Who's your daddy?
Not Tiger Woods, unless he is. And then, fine.
But he's not if you're a grown man who watches golf from your living room.
In Webster's Dictionary (I have 4th edition, but I'll assume it's about the same) the definition of hero goes like this:
1, A person (usually a man, the book states) admired for courage, fortitude, nobility, etc..
By this definition, Tiger has fit the bill to a large extent. It takes tremendous fortitude to pursue excellence from very early childhood. It is noble to want to make your father, who is your greatest teacher and champion, proud. And I do believe it takes courage to be an outstanding athlete. You have to sacrifice a great deal of yourself and not wallow in failure. Not everyone would be cut out for the kind of path one has to follow to be an exceptional athlete, especially his path.
The second definition is one that applies to Tiger Woods as well:
2, The principal male character in a story, play or poem.
The public wrote the story they wanted to hear. They worshiped him for his athletic capabilities. And now, strangely, they are taking full advantage of tearing him down and delighting in it. They are asking why he's not the man they thought he was.
He never was.
That's not his story. We made it up in our own minds.
In the five years I've written for Junior Baseball Magazine, I've brought many Major League baseball players stories to young children and teens who love baseball or are thinking of pursuing it as a career. I ask them for their best tips on hitting, pitching, team work, overcoming injury, or I ask them when they knew they wanted to play baseball for a living or how they handled their worst career moment.
I don't ask them why they cheated on their wives and I don't ask them why they had that problem with the law at some point in their lives.
The kids who read Junior Baseball Magazine or Kids Sports Illustrated, that go to games and tournaments and training camp for their birthday, don't care about that.
Their mothers and fathers do, because they want to sell athletes as heroes to their kids.
In different generations, the media was not privy to every detail of athletes lives. And if they were, those details were more easily kept secret. And with kids having ESPN and the NFL Network they are constantly fed information and images of their favorite athletes. The game is not where it ends. They are saturated with their favorite athlete's every move. If he's dating a Hollywood actress, he'll be in US magazine and People as well. If he's involved in a charity, he must be a man with such clean character that he's incapable of personal mistakes.
To be fair, parents can't make their kids not worship athletes. It's impossible. Kids love sports and they put posters on their walls of the basketball or football star they want to grow to be.
But your kids need them to make the play, the dunk, the catch. Not make it home faithfully for dinner with his wife and kids.
Children can be taught to find inspiration in athletes for their determination, perseverance and work ethic. There are countless inspirational sports stories: Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente, Arthur Ashe and Lance Armstrong, have all in some way inspired true admiration for overcoming more than a contest.
But what they gave you first, was a reason to cheer on the sidelines or sofa. They're are heroes everywhere for your kids to admire. But they start with athletes. They don't know any better.
Adults do.
Don't take Tiger Woods away from your kids- and don't stop admiring him as an athlete- just because the story you wanted to believe turned out to be a fairytale.