Baseball Contracts

So on my ride into work this morning I was listening to Baseball this morning on XM Radio as usual when one particular comment grabbed my attention. I think it was mainly because of the way it was said but it really put the baseball world in perspective. One of the guests was talking about how teams will usually scour the wires to find "has-beens" or "journeyman" players to fill out their bench for the upcoming season. The exact comment that caught my attention was when he said "Yeah, teams will throw a million dollars at a washed up pitcher just in case it can work out." A million dollars on a chance it will work out??? Where do I sign up? I can throw a ball hard and sometimes on target, can I get a chance for a contract for half that much?

I think we as fans have to take a step back sometimes and really understand how ridiculous professional sports are with their salaries. Don't get me wrong, I love watching baseball. I can't stand however to watch the NBA and even the NFL though. I recently found myself watching more and more college basketball though. I think the reason for this is because in my mind it is still just about the game of basketball, and that's why I like to watch it. The fans are so into the game and often cheer in unison. The players play as a team, do whatever their coach tells them, and usually the one the one that executes their team game plan best comes out on top.

Back to my main point though. It is a very difficult topic to get into on how to fix the priorities of our country and contrary to liberal beliefs this has nothing to do with our current administration. We as a country seem to value entertainment and sports over everything else. If this was not true, you would see ball players still having to get jobs in the off season like they had to back in the 50's and 60's. It seems like a repetitive argument but the things that matter most like teachers, police, firefighters, paramedics, etc. get paid almost nothing in comparison to a person who can play a sport well. And many of the people in those lines of work put their lives on the line everyday. Please let me know the next time a professional athlete puts their life on the line for another. ..