Pro Holdouts

Where, in this great land can you decide that you won't report to work; that you can tell your boss that you won't work unless he pays you more money; and that you will stay home until your demands are met?

I don't know about you, but I'd be out of a job really quick. Employers simply don't tolerate that sort of whining, insubordinate behavior from their employees. It's counterproductive, and is a tremendous detriment to the company.

There is however, one industry where this is not only allowed, but is nauseatingly common. I'm talking Professional Sports. In particular, Football. This is the one sport that outdoes all the others in a pathetic dance of money for play. Don't get me wrong here, I am all for athletes making money; but there are two things wrong here.

First, the exhorbitant salaries being paid out are ludicrous, at best. Second, these athletes (I say that as a general term only) seem only to care about money, and making more of it than the next guy.

Let's look at the first issue--salaries. Pro football players are in camp 1 month (plus a couple of weeks in the Spring), then play 16 regular season games over the course of about 4.5 months. So, they actually work about 7 months a year, aside from appearances, instructional camps (for which their usually paid), etc.

Now, say a player earns $5M (million) every year. That's a little over $700,000 per month for each month worked. That breaks down to $175,000 per week worked. That breaks down to $29,166 earned for every day of work.

Not a bad living (Duh!!!). Plus there are any endorsement deals, playoff monies, appearance fees, etc, etc, etc. Now, I know many of you will be screaming about revenue sharing, Union contracts, League advertising incomes, owner wealth, etc.

For me, what it comes down to, is a large number of pro players make more for a single day of work, than many hard-working Americans make in an entire year.

Which brings me to issue number 2...

...Athletes who demand more money.

Holdouts drive me crazy. These players want an ever increasing piece of the proverbial pie. They seem to be so caught up in their quest for money, that they forget a basic rule of working...you have to actually show up.

When a company contracts with another company for work to be performed, that company expects the second company to actually perform the work to the best results, and also expect them to fulfill the contract to its end.

With pro players, that same expectation is thrown out the window. With one, two, or even three years remaining on a contract that THEY AGREED TO, players will demand more money or they won't show up for work....And they get it!!! The owners generally cave in at some point because they want to field the best team possible which sells more seats, generates bigger ad revenues, etc.

Any parent who has endured whining from their kids will understand this point: Giving in to the whining of a child only teaches them that they will always get what they want if they whine loud enough, for long enough. Owners have a lot of whiners on their hands, and give into their cries way to much. They set this dangerous precedent years ago when free agency began to prosper. Now it's a common (and expected) practice on both sides.

I'm not saying that all professional athletes are this way. I've known a number of wonderful men who did indeed play out their contracts to the best of their abilities. They should be the ones we admire. They should be the role models for our children. But because they don't whine, or make a foolish spectacle of themselves, their incredible contributions are never mentioned or are overlooked at the very least. These are the players who should be the best rewarded, the most recognized when it comes time to sign or renew contracts.

After all, isn't a professional athletes' contract about 'play for pay?' When will the league owners collectively say "Enough!" and refuse to give into these athletes who think they deserve more money than the next guy? Let these whiners fulfill their contracts, then conduct some professional negotiations to increase their pay based on how they performed throught the duration of their contacts.

But, that is in an ideal world, where professional whiners don't really take advantage of their pushover employers and cry that they just aren't making enough money. Poor whining babies. I feel really sorry for them that they just can't make ends meet on $5M, $10M, or more a year.