Here's Your Role Model

It's been an interesting past week in the sports world. Tiger Woods returned to the golf course at The Masters after taking a break to smooth over his promiscious behavior in which he cheated on his wife with about 15 women over the years. We have Ben Roethlisberger who went bar hopping with his buddies and found himself accused with sexual assault, although charges will not be filed by the Georgia district attorney. And now, we have University of Kentucky assistant coach Rod Strickland who was arrested over the weekend for the four time for driving under the influence. Four DUI arrests. Let that sink in. It's a wonder he hasn't killed himself or someone else. So these are the people we see on television. These are the people that flood the airways for our younger generation to see.

So who's going to be a role model? I have a name for you. Texas Rangers pitcher C.J. Wilson. You won't find Wilson on the news being arrested for a DUI. You won't hear about him cheating on his wife. And you certainly won't hear his name implicated for the use of performance enhancing drugs. Why? Because C.J. Wilson is straight edge. Straight edge is a lifestyle that grew in the 80s with the punk music subculture. It's a lifestyle of no alcohol, no tobacco, no other drugs and no promiscious sex. It's a lifestyle I'm proud to say I adhere to. So, why not C.J. Wilson? He doesn't have the best stats and he's only broke through with the Rangers in 2007 as their closer before being named their third starter in the rotation this year. But in a day in which we get the DUI's, the cheaters and the steroid users in baseball, why not present the guy who lives drug free?

Bad news gets ratings, there's no doubt about that. Celebrities misbehaving draws an audience. Athletes are celebrities as well so they fit right in with their mischief. What would be wrong with ESPN running a feature piece to highlight Wilson? Let the kids see this guy pitching as a major leaguer and doing what he loves by doing it the right way. I'm sure there's people that say the clean living guy is "boring" and a piece like this would be "preachy" but somebody has to be the good guy, right?