Oscar Pistorius - Crook?

If you have been reading Derek Seymour's posts on Stuff Nation (google "Derek Seymour Stuff Nation"), you'd have read his recent article about how we're wasting time looking up to these sportspeople and feeling sorry for them when they're in strife, when really it's often their fault that they're in that situation. Moreover, Derek says that sportspeople should not replace our parents as role models much as we like them to.

I do agree with Derek in some way and I do think we tend to exalt sportspeople more than they should, just because they're famous and have done well in a sport we love to follow, when they're human beings like you and me who are imperfect and have their own flaws that we don't see on the track or field.

What has been alarming in the last 6 months though has been the number of stories of high profile sportspeople - hang on let me rephrase that, "heroes" who have fallen to zero over criminal misdemeanors on and off the field.

Of course, we had the story of Lance Armstrong which really started late last year when USADA finally announced its findings and subsequently, the UCI stripped Armstrong of his 7 Tour de France titles. Armstrong remained in denial until earlier this year when he confessed on Oprah Winfrey's show that he did in fact cheat en route to his "victories" between 1999 and 2005.

Just as the media was recovering from the hype and hysteria around the Armstrong debacle, they received yet another one to whet their appetites with the news that South African Paralympian and Olympian, hero to many not just in his country but all over the world, the Blade Runner, Oscar Pistorius was arrested after a woman was shot in his house.

Pistorius in better times

Pistorius with Reva Steenkamp

Scene of shock and horror at Pistorius house on Thursday

This is quite possibly the most shocking relevation the world of sport has seen, especially given the fact that Pistorius' fame had only emerged in the last 9 months or so as a result of his success in London. And it is possibly the highest profile murder involving an athlete, former or current, as the key suspect since OJ Simpson's ex-wife and her boyfriend were found murdered in their LA home in 1994.

Time cover page at the time of former NFL running back, OJ Simpson 's infamous murder trial in 1994

The information received so far sadly appears to be quite damning. Initial reports that Pistorius accidentally shot his girlfriend in the head, mistaking her for a burglar have now been scotched by police in light of revelations of domestic violence earlier in the night, as well as the nature of the crime - Reeva Steenkamp was shot 4 times at different parts of her body, which does reduce the likelihood that Pistorius was just shooting a burglar - and the fact that the house is located in a neighbourhood with heavy security at the gate and is surrounded by high walls itself (why would a burglar go through all that trouble unless they had some inside knowledge - that is one that the defence will have to reveal if that was the case).

Nike was forced to pull out this ad in the wake of the shocking murder on Thursday

The final nail in the coffin has to be the collection of weapons at Oscar's disposal - cricket and baseball bats at every spot, a pistol in the bedside drawer and a machine gun (we're not sure yet which armed weapon was used in this murder at this time).

Why on earth do people feel the need to defend themselves with assault rifles?

I will say what I said at the time of the awful Newtown school murders last year - why on earth do you need an assault rifle, i.e. an automated machine gun, to defend yourself when those weapons are really designed for murder and not merely just to stop someone from stealing your gold?

However, this is a sports blog and not a judicial blog so we are not really qualified to speak on legal matters. What I am qualified to say is that Pistorius' career and hastily built reputation have now been flushed down the drain from the moment the arrest warrant was pulled out and yet another hero in sport has been consigned to the hall of shame - the 2nd high profile athlete in the last 9 months after Lance Armstrong.

It is these stories which the media thrives upon but it has certainly robbed the sport of another hero and reminded us again that sportspeople are as vulnerable as the rest of us apparently more "mortal" human beings. At the same it reminds us that fame does change people whether they like it or not with all their actions firmly under the microscope of the media and adoring public.