We need a national hero and Pat Rafter should be it. No whines, no tantrums, and he is generous. A star act if ever we had one.

A lot has been said, nearly all nice, about Pat Rafter now he has become the first Australian to top the tennis rankings since John Newcombe a quarter of a century earlier.

But what hasn't been uttered, at least not loud enough to notice, is that Rafter now is not only No. 1 in tennis, but is entrenched as the nations' No. 1 sporting hero.

He wins in straight sets.

But it seems we are still not comfortable in placing our idols on pedestals. Everyone loves Pat, but he is not promoted for the good sport he is.

Americans do it brilliantly, create whole industries around chosen ones -- turn superb athletes like Michael Jordan into demigods, let favourite sons like O. J. Simpson get away with murder.

Commercialisation of sport stars may not necessarily be a good thing, but it goes with the territory and helps reinforce positive role models, so it is the price we have to pay.

Perhaps it's time we made a bigger deal out of bona fide heroes. Like our Pat. If not for us, then for our kids. Because if ever we needed home-grown role models it is now. Life is getting more complicated by the minute. We need a hero to lead the way. Someone who keeps things pretty simple and doesn't stray far from his beliefs.

No-frills-Rafter is the epitome of that. No-one comes close to matching him. Not Greg Norman, not Cathy freeman, not Michael Doohan, not Shane Warne, not even Kieren Perkins or Susie O'Neil. That is not to demean their achievements; they are all true champions in their fields, but Pat's not just a champ, he is the complete package. It's not so much what he has done in the sporting arena, it's that he has managed to remain level-headed and humble in a sport notorious for producing more than its fair share of brats. Look at them, from McEnroe and now Hingis to another of our Pats, in Cash. You can admire their ability but not their behaviour. You wonder how many kids out there got the idea you need to be a tortured soul or spoilt upstart to succeed. That's why we need to nurture our true heroes. Put them up high for everyone to see. No-one is a better ambassador, no-one more Australian and no-one more deserving of hero-worship than the bloke with the funny red and
white floral shorts and the silly ponytail. Rafter would probably cringe at the idea that he was being placed above the Shark and the Superfish, but that illustrates his humility.

He might live in the Bahamas, for tax purposes, but unlike Greg Norman, he will never be mistaken for anything other than Australian.

And unlike some of our stars, he never says the wrong thing, never comes over as a whiner. He seems genuinely grateful for the talent God has given him.

He even makes mild American tennis superstar Pete Sampras look a bad sport in comparison.

While Sampras continues to make rather catty remarks about Rafter, our champ playfully refuses to take it too seriously and that just makes Sampras - whom Rafter concedes is a much greater tennis player -- seem all the smaller.

Rafter is a throwback to an earlier Australia. A man not unlike Newk himself, who can still laugh at himself and who thinks most things in life can be worked out with a quiet beer after the battle.

This is the bloke who gave away hundreds of thousands of dollars to a kids charity, who always puts his hand up to represent his country and who still says "sorry mate" if he messes up his ball-toss.

He makes a mockery of the saying nice guys finish last.