Pistorius' actions prove athletes cannot always be admired

This column is also award-winning writer Frank Deford's weekly sports commentary on NPR. These have certainly been dispiriting times for those who admire

Frank Deford | Feb 20, 2013

Pistorius' actions prove athletes cannot always be admired /

Oscar Pistorius joins a long line of athletes who have not exemplified the character of an athlete. — Oscar Pistorius joins a long line of athletes who have not exemplified the character of an athlete :: ERIC FEFERBERG/Getty Images

This column is also award-winning writer Frank Deford's weekly sports commentary on NPR.

These have certainly been dispiriting times for those who admire athletes, who proclaim that sports builds character. The horrendous shooting by Oscar Pistorius is, of course, in a category mercifully unapproached since the O.J. Simpson case, but the whole-earth catalog of recent examples of athletic character-building is certainly noteworthy.

In the illegal drugs category we have, of course, Lance Armstrong and a whole roster from our national pastime, including two most valuable players: Alex Rodriguez, who's already been nabbed once; and Ryan Braun, who only escaped conviction through a dubious loophole. Throughout Europe, in hundreds of matches, "the beautiful game," soccer, turns out to have more corrupt players on the fix than do Illinois politics.

Our glorious intercollegiate football champions, Alabama, have given us three student-athletes who were caught roaming the campus, mugging real student-students. It was comforting to learn from Nick Saban, the Crimson Tide mentor, that such behavior was, quote, "unacceptable ... and not representative of our football program." That's telling it like it is, coach: we at Alabama draw a line in the sand at assault, battery and grand theft when it comes to our players.

Naughtiness is apparently more, uh, acceptable in the NBA. Thanks to a compilation by the Los Angeles Times, we learn that one Laker has just received his 12th suspension for grabbing [an opponent] around the neck and striking him in the jaw. The player, you will be interested to know, now goes by the name of Metta World Peace. It is also a matter of record that after his ninth suspension, the NBA, in its wisdom, awarded said Mr. World Peace the NBA's Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award.

What invariably fascinates me anew after incidents such as these is that observers rush to caution fans to be wary of worshipping athletes as heroes. But really, can there be any grown-ups left who do not understand that sports stars are only that: people playing games? Given how fast children grow up now and how difficult it is to conceal reality from them, is it even possible any longer that intelligent kids hold athletes up to be the same heroes in their lives that they are in their games?

But it's still the case that when other performers -- actors or musicians -- are caught misbehaving, nobody laments that children's dreams are being destroyed. Despite all the continuing evidence that a great many young males who play sports -- like young males in every society -- are inclined toward unacceptable behavior, we maintain the wishful thinking that athletes should be admired and emulated. We do love sport so; we do so want to believe the best for it.

Please, please, we want to say: tell us that Oscar Pistorius is not an athlete.

Published Feb 20, 2013

FRANK DEFORD

Frank Deford is among the most versatile of American writers. His work has appeared in virtually every medium, including print, where he has written eloquently for Sports Illustrated since 1962. Deford is currently the magazine's Senior Contributing Writer and contributes a weekly column to SI.com. Deford can be heard as a commentator each week on Morning Edition. On television he is a regular correspondent on the HBO show Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel. He is the author of 15 books, and his latest,The Enitled, a novel about celebrity, sex and baseball, was published in 2007 to exceptional reviews. He and Red Smith are the only writers with multiple features in The Best American Sports Writing of the Century. Editor David Halberstam selected Deford's 1981 Sports Illustrated profile on Bobby Knight (The Rabbit Hunter) and his 1985 SI profile of boxer Billy Conn (The Boxer and the Blonde) for that prestigious anthology. For Deford the comparison is meaningful. "Red Smith was the finest columnist, and I mean not just sports columnist," Deford told Powell's Books in 2007. "I've always said that Red is like Vermeer, with those tiny, priceless pieces. Five hundred words, perfectly chosen, crafted. Best literary columnist, in any newspaper, that I've ever seen." Deford was elected to the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame. Six times at Sports Illustrated Deford was voted by his peers as U.S. Sportswriter of The Year. The American Journalism Review has likewise cited him as the nation's finest sportswriter, and twice he was voted Magazine Writer of The Year by the Washington Journalism Review. Deford has also been presented with the National Magazine Award for profiles; a Christopher Award; and journalism honor awards from the University of Missouri and Northeastern University; and he has received many honorary degrees. The Sporting News has described Deford as "the most influential sports voice among members of the print media," and the magazine GQ has called him, simply, "The world's greatest sportswriter." In broadcast, Deford has won a Cable Ace award, an Emmy and a George Foster Peabody Award for his television work. In 2005 ESPN presented a television biography of Deford's life and work, You Write Better Than You Play. Deford has spoken at well over a hundred colleges, as well as at forums, conventions and on cruise ships around the world. He served as the editor-in-chief of The National Sports Daily in its brief but celebrated existence. Deford also wrote Sports Illustrated's first Point After column, in 1986. Two of Deford's books, the novel, Everybody's All-American, and Alex: The Life Of A Child, his memoir about his daughter who died of cystic fibrosis, have been made into movies. Two of his original screenplays have also been filmed. For 16 years Deford served as national chairman of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and he remains chairman emeritus. He resides in Westport, CT, with his wife, Carol. They have two grown children – a son, Christian, and a daughter, Scarlet. A native of Baltimore, Deford is a graduate of Princeton University, where he has taught American Studies.