To Me, That's A Hero IFC S2R10

A Google search of the word "hero" brings up the following definition; "a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities."

The way I have personally defined "hero" has changed dramatically over the years.

When I was a young'un about the age of seven, I had two heroes, Superman and Spiderman. I mean seriously, what kid doesn't hold fictional superheroes in high regard? First, you have Superman who always fought for Truth, Justice and The American Way plus he was bullet-proof. To me, at that young age, that was a hero.
Second, There was Spiderman, the true underdog superhero with all of his struggles but always seemed to find a way to overcome. To me, as a small child, that was a hero.

Then there was the time that Superman and Spiderman fought... Whaaaaaaat? That was epic.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Having outgrown superheroes by my early 20's I tended to gravitate towards people which I felt had positive traits. One such person was NHL star Teemu Selanne. In 1988, Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings and thus began my fascination with the NHL. I couldn't get enough of it. By February of 1996, when Teemu Selanne was traded from the Winnipeg Jets to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks I was a full-fledged hockey nerd. When he first broke into the NHL in the 1992-1993 he broke the record for most goals scored in a season by a rookie with 76 goals. This record still stands today. He also maintains 11th place for most goals scored in regular season games. These are not the reasons that I looked upon Teemu Selanne as a hero. It was because of his demeanor and the positive traits he portrayed. Here are three reasons why Teemu Selanne makes my list of heroes:

1. Back in his native country of Finland and before he became a hockey sensation Teemu was a kindergarten teacher. Who doesn't love a kindergarten teacher?

2. In the mid 90's Teemu was signed to a 2 year, 2.1 million dollar contract to play for the Mighty Ducks. That same year Jaromir Jagr signed a 7 year, 7 point something million dollar per year contract to play for the Pittsburgh Penguins. During a press conference, a reporter asked Teemu why he, being arguably a better player than Jagr would accept such a low number from the Ducks. Selanne replied, and I'm paraphrasing here, "Two million dollars is a lot of money to do what I love to do, and the more money we get paid as players the higher the cost of tickets for our fans."

3. I saved the best for last. I went to a Mighty Ducks game with a friend in 1998 (the same year Teemu won the MVP at the NHL All-Star Game) and after the game, we went behind the arena hoping to get an autograph. There were hundreds of crowding around players cars as they were leaving. Some players would stop and sign a handful of autographs, while others, most notably Paul Kariya almost ran people over in their fervor to get home from the game. I only wanted to get an autograph from Teemu and was waiting at the edge of a large crowd that had formed around his car. There was easily over 100 people there. In my heart, I knew it wasn't going to happen we had been waiting about 30 minutes and there were only 2 players in their cars signing autographs and still about 70 people left. The other player drove off moments later until only Selanne was left signing autographs. I turned to my friend and said how much this sucked that we would never get his autograph with all of these people still here. A lady who was near us in the crowd overheard me and turned to me and said: "Oh, don't worry, he stays and signs autographs until everyone is gone after every game."

To me, that's a hero.

This is the puck I purchased at that game and he signed for me that after I waited over 2 hours in a large crowd of people.

Now that I am an older man I see what I deem to be heroic acts from many everyday people. To me, being a hero doesn't always require an immense courageous act.

The parent who struggles to make ends meet and goes hungry but ensures their child(ren) have enough to eat. To me, that's a hero.

The man or woman who stands firm in their belief or conviction even when it causes them to be ridiculed. To me, that's a hero.

The thousands of brave young men and women who enlist in our nations Armed Forces knowing at any time they could be called into battle. To me, those are heroes.

The next time someone asks you who your hero is, look to your family, look to your friends, look to those around you and see the heroic traits in them. Or, better yet, look inside yourself and see the hero in you.

Now that I've laid down the cheese, I leave you with this little ditty: