Sports stars are only human, after all

Golf and sports fans have been robbed of watching one of the greatest talents of this generation take his domination of a sport to new heights.

The individual in question is Tiger Woods, who has recently fallen out of the world top 20 for the first time since January 1997, with injuries having added to his infidelity woes.

Woods is set to make his long-awaited return to action today, but I have my doubts whether he will ever recover from his shocking fall from grace, and return to his glory days on the greens.

I’ve always thought that sports fans of today are incredibly privileged to be able to watch the likes of Woods, Roger Federer and Sachin Tendulkar in action – arguably the greatest players ever in their respective sports, all playing in the same era.

While the latter two have maintained their status as iconic gentlemen of their sports, Woods has forever tainted his status after his string of extra-marital indiscretions became public.

Let’s also not forget Manchester United soccer star Ryan Giggs, who was found to have had a number of affairs, while Aussie spin king Shane Warne has been involved in a host of controversies in his time – his womanising ways at the root of many of them.

There is no doubt that supporters are almost unavoidably guilty of putting sports stars on a pedestal, but unfortunately, as ex-NBA star Charles Barkley once suggested, many athletes just aren’t role model material.

It got me wondering about other sports stars who have gone from hero to zero in some people’s eyes.

There is, of course, an array of individuals who have suffered this fate as a result of drug use.

Tennis’s wild child, Andre Agassi, who went on to become one of the most popular players of the game, revealed in his autobiography, Open, that he used crystal meth in 1997 and lied to authorities about his failed drug test.

America’s Olympic heroine, Marion Jones, had to return five medals and endure a stint in jail after admitting using a designer steroid from September 2000 to July 2001.

Mention drugs and sport and most people will immediately think of cycling, which has been dogged by drug scandals over the years, with seven-times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong having continually faced allegations of doping, while three-times champ Alberto Contador has long been at the centre of a doping case. Closer to home, legendary former Springbok Joost van der Westhuizen was caught up in a drug and sex scandal that rocked and shocked the South African public.

It was also a major surprise when ever-popular ex-Proteas cricketer Jonty Rhodes (who was my boyhood idol) left his wife and moved to Cape Town to be with his new girlfriend.

On the scandal scale, there is even room for the bizarre, with it eventually emerging that the Spanish Paralympic basketball team that won gold at the 2000 Paralympic Games actually had no disability to speak of.

Purely from a performance point of view, there are also sports stars who have tarnished their reputations during the latter stages of their careers.

The first one who comes to my mind is Michael Schumacher, who “ended” his Formula One career as one of the sport’s all-time greats. But since the seven-times champ has come out of retirement he has battled to compete with the new generation of drivers.

Then there is also former Bafana Bafana star Benni McCarthy, who has just signed a deal to play for Orlando Pirates after several seasons of disappointments following his failure to meet fitness requirements and live up to his reputation.

There is in fact a train of thought that suggests people perversely love hearing about famous, talented, high-powered and wealthy sports stars being brought down to earth.

My take on it is that we should never elevate them to such lofty heights in the first place, because although they may live lives of glitz and glamour, they are ultimately just the same as you and me.

I’m sure most sports stars would in fact agree with this sentiment, and would probably prefer to be viewed in this light. – Daily News