It seems America’s youth is losing its sports role models, most recently Michael Phelps and now Alex Rodriguez.

Whether it be weed or steroids, how the mighty have fallen in our eyes.

But before going into a rant about how athletes should “think about the children” let’s be real about these guys. They are athletes. They play sports.

They are not school teachers, whose job is to motivate, influence and even inspire.

They are not volunteers, who donate time out of their busy days to help children.

They are athletes just going about their jobs, which happens to be in the public spotlight.

So why must they be role models too? It seems that responsibility belongs elsewhere.

Maybe if the parents who are so outraged by the actions of these sports stars were role models themselves, their children wouldn’t rely on figures they see on the TV and Internet.

Isn’t that what parents are for? To set a good example for their children, even when those around them are not?

I’ll use myself as an example.

As a kid, I was all about basketball.

I played in a Japanese basketball league, I played every day at school and I played when I got home. There wasn’t a day of the week I wasn’t playing basketball.

My favorite NBA player was Latrell Sprewell, who played for the Golden State Warriors.

I did everything that he did.

He wore No. 15. I wore No. 15. He spun the ball three times before shooting free throws. I spun the ball three times. He breathed deep before shooting. I adopted the same strategy.

And then on Dec. 1, 1997, Sprewell choked his then head coach P.J. Carlesimo with his bare hands, setting off a chain of events that would end up with Sprewell and Carlesimo out of Golden State within a couple years, with their names marred by this scandal for years to come.

Needless to say, I did not go out and start choking people. I didn’t even really feel betrayed that my favorite athlete would do such a thing.

Why?

Because I had a strong family support system. My parents always set good examples and taught me what to do and what not to do.

And when they weren’t around, my uncles and aunts never hesitated to chime in.

With such good role models, I never needed to look elsewhere for them.

My favorite sports figures were nothing more then that, sports figures.

Parents may want to blame Michael Phelps, if their kids start smoking weed at parties or Alex Rodriguez, if they see nothing wrong with cheating.

But Phelps and Rodriguez are the wrong targets, if these same parents were MIA when it came to talking to their children about weed or cheating.

They should blame the person in the mirror, not the one on TV.

Curtis Uemura is a columnist, sports writer and news editor for The Inquirer.

** Check back on Thursday every week for a new edition of Out of Bounds with Curtis Uemura**