![]() ![]()
We have tickets to a Broadway show coming up, and soon after that an Eagles game on the road. ![]() That’s on HBO Max, one of the seven or more - it’s hard to keep up - streaming services my girlfriend and I have access to in our apartment. Sometime later tonight, I’ll take out my iPad in bed and pick up where I left off at the beginning of season six of The West Wing. PRO ATHLETES MAKE TOO MUCH MONEY FULLDodger Stadium is full and loud, and those in attendance probably paid hundreds, some maybe thousands. In the background, a baseball playoff game accessed via Hulu Live ( $64.99/month and up) hums away. No: Athletes deserve to earn their market value because fans will pay it. That doesn’t mean we fans have to like it.Ĭhristian Red is a freelance sports writer based in Milford, Pa. PRO ATHLETES MAKE TOO MUCH MONEY PROFESSIONALYes, professional athletes rarely come cheap these days, and more often than not, championships require deep coffers (see 2020 Los Angeles Dodgers). The outfielder inked a seven-year, $153 million contract before the 2014 season, but didn’t play in any games for the final three years. He spent so much time injured that New York Post beat writer George King III dubbed Pavano “ American Idle.” Perhaps no contract in recent Yankee history was as big an albatross as Jacoby Ellsbury’s. But that hefty sum paid off, as the team went on to win its 27th championship the following fall.īut there were plenty more expensive pinstriped busts - pitcher Carl Pavano, anyone? Pavano signed a four-year, $39.95 million deal, but made 26 starts total during his Yankee tenure. Burnett after the team failed to make the 2008 postseason. How’s $423.5 million sound for three players? That’s how much the Yankees unloaded on infielder Mark Teixeira, and pitchers CC Sabathia and A.J. PRO ATHLETES MAKE TOO MUCH MONEY FREE» READ MORE: Ben Simmons comes crawling back to the Sixers to save money, if not face | Marcus Hayesĭuring the 16 years I worked at the New York Daily News, I covered a Yankees franchise where there was no shortage of big Steinbrenner money spent during the winter months in order to land a coveted free agent here or complete a glitzy trade there. How much fun must it be for Sixers coach Doc Rivers - with all that he’s accomplished in his basketball life - to have to deal with a headache like Simmons at this stage of his career? Or how about the fans - who often foot the bill for new stadiums - who pay a hefty price to see the millionaire players perform? Maybe teams should start slashing contracts and develop a business model that translates to cheaper tickets. So is Simmons worth the $147 million left on his contract? During the club’s most recent playoff series, a seven-game semifinal affair against the Atlanta Hawks this past spring, Simmons struggled with his shot, most painfully in the Game 7 clincher at home, when he scored a measly five points and failed to convert a wide-open dunk in the waning moments. Simmons, who’s set to earn $33 million this season (more than twice Iverson’s ‘01-’02 salary), has played four seasons in Philly, yet the Sixers have never advanced beyond the Eastern Conference semifinals. What may seem silly, in hindsight, was any public grousing about The Answer’s then-salary - approximately $11.25 million for the 2001-02 season - only a year removed from Iverson leading the Sixers to an NBA Finals appearance against the Los Angeles Lakers while simultaneously winning league MVP honors. “I’m supposed to be the franchise player and we in here talking about practice … not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game like it’s my last,” Iverson said in a May 2002 press conference, days after his team was ousted in the first round of the playoffs. Yes, Ben Simmons is the latest Philly target in the proverbial sports fan crosshairs, but it was Allen Iverson who was at the center of that firestorm almost 20 years ago, when the 11-time All-Star blasted the assembled press on why he had to answer questions about practice. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |