>>16999068>not a role modelI would have agreed if you asked me 20 years ago, or even when he was world champ before all his adult troubles started. I don't think people should necessarily idolize athletes in general (looking at you Lebron you illiterate closet fag).
Mike is an inspirational figure because of both his high and LOW points. He's been on the brink of suicide many times in his life for many reasons, dealt with stuff that would emotionally and mentally cripple most people and himself has at times been mentally and emotionally crippled. He didn't always handle it with grace or poise or intelligence, something most people should be able to identify with. He's had massive losses, not just prison but a tragic death of a child, and he still finds a way to carry on and enjoy life.
If you've never experienced any hardship in your entire life then maybe you can afford to scoff at that kind of never-quit attitude but most likely you've also had high and low points and will continue to have both for the rest of your life. Mike is interesting and inspirational BECAUSE his life is not a fairy tale, it's real and gritty and tragic and the older you get the more apparent the universality of that experiential duality will become.
