Do I Want My 6 Year Old Twins To Hero Worship Today’s Cheating Sport Stars

When I was growing up I don’t think I ever hero worshipped any sports people, but there is no doubt that I held many in high regard for some of their incredible sporting achievements.

So what happened?

It’s a fairly simple answer. Sport is all about money.

The sport stars of today are paid mega bucks to reach the biggest and highest achievements they can, and this is all about getting more sponsorship and endorsements. The more successful they are the more money they can earn, but it appears today that it has all been achieved by cheating.

The Australian cricket team is the latest in a long line of cheating in sport to achieve success. Before them we have had Bradley Wiggins suspected of cheating, and cycling in general has always been suspected of foul play. The Russians had no team at the Winter Olympics because of illegal drug taking. In the last summer Olympics the 100m winner had been banned on a couple of occasions for taking performance enhancing substances. The list is actually endless. Not a week will go by without another sports star under suspicion of breaking the rules to achieve fame and glory, but more importantly money.

So let’s take the latest incident with the Australian captain, Steve Smith, crying like a baby at a news conference. Of course he is upset, but surely it’s because he has been caught trying to alter the decision of the match illegally. I had no sympathy for him. He knew exactly what he was doing. The people I feel sorry for are the Australian cricket fans. Having lived in Australia for four years I saw first hand the passion they have for their national game, and it’s truly immense. Sadly for all of them now when the Australian cricket team steps onto a cricket pitch they will just be seen as cheats. It really is as simple as that.

The huge amount of cheating that without question goes on in all sport today make me ask would I want my six year old twin girls to emulate or hero worship any of them? Not a chance!

I have played a lot of sport in my time, and yes I would openly admit I hated losing and my main desire was always to win, but I never even for one minute considered cheating to achieve it, but then I wasn’t playing for a million dollar payout for the win.

This is what has ruined sport for the general population, money, and companies almost demanding a winning team to gain the maximum exposure for their brand, because they don’t want to be associated with a losing team.

I believe we will never see fair competition on a global stage ever again, because TV and money have made sure that people will go to any lengths to win whatever the consequences which is really a sad state of affairs.

Of course, if my six year old twin girls decide in the future that sport is a career they want to pursue then I would obviously encourage them, but do it fairly and honestly. It’s surely a very empty victory if you have done it by cheating, but maybe these sports people have no consequence, or they’ve taught them from an early age to break the rules, because maybe they don’t quite have enough talent to succeed cleanly.

We need to stop putting the sports people on pedestals. They are the same as the rest of us.

I know I will be teaching my six year old twin girls to never hero worship or think that someone is special for their sporting achievements because the chances are nowadays they have cheated in some way or another to achieve it.

I would love to know your thoughts.