By Jay Carroll
Staff Writer
Most people watch sports, whether its baseball, basketball, football or even hockey. These sports are meant for entertainment, and just like any other job, the players should get paid. But do they ask for too much money?
Most major sports have been through a lockout, most recently the NBA and NFL. While these disputes between players and commissioners could have been done early and the lockout would have been over, the players of these major sports keep asking for more money.
For instance, most pro sports players make more money than well over half of the country, yet a lot of players still ask for more and more money, better contracts, more sponsors, even though they are already famous, have plenty of sponsors and after the season, can take a four month vacation.
While players of the major four pro sports leagues – NBA, NHL, MLB and NFL – continue to ask for more, in other pro sporting leagues such as the MLL (Major League Lacrosse), the highest paid player will make about $75,000 a year, and while that may seem like a lot, it is still not much compared to the $33 million Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter live on, or the $18 million salary NBA player Derrick Rose makes a year. Much of the MLL players do not even have that many sponsors and have to work jobs after the season is over to make more money.
Now I may have a bit of bias in that because I play lacrosse and watch most games on TV, but I still find it crazy that the highly famous athletes are asking for more when there are lesser known athletes playing a pro sport not that many people watch and they are working extra jobs to get money instead of whining and complaining about their salary to the commissioner.
Even MLS players do not make that much money, in fact, about $40,000 to 50,000, which is even less than the MLL (and that is sad).
The MLL and MLS players do not ask for more money for a couple of reasons. First being because they know that the sport is still rising in popularity, and second, because they just enjoy being able to play the game they love at the next level.
That is something a lot of MLB, NFL, NHL and NBA players are losing. They are losing the love for the game that they once had, the players of the major four sports have now become money loving player, who do not even care about the team that much. They really only care about a championship ring and the nice big paycheck they will be receiving in the mail.
When you are being paid more than a lot of the people in this country, you have a nice mansion, about four sports cars and a home movie theater, I do not believe that you have the right to be greedy. Pro players need to lay off of the owners and commissioners of their leagues and teams, and take a step back and realize how much they have and how they have already accomplished.
