My "hero"

So I guess it's okay to start calling pro athletes "heroes" again.

After Sept. 11, for those who have forgotten, there were countless articles talking about how 'we really have to reevaluate our priorities' and that 'we can't keep calling our athletes heroes when the real heroes, firefighters and police officers, go so unsung.' I was a huge fan of such a sentiment then and I'm a huge fan of it now; I've never bought into the cult that surrounds sports, even when I was playing three different sports a year during high school. So often the people we elevate are just the worst of the worst. Your ability to turn on a fastball or shoot a puck says nothing about your character, and we did well to remember that when we finally started taking pro athletes off the pedestal.

It seems like that chapter in sports coverage has ended, though. I haven't kept track, but I've heard more "heroes" and "heroics" than I have in years this season. After the photos of Josh Hamilton relapsing surfaced, there was an article published on MLB.com unironically titled "Psychology in baseball: Heroes are human". It almost feels like sportswriters have been looking for an excuse to bust the term out again, as though they wanted to use it all these years but couldn't because public opinion had turned against them.

This is all anecdotal, of course, so keep your ears open: As we reach the stretch run of the season, and after that the postseason, I'll bet money that we'll hear more than a dozen players called "heroes" on national television. The term is a crutch for broadcasters and sportswriters that they shouldn't ought to use.