When Larry Walker went to the front office, check in hand, and offered to give his salary up to get some players so the Rockies could win a championship, that's when he'd had enough. When John Elway restructured his contract for the same reason, that's when he'd had enough.
Now, Albert Pujols wants A-Rod money to stay with the Cardinals. Really? Soon, A-Rod money is going to be nothing compared to the new kids.
When is it enough? Personally, I think it's too much - way too much.
Carmelo Anthony has been offered $65 million to play basketball for three years and that's not enough. Alex Rodriguez has a guaranteed salary of $275 million and that's not enough. In the NFL, the league minimum for a rookie is $285,000, and that goes up to $360,000 in their second year.
To put things in perspective, the President of the United States makes about $400,000 per year...um...he's the leader of the free world. He has the power and authority to end or save life as we know it. This is a bit more important than hitting a baseball one time out of three or catching a football 75 times.
I'm a HUGE sports fan, so I'm in a tough spot. I just know that there is no loyalty and no T-E-A-M in sports any more.
Forgive me, but I remember the Steelers with Bradshaw and Stallworth and Swann and the Steel Curtain. Art Rooney kept that team alive with his winnings at the track. Do you think he paid those guys multi-millions? No. But they did play hurt and bleeding because they cared about each other. That field was a foxhole. They would have never abandoned their brothers to go to Buffalo or Seattle for more money.
I remember Kenny Stabler punching people under the pile, Tom Jackson calling John Madden "Fat Man" on the sidelines, Dick Butkus annihilating people for having the nerve to come into his house...these guys played the game because they loved it.
I love the size, speed and athleticism of our athletes now. I'm in awe of what the human body can do when trained and conditioned for a purpose. What I miss is the heart.
Take away the dollars, put a cap of $1 million a year and watch the warriors that you'll get. Then you'll find the heart.
How much is enough?
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