Kelley: Professional athletes suck
by Adam J. Morris on Dec 3, 2008 5:47 PM CST
76 comments
Steve Kelley has figured out the problem:
This autumn the disconnect between players and their fans seems greater than ever.
The economy is crashing all around us, but some high-profile athletes aren't getting the message.
It's time they pay attention.
Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire is making deep cuts in the state's budget. California is going broke.
The leaders of the automobile industry are going back to Washington, D.C., to ask for a government bailout. And JPMorgan Chase announced the layoff of almost 3,400 Washington Mutual workers in Seattle.
And, all the while, too many professional athletes act as if they don't get it. In the face of this dramatic downturn, they can't appreciate their good fortune.
* * *
Burress and Marbury have been monumentally selfish. Iverson has been just plain insensitive.
And, during this holiday season, while all of us search for cheaper gifts and look ahead to even more difficult times, Manny Ramirez shops himself as if he were stuck in the 1990s.
In Seattle we're coming off a baseball season where too many players acted as if the games were some kind of punishment and where supposed ace Erik Bedard accepted a $9 million salary while refusing to pitch through even the slightest pain.
Where's the responsibility to the ticket-buying public? Where's the empathy for a nation of sports fans who are feeling unprecedented pain?
American sports' big leagues — the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB — are heading for a fall. Fans are growing weary of the knuckleheads.
This sort of thing is ridiculous.
Professional sports columnist Kelley doesn't like it?
Go cover intramurals, brother.
People have been proclaiming the end of pro sports because of overpaid, spoiled athletes for as long as athletes have been paid.
It is tiresome to read the crap spewed by some of these columnists who, it seems, are worn out by sports, who have stopped deriving any pleasure from professional leagues and seem to be rooting for things to fall apart.
And people like Steve Kelley -- like a lot of fans, for that matter -- seem all too willing to pop the players for this, when at the end of the day, they are simply out there seeking to get paid what the market will bear.
They are the proletariat, taking advantage of the capitalist system.
Manny Ramirez isn't the one that chooses to hold a community hostage and threaten to leave if there isn't a new publicly funded stadium built.
Plaxico Burress's salary doesn't determine the price of beer and parking.
If you don't like the price of the game, blame the people running, not the performers. No one blames Reese Witherspoon when the price of a movie ticket goes up.
And yet, if someone is struggling to pay to go to a basketball game, Allen Iverson is the bad guy.
This crap pisses me off. Angry old men ranting about spoiled athletes making too much money and not acting right, and then trying to extrapolate it into some larger point about the economy at large, simply serve to display their own foolishness.
I'd love for Steve Kelley to tell me how Manny Ramirez taking less money would make the price of Citibank stock go up.
I'd love for Steve Kelley to tell me how Erik Bedard making less than $9 million would mean that GM or Ford would suddenly be solvent again.
I'd love for Steve Kelley to tell me why he thinks the ticket buying public is going to catch a break somehow if the people who perform are getting a smaller slice of the pie.
Owners are going to charge what they are able to charge. Players are going to ask to get paid what they can get paid. Reducing the amount in column B just means the owners will make that much more money, not that Joe Sixpack will be able to get a program at the stadium for a buck less.
Geez. What a stupid article.
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For 9M
he really should be willing to sacrifice his arm. pop some pills and get out there until it falls off.
btw, did anybody know that wayman tisdale lost his leg completely? the picture on ESPN is jarring.
""If they'd have told me you can make the team but you've got to shine the shoes, I'd have been there shining shoes." -Bradley
by ab03 on Dec 3, 2008 5:54 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Absolutely shocked
I didn’t even know he had cancer, much less lost a leg. Wayman and my son were friendly competitors when Chris was in HS (Broken Arrow, Waymon at Tulsa Washington). Thank you for noticing and posting this.
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
by Ed Coffin on Dec 3, 2008 8:45 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
wayman tisdale is your son's age
well we knew you were old but…
""If they'd have told me you can make the team but you've got to shine the shoes, I'd have been there shining shoes." -Bradley
by ab03 on Dec 3, 2008 8:56 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Reese Witherspoon
of everyone in the movie business you chose Reese Witherspoon?
by texasbuckeye on Dec 3, 2008 5:54 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
she gets paid the most
http://pstlepost.blogspot.com/2008/03/world-top-10-highest-paid-actresses.html
""If they'd have told me you can make the team but you've got to shine the shoes, I'd have been there shining shoes." -Bradley
by ab03 on Dec 3, 2008 5:56 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
And she's cute.
