'Role model' Derek Jeter named 11th greatest leader in the world

Fortune Magazine is out with its list of the world's 50 greatest leaders, and many of them are the types of people you'd expect to see on there. The Pope comes in first, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is second, and Bill Clinton cracks the top five. But then you get to No. 11 and — nestled between Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and renowned social activist and Harlem Children's Zone founder Geoffrey Canada — there is New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter.

Jeter merited such a high ranking because, according to the magazine, he's the "type of role-model player that even a Red Sox fan must grudgingly respect." Well, I'm a Red Sox fan (sorry) so I'll quibble with that. For whom is Jeter a role model? Aspiring philanderers who want to send dates home with gift baskets full of autographed memorabilia?

Yes, Jeter is the leader of the most lucrative, visible, and annoying team in professional American sports. But putting him among the ranks of world leaders, famed entrepreneurs, activists and the like is insane. Then again, Fortune also put Bono — Bono! — ahead of the Dalai Lama, which is a pretty good sign the whole list is hogwash.

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