Maybe in particular this is best asked about kids today. When I was growing up, it was common to have a pick up game of FB or Baseball and pretend to be sports figures for the teams you rooted for. As an adult, I don't get the same sense that kids do that anymore - or not to the extent they used to a generation ago. I think there is a similar mindset among adults too. I remember when adults used to put athletes on fairly high pedestals, and they "had to" get a specific player's jersey. I don't get that same sense anymore. Honestly, it may also spill over into other entertainment industries like cinema and TV. The only group that still seems to have their die hard fans are musicians.

I think the emergence of the 24 hour TV cycle and the internet has made cynics of all of us. Our innocence is gone, and celebrities that we used to think were somehow better than the typical person are no longer perceived that way.

Honestly, I'm not a stargazer. If someone famous came around me I would show some interest in maybe take a photo; however, I don't think I would fawn over that person, ask for an autograph or even acknowledge their presence aside from telling someone "some famous guy" is here.

I don't.

All of my former sports role models I had as a kid are long dead....

As the cynical, jaded adult bastage that I have become, I have none.

Also, I bet your role models then weren't regularly in the news for acting like jackasses either. We see that a lot more today.

(09-03-2015 11:21 AM)miko33 Wrote:  Also, I bet your role models then weren't regularly in the news for acting like jackasses either. We see that a lot more today.

I think the operative words in that statement are "in the news". When I was growing up, only MLB was firmly in the national consciousness. The NFL was just starting to emerge as a potential challenger, the NBA was still playing in cities like Rochester, Syracuse and Fort Wayne and there were only six NHL teams.

I grew up in a small suburb of NYC, where a lot of Yankee and NY Giants lived. A few of them made the news for acting like jackasses, but there were a lot more who would have in today's media climate. And that was in the media capital of the world. I'm sure there were jackasses in a lot of other towns as well.