Joe Paterno.
If I would have mentioned that name a week ago, your immediate thoughts would have been much different than they were a few seconds ago when you read it.
Admiration is a tricky thing that I often get wrong. I often make the mistake of admiring a person instead of admiring a person's actions. I see that many people have made that same mistake as evidenced the last few days.
I can admire a man's determination. I can admire a woman's devotion. I can admire a child's innocence. But when the admiration shifts from the actions to people, we're setting ourselves up for failure.
Humans are just that: human. We're ALL going to fail. Your heroes are going to let you down. Your mentor is going to mess up.
The good news is this: if we admire actions, we can't be let down. I admire what Joe Paterno did as a football coach. The actions, not the man. I admire what O.J. Simpson did as a running back. The actions, not the man. I admire the work ethic of many celebrities. The actions, not the man.
Choose the target of your admiration carefully. Try not to admire the person. Then, when our heroes fail, our admiration can remain intact.