when sports were just games

564 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Social inequality and sport

When Sports were just Games

I grew up in front of the T.V. watching bone-crunching hits and massive home runs in old Cleveland Municipal Stadium. I saw the last game the Browns played there and I started bawling like a blubbering idiot when they left the field. Back then sports were much more simple. The games were played for fun. There were no high-school kids bringing down the quality of NBA games, There weren’t any greedy me-first 19 year olds trying to sue their way into the NFL. Nor were there any teams spending 190 million dollars to buy a World Series like the Yankees. But when the 1995 NFL season ended I was finally introduced to the most horrid part of sports... economics.

Economics ruined my favorite game and economics had taken away my favorite team. The Browns weren’t just my team, they were Cleveland’s team. They were taken from us because Art Modell couldn’t force the taxpayers to build him a stadium. He had enough money to help Cleveland build a football stadium we could be proud of, but he’d rather make money. Never mind the rich tradition of football we have in Cleveland. Never mind the fact that we were a playoff team the year before. The new stadium was going to cost him money. That’s when I realized that allegiances and loyalty don’t matter to owners or players. The only thing that matters to guys like Modell is the almighty dollar.

Football is not the only sports that has been ruined by recent economic changes. Baseball has had its own struggles with economics. It starts with the large gaps between large and small market teams. While some small market teams like the Florida Marlins, Oakland A’s and the Kansas City Royals have been able to perform well, most like the Devil Rays and Pirates stink. The most telling statistic that shows this gap is that the Yankees have a 190 million dollar payroll. That is a full 40 million above the team in second. The team with the lowest payroll is the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at 20 million dollars. That is a full 5.2 million dollars less than Alex Rodriguez! One player makes more than 25 players! It is also $170 million dollars lower than the Yankees. So what does baseball’s Commissioner, Bud Selig, do about this problem? He doesn’t propose some sort of salary cap like the NFL, he says that the MLB needs contraction.

Show More
Related

  • Salary to Winning Correlation for Baseball Teams

    1127 Words  | 3 Pages

    Do Major League Baseball teams with higher salaries win more frequently than other teams? Although many people believe that the larger payroll budgets win games, which point does vary, depending on the situation. "performances by individual players vary quite a bit from year to year, preventing owners from guaranteeing success on the field. Team spending is certainly a component in winning, but no team can buy a championship." (Bradbury). For some, it’s hard not to root for the lower paid teams. If the big money teams, like Goliath, are always supposed to win, it’s hard not cheer for David. This paper will discuss the effects of payroll budgets on the percentage of wins for the 30 Major League Baseball teams of 2007.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Speech on Baseball Contraction

    834 Words  | 2 Pages

    Major League Baseball owners have voted to contract the league and disband 2 of the 30 teams in the league before next season. B.      The owners claim that it would not be profitable to keep playing baseball in Montreal and Minnesota. C.     25 baseball players from each team will lose their jobs, but other teams in the league will pick them up.

    Read More

  • Salary Cap In Major League Baseball

    2307 Words  | 5 Pages

    However, if the current rules remain in place and baseball continues without a salary cap, the only hope a small market team may have is to fend for themselves on the big market with financially superior teams. This becomes an exceedingly harder task when one team can afford the salary of two top players while those contracts are equal to the entire payroll of another team’s entire roster. Therefore, the question remains should baseball implement a salary cap, and if they do, how would it come into play. When asking the question regarding the salary cap, four supporting ideas arise for either the implementation of a salary cap or keeping it nonexistent.

    Read More

  • A Procative Approach To Improving Minor League Baseball Compensation

    982 Words  | 2 Pages

    Under the protection of Major League Baseball’s (“MLB”) longtime antitrust exemption, Minor League Baseball (“MiLB”) has continuously redefined and reshaped itself according to Baseball’s overall needs. But while MLB salaries have increased dramatically since the MLB reserve clause was broken in 1975, the salaries of minor league players have not followed suit.

