Never has popular culture been more prevalent than in the sports teams of today. Players are hyped for their on field and off field activities. They are built up to be gods and goddesses of their sports and as such deserve to be paid millions for what they may be able to do. This scenario has never been truer than given the current situation concerning rookie Michael Crabtree of the San Francisco 49ers.
According to Dan Wetzel of yahoo sports, Micahael Crabtree is threatening to sit out his rookie season if he is not paid more money. “Crabtree has decided that he shouldn’t have to be paid less because – based on all the made-up, predicted drafts – Al Davis made a mistake.” (Wetzel, 2009) According to the pre draft hype over this young man from Texas Tech, he should be making more money than what he is for what he might do as a pro.
Modern society has built a culture of entitlement. We have been raised and continue to raise our children to believe they can do anything they want too and they can be anything they want to be. We have also raised them to believe that they are valuable and should be compensated for their value. Given the success of some sports players, it makes since that they should be paid millions for their god given gifts. After all, “a disturbing percentage leave the game as near-cripples dealing with neurological problems.” (Wetzel, 2009) However, the players who have the experience and talent to be considered pros should be the ones making this money. Not the rookies who are being given a chance to prove their prowess in this sport. It will serve society and popular culture well to not give in to the demands of the inexperienced and reserve their best pay for those who have the most to offer.
Popular culture has as much to contribute to the delinquency of entitlement as the rest of society. We pay people millions for their potential and tell them all along that they are worth it. We build individuals into icons that are longed for and even desired until their public worth outdrives their professional worth. We as a culture need to take a long hard look at the message we are sending to our children of today, less they pay for our wrongdoings.
Bibliography
Wetzel, D. (2009, August 06). Yahoo Sports. Retrieved August 07, 2009, from http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=dw-michaelcrabtree080609&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
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Wow this was a great analysis, It is a shame the sports leauges are considered big money tickets for the players today they make large sums of money per game,players like Jim Brown never made that much money back in the day! They were lucky if they even cleared a fraction of what players make per game today in a year. Footbal was a sport back then, now it is a show! I think it is sad...
ReplyDeleteI also agree with your statement about what we are teaching our children today I think we need to instill better values in our children so they are able to function in society.