It's time we celebrated true heroes: Pennsylvania's Iraq war veterans

IT'S BAD enough that the St. Louis Cardinals got hot at the end of the year, barely made it into the playoffs and then beat the Phillies in five games. Their hot streak pushed them right into the World Series and a victory parade to celebrate their championship.

St. Louis, recently, beat us a second time. This one refers to their throwing a second parade to celebrate and welcome home our military heroes as they returned from Iraq.

What's wrong with Philadelphia and the rest of the cities? Why has there been no move to fill the void left by the fact that New York City has seen fit to have a giant parade for the Giants, but no parade for the men and women who served in Iraq? It's particularly compelling when you realize that units of the Pennsylvania National Guard that served in Iraq are among some of the most highly decorated among all who served there.

This situation sends a bad message to kids about what is really important and meaningful. This is something that even MSNBC host Rachel Maddow and I agree on. It's important that all of us, but particularly kids, see that there is room for parades for athletic "heroes" and for people who put their lives on the line so that we can enjoy things like sports.

I am not anti-sports "heroes" at all. I think that, societally, we have a snarky tendency to want to tear down public figures who may have a slight flaw but essentially do noble things. Yes, I actually used the word "noble." Let's have more heroes. That's why I pray that Tim Tebow does well, and I root for him (unfortunately, it is impossible to be Tebowing while typing this column).

We are blessed in Philadelphia with four sports teams that have guys who are among the best in their sports and even better at giving back. Phillie Shane Victorino is a really good player, but an even better guy for his work with the Boys and Girls Club and his foundation. This is a good guy for kids to wear his jersey and collect his bobblehead.

However, I think it's even better for kids to see and hear the stories of the men and women who have volunteered for the military. They did this beautifully in St. Louis, where the parade that they held drew 100,000 onlookers and 20,000 participants. We could do a lot better.