When Salaries Get To High To See

Essay, Research Paper

When Salaries Get to High to See

When people think of high salaries they turn to the world of professional sports, because that is where athletes are paid outrageous amounts to do the things they love. Although some would argue that the athletes deserve these wages, I fell that not all professional sports are paid adequately. For an example of this statement take into consideration the time and effort that most pro athletes spend at perfecting there acquired talent. They are fine tuned instruments, who work hard to do their jobs on the field, on the court, or on the course. They do this because they love the game. Golfers don.t get paid as much as other Pro-sports, but do their job just as well. Athletes are paid way to much, but golfers are not.

Now take into consideration how much professional baseball players make a season. .The average earned income in major league baseball is over $800,000 a season.(Fizel, 83), and some of these players just ride the pine all year. How is it fair that a man that can hit a ball four hundred feet to send a baseball out of the park make $30 million a season. Barry Bonds is truly a great athlete, but to be paid that much he should be able to hit home runs with his eyes closed. I know that these baseball stars bring in a lot of very good paying customers, and they like to watch the games. Then though, I could eat for a week on what they are charging to get into Wrigley Field with good seats for one game.

If you will step back with me in time for a moment you will understand why I am so concerned about this issue about over paid athletes. In the forties each player was paid fairly but not extravagantly. .When I joined the Cardinals ball club in 1943 we were paid fifteen dollars for each game..(Harig) Back then the players had other jobs to help them make ends meat. They just played the game on the side and on the weekends for extra cash.

Other sports have the same problems, take professional basketball. Michael Jordan is the greatest man to ever walk across the hard wood floors of professional basketball, but to be paid $63 million in one season is almost sickening. Jordan has so much power when it comes to the NBA, that he is able to drop out of the National Basketball League and start playing baseball. Then when he was tired of baseball, the Bulls begged and pleaded for him to come back to their team. That just doesn.t seem right and fair to me, especially to other players in the NBA. He may be the greatest basketball player ever, but in my books he doesn.t have a lot of character and integrity. .Jordan made sixty three million last year and the closest man to him was Patrick Ewig; who made twenty million,.(Partinie) which is a little better character wise. It is true that these men bring on big crowds and lots of money to the owners, just like baseball players, but again have to much control. They probably aren.t paid near as much as the owners could afford to either, the owner can go home with a fat pocket too. Pro.s are just taking advantage of there talent, at least in some cases. God gave them their talent and some of them are being very greedy and not using it for what it was meant to be used for; the pure love of the game.

Football players aren.t any better but are a little different when it comes to why they are paid so much. They have a lot more at steak when they go out on to the field to crunch heads. They have to consider the possibility of getting injured. They are paid to be big, mean, fast, and ruthless out on the grass against men just as big and ruthless as themselves. Football players are rewarded money if their talent is exceptional, for touchdowns, yardage, sacks, stops, interceptions, and many more. If they don.t perform they don.t get as much cash. If they do live up to what they are expected to, they get over loaded with money. Emmit Smith, and other runningbacks are paid more than any lineman, because they are the ones that put on the show, and are what the spectators came to the game to watch. They also make all the points and make all the good plays that keep viewers interested. Now I do know that the linemen are a huge part of how a good half-back performs, with blocks and stuff, but when there is raw talent in a man you notice it like in Emmit or Barry Sanders. It is also true for the quarterbacks; they are paid more because they are the conductors out on the field. They conduct the orchestra out on the field. John Elway is a great example. He has the strongest, fastest, and most accurate arm in pro-football, which he has proven. That is the main reason he is one the highest paid professional football players in the NFL. Some athletes out on the football field are more aware to the situation of the high prices they are paid. Kevin Green, a defensive linebacker said . It is true that we are getting paid outrageous amount for what we do out on the turf, but we are the most likely to get hurt in all professional sports. We want to make sure we get what we need before we get out of the league..(O.Hara, 12) Kevin Green gives a lot of his money to charitable events and is a very honorable player also, he is not just out there for the money.

Now then amongst the most popular television events there is a sport that is respected and loved by millions, but being the men they are, tour golfers aren.t paid extreme amounts. Golf is a gentlemen.s game and