Especially that cute little nose of hers. And those cute faces she made in that Dangerous Liasions remake with Phillipe. She’s a cutie.
"I know you're a bit dense but no, it doesn't. Obviously lying isn't a problem for me."
by benmor78 on Dec 3, 2008 10:36 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
+1
"Somewhere out there, between 14-32 BBWAA NL MVP voters are trying to get cheaper winter heating by drilling a hole in the microwave." - Jeff at LoL
by lonestarJon on Dec 3, 2008 11:14 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
That's always been my opinion
Would you rather the money go to the owners or the people you actually pay to see? Do you actually, seriously believe that if a player took less money the owner would pass the savings onto the fans? Hell and no.
Nothing pithy here. Please move long.
by WyoRanger on Dec 3, 2008 5:59 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
Boy am I confused by Adam's "logic"....
Other than the singular mention of ManRam, I can’t find a single word in that excerpt that calls for athletes to take less money. All I see is a call for highly-paid athletes to quit acting like selfish jerks and to show A LITTLE understanding of how frickin’ good they have it and to have A LITTLE concern for how their antics look to a public increasingly struggling to pay bills, much less come watch them.
Aside from that, it does seem like a cookie-cutter angst column.
by bking on Dec 4, 2008 10:55 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Oooon the other hand
You have Citibank and AIG getting bailed out by the taxpayers. Both companies have sponsorship deals with sports teams (AIG – Arsenal?) so the taxpayers bail out the companies, companies make good on their sponsorships, owners take the money to pay the players, players get paid with tax dollars. (I’m absolutely aware how simplistic this is and probably wrong).
Nothing pithy here. Please move long.
by WyoRanger on Dec 3, 2008 6:01 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
I got no problem
if anyone wants to bitch at the board of directors or management of companies for wasting team on sports sponsorship.
It was a running gag how many companies would sponsor ballparks and stadium for tens of millions of dollars, and then go under. Enron, Ameriquest, the list goes on an on.
However, blaming a ballplayer for making a smart business move seems a little ridiculous.
Nolan Ryan is the Greatest Pitcher ever, because Google says so.
"BTW I’m officially welching ab03. Yeah I planned too all along, but I figured I’d try to get off the hook with double or nothing first."- Sharky
by DJCahill on Dec 3, 2008 9:35 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Yep
Its annoying when you get football players sitting out training camp because they don’t like that they haven’t been offered an extension. But that isn’t all that often. For the most part, the players are just getting their fair share of the multi-billion dollar industry that they participate in.
by JBImaknee on Dec 3, 2008 6:02 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Here's the question for Steve Kelley
Say Steve Kelley asked the Seattle Times for a huge raise (he being so popular) and the Times said, sure, but we’ll have to raise prices of our papers or make your internet columns subscription-service only. Would he take the raise?
Mostly he’s bitching about althletes being dumb and selfish. I’m no expert, but I’m sure what happens in the stock market isn’t going to change that.
Nothing pithy here. Please move long.
by WyoRanger on Dec 3, 2008 6:15 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
I get your point, Adam.
But the economy being in the state that it is, millionaires and billionaires arguing about whether or not a baseball player is worth over $20m per season is a little hard to swallow. I’m having to make some budget cuts to see if I can afford my tickets again next season and I doubt I’m alone on that. Most folks that have to work for a living because they weren’t blessed with super athletic talent probably aren’t real sympathetic to Manny or most other pro athletes. I understand the mindset. There’s no doubt athletes are overpaid. But the irony is that it’s our fault for continuing to buy tickets, jerseys, and watch on television.
by Athos on Dec 3, 2008 6:45 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
It's not irony
It’s bitterness. Some people are bitter that these multimillionaire are worried about just a few more millions and whether they have to show up to practice.
To be fair, there a lot of super rich people who are selfish, greedy assholes and don’t care about other’s hardtimes that don’t play sports. Athletes don’t have the market cornered (tap dancing out the door) on this.
Nothing pithy here. Please move long.
by WyoRanger on Dec 3, 2008 6:58 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
if you truly don't like it then don't follow the sport
or write about it, in kelley’s case
by royalsreview on Dec 3, 2008 10:10 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
I totally agree....
Some people don’t understand that these greedy athletes do have an eventual effect on the economy. Everything goes in a big circle and relies on each other.
Anyone thinking that one human being that pitches a baseball game every fifth day deserves $20+ million a year during these times, is crazy!! People who are saving people’s lives everyday in hospitals deserve millions of dollars, not professional athletes. It’s the one thing I hate about sports!!
