The following was first published on the Opinion Page of FoxNews.com by SportsFans.org Board Member Brad Blakeman:

Today it seems we are surrounded by sports scandal and greed. From the looming NFL shutdown of the 2011 season to the criminal conviction of baseball star Barry Bonds for obstruction of justice or the homophobic rant given by Kobe Bryant to an NBA referee, there are plenty of examples to illustrate my point.
The great escape from reality that sports used to offer has become just as troubling and tiresome as the trials and tribulations of our daily lives.

Kids used to look up to sports heroes whojm they saw as bigger than life. That because the sports stars of days gone by were people you could look up to and aspire to be. Sports used to be an oasis where the back of the paper or sports TV reporting was a respite from the “news” of the day. Today, the excesses we see in sports are exposed on the front page and business pages of the newspaper with the same greed and coldness you might find in a rogue Fortune 500 company.

Today more than ever, America needs heroes — people we all can look up to and admire. Sports figures, celebrities, politicians and entertainers who choose to enter public life have a special responsibility to live their lives in a manner which brings respect to themselves and their professions. Of course, parents should be the ultimate role models for their children. But let’s face it, the kinds of people kids look up to and seek to emulate also have an influence on them. And you know what, often, the people kids look up to most are sports figures.

How many sports stars realize how very lucky they are? They are paid millions of dollars to play a sport that they love. It is a career they worked years to break into to and in the end a career that they chose. They knew it carried special responsibilities because of the very public nature of their work.

Realizing of course the frailties of individuals, it is not that we should paint athletes as saints. We should, however, hold them to a higher standard than the mere mortal.

In 2009, Steve Raich’s stellar book  ”True Heroes of Sports: Discovering the Heart of a Champion,” the author defined what a hero should be.

“What do you think of when you hear the word hero? When I think of the concept of a hero, the word character immediately comes to mind.”

“We look up to our heroes, admire them, and even follow them. But how can we do any of these things if our heroes do not possess good character?”

Raich goes on to wrestle with the problem of defining a hero based on the current culture of a 24/7 news cycle and athletes who having little or no privacy.

“A hero is not merely someone who can hit a baseball 400 feet, sink a 40 foot putt, nail a 3-pointer, leap into the end zone, or win a gold medal.”

“Heroes are much more than that. They are people who do not live for accolades or big bank accounts. Rather they live to fulfill their God-given destinies and to use their talents and gifts to leave the world a better place because of their influence.”

I agree with Raich’s assessment that although we may have a hard time coming up with a definition of what a hero is, there is no doubt that we all can clearly identify when someone possesses that special something. That “it” which we cannot adequately define but can identify is the heart of a champion. And that heart is not beating to the same rhythm in the run-of-the-mill athlete.

I respectfully submit that heroes are not made when they sign a multi-million dollar contract. Heroes are born into a family, whose values and character shape their ultimate destiny. Little League coaches can have a greater impact on a developing player than a college or professional coach could ever hope to have.

That is why it is so very important that kids have heroes.

But in order for kids to have heroes they have to have access to them beyond what they see on television. That is why it is so important for sports to be accessible and affordable to families.

Owners must make it their mission to keep ticket prices and the experience of sports within the affordability of the average fan.

Our country continues to face the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Our national unemployment rate still exceeds 8 percent. Businesses are closing, folks are losing their homes and cars, yet, and at ballparks with high-ticket prices you would think we are in boom times. A recent study shows that 63 percent of fans believe that high-ticket prices are preventing families from attending sporting events.

The average cost for a family of three to attend ONE game is as follows:

3 Loge Level tickets: $150.00 @50.00 per.
3 Hot Dogs, Sodas, and Cracker Jacks: $44.00
3 Baseball Caps: $57.00
Parking: $20.00
Total cost: $271

If you can believe it, the average cost for a ticket to a MLB game went up this year by 5 percent. Is it any wonder ballparks all across the country are suffering from low attendance? Attendance nationally is down by 6 percent. It is just plain wrong that sports fans from infants to seniors are denied the ability to be there to enjoy their favorite sports because they are priced out.

Owners should be role models too. After all, what would their franchises be worth if no one came to see their teams play? They should set a good example for their employees and fans by acting responsibly, with character, determination fairness and passion. All the attributes they expect from their players on and off the field.

I say we can never have enough heroes in America. The hard part is finding real honest to goodness ones.

–

Bradley A. Blakeman served as deputy assistant to President George W. Bush from 2001-04. He is currently a professor of Politics and Public Policy at Georgetown University and writes frequently for Fox News Opinion.

Washington, D.C. — Sports Fans Coalition plans to hold a rally in Portland on Thursday to protest Comcast’s withholding of television broadcasts of Trail Blazers games from many fans. Blazers fans are enduring their fourth season of Comcast’s stranglehold on games and hundreds have signed SFC’s petition asking the Oregon State Legislature to demand Comcast make good on its promise to make the games available to all fans.

SFC Executive Director Brian Frederick and SFC Board Member Brad Blakeman will lead a rally alongside Joel Barker and other frustrated Blazer fans at the Rose Garden Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. SFC has asked fans to bring a remote control to the rally in symbolic protest of Comcast’s control over them.

“Blazer fans finally have the chance to make some serious noise in protest of Comcast,” Frederick said. “With enough signatures and enough support we can finally change the channel on Comcast.”

