Athletes are some of the highest paid people in the world. They make us cheer and some even make us cry.
Sports are what I would call the "Base of America." We as a country live and breathe for when these athletes go into play. We are their greatest fans, but have you ever wondered how much these athletes get paid just to hit, catch or throw a ball?
To get some perspective, I looked into the "Fortunate 50" highest paid athletes in the business. Guess who was sporting the crown?
Surprise, it was Tiger Woods the golf player. For just one year, Woods gets paid over $111 million. He is paid all this for hitting a tiny golf ball.
Now don't get me wrong, I appreciate the work and skill he has to put into the sport and most of his millions come from endorsements. But is $111 million necessary? I can only pray to make that in my lifetime.
Someone has to be the doctor, the septic-tank cleaner and the janitor in our schools. These are the people we should be building America on, but are we?I am amazed at the amount he has. He is so good and so famous now that he can pick and choose which matches he wants to play in. But I guess if I was that good I would to.
However, it really isn't Tiger Woods that peeves me. It's the other 49 top-paid athletes.
Over half of them are either basketball or baseball players. Only four football players made the list. Our very own Peyton Manning came in twelfth out of the bunch.
For being one of America's favorite pastime sports, they seem a little lacking in the overpaid category.
Currently, I live in the dorm and eat my sometimes overcooked Ramen and survive pretty well. We all do it; we all survive on low budgets. So it baffles me that athletes need this much to survive.
People work hard at plenty of back-breaking jobs and get very little recognition. From the school teachers to the bus drivers, these are the people who work for us and have probably worked for the athletes at some point or another.
People have tough jobs that need to be done on a daily basis; if you have ever watched an episode of "Dirty Jobs " you know what I mean.
Someone has to be the doctor, the septic-tank cleaner and the janitor in our schools. These are the people we should be building America on, but are we?
No, we build it around athletes who are technically being paid by the fans to give a good show.
It is the truth and it is harsh. You may not think this is such a big deal and you enjoy the entertainment that comes along with sports, but how far is too far?
Comments
Sherra commented, on February 17, 2008 at 11:58 p.m.:
How much should athletes be paid do you think? 100k? 500k? Who do you think should decide this? The govt? In China doctors who spend 12 years in school get paid the same as janitors or athletes. And why not, they say, if they all work hard? The problem with this thought process (and yours) is that not everyone works hard and not everyone is equally talented or motivated. If everyone gets paid approximately the same then what is the motivation to go for the extra education or to work extra hard? They also decide which children should go to manufacturing jobs and which should go on for more education. Would you have wanted someone in Washington doing that for you when you were 12?
The truth is that if someone earns money legally then they are entitled to it. In our capitalist society if you want money then you can go earn it too. No you may not be able to hit a golf ball but if you get over your jealousy maybe you could win a Pulitzer prize. That is unless they pass a law saying that pulitzer prize winners make too much money. Now that would be Harsh wouldn't it?
Bridget commented, on February 18, 2008 at 1:35 p.m.:
I think Sherra is a little misguided in her attack. I think it is ridiculous to think that teachers make less than $50,000 a year and athletes make, well, millions. Teachers are "motivated" to help people. I think their pay check should reflect the hardwork they put into it. I know atheletes work hard, but I believe it is a little silly to pay them massive amounts of money when everyday people, who do things that are more influential to society, can sometimes barely survive.
Jewell commented, on February 18, 2008 at 2:50 p.m.:
Sorry to be commenting on my own article but I have to point out to Sherra the basic fact that I am NOT jealous. If I was jealous I would be completely bad-mouthing athletes and their pay. But I'm not.
Also I would like to point out that China is a one-party government based mainly around Communism. And I would hope everyone knows what Communism means, basically everyone gets paid the same thing. So using that as an example of your prime argument is a little weak.
Kelly commented, on February 18, 2008 at 5:13 p.m.:
Sherra seems to struggle with basic reading comprehension. The writer of this article does not claim that all professions should be paid the same. She simply makes a valid point that athletes are paid an inordinate amount of money to play games. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does demonstrate how highly our society values entertainment.
Sherra commented, on February 19, 2008 at 11:17 a.m.:
The basis of the argument that athletes (or any other highly paid profession) are paid too much because other professions make too little is flawed. The article sounded like this was some sort of an injustice. How would you fix such an injustice? Who would you appoint to set salaries? Who would be in charge of how much a person could make? Would you cap a football player's salary at $200k? Who would get more football players or baseball players? Baseball plays more games but football players risk more injury? Athletes are highly paid because our system of government is a free market society. They are paid from ticket sales. More importantly, who would you trust to set your salary cap? My earlier reference to China was only to state that the only way to limit what people make is to have a govt. do it for you.
Teachers are absolutely not paid what they are worth and that is a huge problem. But who runs that system? The government runs that system. To increase their salaries to any significant level would increase the tax burden and slow the economy even further. The same teachers would be there and the already lacking education system would not change. The other option is to turn our education system over to the free market where teachers are paid on results and are paid accordingly.
The author of the article did put herself in comparison to athletes. My point really wasn't a jab at her, though, it was just to say enjoy this free market society, work hard and improve yourself and who knows what heights you can achieve in whatever field you choose. We should all be looking for solutions and not just sounding out problems.
John commented, on February 19, 2008 at 7:54 p.m.:
Its an opinion article Sherra...Think about it. The writer is allowed to make the comparison, though it could have been worded better.
matt commented, on June 15, 2008 at 5:51 p.m.:
The title of this is a little silly. The salaries don't represent America's values, it represents America's technology.
America values education or healthcare more than basketball or football, but the best school teacher in the world can only teach 30 kids at a time. A doctor can treat one person at a time. Tiger Woods can entertain millions at once.
If Lebron James was standing in front of us, we'd all pay more for a janitor to clean our house or a teacher to teach our children than we would to have James play 1-on-1 with Kobe Bryant.
Due to technology, however, we don't make those decisions. Millions of people can watch Lebron on tv (generating ratings, leading to advertisement revenue and paying his giganctic salary). Millions can't benefit from a doctor. Only one at a time, so his salary isn't as large because 100 or 200 people that doctor treats a year can't make up the $30M that pro athletes make for essentially selling their services to the millions of people they reach.