While I love an underdog story, i.e. Tebow, Lin, Warner, I dislike with equal fervor, the over-hype and the need to somehow make these people more than they are...athletes with a tremendous work ethic who finally got the opportunity to showcase their dedication. Why put these guys on some kind of moral and religious pedestal? Are we in such need of heroes that we look to people who play for a living as our role models? From Bruce Almighty, "...a single mom who's working two jobs, and still finds time to take her son to soccer practice, that's a miracle..." Well I say, a single mom who's working two jobs, and still finds time to take her son to soccer practice, that's someone who I respect more than Lin or Tebow. Look around you today and you will see that your role models are all around you...your wife, husband, kids, parents, co-workers, etc. Every day we interact with people who sacrifice tremendous amounts to reverse the forces of nature that are pulling this world into chaos and decay and instead make this world a better place not only for ourselves but our children and our children's children. If we spent as much time talking about them and their amazing feats as we do tweeting, chirping, discussing the 3 pointer than Lin hit last night, then we too will join in the fight to make this a better world.
Kudos to Lin, Warner and Tebow, they deserve the rewards they receive, but they will not get an ounce of my hero worship. All my respect goes to other "Lins", Lynn Walters, who taught me even though her hands and feet were crippled by arthritis and she lived in constant, throbbing pain. To my own mother, Vanessa Lin, who lost her parents to a firing squad at the tender age of 11, moved to a completely new country (USA) in her teens, moved to a completely new country (Colombia) at the age of 18 and then birthed and raised eight children...and that's just the beginning of the hardships she's endured. To my wife (married to a Lin...ok, it's a stretch) who somehow finds the time to be an amazing mother while working full-time to make our Industry more socially responsible ensuring that toxins aren't being dumped in rivers, helping eradicate child labor from factories in China and working tirelessly to make sure that the world we leave our children is not a grey, lifeless, barren, polluted wasteland.
Heroes are all around us. Look away from You Tube and look around...
