Are athletes payed too much?

          I know this rant won't totally involve computers, but this was something that I felt would be appropriate as a post for today.  Seeing that today was Super Bowl Sunday, I'm sure many of us got together with some people, made some unhealthy snacks, and drank lots of ... soda.  To us, this seems completely normal as it has been part of a huge tradition in America.  It is the biggest broadcasted television program with the most viewers every single year, and companies spend 10 times the amount they normally would just to play one of their commercials during that time slot.  But if you take a step back and look at the facts, what are we really doing?  We are being entertained with people getting tackled, trampled, getting hurt and throwing a ball back and fourth across a long field.  Any human being would be able to see that the abilities that you have to acquire to play certain sports doesn’t come without a great amount of hard work and dedication.  But as an American citizen, you also know how hard it is to work for every dollar you earn and make a living. People who have families to support and want to be able to put dinner on the table for them have regular jobs and go out to work everyday. For athletes, this really isn’t the case. Personally, I think that athletes make too much money. 

            Becoming as famous as these competitors did not exactly happen by being personally chosen. “It’s not what you know, but who you know,” is a well-known saying that describes a lot about this situation.  For example, Eli Manning and his brother, Peyton, are both quarterbacks for teams in the NFL.  Is it just coincidental that they’re brothers?  Yes, they are both really good football players, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t many other undiscovered people out there who could be just as good, if not better. Maybe if they knew the right people to get them in, or had the money to go to a good college and become recognized, they would be where these famous athletes are today.  I bet if any sports league went and took a group of people and put them through an intense training course for a while, they would be able to play the sport just as well as the other people that are already in it.  I believe a lot of it is luck, you have to be in the right place at the right time and that doesn’t deserve the amount of money that they are being paid.

            If you think about it, being an athlete isn’t exactly a full year job.  Yes, it’s true that they have to keep up with training and staying physically fit and well in shape.  But, depending on the sport, they only play the sport publically during their season.  During off-season, there are no games or anything that requires the attention of the public.  The President of the United States makes about $400,000 per year. Tiger Woods is a very famous golf player.  A slow, calm sport that most people enjoy when the weather is right and when they want to relax.  In a year, Woods earns over $75 million, making him the current highest paid athlete.  Kobe Bryant, the most highly paid basketball player in the country, makes $53 million a year.   To me, this doesn’t make sense.  The leader of the free world doesn’t make nearly as much as these sports players in the least bit. If you step back and think about it, what are they really doing?  Tiger Woods is putting a little ball into a hole in the ground, and Kobe Bryant is shooting rubber balls into metal hoops.

            I feel that being an athlete isn’t even a high priority job.  If the world didn’t have these sports leagues and athletes, we would be okay.  But think about what our world would be like without policemen, firefighters, and EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians). These are the kinds of jobs that are a necessity. Any kind of emergency, from car accidents, robberies, to almost anything else you can think of, I can guarantee that a policeman will be there.  Firefighters save lives and risk their own in the process. EMTs get us to the hospital quicker than we’d ever be able to get there without them and if necessary, will perform any kind of medical task needed right there at the scene.  All of these things are so important, and they should be the ones making as much money as these athletes do.  These sports are purely here for entertainment purposes, and are certainly something we could all live without.

            I truly just don’t see the reasoning behind why famously known athletes are paid in such ridiculous amounts.  I fully respect all the athletes and everything that they do, but I really feel that the people that mostly deserve money like that aren’t getting it.  For what they actually do, they are being way overpaid. You have to know people to get in, it’s not a full year job and it’s not significant enough to make such high amounts.  On the amounts that are spent towards all of these sports players, we could be using that money towards so many better causes and I really hope that other people will wake up and start to see the same.