Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Union Salary of $320K Doesn't Go As Far As It Used To

With the NFL players threatening to go on strike again I found the sympathetic tone in this MSNBC piece to be just a little gag inducing. They want you to feel sorry for the poor guy who only makes the league minimum of $320,000.
Though a lockout has been threatened for years — and despite an apparent rise in the number of football stars safeguarding their millions — roughly 380 of the NFL's near 1,700 players still live paycheck to paycheck, according to financial experts familiar with the league.

Yes I have heard the arguments about they have a short career, to which I respond most of you are college grads. How about putting that education to work?

As for the risk of injuries I can sympathize, but if that is so high on your list of concerns why are you engaging in the sport to start with?

I'm not against them being paid for their skills, what I am against is them acting like crybabies because they can't afford multi million dollar mansions and hundred thousand dollar sports cars. Anybody who has attended a sporting event knows that the cost nowadays is so prohibitive that it has moved into the luxury column in our personal budgets. You can forget about buying food and drink at the stadium too. For the same price as a couple of hot dogs and a coke you can feed some third world countries for a day.

No, I am not real sympathetic to millionaires who are upset at other millionaires when the end result just ends up costing the working guy more money when he tries to escape his worries of the world for a few hours by embracing a sporting event.

You know, an NFL player living paycheck to paycheck is just slightly different from the family of four trying to make it on one paycheck that is probably 1/10th of what the league minimum is. Minimum wage has an entirely different meaning for most Americans.

Professional sports is probably the only occupation I know where you can get millions of dollars up front before you have even demonstrated the ability to perform at that level.

Can't wait for the players to hold a telethon.

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