Are pro sports players too greedy?

Over the years it is quite evident that money is playing an increasingly important role in the world of professional athletics. And that is understandable because money is becoming more important to everyone. But are these players getting greedy? Are they forgetting that they play a sport for a living and that their job is supposed to be more about fun than the money? I don’t know if true love for the game is being lost or if they just are keeping it on the back burner, but it seems to me that money is taking over and it isn’t good.

The economy is without a doubt absolutely terrible right now, but you would never know from professional sports. It seems that front offices are having no problem spending millions and millions of dollars to pay someone to play a sport without any worry about that money. I guess you can say the same for the majority of the upper class, but they aren’t in the spotlight for it all the time. We see sports franchises spending more and more money all the time and I’m beginning to wonder when enough is enough.

The odd thing is that players still want more money. They aren’t content with the $10 million a year salary and they look elsewhere for more. Look to Major League Baseball for example. The New York Yankees spend countless amounts of money a year on players and somehow always seem to make it to the playoffs, whereas teams like the Oakland Athletics rarely ever make the playoffs because their salary cap is much lower. If money didn’t matter the most, teams with low salary caps would still be able to compete with “rich” franchises.

Sports players are getting greedy, but the franchises are enabling them to become greedy. The front offices aren’t stopping the players from making the money they want, and they probably won’t any time soon. You see pro sports having lockouts, and most of the time these lockouts are about money. It’s amazing how people that are making so much money can still want more, and they are getting more.

This greed is taking over their love for the sport they play, that is pretty evident. You still see those players that still play the sport they love and don’t see money as the primary reason for changing teams, but not as often as in the past. In the past players didn’t play for the money and even got part time jobs when they weren’t playing. The fact that they could play the game they love and get paid while doing it was amazing, no matter how much they were making. 

 I guess I can’t fully understand the greediness of professional sports players from my point of view. You see, I’m just a college baseball player that doesn’t get paid for playing and plays because I absolutely love the game. I may never be in their situation, but I feel that if I were in that situation I would play for the love despite the money. Sure I would want a decent salary, everyone loves money, but I would be sure not to let it decide where I was going to play or if I would resign with a team. You can’t think like that when you love what you do.

I admire Ray Allen for going to the Miami Heat from the Boston Celtics, though I am a Celtics fan. He didn’t care that he would be making less money in Miami than in Boston, he just wanted to win and he saw Miami as the better place for that. He loves the game, and he loves winning so money is on the back burner for him. I wish that players could take pay cuts and be okay with it. When you think about it, they have money to spare.

Those players that donate some of their money to charity are doing the right thing. They are showing that money is less important to them than helping the less fortunate. When you think about it, these players may be playing for their love still because they are parting with money rather easily. I wish that every player could do this. Every player could have a charity and help the less fortunate or use it to strengthen the lower and middle classes in some way. This is wishful thinking of course, and is almost impossible. If I ever make it there, which I know is also pretty wishful thinking, I will make it a point to not forget my love of the game. No matter how much money I make, if I have some to spare I will donate it to something that will make a difference. If players weren’t greedy, they could make a significant difference. But that’s professional sports for you.

-Eric Proulx