News Item 1 - A 12 year-old boy, standing in line to try out for his Pop Warner football team in the South End, was shot in the chest, apparently caught in the crossfire of another dispute between rival hoods last weekend.

News Item 2 - A 24 year-old man, was shot in the back as he approached a neighborhood basketball court where he was the coach for a group of younger boys. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

News Item 3- A 15 year-old Dorchester girl is wounded in the neck early Wednesday morning in an alleged drive-by shooting near Erie-Ellington park.

News Item 4 - 31 year old Nomar Garciaparra, a former all-star shortstop for the Boston Red Sox and an eight year veteran of the team, was traded last Saturday to the Chicago Cubs. Amidst conflicting stories about the trade, the ballplayer was said to have been miffed after the team, citing a "market correction," reduced a contract offer of $60 million to stay in Boston for the next four years.

Where, oh where, are the heroes in our town, and where the true role models?

The business of professional sports at last has gone beyond the pale. Once it was that our professional ballplayers could be seen and were known by the kids at the playground. It was said that Babe Ruth, when a Bostonian, was a regular in South Boston, and active in the Pere Marquette Council Knights of Columbus. Former Red Sox catcher Sammy White operated his own 10-pin bowling lanes in Brighton. The miracle Boston Braves, they of "Spahn and Sain, and two days of rain," were friends with kids of the Knothole Gang. Before moving to Milwaukee, Braves players assisted Dr. Dana Farber in starting up the Jimmy Fund; continuing their work, Ted Williams was a regular visitor to Longwood Avenue, and with no press and little fanfare, routinely chummed around with little children facing cancer.

Time was you could see Sox number 37, Jimmy Piersall, speak to a communion breakfast on Sunday morning, and play a doubleheader that afternoon at Fenway. Even Celtic center Dave Cowens could be seen driving a cab 'round town, or sitting at a stool at the old No Name restaurant on the Fish Pier, downing a bowl of fish chowder.

But where are the professional athletes of today during their off time? Personal appearances are engineered by corporate marketing offices, autographs are sold to the highest bidder. Nomar himself, evidently a good, even a great guy, was paid for his personal appearances by Dunkin' Donuts.

The side deals they cut are truly amazing: ballplayers are hired by department stores and tire dealers to appear for an hour at malls, only to be whisked away in stretch limos. One current Sox player sells us fried chicken; another Ford trucks. When footballer Adam Vinietieri cut a TV commercial at the Gallivan Blvd. Papa Gino's, some neighborhood kids who lined up in the parking lot to see him were broomed away by burly security guards.

It is, for today's athletes, all about the money.

Meanwhile, young kids grow up in city neighborhoods, fall in love with the caricature of athletic celebrity the pro sports industry creates, and dream some day they can become just like their sports heroes.

Wouldn't it be great if just once in a while, one or more of these celebrities would just show up, unannounced, at a playground and make friends with some of these children. There was one Celtic a decade and more ago- Reggie Lewis- who did just that. The late NBA player rented an apartment at Harbor Point, played pick-up games with kids from the point and at nearby BC High, and became more than a role model: he became a mentor to the young people who grew to know him, not just as an athlete, but as a human being, with great skills and some flaws as well.

Maybe if there were just a few like Reggie in the current crop of pro ball players around this city, they could get to know, and mentor, and protect the future of some of our children.

So it is we reach out to the young football hopeful and 15-year-old girl who were gunned down -and mourn the 24 year-old coach who died on the edge of the playground basketball court.

In the midst of those real stories, what can be said for the loss of Nomar to Chicago, where he will likely stay for just two months, then as a "free agent" grab again for the golden ring.

The real loss happens too often, almost daily, in the sad trampling of dreams on playgrounds and back streets all across this city. We can't help believing that some of these well-paid sports heroes could help ease the suffering, if only they could break out of their celebrity and become real people, and active citizens of our town. - Ed Forry