Columnist Dean Juipe: Learning by seeing what not to do

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at [email protected] or 259-4084.

Charles Barkley expressed many an athlete's point of view by once stating "I'm not a role model. I'm a basketball player."

The inference, of course, was that he didn't want to be fully accountable for every action or utterance he may make during the course of a day. He was willing to take responsibility for himself, yet he didn't feel the need to set an example for others.

But athletes can't escape their fiduciary duties that easily. In cases both good and bad, by the nature of their high-profile status and the widespread chronicling of their activities, athletes can have an influence on others that cannot be readily dismissed.

While the term "role model" has positive implications, it works both ways. An athlete who slips up and makes a mistake still has value as a role model, if, for no other reason, than to stand as representative of the toll that may have to be paid for sidestepping the law.

Take the case of Bobby Phills.

While he didn't receive a ticket for drag racing at 75 miles per hour on a short, winding road near the Charlotte Coliseum on Wednesday, Phills paid a far greater price. The NBA veteran, a member of the Charlotte Hornets, was killed when he lost control of his Porsche and tumbled it into a second car, which in turn was hit by a third car.

Rescue workers held sheets around the accident scene as colleagues pried Phills' mangled body from the wreckage.

His value as a role model today is simple: Life is precious and easily lost, so think twice before foolishly giving it away.

A videotape of the gruesome accident scene could be shown to any driver's education class and provide a shuddering dose of reality. Phills' legacy will be less about his nine-year NBA career than it will about an otherwise decent man who lost his life when he dropped his guard.

By coincidence, another Charlotte athlete has been popping up on the front pages with evil connotations. Rae Carruth, a receiver with the NFL's Carolina Panthers, is facing the death penalty if convicted in a drive-by shooting that led to the death of his pregnant girlfriend.

The lesson there is fairly straightforward: Take responsibility for your actions without compounding your problems. Carruth may have gone from poster boy to wanted posters, yet his unfortunate saga can be used by others as a guideline for limiting your culpability in times of stress.

Same with Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker, who recently shot his mouth off about everything not white and middle class. The lesson: Stop and assess the possible consequences of your actions before it's too late.

And then there's Mike Tyson.

As demonstrated by the difficulty the convicted felon faced this week in getting cleared to enter England for a fight there later this month, Tyson exemplifies the undeniable fact that occasionally even repaying your debt to society isn't enough. Even after doing prison time, your record is neither expunged nor forgotten.

The lesson: One mistake, even one repaid in full, has the potential of following you forever.

While not role models in the traditional sense, these men illustrate the dangers that may await when poor etiquette, temptation and avarice run amok.

As any youngster can see, to mimic them is to ask for trouble.

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