On this day in history in 1988 the Boston Red Sox won an AL record setting 24 home games in a row. So... I thought today's topic would involve sports. And since I'm no big fan of sports (sorry guys), it's only natural that I would blog about one of my biggest pet peeves: The ridiculous salaries professional athletes get paid.

I know, I know. They claim they are "entertainers" so they feel justified asking for salaries akin to the biggest box office stars in the world. But they are missing a REALLY big part of the picture when it comes to movie stars.

Think about this:

When an athlete plays a game, that's it. It just lasts for the game. Sure they'll recap it on the news and weekly sport shows, but unless something phenomenal happens, that's it. So the team owner only has one chance each time that player "performs" to recoup some of the cost of their contract.

Now take a movie star. They make a movie and it's released to theaters, thus earning the studio and production company(s) money. It's put on Pay Per View/On Demand for a fee and earns more money. It gets shown on cable and tv, earning more money. It's available to rent and but in stores, at Netflix, Amazon etc., earning even more money. Every time it is shown, rented, selected On Demand and purchased for decades to come, it earns money. If it has a good soundtrack, the soundtrack will sell and earn money. If applicable, there will be posters, toys, clothing and other licensed products, earning even more money. So, as you can see, there are a whole bunch of ways to recoup the cost of an actor's contract over a great many years.

Even if a player is really popular and the team licenses items with the player's name and likeness, those items are generally only good while that player is riding high. There is a very limited window for a team owner to earn any of the money back they put out for player contracts.

That is unless they hike up the cost of tickets so high that it's nearly impossible to afford to take your kids to a ball game. Why should we have to bear the burden of their super-egos? They're playing a game for crying out loud! And don't whine to me about how it just takes one injury to ruin their careers. Most of these guys got free rides through college. If they don't have a career to fall back on that's their fault (and a disgrace if you ask me). I'm not going to feel bad for them.

Take the example of NY Yankee Carl Pavano (yes, I'm going to pick on a Yankee). He was signed to a $39.95 million dollar contract over a four year period. Just three months after starting, Pavano had a shoulder injury, followed by a series of other injuries such as bruised buttocks (no, I'm not making that up) and ribs that were broken in a car accident (obviously not a work related injury) and yet, he got paid. So, in essence, the Yankees paid him approx. $4.43 million for each of the nine winning games he played. Can you really say that any player is worth nearly four and a half million dollars a game?

There was a time when professional athletes had to maintain regular jobs off season to support their families. They played for the love of the game. Now they play for the love of money and the chance to win endorsement contracts.

So sure, I may sing along with "Sweet Caroline" and I'll taunt a Yankees fan if given the chance, but really, I just don't care about sports at all. Overpaid narcissists who get their wads of cash even if they don't work (would you get paid your full salary for not being able to do your job for a year?).

But as long as fans (short for fanatics) are willing to shell out the exorbitant ticket fees, the owners will continue to charge more and more to pay the Prima Donnas their vanity wages.

Save your money to help starving indie-authors and buy their books!

What? I'm not the only self-published author you know.

Hero