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You really don't think the owner has anything on the line when they bought and own a team?!?!?!? Wow, ever owned your own business?
I didn't say that at all. But the OP is saying the athletes shouldn't be paid so much. If the reason a team is sold out for all games and the Jerseys sell out is because the team is good, meaning the athletes are good and they win games, how is it fair to cut their salaries and just let the owners profits triple when the profits are gained on the backs of those athletes? It's not like if the athletes salary is cut the extra money is going to go to charity or something.
I didn't say that at all. But the OP is saying the athletes shouldn't be paid so much. If the reason a team is sold out for all games and the Jerseys sell out is because the team is good, meaning the athletes are good and they win games, how is it fair to cut their salaries and just let the owners profits triple when the profits are gained on the backs of those athletes? It's not like if the athletes salary is cut the extra money is going to go to charity or something.
I agree, I'm sorry for taking your comment out of context. People need to understand that all professional sports are a business and nothing more. We play men's league roller hockey with a bunch of ex NHL and professional ice hockey guys and I always ask them when did playing become less fun and all have said when it became a job.
Ryan Braun... the biggest crook in sports history and he won't do a second in prison.
He cheated... lied about cheating... got caught cheating again... and all he loses is a couple million dollars in salary and he'll get to begin playing again next season... and he still has another 100+ million dollars to collect on his current contract.
Bravo......
Why is anything you wrote criminally illegal to get prison time?
Athletes are paid according to what the owners can afford to pay them. It is the athletes who make the owners rich.
Not many people can hit a baseball that is coming at them over 90 M.P.H., shoot a basketball with skill, throw a football that more often than not, finds it's intended target, or skate up and down on an ice rink shooting a puck past a goalie. Those that can, get paid very well for that talent.
If you would like to stop glorifying them, then that is up to you. Stop watching sports.
With more news about athletes who use performance enhancing drugs to obtain their star status, and especially those athletes charged and found guilty of heinous crimes like murder, let's stop with the hero worship of these below average people.
Especially ordinary working men who can barely afford to take their kids to see a game and buy some hotdogs, why do you worship these guys because they can dribble a ball up and down a court?
It defies logic and women are supposed to be the emotional ones.
It's the same (non-)rationale that affects young, often poorly-educated women who follow the tripe peddled at supermarket checkouts -- a temporary escape from a low sense of self-esteem.
I can offer no quick-and-simple remedy. Most men outgrow this to some degree, sooner or later. But there's always a new crop to take their place
One of the finest critiques of this issue I've read is Dave Winfeld's book Dropping the Ball; It's worth noting, for example, that while the percentage of African-American players in the major leagues has been slightly declining for a number of years (due largely to the rise of the Latin American "baseball academies" -- where the spur of economic circumstances is stronger) the level of education of non-Latin players, white and black alike, continues to rise due to the effect of college baseball -- in class as well as on the field.
Sport willl continue to evolve and, like it or not, money will remain the driving factor. But the recent developments with regard to the practice of "performance enhancement" serve as prooof that most of us beyond our teens can read between the lines.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 08-06-2013 at 04:32 PM..
When was the last time an opera singer was in the news for murder? Or the last time an opera singer was in the news for going to a club and knifing someone?
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How often is an actor or musician in the news for beating someone? Drugs? Car accidents? Holding babies outside windows? They make millions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hot_in_dc
In "real life" these athletes would be below average semi-illiterates, not multi-millionaires.
I question the truth behind their athletic gifts and talents and abilities, and now especially, the longevity of their careers as athletes, without the use of performance enhancing drugs.
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Performance enhancing drugs. Performance enhancing drugs. Yeah, it is terrible, and unfair to use it, but the best we can do is put pressure on owners and league execs to dig deeper. But yes there is truth behind their gifts, talents, and abilities. Anyone who lifts weights, takes drugs, and can shoot a basketball or hit a baseball isn't just going to be a star just like that. Willy nilly. If it was that simple, I could go out right now, grab a group of guys, take steroids or other drugs, lift weights for a few months, shoot the ball around a few days a week and be a pro athlete. But it isn't. Your oversimplification of this topic shows more how you feel about it than what you know about it.
And semi-illiterates? Really? Would that really make you feel better if they were?