How many people out there would play baseball for a living for $100k a year?? I’m sure everyone on this board would. Professional athletes should be glad that they even get to play a game for a living……much less get treated like royalty while living like kings!!
I won’t even get started on athletes that can’t even stay out of trouble while getting paid to play a game and living like kings…..like Pacman, Plaxico, Vick, Avery. Talk about not appreciating their lucky situation in life……you have to be fucking kidding me!!
i like baseball too
by bspate on Dec 4, 2008 9:17 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Athletes deserve their money every bit as much
as actors and Rockstars. They are the primary talents in multibillion dollar industries, and they bring people to spend money.
They deserve their money more than a lot of CEOs and top management of companies, some of whom have gotten very wealthy while driving their companies into the ground with bad decisions.
The athletes do not hold guns to peoples heads to get paid, and put their services up on the open market.
Nolan Ryan is the Greatest Pitcher ever, because Google says so.
"BTW I’m officially welching ab03. Yeah I planned too all along, but I figured I’d try to get off the hook with double or nothing first."- Sharky
by DJCahill on Dec 4, 2008 9:32 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah
it’s like when a buddy tells you “hey, doctors are making enough money! Universal healthcare will just give them a pay cut — but what’s that to them, anyway?”
This is an exciting time in my life.
The LSB CPP's are in full bloom.
by Chase Irwin on Dec 4, 2008 10:01 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
why would Universal care
necessarily involve a pay cut for doctors?
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by t ball on Dec 4, 2008 10:06 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
I know some doctors
who are ready for government healthcare. They don’t seem too pleased with the current system. My Uncle, who is a psychiatrist, asked me over Thanksgiving if I had changed my mind and was ready for it. I told him that I’m beginning to think its inevitable, with a lot of business wanting to dump health care costs, and a lot of Doctors I know who no longer fear the Government more than they fear the Insurance companies. The 3-4 doctors I talk to don’t really believe there will be much more bureaucracy than the insurance companies bring.
Nolan Ryan is the Greatest Pitcher ever, because Google says so.
"BTW I’m officially welching ab03. Yeah I planned too all along, but I figured I’d try to get off the hook with double or nothing first."- Sharky
by DJCahill on Dec 4, 2008 10:23 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Bureaucracy
I don’t see how anyone can argue that that could really get worse as bad as it is right now. I could fill a warehouse with the paperwork I’ve gotten from my insurer over the last 3 or 4 years. I also don’t understand the “everyone will have to wait for months to have surgery” argument. That is already happening in many cases as well.
I think there is a chance for this to improve people’s budgets as well. For one, if everyone has health care they’ll use the emergency rooms less and save money by heading off problems before they become acute. For another, if employers don’t have to worry about providing health care, they have lower overhead and new employees cost less to hire. For yet another, if people are spending less on health care they have more money to spend on everything else. Obviously it’s not that simple, but those things are certainly possible and I don’t really see a downside compared to the disastrously wasteful and inefficient system currently in place.
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by t ball on Dec 4, 2008 10:46 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Ripple effect
Can’t you see how that could be extended to any industry?
Granted, you’ll say that healthcare is different. To some extent, I agree.
At the same time, people commit their lives (forgoing equally lucrative opportunities elsewhere, I’m sure) in order to save others’.
I’d equate this to the government bailouts, particularly, Lehman. Why let them go, but save others?
It sets a despicable precedent, imo.
This is an exciting time in my life.
The LSB CPP's are in full bloom.
by Chase Irwin on Dec 4, 2008 10:53 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
I'm not sure what your point is.
People that don’t have health care cost people that do money. Emergency room visits are incredibly wasteful, as is a lot of what goes on within the current system. There is MUCH room for improvement. Health care isn’t an “industry” really. It is a fact of life that affects every industry, and removing employer-provided health care (which didn’t exist in any big way before WWII) deserves discussion as a way to make hiring employees simpler.
In short, private insurers have not proven to be more effective than the government at providing health insurance. It’s time to explore alternatives. There are pratfalls with every approach, but that doesn’t mean you stick with the crap we have now.
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by t ball on Dec 4, 2008 11:01 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Ok
I think we have fundamental differences here, to the point where neither will be able to convince the other.
Two wrongs don’t make a right for me. Just because I disagree with the alternative doesn’t imply that I fully support the status quo.
People that don’t have health care cost people that do money.
That should never be the case.
