Agent Zero, It’s too late to be a role model now
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Posted by Seigle Seigle (Follow Me)- Seigle Seigle is a married man and former Louisiana resident. His little man is 6. His little chica is 15 mos. And he is 26, unreal! - To see more posts by this author click here |
It was an honest effort, Gilbert. You tried your best to be sincere, open and honest in your op-ed for the Washington Post. I think you were really opening up to people to show them a different side of you. Up until now, all people knew about you was:
- Betting to score 50 on Portland
- A Shooting contest with DeShawn (Complete Moron) Stevenson
- Gilbert on Hibachi
I mean, I like Agent “ZERO starts for the rest of the NBA season” like I like Chad Ochocinco. They are both entertaining! I am the one that wants to see sports, college sports especially, become less business and more learning about life, choices, decisions and mistakes, but I make no qualms about the fact that the NFL, the NBA, the MLB and many other pro sports are more WWE than pure Greco Roman Olympics. However, Agent “ZERO dollars for the next 50 games” should have read my post “There are no Role Models” before contacting the Washington Post. So what am I to say to Agent “ZERO effect on kids’ lives after the damage is done?”
Gilbert, your opportunity to be a role model came BEFORE your most recent transgressions. It began when you entered the NBA and saw the limelight and the super-stardom. Chad Ochocinco thought the same way. You both grew up with nothing and now you think you are a lot more important than you are. I don’t blame you for setting your heights to the stars, I definitely defend both of your workout resumes, I laugh at your “Hibachi” and “Child Please” jokes, I brush off million-dollar birthdays and races with horses. But, I knew long ago that you wouldn’t be a role model to my six-year-old son.
Because, Gilbert, you modeled a role I don’t want for my son. I don’t want him to bring guns to his workplace, nor do I want him to have 4 kids with 3 different women (Chad!). I know this comes from the bottom of your heart when your write:
“I am trying hard to right my wrongs. The one that will be hardest to make right is the effect my actions have had on kids who see NBA players as role models.”
but you can’t change what you’ve done. Your story will be great, fans will love you for “overcoming” the challenge of being suspended and for addressing non-violence with the youth of DC. ESPN and Bob Ley or Jeremy Schapp will contribute to an “Outside the Lines” report on your growth as a civic leader against gun violence. You may even run for Congress in 15 years on the single platform of promoting new gun laws in all inner-cities, but it won’t change what you did.
To me, the gun thing was not the worst crime in the world. Neither was Plax shooting himself in the club in NYC. But, after someone makes a mistake, their so-called “role” changes. Bill Clinton does not speak at marriage retreats and Mike Tyson does not mentor abused women, that time has come and gone. Your role is to those in your family, those children you have a personal relationship with, including the DC boy you’ve accepted as a younger brother.
My deepest feeling on the matter, Agent “HERO to Zero” is that I don’t want you to be a hero, I want you to be Gilbert Arenas. I want you to entertain me, play good ball, tweet some funny things, and work with your foundations. I don’t want my kids to have role models in the form of celebrities and athletes. I want kids to have role models who they like to call “Dad” “Daddy” “Pops” “Mister” “Sir” “Father” “Dadda” “My Man” “___Insert First Name of a Father Figure Here___.” Gilbert, unfortunately your title can change. They’ll call you nothing if you mess up again and again, and you’ll walk right out of the NBA and the limelight, escaping all the rest of your “roles” as a “model.” Trey will still call me Dad.
udothedishes…
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Charles Barkley said it best, he’s not a role model. And I agree.
Its one thing if your kid WANTS to be a pro basketball player and looks to gilbert or any other athlete to mimic their game, but an all-around role model is a bit misguided and I agree that parents need to step in and BE the role model,…for those of us fortunate to have someone to model ourselves after.
If anything, Gilbert made himself look bad to his own family and mentors, and that is who i think he has to make a mense (sp?) with. Everyone else needs to move on to the next stupid public debate, like why Beyonce lost to Taylor Swift at the Grammy’s (again!) SMH
Taylor won because “the man” wanted to see how far he could send Kanye into a depressive spiral of industry angst and hatred.
I really think she won because
1. She is talented and arguably deserving of it
2. The voters felt sorry for her from what happened at the VMA’s
3. To show that the industry is still in control and that some pop icon’s outburst is not going to dictate popular opinion.
4. Beyonce winning would have validated Kanye’s point, and the industry would never let that happen.
Great post! I agree with all of your points, except for the sincerity issue. I felt as though Arenas’ op ed was written by his handlers, not him. It was way too smooth with perfect answers (a la Vick’s first interview after he got out of prison with his PR/legal team in the next room). If he had recognized the severity of his actions, he would have handled the situation much better from the beginning. Agent Zero is just that…a Zero!
You got it all wrong if you expect an athlete to be your role model. Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear!
Pokes