    Read More

  • Major League Baseball Needs a Salary Cap

    1255 Words  | 3 Pages

    A salary cap gives all the teams an equal chance to sign players. It also keeps teams with a lot of money not able to acquire every all-star they want , or any player who is a free agent. Some Major League Baseball teams like the Anahiem Angels and the Atlanta Braves are owned by very wealthy people and companies. The Anaheim Angels are owned by Disney.(Worisnop, 128) So with no surprise the Angels can produce a team which can be very competitive, and have several all-star players. Just recently they exercised this advantage by signing Mo Vaughn for ninety million dollars over seven years.(Antonen, 2) There were at least four other teams that wanted to sign this all-star, but the Angels easily had the money, and outbid everyone who wanted to sign him. If there was a salary cap in Major League Baseball then the Angels would have thought twice about giving that much money to one player. With the its roster for one year. So giving one player 12.8 million dollars for one year does not really make sense if the salary cap is fifty million dollars a year. That would leave only 37.2 million dollars for the twenty-four other players, which equals each player getting on average a little less than one and a half million dollars a year.

    Read More

  • A Leauge of Their Own

    1095 Words  | 3 Pages

    come up with a solution to keep baseball going in America while most of the professional

    Read More

  • How Baseball Survived the Great Depression

    760 Words  | 2 Pages

    Baseball remains today one of America’s most popular sports, and furthermore, baseball is one of America’s most successful forms of entertainment. As a result, Baseball is an economic being of its own. However, the sustainability of any professional sport organization depends directly on its economic capabilities. For example, in Baseball, all revenue is a product of the fans reaction to ticket prices, advertisements, television contracts, etc. During the devastating Great Depression in 1929, the fans of baseball experienced fiscal suffering. The appeal of baseball declined as more and more people were trying to make enough money to live. There was a significant drop in attention, attendance, and enjoyment. Although baseball’s vitality might have seemed threatened by the overwhelming Great Depression, the baseball community modernized their sport by implementing new changes that resulted in the game’s survival.

    Read More

  • Warren Hartenstine's College Athletes Should Not Be Paid?

    1084 Words  | 3 Pages

    If there’s one thing we dread in the summer more than the heat, it’s the afflicting sentiment that surrounds oneself when one is inhibited from experiencing the thrills of football for six long and gruesome months. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football is a part of many Americans’ Saturdays, but to fewer does it mean their lives. Recently coming under debate, many sporting fans and college athletes believe that players should be paid more than just tuition, room, board, and books. Two articles on this issue that bring up valid points worth discussing are Paul Marx’ “Athlete’s New Day” and Warren Hartenstine’s “College Athletes Should Not Be Paid.” From these articles I have found on the basis of logical,

    Read More

  • Gambling in Baseball

    1823 Words  | 4 Pages

    What has changed the way America’s pastime is looked at forever and prompt worldwide discussion? Joe Jackson and his seven teammates changed the face of baseball forever during the intimate scandal of 1919. No other time in baseball history did Americans question the state of the game. Pete Rose had also brought a debate like no other before in baseball. Since his banishment in 1989 the country has been split on the issue. Gambling by these men and others has caused great problems in baseball. The game of baseball has been destroyed by gambling.

    Read More

  • Professional Sports Teams Move - Cities Fight To Keep Them

    1040 Words  | 3 Pages

    Some of the most prolific franchises in sports, like the Oakland Raiders and Baltimore Colts of the National Football League, have moved to other cities breaking off their loyalty to the hometown fans. More important than the actual moves are the more frequent threatened moves. When teams “play the field” and explore the option of playing in other cities they are able to lure interested cities into giving them just about any royalty they want. New stadiums are only the beginning. The willingness to threaten departure has secured for teams a variety of land deals, lower taxes, more revenues from parking and concessions, control of stadium operations, guaranteed ticket sales, renovation of stadiums with luxury seating, control over neighborhoods and transportation systems, and that’s only the beginning of the list.

    Read More

  • The Salary Cap Should Be Abolished in Sports

    2015 Words  | 5 Pages

    When looking into the history of our culture, there are many subtopics that fall under the word, “history.” Topics such as arts and literature, food, and media fall into place. Among these topics reside sports. Since the beginning of time, sports have persisted as an activity intertwined with the daily life of people. Whether it is a pick-up game of football in the backyard, or catching an evening game at the local stadium, sports have become the national pastime. According to Marcus Jansen of the Sign Post, more specifically, baseball is America’s national pastime, competing with other sports (Jansen 1). Providing the entertainment that Americans pay top dollar for, live the role models, superstars, and celebrities that put on a jersey as their job. As said in an article by Lucas Reilly, Americans spend close to $25.4 billion dollars on professional sports (Reilly 4). The people that many children want to be when they grow up are not the firefighters or astronauts told about in bed time stories. These dream jobs or fantasies have become swinging a bat or tossing a football in front of millions of screaming fans. When asked why so many dream of having such job, the majority will respond with a salary related answer. In today’s day and age, the average athlete is paid more than our own president. The cold hard facts show that in professional sports, the circulation of money is endless. Certain teams in professional baseball and football are worth over millions of dollars. Consequently, the teams who are worth more are able to spend more. The issue that arises with this philosophy is virtually how much more? League managers, team owners and other sports officials have sought out a solution to the surfacing problem. Is it fair to let...

