Two news items this week got me thinking about the role models or heroes we look up to today.
In this town I would bet that if you stopped 10 people on George Street and asked them to name a role model or hero, 8 would list a hockey player.
There are indeed local sports heroes who have set the bar high. Bob Gainey comes to mind immediately.
Chicago Black Hawk Patrick Kane isn't the first and likely won't be the last hockey 'hero' who has given pro athletes a bad name. But reading the account of how Kane allegedly kept saying "You don't know who you're f***ing with" in between the punches he was laying on the Buffalo cabbie before stealing the fare he had just paid him, made my stomach turn. Hero? More like Jackass.
I wonder if the sports icons, heroes, or role models like Bob Gainey are a thing of the past. Kane is just one example of pampered sports figures who seemingly have no moral compass.
There was another story this week that makes me think that we look for our role models and heroes in all the wrong places.
16 year old Courtney Morrison, a St. Pete's student, lost her battle with cancer last Friday. She spent almost 2 years fighting the good fight. Her Mum, Heather, stayed with her for every moment Courtney was at Sick Kid's in Toronto. Her Dad, Murray Henderson, made the trek between Peterborough and Toronto countless times over the past 19 months while trying to keep an income flowing into the family. Her Grandfather, Gerry Henderson, spearheaded a fundraiser a few months ago to help the family with the financial strain. This community responded by donating over $20,000.
Forget the NHL, NBA, UFC, MLB and Hollywood.
Role models and heroes walk among us each and everyday.