Paid to Play

I have received several text messages this week from ESPN (yes, ESPN - I love sports!) regarding the contracts that baseball and football players are signing. $45 million for 2 years. $100 million for 7 years.

Millions.

I've said before that it is none of my business how people choose to spend their money. And I stand by that. But that doesn't mean that I can't challenge them to think about it.

Basically, these men (I know there's women's basketball and soccer but I only hear about men and the big bucks) are being paid to play a game. Entertain us. That's all.

I have a hard time swallowing those numbers for this type of work. If there was no baseball season this year (and let's face it, there have been several shortened baseball seasons because of players' strikes) what would we really be missing? Its not like the firefighters went on strike and everyone's homes burned down. Or the teachers quit teaching so our children all ran loose in the streets. Take a look at New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and you'll get an idea of what a world without police officers looks like.

I think there are many professions that are underpaid and under appreciated. Entertainers and athletes are not among that list.

Growing up, I used to want to be a teacher. My mother, a lifelong educator, was adamently opposed. Adamently. Said I could do more with what I'd been given. (To her credit she also recognized a lack of patience on my part that is generally a prerequisite to teaching). I will never forget the day I got my offer letter from an international accounting firm. Thanksgiving week of my senior year in college. I was still in school and completely untested in my chosen field. My mother, 22 years of experience with hours above her Master's Degree, looked at it and said "You'll be making $500 more a year than me. That's why I wouldn't let you be a teacher."

Total reality check.

I know there are bad teachers, corrupt policeman, soldiers who go overboard in conflicts. But maybe society has set them up to fail. How can you attract the cream of the crop when they are barely making a living wage? I know many families in these very important professions who have to work side jobs just to make the ends meet in a very modest lifestyle. They aren't driving the big cars or living in the mansions. And yet, they protect us at night while we sleep. They rush into the burning buildings while everyone else is running out. They are shaping the minds of our future in their classrooms.

Just seems a little out of whack that we, collectively, put such a small price tag on such important work. The true pillars and foundations of our communities. Yet the guys that can jump the highest, run the fastest and hit the ball the farthest are negotiating multi-million dollar contracts for just a couple of years of work.

I realize I'm part of the problem. Daddy always said if you're not part of the solution then you're part of the problem. I pay the big ticket prices to attend concerts. I pay for all the sports channels so I can watch football and NASCAR. I did quit attending professional baseball games after the second or third players strike. Found out I didn't miss it after a while. And I won't watch a movie or television if the actors and actresses have become too outspoken for my tastes and forgotten that they are paid to entertain, not espouse all their views of the world. Some nights I end up reading a lot.

As I said, team owner can spend their money as they wish. They earned it. If they want to pass out millions to one player, that's their business. But, if Congress, who is in charge of spending MY money, can pass out trillions of dollars for projects to watch beavers build dams and crickets mate, why can't we find the money to pass out the the people who really need and deserve it? There are school districts that can't buy basic supplies for their classrooms. Firefighters using outdated equipment. Surely there is a way to reprioritize our tax money. In long run, won't the benefits be greater?

Or maybe we really do need to know much gas the cows in Texas are expelling is depleting the ozone layer.