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Originally Posted by Jimellow
I think there are certainly players there to solely collect pay checks. There are various levels of employees in every job, and sports is no exception.
Union jobs allow their workers to be protected, and thus get away with doing lower quality work and not be terminated as easily. Major league sports are host to the most powerful unions in America. Thus, it's not surprising at all to me that there are players that are there strictly to collect a paycheck each week.
I don't think it is a problem though, compared to other fields of work. Sports are entertainment, and thus not overly important on the grand scheme of things. Sure, it's about money, but so is everything else.
I'd be much more concerned about nurses, doctors, teachers, and those capable of directly affecting another's life or survival slacking at their jobs than I would someone paid to chase a ball for a living.
I love sports, watch them almost constantly, but I don't have misconceptions that their jobs are important when compared to those indivuals that truly influence and/or have a direct affect on the lives of others. Athletes slacking and working just for a paycheck isn't really a big concern of mine. They are entertainers, and thus nothing they do is nearly as important as those with important jobs, where slacking or just "collecting paychecks" can result in actual consequences and life changes for others.
My poll selection, if it existed, would be "Yes, it exists, but it isn't a problem/concern of mine."
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I understand what you are saying, but that is their job, to win. If they aren't and will not give 100% they aren't doing what they are paid for.
And I am sorry, but they are role models. Growing up I idolized Jimmy Connors, Pete Rose, John McEnroe, Nolan Ryan, Gaylord Perry, Steve Carlton, Mike Schmidt, and so on. These players wnet out everyday and played hard and did what it took to win. They weren't in it for "stats" and a big paycheck and "fuck the team". When I played sports, I took their attitudes to the field of play with me.
When I played tennis, I "was" Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe and I was out there to win. When I played baseball and I pitched, I "was" Lefty Carlton, Nolan Ryan and Gaylord Perry and I did whatever I needed to to keep my team i9n the game..... when I played third base or left field, I was Pete Rose, Mike Schmidt, Bake McBride, Joe Morgan, Mike Hargorve and Toby Harrah. I played my ass off, I took dives for balls because that's what I saw Pete or Mike or Bake or Toby do to make the play to win the game. When I played neighborhood basketball I was Larry Bird and Dr. J. and I worked to play like them.
Maybe I'm just getting old and bitching..... but it just doesn't seem like it used to. Sports maybe has become more of a business and taken the shroud off and maybe the athletes never truly cared.... but I miss those days when players didn't hug the opposition and went out and acted like they hated the other team and city...... I like the days when the Big Red Machine players were hated because of their egos and their talent..... not because they had bigger paychecks and more bling-bling.
And I think it is more a sign of what our society has become than any illusion lost over sports.