We're living in an age of financial crisis in ALOT of countries these days. Countries need money and they can't find it. In the newspapers, i constantly read all about how there's a huge money shortage, how it gets harder and harder for most people to pay their bills and taxes. Then, when i read about how much money proffesional athletes get for playing a single game, it just ****es me off. And it's not just their paychecks that bother me. It's how much money is involved with this stuff alltogether that bothers me. Why is it that athletes need to get payed so much? Why are they worth more? There are people who work in stores, on construction sites, farms, factories, etc. All of these jobs are the ones that actually matter to the economy, and they're seriously underpayed most of the time, when football players, who do nothing more than run after a ball every once in a while, get enough money to buy a new car every month if they wanted to. Stuff like sports provides entertainment and relaxation for people who can watch it live or on tv, but that's all it is. Entertainment. In my opinion, athletes don't NEED the money they're getting. They don't deserve it. There are people who work their butts off and barely manage to scratch their living off rocks, while other people run off with all the money they get for doing something that doesn't even matter in the end. Let them find an actual job to get payed for, and play their sports in their free time, like everyone else. /end rant Sorry, i just needed to get that off my mind. I'd like to hear your opinions on it though.
Let me tell you the three things that draw people to sports. Money. Fame. Sex. That's about it. Most players just do it for those three reasons. I don't know why. I consider Football (American) to be a sport for brutes. Basketball is entertaining sometimes though.
While I do think that (European) football can be entertaining and it does require some skill, footballers are very over-payed. Sure, some footballers give a bit of their money to charity, but still, the money they "earn" could be used to help the economy. Like Rarit E said, there are manual workers who deserve at least some of the money more than they do.
This pretty much sums up the whole "99%" argument, and if the OWS protests were any indication, you're not the only one mad about it. Personally I think most popular sports are a bogus waste of time and money, and I definitely agree that it makes no sense that they get paid so much. However, they are putting their health and sometime their lives on the line for entertainment (football players get hurt kind of a lot) so there is that argument. If I had to watch sports, which I don't, I'd rather watch something half interesting, like motocross or superbike racing. But even then that stuff is way more fun to actually do than to watch.
It's quite entertaining to find how hypocritical our western governments/cultures can be, no? This is why we can't have nice things.
I've thought about it plenty of times too. Some of their paychecks from 1 game can have me set for life. With the American system though the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. I just had a talk about this with my mom yesterday. We are extremely poor and may have to move again soon. She's 54 and does intense manual labor just so we can scrape by barely. As for me I can't find a job anywhere. I'm 22 and can't even get started with my life. I feel like a helpless child and it tears me up inside. I want to work, I have plenty of energy to work, but no one will hire me.
http://www.moneyunder30.com/how-much-do-olympic-athletes-earn-unless-youre-michael-phelps-not-enough Does this help?
This will be fun. I just googled Payton Manning's contract. Five years and 96 million dollars. He get that to throw a freaking ball around. I also know some smaller NASCAR teams start a race and drive a few laps then they pit. They collect some money for doing almost nothing. I like Daniel Tosh's view. They get payed to catch a ball. He doesn't care what they do, just don't complain when I free safety takes your head off. He'll be in the stand laughing "dance on you over payed clown" That's the perfect view.
Yes, it does, thank you. I don't enjoy the fact that people who simply play a game of American Football, Football, or Basketball are paid such substantial amounts of money while the athletes who represent their country during the Olympic games get literally nothing except what they earn off of sponsors. There's something fundamentally wrong with the fact that somebody can work yearly to break world records and get nothing while others get paid ridiculous sums for equal to or less than the work they put in. To be fair here, I'm sure receiving a medal for being one of the best in the world is it's own reward, but it'd be nice to see people show a little respect for the guys who put in more work.
I agree with what Zephyr said. When I read the link I posted. I was amazed that Olympic athletes only get paid if they win and sponsors. And I can't imagine their sponsors giving too much money either. Yet a player of a more popular sport (like football) gets paid millions, even if they lose. Olympic athletes have to train solidly for (at least) four years, whereas footballers only play during seasons. And even during these seasons, they don't play in all of the matches. Comparing the amount of training they do to the amount of money they earn, I've realised how patriotic you have to be to even bother being an olympic athlete.
I don't think it's so much the patriotic aspect of it, as much as it is the idea of competing with absolute best of the best.
The people who work the least usually get paid the most. It's an unfortunate truth, whether it has to do with sports or not. For instance, the Vice President of my company (which is a bit of a superfluous and pompous title given that there is only 9 people in the entire company) gets paid over 200,000 a year, and for the most part, sits in the office and plays solitaire or surfs the internet ALL day. That's just the way it is meng.
I agree with Olympic athletes, more specifically runners, they train many many hours a day, basically their entire life and get paid barely anything. i guess theres not much fun in watching people go around in circles... oh wait... NASCAR.....
The fundamentals of economics my friends. It sucks. Salaries should be gauged to how beneficial that job is to society. http://socyberty.com/economics/why-athletes-get-paid-so-much-and-we-dont/
Really? My store manager gets a bonus bigger then I get paid in a year. Guess what he does. Takes a 2 hour coffee breaks, blames others because he's an idiot and goes to the liquor store. I actually have to do real work, I get nothing. Dumb money.
Like I said. Should be. Teachers also definitely don't get payed nearly as much as they should. You spend all that time going for your masters in college in teaching to get a crappy salary in the end.
I'm planning to major in Engineering when I get myself into college, and I just looked up some salaries for random jobs. Here's what I found: Engineers straight out of 4-year degree make around 50k 10-15 years of being a good/successful engineer will get you around 120-140k supervisors / managers/ executives (if you get that far) make around 150k-200k Now, let's take a moment to compare it to the medical career path! Medical School is difficult and takes a long time, not to mention extremely expensive. young engineers make 50-100k/year from age 22-30, but med students are making nearly zero dollars and paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to their schools Doctors often work day and night, whereas engineers work ~40 hours/week Athletes don't just need to be nerfed, medical degrees should make a lot more than they do! Yes, doctors do make a lot of money; but nobody should have to go through that! To be honest, my dad's a doctor, and I didn't realize what he went through to make his money until I looked it up just now. What the hell, world!?
