Pete Rose, gambler. Steve Howe, drug abuser. Jose Canseco, auto accident waiting to happen. Magic Johnson, positive role model and/or HIV positive.
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Take your pick, kid. There are fallen heroes everywhere.
These days, when it comes to professional sports figures as role models, boys high school athletes can have it anyway they want, from quiet, straight- arrow Ryne Sandberg to the neon-wrapped Deion Sanders. More and more, though, it seems the hunt for idols has become hunt-and-peck.
In the old days, old-timers like to say, a sports hero was a sports hero, minus all the personal baggage. Plus, it went without saying, a fine human being as well. Or so it seemed.
Things aren`t that simple anymore, said Notre Dame basketball guard Mark Heidersbach.
”A lot of these professional players are involved in stupid stuff,”
Heidersbach said. ”You read about it every day. Like Michael Jordan and his gambling problems. People can point a finger at athletes now because a lot of them aren`t acting like good role models anymore.”
The result is that hero worship now includes a swearing-in ceremony. Raise your right hand and repeat the oath after me. . . ”I promise. . .”
Andrew senior pitcher Vince Fiore feels lucky to have found Texas Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan.
”I like him because he`s such a hard worker; such a fiery competitor. He has that never-say-die attitude,” said Fiore. ”I try to pattern myself after him. Do what he does on the mound. Even after the season, I try to work out like he does. I even wear his jersey number (34).
”As a matter of fact, my brother (Mark) and I saw his 300th win. We were watching him pitch against New York on ESPN, and they said he`d probably be going for his 300th victory in Milwaukee. We knew he`d be pitching in one of two games, so we bought tickets to both. He didn`t pitch the first one, so the two of us stayed overnight in Milwaukee and watched him get it the next day.” Fiore`s passion may be unusual, but he`s not alone. Teammate and third baseman Bob Naselli said he admires Cubs second baseman Sandberg ”because of the way he handles himself on and off the field. He`s quiet and he just goes out and plays. He`s a gentleman`s gentleman.”
And Andrew senior catcher Steve DeHaan`s favorite star is Cubs first baseman Mark Grace ”because of his community work, for the way he acts on and off the field and because he doesn`t charge a lot for autographs.”
Blame media snoops, million-dollar paychecks or young stars` arrogance. With so much out in the open, a 1992 role model has to earn a kid`s respect.
”When I grew up,” said Andrew baseball coach Frank Ganser, ”I idolized (Mickey) Mantle, (Nellie) Fox, (Luis) Aparicio. They seemed like good people back then. But you didn`t know as much about those people. You didn`t hear the wild stories like you do now. Kids today are choosier about their role models. They ask not only is he a good ballplayer, but does he have good morals.”
With many pro athletes failing that test, the search often leads closer to home.
Because of their direct contact with young people, parents and coaches potentially are better role models anyway, said Naperville North coach Larry McKeon.
”For the great majority of my players,” said McKeon, ”their role models are their parents. Unfortunately for some, that`s not necessarily a good thing. Fortunately for most of the others, it`s excellent.”
Three of the luckier ones are Palatine All-State quarterback Jeff Hecklinski, who is bound for Illinois; Gordon Tech`s Dwayne Austin, a guard who is headed to De Paul; and Barrington golfer Nate Brown, who will play at Iowa.
Austin`s role models are mom and dad.
”They showed me the difference between right and wrong; good and bad,”
he said. ”When I first started high school, a lot of my friends turned to gang-banging and drugs, and my parents wanted to get me away from all that, so they sent me to a Catholic school.
”My mother told me once that she`d knock me in the head if I ever came in here with my hat crooked. I respect my parents for that. If they hadn`t done it, I don`t know what I`d be doing.”
Brown`s father, Mike, a machinery company owner, was instrumental in his son`s career, helping him receive the best instruction possible, moving his family into a golf community and attending all his tournaments.
”I feel great love for my father,” said Brown. ”He`s the best guy alive.”
Hecklinski said his father, Mike, and brother Randy are the ”two most influential people in my life. My father was a football coach (at South Bend Marian Catholic for 10 years), and Randy (now a quarterback at Bowling Green) played football before me and went through a lot of the things I`m going through. They sort of paved the way for me, made my transition easier in terms of handling all the pressure. My dad and brother are people I can sit down and talk to.”
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Coaches, too, often play the role model role as well, especially for those kids with no one to lean on.
”I think sports programs are often like surrogate families,” said Fremd football coach Joe Samojedny. ”With so many parents working, there are more social problems today. We try to create a family-type atmosphere here within the team itself. A coach has tremendous clout if he uses it properly. We had only one rule for our coaches this year: `Treat each kid as if he were your own son.` Everything worked out from there.”
What makes a good role model? Westinghouse guard Kiwane Garris and Heidersbach think they know.
”All of the guys I look up to conduct themselves in the right way,”
said Heidersbach. ”They fight for their goals, and they don`t stop until they accomplish them.”
Heidersbach`s role model is former Notre Dame High School star Jim Les, who went to Bradley and walked on to the basketball team, eventually earning a scholarship. Then Les blew out his knee, came back from the injury and was in the NBA`s three-point shooting contest last year with the Sacramento Kings.
”It depends on the person,” said Garris, who looks up to Charlotte Hornet Kendall Gill. ”He should be smart, intelligent nice and good to children. Somebody who sets a good example-and we need good examples.”
”Young people are always looking for someone to emulate,” said Fremd`s Samojedny. ”But today, kids are searching for role models they can count on. Politicians are out. A lot of sports figures are out.
”Today, they`re testing the waters.”