We can thank Charles Barkley for that gem. Not only did he frequently say during interviews that he was not a role model, he also filmed a commercial for Nike, in which he delivered the same authoritative message. Barkley took issue with the notion that athletes are role models for our children, merely because they’re athletes. He’s not one to shy away from a microphone; rather he is a more than willing participant, especially when it comes to a social discourse. Like him, or hate him, Charles Barkley raised our collective consciousness.

So, should athletes be role models?  

As an aside, my view isn’t completely unbiased…at least as far as Barkley is concerned, for two reasons. First, I’m a 76ers fan (go ahead, tease me with the current squad’s dismal record…I have it coming to me by mentioning that fact); second, and more importantly, I had an internship with the 76ers during my final year of college, and during Barkley’s last year in Philly. I had the great fortune and opportunity to work closely with Barkley during the Sixers training camp and first half of the season- PR events, interviews, etc. So, I could be accused of having a bias towards the Round Mound of Rebound…and you’d be exactly right!

Anyway, back to the question. Are athletes role models? Should they be?

Here’s my view. As a kid, I, like many of my friends, watched various sporting events on TV, or in person. Every kid I knew wanted to be Michael Jordan- and I spent countless hours trying to channel my inner Air Jordan on the driveway of my parent’s house. Did I want to be like Mike, as the commercial commanded? Yes, but on the court. Sure I wanted the accoutrements of his success- wealth, fame, sneaker line (okay, so maybe that was a reach), but at the heart of it, I wanted to be like Mike on the court. I wanted to dunk like he did, not accumulate gambling debts of the magnitude that he did.

It’s acceptable to emulate success- that’s a proven blueprint. And I see no problem with that. What I do have a problem with, and happen to agree with Barkley on this, is the notion that parents don’t have the sole responsibility for raising their kids. If not parents, who do you think should? Tiger Woods? Michael Vick? Mark McGwire? Plaxico Burress? And on, and on, and on. You get the point.

Whether we’re talking about athletes, TV and film stars, or other famous figures…it’s PARENTS that bear the sole responsibility for raising their kids. We, as parents, accepted that responsibility when we decided to have kids in the first place. Unique circumstances notwithstanding, no one else has that job.

And that’s how it should be.

We can all remember how events we’ve watched on TV have shaped our lives, or at least they way we think about things. I can still recall with crystal-like clarity watching on TV as Mt St Helens in Washington State blew apart back in 1980. Half of the mountain disappeared in the geological equivalent of an instant, forever changing the landscape of the northern US, while simultaneously introducing most of us, especially us kids, to the danger lurking in our own backyards.

Jaws. Is there another movie or show that has affected more people for a longer period of time than this feel-good fun fest? Not a chance. Growing up, we lived more than two hours from Amity, but that didn’t stop my mind (mostly at night, when the world seems to shrink) from conjuring images of thirty feet of razor sharp teeth somehow navigating its way to our house, swim upstairs to my far too unprotected room , and swallow me whole. Hey Hollywood- thanks a boatload. That one movie cost me more sleepless nights than all others combined.

TV also gets credit, or more accurately, its fair share of blame for presenting me with senseless insomnia. One program in particular, ‘Creature Double Feature’ was typical horror fare- foolish people who unwittingly awakened an unspeakable monster from a deep slumber. While most of these monsters were as scary as seeing my 3 year old in a Barney costume, there was one- a bone-chilling invisible monster that, despite its lack of visual stature, still had to sneak up on its unsuspecting victims. I couldn’t tell you the name of the movie, or anything of substance, other than it scared the hell out of me.

On a lighter note, Spiderman was, and still is, the best- at least as far as I’m concerned (the Hulk would rank higher, if not for his complete inability to speak). For thirty minutes on Saturday mornings, little Stevie channeled has inner Peter Parker, and became Spiderman. The cartoons from my formative days were edgier and a touch grittier than most of the mindless trash littering our 500-plus channel guides.

What boy didn’t want to grow up to be Han Solo or Luke Skywalker ? No one I knew aspired to become Darth Vader, Jabba the Hut, or the Emperor- though in my mind, there were plenty of worthy candidates.

You know what? Forget Han Solo. I wanted to be a dirty, dusty half-shaven archaeologist long before I knew what that profession was, much less how to spell it. Indiana Jones was cool, so cool that we ended up naming the family dog Indiana (my wife’s idea, and a great one).  

Talk about cool. No movie oozed coolness more than Top Gun. Possibly the single greatest recruiting vehicle for the military, every kid I grew up with proclaimed with outsized self assurance that he was going to be the next Maverick, shooting down MIGs from the cockpit of an F14. Negative Ghostrider, the pattern is empty.

Pick a comedy from the 80’s, and it’s probably on someone’s top five or top ten list including mine. Fletch, Airplane, Major League…all had that irreverent, sarcastic, ‘we’ll make fun of anyone, anytime’ humor that is, sad to say, scarce in movies today.

