The Reality of Athletes Sports and Money

Professional sports leagues are now year round enterprises. Forget the calendar that says starts here and finishes there, in the pros the light is always on in one fashion or another. Each league tries to make sure the public see the light even in the supposed off-season. More and more players went to bask in their sport’s light twenty-four-seven-three hundred and fifty six.

Everybody seems to have a little Cuba Gooding Jr. thing going

The unifying call of all sports players, “Give me the respect.” The 21st century version of the Jerry Maguire tagline, “Show me the money.” It grandiose, its glamorous and its nothing but big business running the entertainment. The difference is here, the big business “tude runs on both sides of the line. The loyalty is in vogue for an eye blink. A re-imagining of the concepts I talked about in “Business for the Business Not the People” except it is the fan that gets the short end of the stick.

Cry Me A River

The sports anthem for the modern athlete is a Justin Timberlake song. For example in baseball the well traveled J.D. Drew now a member of the Boston Red Sox hums the tune with the L.A. Dodgers in mind, while in the NFL the Chicago Bears” Lance Briggs is singing his own arrangement of the tune. Keep in mind both players will make more money in a year than most of their fans will see in a lifetime.

J.D.’s pain

Drew is a ball player of considerable talent and potential. Yet, there is a dark side to his career that has a long history of “DNP’s” (Did Not Play) due to injury. The L.A. Dodgers took a chance on Drew with a contract after he finally played a full summer with the Atlanta Braves in 2004. The contract had a second year opt out or $33 million guarantee to finish out the agreement. The year 2005 saw more DNPs, but 2006 saw a full season played that was one of Drew’s best. J.D. after dragging his feet to almost the last minute decide to invoke his second year opt out clause. Of course, the claim of the desire to secure his future was the motivator. In the end, he joined Bosox with a $70 million to insure his future would be very secure. Despite it all, J.D. Drew expresses heartbreak that the Dodgers never even made a bid to retain him. Frankly, I think they have 33 million of them.

Lance’s dance

In an attempt to keep Lance Briggs aboard the team the Chicago Bears put a franchise tag on him guaranteeing him a least 8 ½ million for the year. Chances are if Briggs were allowed to hit the free agent market his signing bonus alone would be more. Now, the player demands to be traded. In April of 2006, Lance balked on signing a $33 million dollar contract with $16 million guaranteed. If Briggs can’t be satisfied he can either hold out or play suffering the indignity of being paid 10 times what he made last year. The worst part of his fate being the recent history slanted against the losing teams in the Super Bowl not making it to the first round of the playoff the following year. Chances are he will be paid astronomically more for achieving dramatically less.

Where the fan in all of this?

I don’t know about you but my head’s shaking so much my brain feels like its enduring a ride in an atomic splitter. Considering J. D. needed another $47 million to secure his future and Briggs can’t live for 8 plus million this year, can I have the money they didn’t or don’t want? I promise I won’t sing the J.T. song. Maybe I will share and fund a few scholarships and fund a community program for the needy. I’m not greedy, I’ll settle for a third of the Drew $33 million. I might even be able to afford good seats at a baseball or football game. I cannot now. Neither can the majority of the fans who buy the sports related items that help pay both players’ salaries. The reality here is the teams and players are getting absurd money and the fans who to support them are getting no respect.

Who is to blame?

The theme here is one I have sounded repeatedly. In How We Created Inga Marchand Elmore Rual Torn Etc. I sound off about how we create this aberrant behavior with the celebrity and famous. Giving A Celebrity Notice For What Everyday People Do?, I point out how we make a big deal when they do something other do without celebrity. I talk about how sports is just about the money in Anna Nicole, The Run For President And The End Of Football As We Know It. The theme is simple. We the fans are to blame for accepting, feeding into and supporting the attitudes of athlete, the stars, and the famous. Now that is said and done, we can pass the box of Kleenex to Lance Briggs and JD Drew.