Posted on The Honolulu Advertiser: Saturday, August 30, 2008
'HOMETOWN HERO' RETURNS
This was the headline about Bryan Clay. OK... I do admire Bryan Clay very much. He is a true Olympic champion. However, a hero? I really feel that term is bandied about too much. When I think of a hero, it is somebody who did something magnificent for others without regard to his/her own safety. It's an ordinary person who knows what the danger is and disregards it for the sake of others. In fact, I've often heard those heroes say afterwards that they don't think of themselves as heroes because they did what needed to be done.
I believe athletes or sports stars who win for their team or themselves are champions, not necessarily heroes.
Am I the only one who feels this way? Maybe I'm just being picky.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
24 comments:
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I agree with you, Kay. "Champion" is a more appropriate term for Bryan Clay.
ReplyDeleteAhahah...perhaps they ran out of words =) Normally when someone comes back after a "victory", I guess they can be called a hero. But still that term has been greatly overused out of context.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Kay.
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally, after I posted my comment above, I sat down to read our daily paper. The headline reads "Olympic Champion Returns to Fanfare." It's about a woman from Boothbay Harbor, Maine, who won a gold medal on a rowing team.
ReplyDelete"Louis" doesn't think you are being picky, Kay!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you!
ReplyDeleteI think you're right. The whole subject of hero-worship in our society in general is one I could ramble on about forever, but I will spare you!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 100%!
ReplyDeleteWell said. I also agree with you.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you.
ReplyDeleteyou've got lots of people who agree with you. i think we have a real lack of heroes in our day and age.
ReplyDeleteHi Kay! No you are not being picky. You speak the truth. Lisa
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you Kay, a champion to be lauded, but a hero no - that would be our town firemen et al.
ReplyDeletei agree with you too! A hero is someone who saves the day, someone like a fireman, or a policeman. A sports athlete is someone to look up to, but is not a true hero in the real sense of the word.
ReplyDeleteI agree wholeheartedly. If a person disregards his/her own welfare for others, that's a hero in my book anyday - people who simply do what needs to be done. Good post. I'll bet more agree than disagree.
ReplyDeleteKay, I couldn't agree with you more! Calling an athlete a hero diminishes what a hero really is.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I love your new photo on the top of your blog!
Champion is a much better word. I'm sure Bryan Clay does not think of himself as a hero either. I love thought-provoking posts. Good job Kay!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Kay. Hero is used for everyone. He is a great athlete though..
ReplyDeleteI agree. We are too careless with words. They lose their impact when we misuse them.
ReplyDeleteI with you on your 'hero' definition. I don't think a person plans on being a hero, rather its a result of someone's response to some dramatic and dangerous circumstance that has unexpectedly occurred.
ReplyDeleteYou're spot on with your definition of a hero. My blog (and business) is all about recapturing th word hero for the real heroes.
ReplyDeleteIt's really good to see so many people commenting with agreements.
I'm another who agrees that the word hero is used too loosely these days!
ReplyDeleteI think it is right to be "picky" when words are being redefined to lessen their meaning and impact.
It would appear that you've struck a chord with a LOT of people, Kay. I'm not saying you have to necessarily run into a burning building and carry out sleeping children to be a hero... but, I agree with you. Being able to run fast, throw a ball through a hoop, knock someone out in the second round, or jump gracefully from a high dive, does NOT a hero make.
ReplyDeleteI will use the term slightly on occasion to refer to my husband, who worked three jobs and went without sleep and lunches for days at a time to provide for us in our early years. There are many men like him who have not been called on to lay their lives on the line to protect us... but they give up the lives they dreamed of as young men to provide for us. They are also hero's to me.
It reminds me of a question put to us in Arkansas by my pastor friend. He said kids today no longer have Biblical heroes, giants of bravery or moral greatness, that they look up to and want to be like. More they have sports heroes or superheroes from TV, we concluded.
ReplyDelete