My formative, movie-watching years (the 80’s) brought such uplifting classics as Friday the 13^thand Halloween- and studios are still making this timeless, delightful garbage. Sure, most of it sucked, but who’s keeping score? Horror was at its apex, and as a Stephen King fan, it was a golden era for me! 

Last, but most definitely not least, who wouldn’t want to ‘go where everybody knows your name’? Cheers…many fond college memories of watching Normie and company yuck it up as my roommates and I sat around a dog chewed, beaten-down slab of wood that we tried to pass off as a coffee table. It was as comfortable as an old pair of well-worn sneakers. So, a toast to media, and its ability to continue to shape the way we view events, situations, and occurrences in our lives- for better or for worse.  Cheers!

As I sat here trying to coax a worthy topic from the deepest recesses of my mind for my first-ever blog, I thought back to my client’s effusive feedback.  Then it hit me…like an invisible tsunami of thought ferrying that sought-after idea. Many events, situations, and crossroads in life arise that, depending on our own unique perspective, fall into the aforementioned ‘dawn of a new day’ category. Drawn from my own life and from the lives of those close to me, I offer to you, kind reader, the following observations (with special thanks to my client for unknowingly providing the kindling to use with my literary flint).

• This is my first blog…and therefore an obvious ‘dawn of a new day’ for me.
• Birth…probably the most universal event, along with its darker, and far less popular cousin, death. Both are harbingers of the ’dawn of a new day’.
• First day of kindergarten. For those of us that watch, sad and misty-eyed, our children board a yellow bus for the first time, the realization hits home that for us, as parents, it’s the ‘dawn of a new day’.
• Riding a bike for the first time without training wheels, or the steadying hand of a parent, super-cool uncle, or older sibling. The freedom to pedal your way into discovering the world beyond your home base is the ‘dawn of a new day’.
• Dog paddling your way across a pool for the first time without a helping hand. I’m no Marc Spitz (the Speedo-wearing self-proclaimed God of swimming from my formative years), nor do I have the double-jointed, bong-smoking style of Michael Phelps, but pulling myself through the water was the ‘dawn of a new day’ for me.
• First pet. Well, since this is my blog, I’ll amend that to first dog (not a cat lover, and I’ll offer no apologies as such). I missed out having a dog as a kid, since the average duration of our family’s dog ownership was an impressive two weeks (no impulse buying there, eh?), but seeing my children play with their puppy tugs at my heartstrings as I realize that, for them, it’s the ‘dawn of a new day’.
• First job. That first paycheck, no matter how small, was the ‘dawn of a new day’.
• First car. Whoa. For a teenager, there is no better feeling than slipping behind the wheel of your first ‘new’ car, turning the key, and hearing the engine of the Plymouth Horizon roar to life. OK, so maybe it didn’t exactly roar, so much as cough to life, but it was, nevertheless, the ‘dawn of a new day’ for me.
• Marriage…for better, for worse. Me? Better. Agreeing (by virtue of your wedding) to share your life experiences, good and bad, with another person, is the ‘dawn of a new day’ for all of us that took the so-called plunge.
• First/New (insert home type here…home, apartment-whatever). Having to move our stuff signals the ‘dawn of a new day’. 
• Becoming a parent for the first time (and the second, and the third). One of the most rewarding and enjoyable challenges we’ll ever face, raising children is not only the ’dawn of a new day’, but also a new life.
• New job. For anyone that begins a new position, career, or heck, retires, it is the ‘dawn of a new day’.

A few, more general, observations:

• 9/11. To me, seeing the NYC skyline rise majestically (I’m ignoring for a moment all of the infighting over what to build, and how tall to build it) will be the real ‘dawn of a new day’, not the events of 9/11.
• The Red Sox winning the World Series in 2004 (and then again in 2007). Any time you can lift an 86-year old curse, the ‘dawn of a new day’ is upon you. (Go Sox!) 
• Lehman Bros, Merrill Lynch, AIG…I’ll stop there. For these firms, particularly Lehman (along with hundreds of other failing banks), 2008 was the ‘dawn of a new day’.
• TARP/TALF…Barf. The ‘dawn of a new day’ for government intervention.
• Wait for it…Madoff (no first names needed here, folks). Madoff epitomized what non-Wall Streeters have long thought: they’re all crooks. Except in Madoff’s case, he was also soulless. We’ll have him to thank for the ‘dawn of a new day’ of regulatory oversight, internal controls, and due diligence.  
• 2009, and beyond. The ‘dawn of a new day’ for America. Like Rocky Balboa taking a beating and still asking for more, we Americans will do what we’ve always done- better than any other country- get to our feet, dust ourselves off, take a deep breath, and kick ass.

Thanks for sticking with me kind reader (by the way, this is a homage to one of my favorite writers, Stephen King- those of you who are fans of his will get the reference). It’s almost the actual ’dawn of a new day’ as I write these last few words, so I’ll bid adieu. Until next time.

Steve