, “Well, he probably spends his time practicing and training.” His father laughed and said, “No, he goes into bars and picks up women.”
It is so sad to see young children obsessing over these men and setting them as role models when, in reality, they are anything but.