We Could Be Heroes

I blame Nike.




Their advertising work is awesome, but they have a keen ability to elevate athletes to the status of inspirational hero in a matter of weeks. That's an attractive and lucrative proposition for any athlete, but sometimes a confusing one for consumers. Nike wants you to love and admire these people for their grit, their determination, their persistance, their will power and their strength. And Nike wants you to try to emulate them, be inspired, improve your own life and push yourself beyond your limits. And use their shoes while doing so. That is the Nike way. What's so bad about that? Nothing, these are all great things. But then the Nike athlete is found out, like the wizard of Oz, to be just another human being. Once revered as an inspiration for millions, they turn out to be more flawed than us meager earthlings. Because the pedestal was so high, the disappointment is so great. At the same time, I've seen so many documentaries and even news segments over the last year that are just teeming with "real life" heroes. People I can't even believe exist because they're just so unsung. People who legitimately change lives for the better. Personally, I'd love to hear more about them. Give me an ad with Bob Hurley who year after year has been coaching the best highschool basketball team in the country in Jersey City on meager funds. Or Bill Courtney, who coached football to inner city kids in Memphis for six years: Anybody can be a champ. It takes a man to stand up when this thing hits you in the mouth, cause it hurts. That does a lot more for me than I am the bullet in the chamber.

Three makes a pattern right? Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, Oscar Pistorius* (four if you count Michael Vick, but I don't count him for other reasons). Each one probably relieved that the other has taken the relay baton of sociopathic behavior. And Usain Bolt probably dopes, too. There is big money to be made with these guys, I understand that, but what annoys me in the end is that everywhere you turn, you get a new spin on some "hero" as if that even really existed -- Tiger Woods is a black golfer! Lance Armstrong had cancer! Oscar Pistorius has no legs! -- propped up in your face with false earnestness. Thank you, but this isn't my first day of kindergarden.

All I've managed to confirm with the downfall of these three athletes is that if it's too good to be true, then it sure ain't true. The more amazing the story, the harder the fall. Interestingly though, the famous and powerful are still the ones who get all the credit and glory from us, even after we witness a succession of them fall like dominoes. So why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we constantly reward and heroize the wrong people? Is it because the wrong people are the ones who fight and kick and manipulate until they make it to the top while others, perhaps more admirable, but more "normal" people just get sick and tired of the BS and call a spade a spade? The overwhelming desire for fame, fortune and power seems to have a direct correlation with having a fucked up personality. Why do we find ourselves encouraging, and as a result getting steam rolled, by these people? We're so desperate for larger than life "heroes" who will make us feel something that we will first fabricate them, then shield them until we can shield them no more, then shoot them down (no pun intended). And while by now we should be schooled in the art of deception and human behavior (has House of Cards taught us nothing?), we still can't help ourselves but be drawn to the shining bright light of Crazy.

Well I'm here to tell you, that at the rate we're going, we could all be heroes. Just for one day. No, actually, David Bowie said that. I mean, we gave those guys years.

*Note: I have no idea what will come of the Pistorius trial, but let's just say, he killed someone brutally. That, we cannot dispute.