Stephon Marbury - Coney Island Role Model
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As posted on http://mos-basketball.blogspot.com
Looking through the internet these days as a sports fan can be rather painful. Wherever you go, wherever you browse you can find a new scandal regarding another well known pro athlete. Is it really necessary for a high paid athlete these days to get into trouble and fail to be the role model he should be for kids all artound the globe?
Certainly not and the opposite example is Stephon Marbury.
Wait, Marbury a role model?! Oh yeah, I remember him being a selfish ball player and sounding dumb in a couple of interviews. He gets laughed at by many basketball fans who not only overlook the good side of the Knicks point guard, but also completely miss the big picture. [1] Marbury is cooperating with the Steve & Barry's company, selling a basketball sneaker for the low price of 14.98$ to make it affordable for poor kids and teenagers. He is touring through the USA and promotes his "Starbury" sneaker and clothing line all summer long. He tries to give the young children an opportunity to have a well known sneaker that doesn't cost a 100 bucks or more.
Now we have to remember that this is not about basketball. As Marbury said himself - "It's about life." And he's absolutely right. I don't care if Marbury makes a few ill advised comments on TV or if he isn't sounding like a Harvard student in interviews. I guess few of us would sound as smart as we all think we are but that is another story about which we might think from our couch. No matter what mistakes Marbury made in the past, his efforts for the poor generation of young kids today is exceptional and should be regarded as just that. It would help the world a ton if more athletes would follow his example.
Sure, many athletes do charity work and a lot of guys are really great human beings, role models not only for our youth but also for ourselves. Many guys live up to the challenge that is presented with being in the spotlight.
Oh, you didn't know?! Well, I don't blame you...
In today's sports media you rarely hear about the good guys or about the important things in (sports) life.
[2] Just go to the ESPN frontpage today and look at the big screwed Michael Vick head. Yes, the great NFL quarterback with the 100 million dollar contract who held dogfights on his property. The first video on the right side is a stupid LeBron James commercial. Yep, the guy who got the big stories for his appearance on the meaningless ESPY awards. Go back a couple of weeks and the pages were filled with columns about Barry Bonds, the homerun king who did "everything" in his power to break Hank Aaron's record for the ages. Go back earlier into the summer... Pacman Jones and his buddies going crazy in a nightclub, crippling innocent people. It should make anyone feel sick thinking about the world of sports today.
I mean there are always black sheeps and we have to know what's going on. It will make people realize that these guys wearing the all star jerseys on TV aren't always stars in real life. Actually often they are far from that as recent history shows us in a shocking manner.
But instead of hammering these low lifes into the people's heads, ESPN and the other media stations maybe should try to push other values across. No, not running around with bling bling on the newest talkshow. Maybe they should have a big special about "Basketball without Borders" where players like Dikembe Mutombo visit foreign countries and do their best to make kids smile once in their otherwise tragic lifes. Maybe they should have Marbury on the frontpage, promoting his shoes and helping inner city kids.
No, these stories don't make the big headlines. Sad but true.
[3] Every fan should think twice before making fun of a guy like Marbury. He is standing on the right side, in comparison to many others. We should stop to hail and promote so called superstars and try to really push for the good guys. The honest ones, the fair guys, the role models... Stephon Marbury is just one example of the many players who are walking the right path.
Professional athletes like him have a huge responsibility to our youth. They can take the role of ambassadors and if they talk, kids will listen. And kids won't watch the news everytime, yet they will see sportscenter. And I hope that someday the day will come when also the media understands the importance of their jobs and puts things in the right perspective.
Stephon Marbury has done that already and despite his failures on the basketball court, he is a winner. Too bad many people don't see that, and propably never will...
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