Unscripted, uncharitable

God Bless Tom Schaller. It's about time someone has the balls to print some real journalism on Michael Jordan. Perhaps in the wake of 9/11, this country will finally realize the sports stars are not the heroes we want them to be; that firefighters and police officers deserve better pay than do sports stars; and finally that the cult of celebrity is a dangerous thing.

And for those who say leave poor Mike alone, I have to remind them: The man was such a raving egotist that he went along with an entire marketing campaign ("I wanna be like Mike!") touting himself as a role model. He gets what he deserves.

-- Christopher Hennessy

Mr. Shaller's provocative article decrying the deifying of Michael Jordan misses the trees for the forest. Jordan is a true champion at basketball. But he is a greater champion at self-promotion and marketing.

What's wrong with that? Isn't that what sports are all about today?

How many high school players strive to make it to their favorite college team or ultimately to play for the pros out of a love for the game? In more innocent times, a high school student might have been looking for a scholarship. Today they dream of a ticket to the millions they can make -- the cars, the fame, the women.

Is that wrong? Mr. Schaller would have us think so. But it is merely the reality of what professional sports are about today. It's the entertainment business, and Jordan is a fantastic entertainer.

The real questions are how long Jordan will be able to stretch his waning promotional career, and when he will decide to make the switch to the ultimate American sport -- politics?

-- C.D. Bassett

Thanks for the piece on Jordan. With his incredible fame and cred with the kids, Jordan could have made a huge difference in the lives of children in America and elsewhere. He could have told Nike to stuff it if they didn't fix their foreign labor situation, and he would have had them over a barrel. Ali had Vietnam and Jordan had sweatshops, but Ali stood alone on principle and Jordan took the money and ran. And, as the model for every young athlete to come along since, Jordan officially ended what used to be a tradition of activist black athletes. It's a shame that Jordan couldn't overcome his own greed to do something good for the world, something that only he was ever really capable of doing. Instead, he hawks crappy $125 sneakers made by poor kids in Asia to poor kids in America who can't afford them. Everything he does is designed to keep these kids buying the next cool piece of Jordan/Nike crap. He'll never be my role model.

-- Reeves Hamilton

No one can deny that Michael Jordan is (or, was) an incredible athlete, but the prevailing media suggestion that he has immortal or totemic qualities is completely misguided. Anyone who lives in Chicago particularly certainly remembers Jordan's mishap-begotten foray into baseball and can't help wondering, if, at age 38, this basketball "comeback" will have similar results.

I was disappointed that Schaller didn't highlight the most glaringly obscene aspect of Jordan's dossier -- his charitable giving record. Compared to the salary he received in his last years of playing and the money he continues to make from product endorsements, he gives very, very little back to those who support him so earnestly.

Jordan's love of the game is certainly admirable. But I don't believe that the people of Chicago nor sports fans elsewhere believe that Jordan is a paragon of virtue. No athlete, no human is worthy of the pedestal that we put Michael Jordan on and frankly, no human is worth the money that he gets paid and gives so little of back to the community.

I dare say that many of us think this comeback is ridiculous and just maybe would secretly like to see Jordan make a fool of himself just one more time before he bows off of the world stage. Then people could cease this ill-deserved hero worship and turn their attention to what's really important -- any number of consequential things not related to putting a ball into a hoop at the end of a wooden court.

Jordan's greatest contribution to humankind is nothing more than being a very talented athlete who exploited his assets to the best advantage -- call him the ultimate capitalist. He's not even a man anymore; he's a brand. The public's greatest mistake was thinking he was "almighty" -- and the sportswriters' greatest mistake was endowing him with "mystical" powers that made people think that he was in some way, athletic talent aside, fundamentally better or more worthy than anyone else.

-- Meg Wolff

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