I use to love watching sports as a kid, but then the baseball strike happened and for me the spirit and of sports was gone. It was cheapened by multimillion dollar contracts, larger then life stars, steroid abuse, and advertising. What a mockery sports entertainment has become! These people are playing a game, why are they making millions? Players are now often afraid to play hard because they need to secure that big contract! And now sports memorbillia can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars? I heard the record breaking ball Bonds hit the other day could go for around a half million! This stuff just blows me away. But recently I watched a sporting event that really made my day Little League Baseball! This is where its at, no major advertising, no big contracts just players who love the game. Players who play their hearts out for the sake of the game and thats it. Sure they may not be the best, they often screw up but that makes it even more entertaining for me, especially when the little kids swings so hard his helmet turns backwards and he runs in the wrong direction!! That happened recently and I almost fell out of the bleachers! What do you all think about the sports industry these days?
What happened to the love of the game?
By tcole31314 - Posted on May 21st, 2006
I agree, however if millions of people payed to watch anyone of us do our job we'd get big salaries also. It is absurd the salaries these pros recieve. I think if they go on strike because they aren't getting enough then fire the ones that strike and hire new players. I am sure there are alot of athletes that would be willing to take their spots for a fraction of the pay. It would make it much more interesting. As far as professional athletes are concerned they are very selfish (overall). Last year the San Diego Padres gave $10,000.00 dollars to a little league team to go to the litle world series. That's great, but it would be like my parents donating $1.00 for them to go in comparison too what my parents make and what the Padres baseball team makes. Why didn't they pay for the entire trip? Another issue is women's and girls softball (since that is my sport). FCS (fox college sports) televises about 6-10 games in a season. The funny thing is you would think there are only that many collegiate teams out there. It's the same games over and over and over again. And what about women's professional fastpitch. Those women can't quit their jobs to play. It doesn't pay enough. They play because they love the game. I play softball because I "love to play" also I hope to get some of my education payed for. As my daddy always says "It beats flippin burgers". It also pays way better and professors don't excuse you from class for your work schedule at Mc Donalds.
I honestly don't recall there ever being a love for the game in major league baseball. It is as you two have said. They make too much money. If their salaries were reduced to half...next to none of them would continue playing. It's sad, but true. It would be great to see some sort of humbling situation like that, where they realize that they are easily replacable for a fraction of the price. I know I'd fire my players if they weren't happy with the millions they already got...
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http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/whitejabberwocky
money and drugs have happened to the game. Its all about teh money
It's entertainment value. That's all there is to it.
It use to be about the game, I think it all went down hill when Joe Namath got the first million + contract. And then Pete Rose was caught gambling, after that it was all about the money!
I agree with you, but some major league players do still love the game and play with their heart. If you go back to the same Little League team in a couple of years a lot of these kids will have quit, because their parents stop making them come. I personally love playing sports, but I love watching them just as much.