by Lynette Alice

Created on: August 06, 2008   Last Updated: September 01, 2008

Celebrity speakers can do many things including draw a crowd, raise the price of an events admission, and yes they can actually have an impact on today's youth. It would be irresponsible to think they actually have the type of impact that is going to change millions or even tens of thousands of lives via their speeches though. Realistically speaking a good sports celebrity speaker can however have an impact on a number of young people to a limited extent.

Years ago I saw a hero of mine speak when I was maybe twelve or thirteen and that person was Cal Ripken Jr. His career was just taking off and after having seen him briefly with the Orioles minor league affiliate the O's, I had grown to be a fan of his. The talk Cal gave was warm and friendly and conveyed how important education was and that living a good clean drug free life would go a long way to helping us realize our dreams. At that age it was the appropriate thing to hear, and it fit all age ranges actually, but it wasn't anything I hadn't heard before or didn't know. As a result I was far more interested in the speech being over and lining up in that UNCC gymnasium to get an autograph from him and Brooks Robinson than anything he had to say. Still the fact that a quarter century later his words are in my mind means something.

Similarly the following year I attended an event in which former local semi-pro football star turned NFL player Reggie "Super Gnat" Smith was slated to give a motivational talk. The difference here was he signed autographs and pressed the flesh before he was scheduled to speak which led to many kids leaving or finding other ways to entertain them self while he spoke. To this day I can't recall a thing he said in all honesty. To me his speech was a failure, but someone may have taken something from it they needed.

Now you may think I should be on the other side of the debate but the fact is for some kids they will hear things they aren't hearing at home or in school that they need to hear. They may hear Lawrence Taylor giving one of his anti-drug speeches and a story as frightening and depressing as his can sober almost anyone and turn a person off to drugs. They may here a ballplayer like Jim Abbott relate how being born with an underdeveloped hand which was a nub basically didn't stop him from being an Olympian and professional baseball player. They may hear how Tyrone "Mugsy" Bogues became a solid point guard in the NBA for well over a decade despite being the second shortest

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>