    Read More

  • The Historiography of Race and Discrimination in Baseball and Sports

    3242 Words  | 7 Pages

    Historical and sociological research has shown, through much evidence collection and analysis of primary documents that the American sporting industry can give an accurate reflection, to a certain extent, of racial struggles and discrimination into the larger context of American society. To understand this stance, a deep look into aspects of sport beyond simply playing the game must be a primary focus. Since the integration of baseball, followed shortly after by American football, why are the numbers of African American owners, coaches and managers so very low? What accounts for the absence of African American candidates from seeking front office and managerial roles? Is a conscious decision made by established members of each organization or is this matter a deeper reflection on society? Why does a certain image and persona exist amongst many African American athletes? Sports historians often take a look at sports and make a comparison to society. Beginning in the early 1980’s, historians began looking at the integration of baseball and how it preceded the civil rights movement. The common conclusion was that integration in baseball and other sports was indeed a reflection on American society. As African Americans began to play in sports, a short time later, Jim Crow laws and segregation formally came to an end in the south. Does racism and discrimination end with the elimination of Jim Crow and the onset of the civil rights movement and other instances of race awareness and equality? According to many modern sports historians and sociologists, they do not. This paper will focus on the writings of selected historians and sociologists who examine th...

    Read More

  • Issues with Athletes’ Salaries and How to Change Them

    1932 Words  | 4 Pages

    Professional sports were beginning to be organized in the 1850s. At this point, their salaries, although they were still higher than the average person’s, were not too outrageous. In the 1880s and 90s, baseball players in particular were making on average about $1,750 annually. Even though this was three times the salary of an industrial worker of the time, they were not happy with this amount of money and felt they should be earning more (Baseball n.d.). In the 1970s, the worlds of professional sports took a drastic turn. According to an article by J.L. Carnagie, “Two words described sports in the 1970s: big business. Owners and athletes in major professional team sports knew there was money to be made in their games, and they went after it.” (Carnagie, n.d.) Athletes, especially, realized how competitive teams were becoming, and they were well aware that talent was in high demand. In the beginning of 1980s, the best athletes were demanding even more money; and the majority of the time, they got what they wanted. By end of the 1980s, many athletes were making over a million dollars (Carnagie, n.d.) These increasing salaries were very ironic because when professional sports began they were intended to be a showcase of players’ talent and athletic ability. Professional sports leagues were also supposed to be similar to the Olympics in that they would be free of politics and influence of society. However, by the 80s, they had become all about the star athletes and how much money they could make. By this point, professional sports had evolved into an industry that was focused on entertainment and money, rather than the sports actually being played (Carnagie, n.d.).

    Read More

  • Basketball Needs To Be Fixed

    1329 Words  | 3 Pages

    The problem with this is the inflation of players' salaries. When players are drafted young, they demand to be paid what they want; teams pay them millions right out of college.

    Read More

  • The Impact of Sports on American Society

    3791 Words  | 8 Pages

    Abstract: Society is affected every day by many different kinds of sports.  These sports often govern society's way of life.  People all over the nation turn their TVs to sporting events, such as golf, during the weekends.   Scott Stossel states that "more than six million Americans enjoy watching golf on the weekends."  Parents  use sports as a teaching tool for their children.  Kids learn teamwork and discipline from team sports programs and  sports have also helped many students with their grades.  Kids who want to compete in school sports are taught to keep their grades up or they won't be able to play, but the greedy coaches and schools often look around grades to keep their "star athletes" in the games.  Adults have been affected by sports in their bank accounts.  Tax increases for funding a new stadium, golf course and even school programs have hurt the middle class Americans.  Sports have taken control of small communities and soon will take control of society

    Read More

More about when sports were just games

Open Document