Poetic Justice

by Alex Hutchins

Throughout my life, I was exposed to sports from both a participating and spectator point-of-view and whether it was tennis during July and baseball in September and football over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday, our televisions were on and the family was watching.  Even though my participating years ended with High School, I was active and very physical all of my life until cancer and heart disease forced me to slow down a little.

So, please do not get me wrong when I say, I am appalled at the salaries in professional sports these day.  In 2009, athletes were making the following salaries, while the average spectator was making $46,800/year. 

·         Football - $1 million/player/year

·         Baseball - $3 million/player/year

·         Basketball - $1.1 million/player/year

·         Hockey - $1.9/player/year

In 2009, a few hours in the stadium could cost the average family of 4 close to $500 which includes:  tickets, parking, food and beverages, and some souvenirs.   And, it is not just professional sports, but concert tickets average around $100-$150/person with parking, food and beverages, and souvenirs extra as well.  And, one cannot blame athletes or musicians from negotiating the best price for their talents, but how far is this going to go?  And, for the most part, those who are paying the fees are the ones who can least afford it.

Our capitalistic, free-market, enterprise system is the best in the world and has made this nation, the greatest in the world, but where will it end?  When Howard Hughes was asked a few years ago, when he was the world’s richest man, had he earned enough money, his reply was, “I’d like to earn just 1 more dollar.”  During my life at home with my parents, I was taught moderation in all that I do, and today, 63 years later, this is exactly how I live, in moderation and without debt.  And, I no longer need to watch professional sports either “live” or recorded, nor do I miss going to concerts, or outdoor music festivals, or traveling overseas to see how the rest of the world lives.  I don’t know if this is poetic justice or not, but the rest of the world, for the most part, looks just like us, or we look just like them, cannot really decipher these days which way it is, especially with what is doing on in Dubai.

One issue is very clear to me and that is that we cannot point the finger to any one entity or group of people and say that you are greedy and need to be controlled because greed has permeated all aspects and facets of our lives.  For instance:

·         Colleges and Universities want more money from alumni, increased tuition, athletic events, grants, and private donations.

·         Mega Churches want more Television sponsors, more viewers, and more contributions via US mail.

·         Regular Churches want more members, increased tithing and increased donations.

·         Non-Profits want more members, increased contributions from members and events, and grants.

·         American families want more income so that more “toys” can be purchased and more children can be sent to college.

·         Government (Feds, State, local) wants more money from taxes so that they can provide more services and entitlements to constituents who vote them into office.

·         Publically traded companies want more money so that their EPS can improve for their shareholder s.

·         OPEC oil wants people to purchase more petroleum crude oil so that they can give more money to terrorists and their activities that are waged against those who are purchasing the oil -  now that’s poetic justice.