My bias is that I have two family members in the industry, so I will always see things through their perspectives, naturally.
I guess my argument is that the “perfect approach” in my mind would likely be very unpopular, but that doesn’t mean we should change the situation so that one group (likely the bigger group) is more satisfied than another. That’s just BS.
This is an exciting time in my life.
The LSB CPP's are in full bloom.
by Chase Irwin on Dec 4, 2008 11:09 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Perfect approach
what do you think that would be?
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by t ball on Dec 4, 2008 12:56 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Geez how lazy is that??
“My Uncle, who is a psychiatrist, asked me over Thanksgiving if I had changed my mind”
So now they’re just replacing minds instead of fixing them???? :D
by bking on Dec 4, 2008 11:57 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Not all doctors
have the ability to avoid Medicare / Medicaid payments, etc.
So a number of them that don’t get into those competitive partnerships where the money is much more liquid will be screwed by a non-market based influence. Like-minded people can hardly agree exactly on valuations of anything. The last thing I want the government to do is arbitrarily decide a rate for health care. That is a recipe for disaster, imo.
This is an exciting time in my life.
The LSB CPP's are in full bloom.
by Chase Irwin on Dec 4, 2008 10:42 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
The big issue with health care
is that we kind of have a messed up system with employers covering employees health care.
Employers really don’t want to pay their employers health costs for life, nor should they. I think we will see the current system, which is an artifact of WWII era policies, where health care is an expected benefit for most companies disappear. I think the Auto companies may be the first to shed health care.
Nolan Ryan is the Greatest Pitcher ever, because Google says so.
"BTW I’m officially welching ab03. Yeah I planned too all along, but I figured I’d try to get off the hook with double or nothing first."- Sharky
by DJCahill on Dec 4, 2008 10:58 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
That would be one step in the right direction, imo.
Any time free stuff is given to people, I find that it has a tendency to make them lazier in other respects.
I think you’d see some interesting changes if employers cut all of that: such as, a sudden concern for personal finance.
This is an exciting time in my life.
The LSB CPP's are in full bloom.
by Chase Irwin on Dec 4, 2008 11:13 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
I think you'd see even more folks showing up
in critical condition at emergency room with no insurance. Just my guess.
I think Hospitals would be in the position of letting folks die or passing on costs to their paying customers.
Nolan Ryan is the Greatest Pitcher ever, because Google says so.
"BTW I’m officially welching ab03. Yeah I planned too all along, but I figured I’d try to get off the hook with double or nothing first."- Sharky
by DJCahill on Dec 4, 2008 11:21 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Look up statistics on this
The majority of emergency patients are likely younger, irresponsible intoxicated and/or apathetic people. Granted, accidents can happen to anybody, but those patients are typically way out of line, for whatever reason.
Why should you help people that don’t want to help themselves?
If there are enough reckless dumbasses out there, yeah, some folks will be let to die. If enough people make bank runs, that would screw shit up, too.
This is an exciting time in my life.
The LSB CPP's are in full bloom.
by Chase Irwin on Dec 4, 2008 7:39 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Wow.
What an incredibly obtuse and self-righteous post.
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by t ball on Dec 4, 2008 9:17 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Self-righteous
is for you to think otherwise, imo.
This entitlement thing, you might want to reconsider:
Health care isn’t an "industry" really. It is a fact of life that affects every industry,
Seriously? That’s the sensitive and correct way to look at things? Give me a fucking break.
This is an exciting time in my life.
The LSB CPP's are in full bloom.
by Chase Irwin on Dec 4, 2008 10:44 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
For you to assume
that most people in emergency rooms are there because they’re stupid and/or irresponsible is pretty damn self-righteous. That’s a lot like saying that people who are sick deserve to be sick, or people that have bad things happen to them deserve it. Maybe they or someone in their family has committed some sin?
Look, I am not sold on nationalizing the health care industry, but it is an option that belongs in the discussion. You did not answer my question above about what your “perfect solution” is.
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by t ball on Dec 4, 2008 11:16 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
There is no perfect solution.
The best solution is a market-based one.
This is an exciting time in my life.
The LSB CPP's are in full bloom.
by Chase Irwin on Dec 4, 2008 11:49 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Which would mean
lots of people who are completely screwed. Actually, sooner or later, as we all age and get more ailments and diseases, every single person would be screwed.
