Hero.

I'm becoming suspect of the word "Hero", which is regrettable, given the times we live in. Near the turn of the millennium, we all bore witness to the evils of men driving planes through two of North America's more famous, now infamous buildings, and watched heroes run into those buildings to save lives.

We've come into a time when sex with children is sold on the internet, and legally so, it would seem, so long as it's in the form of a ‘second life'; faces of young men just beginning their prime of life, now dead at the hands of war or, better yet, "peace actions", pass by our eyes nightly on the evening news; young black men kill each other on our streets, yet it's politically incorrect to say so; chemical drug use is on the rise; child poverty in North America is up (above 20%); police officers are murdered during routine stops, the list goes on and on. We live in an age where more than ever we fear crime, terrorism, poverty, divorce, natural disasters, disease, government corruption and so much more and yet... and yet there are no uprisings in the streets. No protest groups chaining themselves to fences, no activists with bullhorns yelling to the crowds. The protest movement of the seventies could use a resurgence; and the few dissenters that are out there are either being virtually ignored by the mainstream press, or are not generating enough interest in their causes to warrant press coverage (an entirely separate item to debate).

And, in the wake of this apathy, in the face of this ‘non-action', when, most often, do we hear talk of ‘heroes' in the press? When, oh when, do we hear talk of this greatness? Sports.

Sports? You say.

Yes, Sports...

Hockey Hero, Football Hero, Basketball Hero, Sports Hero; it's enough to make me yak up my Wheaties.

Now, this is not to be confused with Guitar Hero (they don't really mean it) nor NBC's hit television program, "Heroes" which I take no issue with. Naming a fantasy-drama based on comic book style characters living among us "Heroes" is catchy, and seems to be working for them. I doubt that any of the Actors in this series professes to be in competition with the men and women that run into burning buildings to rescue old people, pets and babies on a daily basis (and not necessarily in that order). Now those are heroes.

In Greek mythology a hero was originally a demi-god, the offspring of a mortal and a deity. We later came to know heroes as characters that displayed courage and the propensity to sacrifice in the face of danger or adversity. A person of ‘moral excellence', if you will, willing to risk life and limb, or perhaps ostracism, for the greater good.

Stepping to the front of a protest line, trudging through a strange country with a weapon in your hand, in the name of peace, sitting at the front of the bus (look it up, kids), risking ones social stature, physical well-being, life; these things are heroic.

Getting the most goals, or even signing autographs at Sick Kids hospital after you get the most goals, does not a hero make. Back to the Wheaties reference, I have to give the Wheaties' website credit for calling their celebrity endorsers Sports Champions, not Sports Heroes. However, do a search (or ‘google' as the kids say) on the phrase ‘Sports Hero' and the results are staggering; tennis, hockey, football, golf, lawn bowling, you name it; all heroes. Not in my book. Sports Celebrity, Sports Star, even Sports Superstar; all reasonable statements, just don't call them heroes. My search of the word ‘Hero' led me to several other strange findings including: an offshore oil drilling company, a paint dispenser company, "Creating Accurate Color in the 21^st Century" and more. We fail to revere the word "Hero" in the manner we should, and use it far too freely.

Using the word ‘Hero' as though it were the latest all-purpose seasoning both dilutes the impact of the word and does an injustice to our real heroes, whose names so often end up forgotten. I'm a Wayne Gretzky fan, without question; however, he's no Vincent Coleman, (you know, the telegraph operator who gave his life to warn people during the Halifax Explosion) ... He's no firefighter, no rescue worker, no inner-city cop ... the list goes on. In short, for all of his sports records, he is no hero.

Are there real sports heroes? Certainly. Jesse Owens displayed not only his endurance and physical strength at the 1936 Olympics, but also mental determination and courage in defiantly winning four medals before Hitler in Berlin. In 2000 Ellen McArthur risked life and limb, spending 94 days alone at sea. She broke records by being both the youngest solo sailor and completing the fastest non-stop circumnavigation of the globe by a woman, finishing the Vendee Globe Sailing Race in second place. Inspiring and heroic elements are evident in both of these feats. As great a basketball player as he is, lumping these individuals in with Magic Johnson does them a disservice.

Web pages for pop songs, video games and movies, this I can relate to, after all, we're all looking for something to believe in, and we've been singing and dreaming about it since the beginning of mankind. "I need a hero, I'm holding out for a Hero till the end of the night..." "A hero lies in you..." (Add sing songy intonations here). Just please, in the real world, use the word wisely.

Let's not water-down our real heroes; it insults them, it does them an injustice. Idols, celebrities, stars, champions ... okay. But not hero; let's pin this badge only where it belongs ... let us all be a little more mindful of where we use the word hero.