You Want A Hero? How About Sully?

The sports media is quick to throw words of praise at athletes. The words we use are often taken for granted.

One of the words we use is the word hero. We've used that word many times. So and so was the hero of the game. So and so's heroic efforts kept such and such team in a game. If there's one thing I learned yesterday, it's that maybe we should save words like 'hero' for the people who really deserve it.

Two people who deserve to be called heroes are pilot Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger and the co-pilot of U.S. Airways flight 1594 yesterday. That flight left LaGuardia Airport shortly after 3PM Eastern Time yesterday. Literally seconds after liftoff, that flight was the victim of a bird strike. Somehow, some way, even after losing both engines, these two heroes were able to not only maintain their composure, but they were able to calmly ditch the plane into the Hudson River. They had the option to try and either make it back to LaGuardia or go to a New Jersey airport, but these two men knew they didn't have the time to get over land. They took the only option they had.

I watched the coverage of the stroy on all the cable news channels yesterday and was amazed. Amazed at how the pilots were able to land the plane without causing a crash. Amazed that no one died. Amazed that there wasn't a single serious injury.

And, as someone who flies a pretty fair amount, it made me realize that every time I step onto a plane my life is in the hands of trained professionals like Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger. It doesn't take much for something to go wrong, but men and women like Sully are charged with having nerves of steel. They are counted on to be able to make snap decisions. They have to make the right ones, and they have to keep everyone safe.

It was the kind of event that makes you think. It made me think about the way words are used when it comes to sports.

There are two conference championship games coming up on Sunday. Two teams will move on. Two teams will go home. Somewhere, some writer - whether it be for a newspaper or website, will name his hero of the game. Somewhere, some writer will use the word heroic to describe the efforts of one of the players we'll watch.

And if their editors had any cojones whatsoever, they'd take that word out.

The word hero is thrown around too easily. Especially in sports. Exactly when the sports media started using it, I'm not sure. But, it's been there, and it's been overused.

I know it might sound corny, and maybe it isn't cool to say, but here it goes anyway.

I, as a member of the sports media for seventeen years, would like to see - for at least one weekend - the word hero not used in descriptions of the AFC and NFC title games. Surely writers are talented enough to come up with a different word. Surely radio and television broadcasters can come up with a different word.

Athletes aren't heroes, just like they aren't role models. They get paid to do a job, and they do it. We are too quick to lavish praise on them and probably too quick to rip them a new one when they fail.

I know what you might be thinking. That those pilots were just doing their jobs too. But, there's one big difference between the pilots of Flight 1549 and the athletes we call heroes.

The pilots saved 155 people from dying. They deserve to be called heroes.

It makes you think, doesn't it?

Who will win the AFC and NFC Championship Games on Sunday. Listen to my podcast for my picks!