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by t ball on Dec 5, 2008 1:14 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
I think he's just pissed he is an M's fan...
that would piss me off, paying $116 mil for losing 101 games.
by TxStCa on Dec 3, 2008 6:49 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Don't fall into the trap Kelley sets
Up here in Seattle, (smart) fans don’t really pay attention to Steve Kelley’s rantings. He’s our worst sports writer around, that I can think of. Everything he writes is bad and people should just never read it and if they do they should just laugh at it. Don’t get too worked up because of something he writes, because he’s not worth it.
by Scrupio on Dec 3, 2008 7:07 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
"Don't get too worked up"
We’ve got nothing, nothing better to do on this site today.
Seriously, how many comments were there on “sloppy seconds.” I hate this time of year.
Nothing pithy here. Please move long.
by WyoRanger on Dec 3, 2008 7:26 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah
Cause nothing will teach those old men not to rant like a slightly younger man ranting the counterargument!
by brettgardner on Dec 3, 2008 8:08 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
I agree.
Chaim’s attempt at being concise
I miss 1989. I miss 1996. Please make me miss another season in 2008.
by Chaim Witz on Dec 3, 2008 8:25 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
I don't hate A-rod
because he makes 25M a year, i hate him because he acts like twerp, but i’d probably act like a twerp too if i made 25M a year. That kind of money could screw anyone up.
"Never go with a hippie to a second location."
by jcAustin on Dec 3, 2008 9:05 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Blame the front office, of course!
Because it’s the debt-loving public that puts money in the team’s pocket in the first place.
meet me at the mawwl... it's goin dowwn...
by oc on Dec 3, 2008 9:54 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Stuff like this is why
I’m really sad FJM closed up shop.
"Somewhere out there, between 14-32 BBWAA NL MVP voters are trying to get cheaper winter heating by drilling a hole in the microwave." - Jeff at LoL
by lonestarJon on Dec 3, 2008 9:54 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Why?
You couldn’t think of something like this on your own?
Or do you really need that kind of validation?
by brettgardner on Dec 3, 2008 10:41 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
What?
FJM was funny. I would have liked to have seen what they would have done with this. How’s that validation?
"Somewhere out there, between 14-32 BBWAA NL MVP voters are trying to get cheaper winter heating by drilling a hole in the microwave." - Jeff at LoL
by lonestarJon on Dec 3, 2008 11:15 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Oh, LSJesus...
don’t egg him on.
"I know you're a bit dense but no, it doesn't. Obviously lying isn't a problem for me."
by benmor78 on Dec 3, 2008 11:19 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Heh
Yeah, sorry – normally I make a point not to, I just had absolutely no idea what that was supposed to mean.
"Somewhere out there, between 14-32 BBWAA NL MVP voters are trying to get cheaper winter heating by drilling a hole in the microwave." - Jeff at LoL
by lonestarJon on Dec 3, 2008 11:26 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Heh.
ben, please tell me more about how you love Dangerous Liaisons so much that you can’t bear to call the Witherspoon vehicle Cruel Intentions.
Shithead.
by brettgardner on Dec 3, 2008 11:30 PM CST up reply actions 2 recs
My nose, and the Dr. Pepper which has filtered out of it, appreciate this comment.
meet me at the mawwl... it's goin dowwn...
by oc on Dec 3, 2008 11:53 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
You were so much more fun...
before you became so bitter.
"I know you're a bit dense but no, it doesn't. Obviously lying isn't a problem for me."
by benmor78 on Dec 4, 2008 12:34 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Well
You already know something is funny to you, yet you need somebody else to tell you why? If it’s not validation, it’s at the very least pathetic.
by brettgardner on Dec 3, 2008 11:31 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Sigh
"Somewhere out there, between 14-32 BBWAA NL MVP voters are trying to get cheaper winter heating by drilling a hole in the microwave." - Jeff at LoL
by lonestarJon on Dec 4, 2008 12:24 AM CST up reply actions 2 recs
When did you officially become a pointless troll?
by philkid3 on Dec 4, 2008 4:10 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Brett goes in cycles
He is currently in his angry phase.
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by t ball on Dec 4, 2008 10:01 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
I'm not
Angry at all. I just thought it was a stupid thing to say.
by brettgardner on Dec 4, 2008 1:12 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
I'm confused what he suggests professional athletes do
they are only paid so much because we watch/attend their games.
"Sooner or later, prospects kill you, because you hang onto them." - Greggo, 11/22/2005
by Agreen07 on Dec 3, 2008 10:08 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
OT - anyone notice the new LSB subtitle?
