Craig Lisko/HCS/CSC
04/02/97 12:44 PM
 
I have a strong opinion in the matter of professional sports.
 
Why should a young man who is athletically talented receive/desire all the
money necessary for the rest of his life for only working a few short
years?
 
Could you see me going into my boss... OK, I'm going to work here for the
next 20 years at $50,000 a year, how about you giving me a cool million
right now, and I 'll work the rest of those 20 years for free!
 
Sounds good, huh...But why do we accept this in pro sports?  What college
athlete would pass up the opportunity to do such a thing? I wouldn't.
 
 
I guess I'm just trying to figure out why can't an athlete get paid
$500,000 to $1 million a year during playing years and then need to find a
job and work some type of "normal" life. So...because I can throw a ball
100 mph, or shoot it 110 mph, hit .375 every year, that warrants me to get
paid so much money that for generations to come, my family is wealthy?
What impact on society are they having? Sure 30 years from now we'll
remember that Sid Bream scored from 2nd base in the bottom of the ninth,
but what does that mean?
 
I think the money that is being thrown around in football, basketball,
baseball, and now hockey is too much for a college athlete to turn down.
Think about it this way. If you give a 7 year old kid $10, they would spend
it on junk food, candy, etc.  Now give a 21 year-old kid $4.5 million a
year, what does he do? Spends it on junk food, candy (the expensive,
illegal stuff). I think that this is the problem with college athletics.
The colleges are doing nothing wrong, it's the pro sports that are ruining
college athletics (for the major sports).
 
Sadly enough, it's not going to change.
 
FWIW,
 
Craig Lisko
Ferris State University 1990-1994
 
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