Well that's fine if they were, but they aren't. They make millions. And you don't.. They satisfy a role in society as an athlete that you and millions others are not qualified for. But millions of people do enjoy watching it for that reason. We want/need athletes just as much as we need McDonalds workers, janitors, salesman, nurses, CEOs, president. You can't expect every person to have a 3.0-4.0 GPA. Some people are slow/dumb/illiterate...but they have a skillset matching that of their favorite sport. Deal with it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yankees1212
I lose respect for people who minimize the talent level we see at the professional level. Sure, athletes are overpaid and yes, some sports, namely baseball, have been tainted by the pervasive use of performance enhancing drugs. Nonetheless, as we saw from today, baseball is beginning to hand down stiffer penalties on those who do try to cheat the system.
I also disagree with your view that "athletes can only compete by taking performance enhancing drugs". Huh? Have you ever watched college sports or baseball before the steroid era? The competition is only affected in terms of an imbalance between those who use the drugs and those who do not. The raw talent and skill level is still inherent within each and every player imo.
Now, as I said before, I do agree that professional athletes are overpaid BUT people do pay for tickets, merchandise, and other items that ultimately pay these player's salaries. I think concessions at the game are overpriced, but people still pay for them which allows the ridiculous prices to stay at a ridiculous level. Same concept for professional sports, but I think you're always going to see a high demand in an American culture that values sports very highly.
I'm with you on that, and ticket prices have gotten to the point where it's no longer an affordable outing to go to a professional sporting event. The costs are outrageous. I refuse to set foot inside Jerry World, a.k.a. Cowboys Stadium, a.k.a. AT&T whatever they're calling it now. I also refuse to set foot inside the Ballpark at Arlington. I have been to a few Rangers games in the past and just didn't enjoy the experience of paying so much to sit in a tiny uncomfortable seat with overpriced food and drink and the stadium itself is filthy. The traffic is a nightmare.
I much prefer to watch these events in the comfort of my own home where I can pause the live action to pee or pop a bowl of popcorn. YMMV.
Yes, I agree completely! Back in the day (80's) my brother and I used to go to Phillies games all the time. Vet stadium was huge, and we used to be able to walk up to the window 30 minutes before the game and get tickets. General admission was $7.00! I got us World Series tickets for $100 in '93, now it would be $3000.00. They knocked the Vet down and built a nice new stadium that holds less than half the amount of people, and tickets are face value $100 or more but you can't get them for that because they are sold out months before the season starts. I never go to games now unless someone gives me tickets!
Everyone is arguing these top athletes bring in revenue, its justified, yada yada.
You do know if you lowered their salaries, the franchise could lower the cost of the games, and still get the same viewership, and probably more attendance to the games, (except for certain teams such as the NY Rangers that always have a sold out home game).
The salaries climbed and climbed and now the norm for these salaries is astronomical. If you told these superstars from here on out, we're only paying you $200,000, I assure you they will still continue to play, train, and push as much as they can. And if you're worried about intensity declining due to lower salary, make the trophy the team gets at the end of the season worth millions. Trust me, they won't stop doing what they love, and what they are good at. Ask anyone, a job in your sport you love, or a job in an office, and most people will take the sport.
NO they'll go play in Europe or Japan or wherever they can make more money.
Yes, I agree completely! Back in the day (80's) my brother and I used to go to Phillies games all the time. Vet stadium was huge, and we used to be able to walk up to the window 30 minutes before the game and get tickets. General admission was $7.00! I got us World Series tickets for $100 in '93, now it would be $3000.00. They knocked the Vet down and built a nice new stadium that holds less than half the amount of people, and tickets are face value $100 or more but you can't get them for that because they are sold out months before the season starts. I never go to games now unless someone gives me tickets!
But the Phillies in the last few years have been one of the best teams in baseball, in order to do that the payroll is very high. The owner spends the $ to put a top level team on the field, the costs are passed on to the fans. Every team that's won the World Series has had a payroll of 100 million plus. You have to spend to win. Our Twins had a good stretch for 7-8 yrs of making playoffs every year, now owner got his stadium built, spends more one year, cuts payroll the next and now we're terrible. I'd gladly pay more for a ticket to have a winning team. When the team wins, more people care which means more of the local economy benefits a ton. Steroids have been apart of baseball and sports since the beginning. I could careless if they made it legal. The season where McGwire and Sosa battled for hr title was the best baseball season ever!
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People need to understand that all professional sports are a business and nothing more. We play men's league roller hockey with a bunch of ex NHL and professional ice hockey guys and I always ask them when did playing become less fun and all have said when it became a job.
YMMV.
