Term Papers on Professional Sports: The Hidden Greed

Term Paper Title	Professional Sports: The Hidden Greed
# of Words	2061
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	8.24

Professional Sports: The Hidden Greed

"Show me the money," screamed Rod.  "C'mon Jerry, show me the money!"  We vividly remember this famous line from the hit movie, Jerry Maguire.  The greedy football player, Rod Tidwell, screams these unforgettable lines trying to convince his agent that he will not settle for any less than a top dollar salary as the flashy Arizona Cardinal wide receiver.  This scene exemplifies what has happened to professional sports in recent years.  The focus of professional sports has evolved from one of teamwork and camaraderie to one of avarice and greed.  The specific problems in recent years that have stemmed off this overwhelming greed include exorbitant salaries, lockouts (or work stoppages) in professional sports, and the growing disparity among team payrolls.
     Most recognize these issues as major problems; however, others overlook the greed and see validity in the financial aspect of today's sports world.  They argue that professional sports are thriving and should not be modified.  They also contend that sometimes lockouts are unavoidable and are often the only way to work out problems.  The opposition reasons that professional teams with huge payrolls deserve all the money because they worked hard to get where they are.  They argue that most players work hard to become great athletes and therefore they deserve enormous salaries.  They also plead that lockouts are healthy for professional sports because they help each sport continually evolve and adapt to new problems it faces.   While the opposition does not notice the greed problems greed causes, others do.
Greed is obvious in today's sports world.  Plain and simple, the salaries of sports figures these days are too high.  In the NBA, Michael Jordan makes over $13 million dollars per year for the Chicago Bulls (Verducci 46).  That means he earns more than 62 times that of the president of the United States and 490 times that of the average high school teacher-not including all of Mr. Jordan's secondary incomes from advertising and movie-making.  Today, many players hold out for optimal salaries like Jordan's as long as they can, just to get the extra million dollars.  They are like toddlers, whining and crying until they get the toy they want.  Often when players do not get what they want, they excuse their bad performances by claiming they could have done better if they would have earned that extra million dollars.  Recently, CBS Sports Analyst, Al Michaels put things in perspective when he sarcastically commented on a dropped pass by a Detroit Lions wide receiver.  After the play, Michaels stated, "Well, Robert probably could have made that catch if he had gotten that million dollar contract he held out for, huh?"  This quotation exemplifies the intense greed that goes on in salary arbitration.  Often times a player will hold out for 10 million dollars per year instead of 8 million just because he thinks that he is better than the guy who is making 9 million dollars per year.  Moreover, it is the trend nowadays to simply have the label of being the highest paid player in the league.  Each new season sees the game's best players compete for that title.  For example, New York Mets' catcher, Mike Piazza recently signed a seven-year, $91 million offer-the highest ever in major league baseball history...temporarily.  (Verducci 32).  Little did he know that a few weeks later, Albert Belle would sign a 5-year contract for 65 million dollars, making him the highest paid baseball player.  Both Piazza and Belle had fine careers going back in their respective cities but they, like many others, want to win the prize of being the most expensive man in all of baseball.  This incentive is driving salaries, as well as costs for owners, through the roof.  ESPN News recently stated that there now are 8 players in MLB earning more than 10 million dollars per season.  These exorbitant salaries are the exclamation point on the surfacing greed in professional sports-and that is not the only place it has been showing up.  Greed has surfaced in other ...

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