mandalinn - great posts!

I agree. I think our problem is that we look at someone with celebrity status and immediately associate their talent with being good people.

Some of them are genuine and decent, but that has nothing to do with how many laps they can swim or how many homeruns they get or how nice they seemed "in that one movie".

Once we can stop peeing our pants over someone who is good at swimming, we'll stop being let down when we find out that they're human.

Oh, and hereos to me have always been people I can relate to on a real life level that have gone above and beyond the call of duty to save a life. This usually involves fireman and nurses and sometimes airline pilots.

Personally I don't consider celebrities heros, however if there should arise a ball player who breaks the 101 year old curse of the Cubs not winning a pennant - that person will probably be considered a hero, like it or not

What I do feel is that WHEN people accept paid endorsements, they need to step it up to a higher level of behavior simply because of our fascination with celebrities and the fact that a certain percentage of the population will try to emulate them.

If you want to live your life the way you want to, then step away from the big bucks and the limelight and eventually your fame will fade and you can be like the rest of us.

I so agree with you..

I think this applies to A-Rod, for sure. He knew what he was doing.

But think back to the Olympics for a bit. How many athletes can you name? I have 3 - Shawn Johnston, Nastia Liukin, and Michael Phelps. And I watched a LOT of hours of the Olympics. I know these names because the media built them up, which builds ratings, which builds ad revenue. Otherwise, only people who followed swimming would realize that winning 8 golds was kind of a big deal. So he gets pushed into the limelight by the media while doing his thing. This was BEFORE he had the major promotional contracts.

I guarantee that because of the media buildup, people would be up in arms about the pot thing, regardless of whether he does commercials for Speedo. He's not in the limelight because of the endorsement deals, he's in the limelight because the media needed a story to increase viewership during the Games, and he made a good one.

I think one of the sad things is that many of the sports and movie stars out there do wonderful things for people and their communities yet get very little acknowledgement in the press....probably their wish!

I know Shaq can be a jerk....but he has done many things "off the record" for people that you won't hear about on the TV news....doesn't sell.

Tim Flannery, an ex-Padre helped my son in law and daughter out recently for a fundraiser they had for a child with cancer...spent the entire evening playing with his band for free. Not gonna see that one in the paper.

I think we need to remember that when A-Rod took steroids it was not illegal....however when he denied it with Katie Couric it was an out right lie...we all know now. Many more will follow I'm sure.

I won't say where I stand on pot....I was a teen-ager in the 60's-70's... but do we really want our kids idols to be seen smoking pot?

And as Allison said....what kind of life can it be with a camera following you around at all times?

Glad it isn't me....I probably stick my finger in my nose 20 times a day....those darn drywall sanding bugers ya know

So Phelps got a DUI (a DUI!) when he was 19 right before a swimming competition.

I wonder if that would have been a bigger deal had that happened now compared to the pot?

i sometimes think that part of our fascination with heroes and celebrities is our desire to watch them fall. by seeing their lives crumble, or seeing them stumble - they make us feel superior. We can judge them openly without repercussion. the media is always there watching because they want these people to mess up and whatever they have done small or large will be blown out of proportion all in the name of making us feel better about our ordinary lives.

I had one celebrity that I looked up to when I was a teenager- I adored her movies and her singing voice. But I saw her in an interview and she was as dumb as a rock and I lost all love and awe for her. Perhaps though- that is the true role for heroes for most people.