Mel Hall, when sports heroes fail us

In 1981 the Midland Cubs had Mel Hall, Joe Carter, and Craig Lefferts on the roster. The flashiest and best player on that team was not Joe Carter but Mel Hall. Mel was something special. Since I was a young kid, I followed Mel and chuckled at his excess. Two cougars, his hot dogging around the field, and his nice jheri curl.

Then I heard the news about Mel and his molesting a 12 year old girl on a basketball team. I knew it was most likely true and it saddened me. Yesterday, Mel went to jail for 45 years and I was reminded that sports athletes are fallible folk. They are more fallible than most of us. Their lives are so excessive that many don't have the ability to live it.

Mel was the product of his own addictions. He could have been great, but wound up average. He did not apply himself to the game, but applied himself to a false image. The pressures finally got Mel and he made choices that were abusive and less than human. I am saddened, because I want my heroes to be as good as I imagine them be. However, I must remember that the spectacle of sports and celebrity make them even more susceptible of failure. Charles Barkley was right in declaring, "I am not your role model." He knew the deep dark secrets that lie underneath the false veneer of athletes and he was honest enough to tell the truth.