Blindrage
Member
Something happens to these young kids when they are told during High School that they have the athletic talent to make millions of dollars a year playing a game.
The first problem is that their maturity stops right that instant. So they are 16 forever.
The second problem is that now they have coaches, colleges, and scout drooling all over them telling them how great things are going to be. This is too much for a kid, so they internalize it all and truly believe their own hype.
The last problem is that they have no clue how to handle that kind of money, attention, or pressure so they hire idiots to manage them. The idiots take a big cut, then look for ways to increase the income so they get more cash. They just let the athlete go nuts with what they keep.
So now you have a mental 16 year old that breezed through school because no one was ever going to do anything that would endanger their eligibility (if they finished school or college) with fans and women begging for their attention and more money than they can ever really spend... and we have to wonder why they see themselves as super men instead of mortals? Why they waste money on pimped out cars that they never drive, women in every town, tattoos from head to toe that mean nothing to them, and could care less about the specific team they are playing on? Add to all that that a lot of these guys came from very bad situations that they would never have gotten out of without sports and you have the perfect storm for a self-centered waste of human breath that just happens to be good at basketball, football, soccer (in other countries mostly), hockey, or anything else.
All that said, these guys work harder every day to keep in shape and keep up their skills than I would ever want to do. They do deserve a solid salary Since they can not really do anything else and will be physically trashed at 40 to 45 I can see it being a large salary. It is currently far too much, but something in the half million range would be fine.
My last comment. I remember an interview with an injured football player back in the late 80s that tells the whole story. He had taken a hit that caused some knee damage, and his career was over. He would never play again, but the injury was not bad enough to cause life long pain or disability. He was not a big star, and had just been an average lineman. The reporter asked him what he planned on doing now that football was over for him. I can not give a direct quote, but it went something like this;
Well I have some money left over from playing, and I have a degree in business. I plan to just work at some company, and I figured if I could just get a normal salary I will be fine. You know, something in the half million a year range.
!!!?!?!?!?!
This guy was so out of touch with reality that he really thought $500k a year is what normal people make. You could almost see the look of shock on his face when the reporter told him the average salary in the state at that time was about $35k a year. I will let everyone know when I finally get a job at this guy's version of normal.
The first problem is that their maturity stops right that instant. So they are 16 forever.
The second problem is that now they have coaches, colleges, and scout drooling all over them telling them how great things are going to be. This is too much for a kid, so they internalize it all and truly believe their own hype.
The last problem is that they have no clue how to handle that kind of money, attention, or pressure so they hire idiots to manage them. The idiots take a big cut, then look for ways to increase the income so they get more cash. They just let the athlete go nuts with what they keep.
So now you have a mental 16 year old that breezed through school because no one was ever going to do anything that would endanger their eligibility (if they finished school or college) with fans and women begging for their attention and more money than they can ever really spend... and we have to wonder why they see themselves as super men instead of mortals? Why they waste money on pimped out cars that they never drive, women in every town, tattoos from head to toe that mean nothing to them, and could care less about the specific team they are playing on? Add to all that that a lot of these guys came from very bad situations that they would never have gotten out of without sports and you have the perfect storm for a self-centered waste of human breath that just happens to be good at basketball, football, soccer (in other countries mostly), hockey, or anything else.
All that said, these guys work harder every day to keep in shape and keep up their skills than I would ever want to do. They do deserve a solid salary Since they can not really do anything else and will be physically trashed at 40 to 45 I can see it being a large salary. It is currently far too much, but something in the half million range would be fine.
My last comment. I remember an interview with an injured football player back in the late 80s that tells the whole story. He had taken a hit that caused some knee damage, and his career was over. He would never play again, but the injury was not bad enough to cause life long pain or disability. He was not a big star, and had just been an average lineman. The reporter asked him what he planned on doing now that football was over for him. I can not give a direct quote, but it went something like this;
Well I have some money left over from playing, and I have a degree in business. I plan to just work at some company, and I figured if I could just get a normal salary I will be fine. You know, something in the half million a year range.
!!!?!?!?!?!
This guy was so out of touch with reality that he really thought $500k a year is what normal people make. You could almost see the look of shock on his face when the reporter told him the average salary in the state at that time was about $35k a year. I will let everyone know when I finally get a job at this guy's version of normal.
