Athletes?

[cooljayhu]

so its no secret that athletes get paid mucho dollars to play sports but the question is should they? Should a guy like a-rod get paid 30+ mil to play a game enjoyed mostly by 8 year olds. Sure they're good at what they do but honestly what do they contribute to society? Entertainment? Some of them give back and that is commendable but if just one of them donated half their salary to charity it would spark a movement. Why don't they do it? Cause humans are inherently greedy and narcassitic. They look out for numoro uno first and foremost before they even think about anyone else.

I don't blame the athletes however, I blame us. The fans. We pay their salaries so when we fork over $80 for a nosebleed seat for the Oilers game versus the last place kings we are fueling the problem in North America right now. People are not being paid what they deserve. Health care workers and EMTS save lives everyday and get shafted. Police officers, fire fighters and soldiers routinely put their lives in danger and what do they get. A gold star, a pat on the back, and a 30K salary (if that).

Look I'm not saying that if I was in an athletes situation I would act any different. I'm not saying I would take 300K when the "market" says I should get 3 mil. Just like they do I would look out for myself and my family before I worry about anyone else (if I even do worry about anyone else at all). But I think that if we all step back and look at this objectively we would see the ridiculousness of paying someone millions to do what exactly? Play a game? Entertain us? (don't even get me started on actors who play make believe for millions). It's just silly.

[dkgojackets]

If you dont like the free market then move to north korea.

[cooljayhu]

how does saying athletes are overpaid make me communist? Are retarded? I think I might start calling you Rain Man from now on. Seriously if you don't have a point to make SHUT THE FUCK UP.

[JackTheRipper]

Cooljay, he's just a prick who says whatever he can to be a prick.

Back on topic, I believe that baseball and basketball players are WAY overpaid because for the most part, they're not risking themselves nearly as much as other sports. However, overall, american sports (i don't know about the pay scales elsewhere, so I won't argue those) are paying athletes entirely too much. But oh well.

[cooljayhu]

not the cfl we got it right up here. the highest paid player makes 500K. Of course thats only cause we have like a quarter of the population of the united stats but I enjoying ignoring facts that disprove my points (just like david)

[Loki]

The thing about baseball is, it is very likely the most difficult sport in America, if not the world. It's not all that easy to hit a ball 100+ times a year when it's going 90+ miles an hour most of the time, throw in some sinks and some other crazy movements, yea it gets hard. Sure it's not harmfully dangerous but it is certainly physical draining in every which way, depending on your position for the most part. If you want my honest opinion, a catcher should be getting paid way more than he does in comparison to other players considering the fact that he basically runs the whole game, sits in that terrible position for half the game and pretty much ruins his body by the time he's 35 or so.

Maybe they're overpaid but I voted no. Certain ones like A-Rod, like Johan, and DEFINITELY Barry Zito, you can make an argument for. But yes, they are entertainers in their highest right and a sport that makes millions and millions of dollars should be paying their players top dollars don't you think? An athletic league has absolutely nothing to do with the state or this country as far as the money paid out, so it's not their fault that health care and everything else gets paid much less when they are far more important.

Yes, for many it's greed and that's terribly sad while one of the greatest quarterbacks of the all-time, Brett Favre, was getting paid far less than the likes of Michael Vick but there are those not concerned with that like him and simply wanted what they felt was enough to support their FAMILY and that included cousins and aunts and uncles and everyone else they felt needed some money.

Bleh, who cares how much money they make? It's really not effecting anyone but themselves and the whiny fans who likes to use payroll as an excuse for why their team doesn't play up to par with the majority of the league and why their should be a salary cap in baseball and blah blah blah. If you want to talk about greed, isn't it fair to assume that a team like the Royals or whomever might be the ones being greedy? Surely they have enough by now saved up for ONE star? Just one? Look at the Tigers now, they clearly got cash at some point or something.

I don't know, I think there are just a lot of things overlooked when people tried to complain about this. I also think there are more things that we don't even know about why they all ask for this much money.

[Freak93]

There is greed all throughout sports, it is hard to just single out the athletes.

[Keeper]

Until people ever started a movement against the costs in sports, they don't have reason to complain. I think they're overpaid, but it's not like fans have ever stood up and forced the teams to reduce expenses.

[Jay [FSU]]

david said:

If you dont like the free market then move to north korea.

bye bye

[dkgojackets]

You people really need to take an economics course. Players make exactly what someone is willing to pay them. If there was a law that required teams to spend X dollars on players then you might have an argument. If some new legislation forces owners to pay double the contract salary then they would be overpaid. But fortunately in this country there is the right to voluntary contract when both parties have consideration.

Look at it this way. There are 32 starting QBs in the NFL. Of those, I would say about 10 of them are good. If only ten people in the world can perform a job at the required level, in a role which people obviously want to see performed at its highest for entertainment value, why should they make as much as someone who has a job millions of people can perform with the same ability?

[dkgojackets]

cooljayhu said:

not the cfl we got it right up here. the highest paid player makes 500K. Of course thats only cause we have like a quarter of the population of the united stats but I enjoying ignoring facts that disprove my points (just like david)

Or because very few people care about the cfl and it doesnt make as much money as big sports leagues. You think if a team offered a player a million for a season he would say "nah, Im cool with 500K"? Its all supply and demand. Population has nothing at all to do with it, I dont know where that came from.

[Keeper]

David may be a dick 99% of the time these days, but he's entirely right on this one.

[Chief Bstn]

I'm going to say yes, but if someone's offering to pay it, than to me, it's not as bad.

[cooljayhu]

david said:

cooljayhu said:

not the cfl we got it right up here. the highest paid player makes 500K. Of course thats only cause we have like a quarter of the population of the united stats but I enjoying ignoring facts that disprove my points (just like david)

Or because very few people care about the cfl and it doesnt make as much money as big sports leagues. You think if a team offered a player a million for a season he would say "nah, Im cool with 500K"? Its all supply and demand. Population has nothing at all to do with it, I dont know where that came from.

I was kidding about the cfl but whatever. I'm not blaming the athletes for being overpaid, they get what the "market" says they should get and thats fine. But really do they deserve to be paid millions for what they do? They play a game, a game that they would prob play for free. They don't contribute to society except for charity work and are generally pretty useless except on the court or the field or the rink.

[dkgojackets]

They provide an entertainment value which the population has obviously proven has great value in our society, shown by the amount of money people are willing to spend for tickets/merchandise/etc. People don't want to just go to work and then go home to do nothing every day, there has to be an entertainment sector and only the best are accepted into it. That's a contribution to society.

[cooljayhu]

Yes but that does not mean they should get paid millions of dollars. Fire fighters, police officers, etc make 100X the contribution that athletes do and they don't get paid

[Freak93]

cooljayhu said:

Yes but that does not mean they should get paid millions of dollars. Fire fighters, police officers, etc make 100X the contribution that athletes do and they don't get paid

In an ideal world. Just stop supporting professional sports. I have for the most part, has it made a difference? Not at all. However, it makes me feel special when I am a very plain person.

[cooljayhu]

sure it's idealist but dont you think people should be paid what they deserve. And I haven't been to a pro sports (except the NLL but they don't get paid anything) game in a while.

[dkgojackets]

cooljayhu said:

Yes but that does not mean they should get paid millions of dollars. Fire fighters, police officers, etc make 100X the contribution that athletes do and they don't get paid

If you feel so strongly then just suggest that the government make everyone pay 100x what they are now in taxes and then there will be funds available.

[cooljayhu]

or maybe people like you should stop forking over 100 bones to see a game you can watch on TV