"Somewhere out there, between 14-32 BBWAA NL MVP voters are trying to get cheaper winter heating by drilling a hole in the microwave." - Jeff at LoL
by lonestarJon on Dec 3, 2008 11:16 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Aww
AJM sticking up for his Bf Ramirez.
If it had been Teixeira, AJM’s column would have been a self righteous tut-tut in Tex’s direction no doubt…
I know I’ve seen the way AJM called Pudge and many others greedy…
by Sharky on Dec 4, 2008 8:24 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
It isn't important
That Steve Kelley is bitter, or hand wringing about inflated egos getting huge pay. Just MHO we haven’t seen the biggest of the economic impacts yet, and won’t for a couple of years or more. Even a good rebound is likely to be temporary. One facet of what may have Kelley columnizing his aggrevation is the dark side of what Cahill posted above. The entire genre of actors, rock stars, and to a degree, athletes, is being financially favored by people pouring discretionary income into entertainment. When anything as non-durable as entertainment is such a large slice of your gross national product, something is seriously wrong with the collective value system. Sure, music, theatre, movies, and professional sports should exist, and no harm in taking pleasure from the efforts of those in the industries. However, for at least a couple of decades, it hasn’t been good music, good theatre, good movies, and sports may be the lone exception, being pretty good. I think more money, sometimes serios money, is spent “being there” or “being seen” than anyone would imagine. We tend to have an associative ego with the teams we follow, the music we like, the movies we view, etc.
Then look at the incredible amounts “earned” by leading performers in those entertainment venues. I’m not quite as good a golfer as Tiger Woods. He’s great. And deserves the top paycheck. But the size of the top paycheck would feed two 3rd world nations, or complete the infrastructure of a medium size state. Or operate an Ivy League university for a couple of years.
It isn’t the stardom paycheck that’s bad in and of itself. It’s the wretched excess of consumption of everything associated with entertainment that’s insane. And that excess bloats those star incomes beyond usable dimension. Only a sick society pours a quarter of its’ worth into the luxury of being entertained. You don’t spend a quarter of your net income on entertainment? OK, maybe individually you don’t. But a great many do, if you count trips, resorting, fine meals, sports, memorabilia, luxuty vehicles, fashion clothing seldom worn except “on show”, media devices (like HD), your own copy of movies, and the rest of the “I like” and “I’ve got” list.
Anticipating “OK, I’ll get off your lawn” ………….
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
by Ed Coffin on Dec 4, 2008 2:29 PM CST reply actions 2 recs
I agree with most of that
Get off my damn lawn, kids.
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by t ball on Dec 4, 2008 2:37 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Always glad to have someone
crankier than I am in the forums.
Personally, I know I spend over a quarter of my outgo being entertained. I consider it my most important expenditure. I think its a sign of a fundamentally healthy economy where folks have met their own basic needs. Honestly, meeting the whole food, clothing and shelter essential expenses is a fairly low bar.
I kind of wish the large percentage of my portfolio that evaporated had been spent on entertainment, hookers and booze. At least I’d have something to show for it.
My bigger problem than entertainment is the number of top corporate officials who have been checking out on the job, not paying attention to their companies, and basicly using the public corporations for their private jets and travel expenses. Guys like Richard Fuld who was playing in a Bridge tournament without phone or EMail access while Bear Stearns collapsed. Its amazing to me the number of top executives who essentially steal money, but because they have a hand picked board, they stay in charge while the company is on autopilot.
Nolan Ryan is the Greatest Pitcher ever, because Google says so.
"BTW I’m officially welching ab03. Yeah I planned too all along, but I figured I’d try to get off the hook with double or nothing first."- Sharky
by DJCahill on Dec 4, 2008 2:40 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Yep
The worst offenders are those corporate execs who pad everything, create shadow companies on paper which only fund their personal interests, and lie to equity holders about their firm’s condition. Those kinds of behavior should be presecuted, difficult as that is to do, and some have been. Time for pitchforks, torches, and tar! (with a sad "Heh")
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
by Ed Coffin on Dec 4, 2008 2:50 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
REC
This is an exciting time in my life.
The LSB CPP's are in full bloom.
by Chase Irwin on Dec 4, 2008 7:53 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
I like you Ed.
You can stay on my lawn and have a beer.
i like baseball too
by bspate on Dec 4, 2008 9:16 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
This was an epic meno rant, fwiw
Go cover intramurals, brother.
Ha ha ha, sick ’em, Morris.
This is an exciting time in my life.
The LSB CPP's are in full bloom.
by Chase Irwin on Dec 5, 2008 12:29 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
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