Paul Lewis: 'Role model' a heavy tag

Photo / Nigel Marple

Twinkle, twinkle little star, who the hell do you think you are?

This week's revelation that a 40-year-old former All Black has name suppression on a charge of child assault speaks again to that hoary old debate about whether our leading sportspeople are role models.

Every time there is one of these incidents, some moreporks fill up columns in newspapers and magazines and space on the airwaves protesting that our leading sportsmen - it tends not to be women - cannot possibly be asked to be role models when they are only doing what we do; whether that be drinking to excess; drug-taking and now belting kids.

The argument that we are being hypocritical if we do these things ourselves but expect our sportsmen not to has always bewildered me. How can this possibly be? What separates sportspeople from other leaders in our society? I mean, if John Key got bladdered and beat his child, he'd be for the high jump, wouldn't he?

Or NZRU CEO Steve Tew, if he did a Zac Guildford with a naked visit to a bar after getting intimately acquainted with a coral reef and a large amount of booze, could expect to get a bit of a 'please explain' and a trip to WINZ.

There is but one excuse for a Guildford - that he is a young man, growing up in a highly public environment and learning about himself and how to drink as he does so. But it's a thin premise.

All Blacks, Kiwis, Black Caps, Silver Ferns, politicians, business leaders, celebrities and entertainment stars are all role models, whether they agree with it or not. It's all about leadership and intelligence.

The first may be thrust on an unwilling recipient but the moment a person accepts that he or she is a public figure (earning what is usually a great deal of money from selling their services and/or being paid to do it to bring in fans, broadcast contracts and sponsors), the label can be firmly fixed around the neck. Role model.

If you needed any proof, it's in the 40-year-old All Black had up for child assault. From the little we know so far, it sounds like an over-enthusiastic case of over-disciplining. But the point is: it wouldn't be front-page news if it wasn't an All Black and it he hadn't gained an order suppressing his name.

It also comes down to intelligence.Recognising what sort of a drunk you are - in the Guildford case - is important, as are the steps taken to prevent his Hyde emerging from his Jekyll. Being an All Black also doesn't extend only to the time you play - as in the case of the 40-year-old; the leadership aspect stays, like a tattoo.

Sir Colin Meads has, for example, an almost unbelievable ability to drink a beer, to magically grow another in his giant paw seemingly without leaving the table and - just as magically - to drain it and repeat the whole process without a hair or word out of place. You don't see the Tree losing his dignity or getting into booze-fuelled scrapes.

No, professional sportspeople have an unwritten clause or two in their contract. One is that they are automatically role models. Don't agree? Get over it. It's a reality. It might be unfair but it goes hand-in-glove with being a public figure, with fame. Making a good living out of being a public figure? Then don't complain when the other side of the double-edged sword nicks you.

Professional sportspeople owe it to their team, coach and fans to be at their peak - not leaching booze, ecstasy, or performance-enhancing drugs out of their system. They have an unwritten contract to perform to the best of their ability. All the time.

For those who say this plays into the hands of those who would entrap players, pick fights and snitch on them when they are out drinking, the answer's easy: Don't get into trouble in the first place. Walk away. It's what professionals do. Don't prey on women. Cool that side of your life for now; be cautious, discreet, intelligent. Reference: Jimmy Cowan. His battles with booze were solved so well within the All Blacks that Cowan met his demons and, for a time, was the undisputed No1 All Black halfback - and good luck to him.

There's three more factors in all this - sporting bodies, we media and you audience.

In past years, when media and sports teams had cosier relationships, staying in the same hotels, travelling together and the like, the media hid some of the indiscretions that get the full blast of treatment today. These days it is a much more adversarial relationship - driven by the growth of the media and attempts by sports bodies to master what is known as media management; organising their public interfaces through the media in such a way as to not only control the volume and scope of media inquiries but also to shape public opinion; positively, of course.

So we've gone from cosy compartmentalism to more adversarial forms of media-sportspeople interface. And then there's you, dear reader. Take a look at any newspaper, all women's magazines, all TV news and current affairs - the cult of celebrity is here to stay. Why? Because the dumbing down of our society has taken a clear hold. To a large extent, we get the media we deserve.

Try to sell newspapers on the basis of Auckland's transport issues or the fate of the lesser spotted, twig-antlered, glow-worm and watch the redundancies mount. Sales figures generally don't lie - although phone-hacking is clearly an unacceptable response by media. However, prominent sportspeople caught up with the law cannot expect any other outcome than exposure.

Again, it comes back to intelligence and the humility to understand that, while you may be a celebrity, you are not excused from the human race. It's like comparing sportspeople who comprehend that as you compare Tampax with Super Tampax. Tampax gets on with the job. Super Tampax cost a lot more - and are a lot thicker.