At the outset of the ten-year contract struck between Comcast and the Portland Trail Blazers, Comcast promised Oregon sports fans that they would get to view home games on its regional sports network — Comcast SportsNet Northwest — regardless of which company provided their TV. So far, Comcast has only made CSN Northwest available to smaller cable companies that don’t compete with Comcast.

“How long can we allow Comcast to exploit Blazer fans and keep my family in rural Oregon from our only professional sports team?” Barker asked. “The Blazers are a part of our identity as Oregonians. We are signing this petition to make our voices be heard.”

On Friday, Frederick and Blakeman plan to head to the Oregon State Legislature in Salem to deliver the list of signatures supporting SFC’s petition which asks, “Where Are My Blazers Games?”

“Comcast is continuing to break its promise with the people of Oregon, who have put their tax dollars toward the Trail Blazers’ arena,” Blakeman stated. “It’s up to Blazers fans to demand that the government ask Comcast about its broken promise.”

Sports Fans Coalition also intends to provide the signatures and a letter to the FCC, which is currently considering Comcast’s proposed purchase of NBC Universal. In July, the Trail Blazers organization asked the FCC to require Comcast to make the games available to other carriers as part of the conditions for purchasing NBC Universal.

“Sports fans around the country will know how Blazers fans feel if Comcast is allowed to purchase NBC Universal,” Frederick said.  “That’s why we are speaking up for sports fans everywhere. We want control!”

Sports Fans Coalition is a nonprofit established in 2009 that is fighting to give fans a voice on issues like media blackouts, high ticket prices, stadium construction and college football playoffs. Sports Fans Coalition’s agenda advocates that sports fans should be able to watch their local teams play, regardless of how fans get their TV, and opposes all blackouts. SFC’s online Blazers petition can be found here.

In the span of 24 hours, SFC board member Brad Blakeman represented sports fans in Oregon and across the country by going on the radio, speaking to TV and newspaper reporters, and most importantly, by testifying in the Oregon General Assembly hearing targeting the Portland Trail Blazers’ deal with Comcast which shuts out so many fans from the team’s broadcasts.

Watch the video of Brad’s testimony:

Comcast promised to provide competitors access to games so that the areas where Comcast is not available in Oregon, fans would still be able to watch their games.  Furthermore, the FCC has ruled that it is not lawful to maintain local sports exclusives.  In other words, even where Comcast is available, they need to share the games with competitors so consumers have the choice of carriers.  Almost 3 years ago, this deal was struck, the promise was made, and the fans are still left out in the cold without access to their Blazers games.

The media recognizes that the activist state that is Oregon will not settle for this mistreatment.  Blakeman’s testimony was mentioned in Willamette Week Online, The Oregonian, KPTV, The Oregon Politico, and BlazersEdge.com.  His interviews on The Lars Larson Show and on The Game 95.5 helped spread the word to current and future members of the new Local Chapter SFC-Portland.

SFC has built the avenue to channel the frustration of so many Blazers fans who are signing the petition asking the state legislature, ‘Where Are My Blazers Games?‘  Sports Fans in Oregon are taking action deciding to JOIN THE COALITION, to become a fan of SFC Portland on Facebook, and to follow the local chapter on Twitter.

We need to keep the pressure on Comcast, the team, and the state representatives to make this right.  We Want Our Games!

The buck needs to stop with Fans/Voters when it comes to public financing of stadiums, arenas and sports facilities that are designed and built for professional sports teams.

In short, no public funds should be used for this purpose without a
Referendum placed before the People for their up or down vote.

To date, Fans has been locked out of the decision making process with regard to the building of mega multi-million dollar sports facilities with their tax dollars. The Fans have bourn the brunt of the decisions as opposed to being benefited by them.

A Referendum process would force more light to be shed on decisions to spend public monies for primarily private purposes. It would also allow Fans more input in the decision making process itself.

Transparency is a good thing but, the politicians and the sports teams
owners will not practice it on their own.

That is where Sports Fans Coalitions comes in. With your help, we will force
government officials and businessmen to act in the public’s interest and as
a result, the needs of Fans will be first and foremost as opposed to an
after thought.

We need your help. Join SFC today and tell your friends to join as well.
There is strength in numbers and we are building a strong, effective and
lasting coalition that will make a real difference today, tomorrow and for
the future.

It is up to us all to keep sports “fair and square”. It used to be a pledge for all those who play and spectate that “it is not whether you win or lose but how you play the game”. Sadly, it is not that way anymore.

Sports has become a big business, consumed with profit and the bottom-line. Fans are mere pawns in the off the field antics of teams, leagues and
governments. For too long fans have been taken for granted and not
considered or heard from as decisions are made that directly affect them.

Needless to say, the powers that be are not happy with the birth of Sports
Fans Coalition. They see us as a threat to the business as usual ways in
which they operate. They know that if SFC is successful it will mean that
fans will have a voice and will influence decisions that are made.

It is truly amazing the reception we have gotten from fans. People are excited to learn that finally there is a serious group that is ready to fight in their
behalf. We need your help now.

Please sign up today and become a SFC Fan. Lend your voice. Make a donation. Leave a comment. Tell a friend. We are on our way to building a national coalition that will change professional and college sports for the better.

After all, what value do sports have without the “fan”?