Should Athletes be Role Models?

"Ray, people will come Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won't mind if you look around, you'll say. It's only $20 per person. They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come "


OK, anyone who doesn't know what that movie comes from has missed out on one of the greatest movies ever! It's from the character Terrance Mann, played by James Earl Jones in the movie "Field of Dreams."

This movie usually is amongst the top of any "greatest sports films" list, but I really think that labelling it a "sports" movie sells it short. It tells an amazing, imaginative story of redemption and reconciliation told by the means of baseball. There may be more popular sports right now, but none are a part of American Culture as much as baseball. That's why things like the Steroid scandal and the Lockout reverberate so greatly with people.

Baseball has become ingrained in American lives in so many ways. I understand players who want to succeed, no matter the cost, but the damage that they do isn't just to their own bodies, or the game - it is to America's soul.

It is easy to dismiss what some ballplayers do by saying that "athletes should not be role models," but I don't buy that. Athletes, given that grand of a stage and the ability to inspire others should strive to become role models. Yes, it is their paycheck and their livelihood, but it's our game, dammit. We expect better of so many of you.

Field of Dreams had one character, Archibald "Moonlight" Graham who was a major league player for half an inning, but never got to bat. He went on to become a doctor and touched many people's lives. Part of him still wished that he could have had one at-bat. In this movie he got one, and appropriately enough it was a Sacrifice pop-up. People who have seen the movie know why that's important. Those who haven't...well, I'm not going to tell you. You have to watch it!

That's our game you're playing, Gentlemen. Please take better care of it.