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.

...It's A Mystery...

This one absolutely baffles me. Over the past 4 years, the price of oil has multiplied 300+% for the same 44 gallons of product that were selling for $36-$40 previous to the current (and ongoing) speculative run-up.

Naturally, as oil has risen, the price per gallon of processed fuel has also risen. Along the way, we have all become familiar with the record profits being recorded by nearly every oil company quarter after fiscal quarter.

Now, along the current trajectory of the oil costs, there are fluctuations in the average price per barrel. Oil goes up, gas goes up. Oil goes down, gas stays up.

Did I get that right? Well, not exactly. The price of gasoline definitely rises exponentially every time a barrel of oil costs more. It's not uncommon for the American consumer to see a .05, .10, or even .15 cent overnight (or intraday) jump in a gallon of gas. However, once up, that same gallon of gas takes days or even weeks to retreat even a few cents; even when the barrel price has retreated by dollars.

Further, oil is traded 1 month ahead of the actual purchase (or order fill) window. For example, oil contracts traded today will come due in late August. That is, delivery from the supplier to the oil company happens approximately 30 days from the time the contract (xx number of barrels at $xx) was purchased.

So, when we see a run up in oil that won't even reach the pumps for at least 30-45 days, why are we (the consumer) being instantly strapped with huge, sometimes daily increases at the pump?

But the really baffling question for me, is, why does the price of gas jump when oil costs more, but the price of gasoline per gallon either stays the same, or takes literally months to decline, even after oil has fallen significantly? This makes no sense to me, and is an unjustifiable mystery.

I once heard a conversation on the radio about the oil costs vs gas costs, and the host was talking about how oil companies tell people they just don't understand the ecomonics of the whole thing. He (the radio host) told his audience "Minds infintely greater than mine might understand it [the whole oil thing], but this whole system just doesn't make sense." I completely agree with that viewpoint.

While the oil companies do have an obligation to their shareholders to perform well, run smoothly and efficiently, and return some money to their stockholders, why, in this era of 300+% energy inflation, do they charge what they do for a gallon of gas? They could charge $1 less, and STILL have huge profits.

The late, great columnist Jack Anderson wrote an article a short time before his death in which this subject was the topic. He quoted a long-time friend of his in the oil industry who stated that a gallon of gasoline costs no more to produce [at the time] than it did 25 years before...about .25 cents.

My question again...why does the price of gas stay at a higher level even after oil per barrel drops? It costs the refiners hardly anything to convert each gallon. The price jumps when oil rises, but it almost refuses to come down. Why? What incomprehensible ecomonics are in motion that is so tough to explain? Why can't the oil companys sprout a conscience and actually take less profit so the public isn't so hard-put to meet their food budgets, let alone any other type of budget?

I'm not going to call for some boycott because those just don't work. Everyone fills up either before or after the boycott. The only real damage inflicted is upon the station owners who lose pump and convenience store purchases.

Just think about this. Ask yourself what you might be able to do to help even a little bit. I certainly don't have the answers, but I'm sure that someone in the oil industry, with a mind infintely greater than mine, might be able (or at least attempt) to justify the actions of the companies holding every American household financially hostage.