The rant about the hero thing

For those of you not in the U.S., today has brought North Americans the edifying spectacle of baseball star Mark McGuire weeping in an interview in which he bemoans his use of steroids. Sheldon Kopp said (in If you meet the Buddha on the Road, kill him) "If you have a hero, look again; you have diminished yourself in some way". All human relations start in projection, a feeling of recognition of something in oneself in another. If taken to an extreme, though, projection not only elides power from the hero worshipper, but also from the person being made to fit the mold of the needs and expectations of that worshipper. Perhaps it's a need for something solid in a world that changes? But solid people...they would have to be statues, wouldn't they?

No, neither of these two look much like Mark McGwire –nor much like me, although I've been both characters at different times.