At least, don't ever let them speak. Just watch them run around if that's what you enjoy.
Sports stars are not heroes By Sarrah Le Marquand April 13, 2007
THE nation was stunned. Grown men were moved to tears. Sport fans struggled to find the words to convey their grief adequately over the loss of a cultural icon.
Me? I stifled a yawn and went on with my day.
The emotional response to the unexpected retirement of Andrew Johns this week has reaffirmed Australia's obsession with sporting champions. Would the shock resignation of a high-profile person from any other profession have attracted such attention?
Well-known actors, musicians and artists rarely inspire such outpourings of sentiment when they announce a career change. We've even seen the occasional prime minister despatched from public life amid much less fanfare.
There's no disputing the immense achievements of men like Johns, Shane Warne and Ian Thorpe - all of whom have secured a well-deserved place in sporting history.
But at what point did we decide that rugby players, cricketers and swimmers are our national heroes? No offence to the aforementioned champs, but in a country of 21 million people, is this really the best we can do?
Growing up, I always believed a "hero" was someone who saved lives or went to the rescue of others, often with no regard for their own welfare.
Firefighters racing into a burning building, young men and women sent to war in a foreign land, civil rights activists imprisoned or killed for refusing to surrender their beliefs - these people constituted the true definition of heroes.
Yet somewhere along the line the mantle "hero" has been corrupted. It's a term now bandied about with gleeful abandon, particularly when it comes to sports stars.
Their on-field prowess may provide fans with hours of enjoyment, but it's hardly the stuff of heroism. And even at the feel-good peak of Olympic or World Cup mania, no one seriously believes our sports people need further accolades.
Where are the tributes to the thousands of Australians who also rise to the top of their fields? Why do we not celebrate the astounding achievements of medical researchers, doctors, teachers and aid workers with even a fraction of the enthusiasm afforded to Johns and his ilk?
What of the unsung heroes who spend their days caring for a sick or housebound relative? Or the teenager undergoing surgery to donate an organ to an ailing sibling? Or the exhausted parents juggling jobs to give their children the best they can?
None of these people is ever likely to have a public arena or building named after them, but maybe they should. It's one way to help us remember who our real heroes are.
