It is to agonize over the clumsy, shameful and unembarrassed degeneration of popular English. A particularly unfortunate example is the debasement of the term “hero.” If a hero is some poor unfortunate who simply forgot to duck, how should we describe a real hero? As I see it, a true hero must not just suffer, he must accomplish something, at the imminent risk of his life. Audey Murphy was a hero. Sam Woodfill was a hero. Joe Foss is a hero. But these poor unfortunates who got caught on the wrong side of the bulkhead when the bomb went off were no more heroic than the deer that falls to my rifle.  emphasis added

I couldn’t help but be annoyed by a segment that ran on Fox 4 this morning, called “High School Heros,” because it turned out to be a sports piece about the current Colleyville high school quarterback:

COLLEYVILLE — The Colleyville Heritage Panthers lost several key players last year, including their star quarterback to Florida State. The new quarterback has stepped up in a big way. He is this week’s High School Hero.  emphasis added

Now I’ve known for some time that football is the “national religion of Texas,” but that doesn’t excuse this nonsense.  Being able to play football is not heroic in any way shape or form.  I’m sure this young man is a nice kid who plays well, but that doesn’t make him a hero.

If you’re going to run a story about “High School Heros” I’m expecting real heros, not some football nonsense.