Money. . .

The radio is rambling on about Syria with mention of car bombs, Assad, opposition, terrorists, negotiators etc., very sad indeed.  The umpteenth snowstorm is coating the complete pre-spring landscape and once again, complicating a morning commute.  The president has spoken with high schoolers about going to college and how they're going to pay for it. Mere distractions to be sure.

But once again, prompted by the dinner conversation last night, distribution of wealth sneaked into the mix.  The angle this time was not the greed of Wall Street or big business.  This time we zeroed in on the entertainment industry.  Not only the vast amounts of money required to make a major-release motion picture, but also the salaries commanded by professional sports players.  See . . .

". . . For the first time since SI.com began publishing the Fortunate 50 in 2004, Tiger Woods is not No. 1. He's not even No. 2. That honor goes once again to Phil Mickelson. The new No. 1 (for now) is Floyd Mayweather, who was unranked a year ago but scored two huge pay-per-view paydays to earn $85 million without a single endorsement.

This year's list is unique for a couple more reasons. NBA players, who have historically claimed more spots in the Fortunate 50 than any other group, had their salaries slashed by nearly 20 percent this season because of the 66-game schedule brought on by the lockout of 2011.
Our findings consisted solely of salary, winnings, bonuses, endorsements and appearance fees. We consulted players' associations, tour records, agents and news reports. Our endorsement estimates for 2012 came from Burns Entertainment & Sports Marketing, other sports-marketing executives and analysts, and agents. Salary figures were based on current or most recently completed seasons (July 1 for the NFL, which is why Drew Brees, who just signed a $100 million deal last Friday, isn't on the list). For winnings-based sports (auto racing, golf, tennis), we used the 2011 calendar year. Boxing purses are from June 2011 through May 2012. Candidates for the U.S. 50 had to be American citizens and currently active in their sports.
For the 20 highest earning international athletes, go here
. . ."(Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/specials/fortunate50-2012/#ixzz2wDNJ0k1u)

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Sorting It Out. . .

To me, American football is an entertainment and marketing phenomenon.  The sheer number of fans

(i.e. Fanatic)
Definition of FANATIC
:  marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion <they're fanatic about politics>

alone boggles the mind.


(from wikipedia.com)
". . . The first instance of professional play in football was on November 12, 1892, when William "Pudge" Heffelfinger was paid $500 to play a game for the Allegheny Athletic Association in a match against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. This is the first recorded instance of a player being paid to participate in a game of American football, although many athletic clubs in the 1880s offered to help players attain employment, gave out trophies or watches that players would pawn for money, or paid double in expense money. Football at the time had a strict sense of amateurism, and direct payment to players was frowned upon, if not outright illegal.

Professional play became common, and with it came rising salaries, unpredictable player movement, and the illegal use of amateur collegiate players in professional games. The National Football League, a group of professional teams that was originally established in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, aimed to solve these problems. This new league's stated goals included an end to bidding wars over players, prevention of the use of college players, and abolition of the practice of paying players to leave another team. The NFL by 1922 had established itself as the premier professional football league.

The dominant form of football at the time was played at the collegiate level, but the upstart NFL received a boost to its legitimacy in 1925 when an NFL team, the Pottsville Maroons, defeated a team of Notre Dame all-stars in an exhibition game.[18] A greater emphasis on the passing game helped professional football to further distinguish itself from the college game during the late 1930s. Football in general became increasingly popular following the 1958 NFL Championship game, a match between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants that is still referred to as the "Greatest Game Ever Played". The game, a 23–17 overtime victory by the Colts, was seen by millions of television viewers and had a major impact on the popularity of the sport. This helped football to become the most popular sport in the United States by the mid-1960s. . . "

I used to try to understand it so I could watch it with others and participate in the enthusiasm and fellowship of the occasion.  I have to confess, I never fully grasped the concept.  In time I even stopped trying.  Don't get me wrong, I truly understand and appreciate the concept of cheering for the local team (in any sport) and feel that the camaraderie that results is good for the individuals as well as the society.  But I still don't understand, nor at this point in my life need or want to understand,  the game of football.

Nevertheless I most certainly do intend to fully participate in the 'good vibes' inherent in the process next Sunday at the party, drinking and enjoying good friendship when we all gather to watch football, even though I still don't understand the game.

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Worth. . .

. . . measured by money

Annual Salaries of selected 'celebrities'
-----------------------------------------------
Justin Bieber       $55 million
Jennifer Lopez    $12 million
Alex Rodriguez  27.5 million
Ryan Seacrest     $15 million
Johan Santana    $24 million
Oprah Winfrey  $325 million
Peyton Manning   $24 million
Judge Judy          $45 million
David Letterman $28 million
Katie Couric        $15 million
Tom Brady          $18 million

Complain if you want and you'll only receive agreement from me, but our  'celebrities' are  grossly overpaid.  Whether or not they are underworked will be a topic for another time.  These amounts of money, while indicative of a tremendous amount of public support (i.e., fans), is, on a pragmatic level, uncomprehendingly unnecessary for one person to thrive.

But complaining alone accomplishes nothing and saps valuable time from a life better lived.
Yet if you feel strongly about it, there IS something that you can do.

DO NOT SUPPORT THEM.

Do not buy products by them or by the merchants that sponsor them.  Do not pay for a ticket to one of their concerts, CDs, DVDs or games.  This and this alone removes your contribution to their hefty salaries and thus from the equation completely.

Can't do THAT!, you say?

Then don't complain.

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