I can remember when I first started watching sports. I was around 14 years old and it was all so new. I became enthralled with basketball, football and baseball. The competition was fierce and so real, unlike the ‘sport’ of professional wrestling, which I had been engrossed with before then. Go ahead, judge me.
Anyway, I have noticed over two decades what some of you have probably noticed over more or less time. Some things change. Champions come and go. But many things stay the same. The winner is still the team with the higher score, interviewing athletes reveals why they play sports and Brett Favre is still considering retirement. Perhaps the saddest aspect that never changes is the clamor for more money.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to rail against players receiving huge contracts. They do what they love and the business affords them that money. I do what I love. If someone wanted to pay me a million dollars to do youth ministry, I would find a way to spend the money, after my tithe, of course. What I will shake my head at is athletes who do not yet understand how fortunate they are to make money for playing sports.
The latest example is a football player for the New York Jets, Darrelle Revis. Understand that I know very little about how these contracts work, so we won’t get into the nitty gritty. Just know that Revis is a great player who wants more money. But in order to get more money, he’s opted out of his current contract, which would have paid him over TWENTY MILLION DOLLARS over the next 3 years.
As I was talking with my wife about this absurdity, my daughter, who was listening in, said, ‘He must care more about money than he does playing football.’ She’s 8! If my 8-year old can get it, why can’t professional athletes? On the other hand, my son, 7, asked, ‘Are there little leagues which pay money?’ I’ll have to keep working on him, I guess.
Let’s keep things in perspective. What’s your example of losing perspective?
Anyway, I have noticed over two decades what some of you have probably noticed over more or less time. Some things change. Champions come and go. But many things stay the same. The winner is still the team with the higher score, interviewing athletes reveals why they play sports and Brett Favre is still considering retirement. Perhaps the saddest aspect that never changes is the clamor for more money.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to rail against players receiving huge contracts. They do what they love and the business affords them that money. I do what I love. If someone wanted to pay me a million dollars to do youth ministry, I would find a way to spend the money, after my tithe, of course. What I will shake my head at is athletes who do not yet understand how fortunate they are to make money for playing sports.
The latest example is a football player for the New York Jets, Darrelle Revis. Understand that I know very little about how these contracts work, so we won’t get into the nitty gritty. Just know that Revis is a great player who wants more money. But in order to get more money, he’s opted out of his current contract, which would have paid him over TWENTY MILLION DOLLARS over the next 3 years.
As I was talking with my wife about this absurdity, my daughter, who was listening in, said, ‘He must care more about money than he does playing football.’ She’s 8! If my 8-year old can get it, why can’t professional athletes? On the other hand, my son, 7, asked, ‘Are there little leagues which pay money?’ I’ll have to keep working on him, I guess.
Let’s keep things in perspective. What’s your example of losing perspective?
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