the financial pornography of sports

David_Snowball

I spent part of my 15 minute drive to work today listening to ESPN. There is really no reason at all to be paying attention to football right now but former players need something to talk about in order to justify their pay so ...

A little talk today about the NFL combine (two young men injured themselves, sadly) and a lot about salary negotiations. Mr. Cousins, playing for Minnesota, is making $35 million this year and "isn't giving anybody a hometown discount." Mr. Prescott, in Dallas, is making $40 million / year and leery about working next year without an agreement for a contract (and a raise) for 2025-2027.

And over any over, the talking heads use the same two arguments in their defense of fighting for those last few million: (a) they're worth it and (b) they've got to take care of their families. The former argument is silly (in a purely financial sense, they are worth precisely and only what someone is willing to pay them, a fact that the league's running backs have discovered to their horror).

The latter argument is infuriating. The average American "takes care of their family" on $51,480 a year. (The Census reports household rather than individual incomes; the median there is $75,000 in 2022.) Loves them, hugs them, goes to their Little League games and piano recitals, cleans up their messes and binds their wounds, psychic and physical. A 2014 study by the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce concluded, "Overall, the median lifetime earnings for all workers are $1.7 million" which substantially higher payouts for folks with a BA ($2.3M), MA ($2.7M), PhD ($3.2M, and really I've got to find someone to sue over the gap between me and what I'm apparently owed) and MD/JD ($3.6M).

In 1977, in the midst of a span in which they won four Super Bowls, future Hall of Fame players Joe Greene and Lynn Swann made $60,000 / year, approximately four-and-a-half times the average income for all Americans that year. Of course they played for a guy who walked to work every morning. In 2024 terms, a future Hall of Fame player would be hauling in a cool $230,000 a year!

I don't particularly begrudge Messrs Prescott, Cousins, and co. their money. They're worth it, since some billionaire was willing to authorize the paycheck. The "they can't take care of their family on a million a year" (approximately the negotiated veteran minimum) is silly, since after two years in the NFL you've made a minimum of $1.5 million - or about what the average American makes in a lifetime. They "you can't expect them to accept only $30 million / year ... they've got to take care of their families" highlights some combination of the Delusional Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous or idiocy of the sports media.

Crash

....And just to "bring it all home:" Hawaii is notoriously expensive, but we're doing it--- AND putting the nieces and nephews through school. I saw gas last night at $4.64/gallon. Salami at Safeway? $14.00/pound. How can I possibly ever get by on what we have, and have coming in each month? Are we simply beating the odds?

Professional ballers get paid obscene amounts. I will do nothing to facilitate any of that, like attending games--- paying for seats which necessitate taking a loan against your pension because they're so expensive. They've all become NOISE!!!! EVENTS today, anyhow. Can't even enjoy the game.

Derf

@Crash : You do have a valid point about the noise level ! Now if I paid for a ticket & I'm sitting in a seat as a spectator , guess I can't complain.
If I'm reclining & watching the BIG game at home, how can I turn the crowd noise down so I can hear the announcers ?
I'm still trying to figure this out. I've tried listening with the radio while watch the game, sound muted,only a time lag makes this useless.
Any suggestions appreciated, Derf

Mark

@Derf - check out Zvox audio speakers/soundbars. The accentuate voice over background music/noise.

Crash

Mark said:

@Derf - check out Zvox audio speakers/soundbars. The accentuate voice over background music/noise.

And so we must buy an additional gadget in order to defeat the fact that the "professional" sound mixing engineers can't do their jobs. This is true UNIVERSALLY. But it's nice to know that gadget exists! @Mark and @Derf.

*But @Derf if you pay for a seat, all the more reason not to be afflicted with the LOUD in-your-face promotions, announcements, sound effects (like a pre-recorded shattering of a window---- used when a foul ball reaches the parking lot. Idiots in charge. EVERYWHERE.)
All that CRAP bothers me, I've found out, more than most people.
https://hsperson.com/test/highly-sensitive-test/

Even right now, at this very moment, someone is trying to kill me. GARLIC is their weapon of choice. Here in the islands, garlic is a very popular weapon. No license required.

Derf

Thanks @Mark for the tip, will do.

BenWP

Hearing loss, which afflicts many of the seniors on this board merely because they are seniors, makes a raft of situations difficult. Hearing aids help, but nothing I know of can counteract background noise (whether a crowd or a rowdy table in a restaurant). Young ears can filter out the unwanted noise to concentrate on a cell phone or another person nearby. Old ears can’t seem to do this. I have Zevox and I’ve tried other soundbars, but hearing dialogue is really hard. I can take my phone calls via Bluetooth in my hearing aids or connect them to a sending device attached to the TV sound and can function OK in those situations. Everyday life, including understanding what my wife is telling me to do, is a challenge. There is only so much that hearing aids, really high-tech amplifiers, can accomplish. I’m going back to the audiologist next week to inquire about “the next step,” even though I’m not sure what that might mean.

Old_Joe

"Hearing aids help, but nothing I know of can counteract background noise (whether a crowd or a rowdy table in a restaurant)."
• Exactly

"There is only so much that hearing aids, really high-tech amplifiers, can accomplish."
• Exactly

"understanding what my wife is telling me to do, is a challenge"
• Sometimes that's actually a benefit.

Crash

Yes. But there has been a sort of evolution with broadcast and movie sound. The background noise and sound effects and explosions have indeed taken over, AT THE EXPENSE of the dialogue. Just compare the old black-and-whites to today's films. It's as obvious as obvious can be.

Crash

Financial pornography of sports? That's where we started: Exhibit A: digital commercials even BETWEEN PITCHES during the ballgame on tv. Shameless.

BenWP

I depend on lip reading and am reminded of this when watching CBS, all of whose programs’ images (I.e., the speakers’ lips) are out of synch with the dialogue. My wife is a fan of Colbert, so I sit through about four shows a week understanding the lame jokes mostly when the delayed closed captions show up. Our TV supposedly has an adjustment for out-of-synch dialogue, but it does not solve the CBS problem. I wonder if others have noted this.

Despite being an avid sports fan, I rarely attend games in person. However, a couple of recent Tigers games convinced me that the baseball is no longer what’s on offer: it’s massive noise- making and visuals between innings, such that no moment of quiet ever occurs. Seems that this is what goes on in NBA arenas, judging from what I see on TV. I guess it is a form of porn.

Crash

"...Despite being an avid sports fan, I rarely attend games in person. However, a couple of recent Tigers games convinced me that the baseball is no longer what’s on offer: it’s massive noise- making and visuals between innings, such that no moment of quiet ever occurs. Seems that this is what goes on in NBA arenas, judging from what I see on TV. I guess it is a form of porn."

Precisely!