Sport

Professional Athletes Are Worthy of Their Pay

Black Athletes

Although many people think professional athletes make too much money, they deserve the money they earn.  Professional athletes provide professional team owners with the highest quality talent and skills available in the world for the positions they fill.  When you’re hiring the best available people in the world for the positions you have, those individuals are worthy of earning lucrative salaries.  Professional sports team owners are multi-billionaires who make billions more off of the athletes they employ.  Unfortunately, the significant income disparities between professional athletes and professional team owners are overlooked.  Many people see athletes making millions and fail to realize the owners are raking in billions by giving what’s pocket change to them to the athletes responsible for their continual prosperity.  Yes, many professional athletes are rich, especially baseball, basketball, and football players.  In comparison to money their team owners receive, these professional athletes are making minimum wages or less.

Deeply underlying many people’s arguments against professional athletes earning the lucrative salaries they collect is a racist critique of the perceived realities of the professional sports economy.  One of those racist critiques of the perceived realities of the professional sports economy is it’s leading to too many black male millionaires.  While black men are becoming millionaires in the professional sports economy, it does not compare to the way white men become millionaires in the larger national economy.  Many racists contend that the professional sports economy threatens to upset white economic dominance.  This is such a ridiculous racist postmodern anxiety.  The number of black males receiving million dollar salaries in the professional sports economy is analogous to throwing pebbles in a pond—the number is insignificant in comparison to the number of whites who are millionaires.  Many racists are simply uncomfortable with seeing a black millionaire, especially a black male millionaire.  They try to camouflage their racial hatred for black people by asserting that making millions for playing sports is unjustified.

Last month, Lebron James defended the many millions he makes as a professional basketball player.  Although he’s right in explaining why he deserves to be paid such a significant amount of money, it’s time to expose the racism, prejudice and unsubstantiated arguments offered by many who question the legitimacy of professional athletes earning multi-million dollar salaries.  One has to wonder would this be such a highly discussed topic if there weren’t a conspicuous number of black men getting multi-million dollar salaries to play professional sports.

Lebron James

Professional athletes have elected to devote themselves to careers in sports and their career choices should be respected as you desire to have your career choices respected.

Do you believe professional athletes make too much money?  Why or why not?

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison

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That’s Why They Play the Game

You should never step on a court or field and think that you’ve already won a game before you play the game.  Coaches should never think that their players are so great that it’s not possible for their team to lose against an opponent who is not expected to win.  When you’re truly a great team, you prepare in practice for every team with the same level of intensity and with the goal of getting better and better.  It’s okay to step on a court or field and feel confident that you’re going to win, but you shouldn’t think that you’ve already won.  Upsets happen often because teams feel like they’ve already won before the game is played.

Coaches need to make sure they teach their teams how to win and lose with grace. When a team defeats you, don’t start trying to fight because you’re so upset that you lost.  If you’re a high school or college student-athlete, your unacceptable behavior after a win or loss can cause you a chance to play at the next level because people can be turned off with how you act after a win or loss. You have to understand that there are going to be times when you win and times when you’re going to lose.  Always maintain control of your attitude because your character matters at all times.

Demonstrating poor character after a win or loss can make people stop supporting you and make them not want to come see you play another game.  People don’t come to see you play with poor character—they come to see you display your talent with sportsmanship.

If you’re an arrogant coach, then you need to understand that your arrogance is going to cost your team a loss inevitably.  Arrogant coaches need to resign from their jobs because they don’t set the kind of example they need to for their team.  Arrogant coaches make everything about themselves and often close their ears from listening to good advice from others who can help them to improve their coaching and team.

Never make sports your life.  There are more important things in life than sports.

Play every game like it’s your last because it could very well be your last.  With the severe injuries that can and do occur during games, you have to understand that you may not have another chance to display your talent on the court or field again.  Therefore, make the best of every opportunity you have.

In order for a team to win a game, a team only needs to be the best team on that particular day.  As the high school and college football season winds down to their final games, don’t forget that the teams expected to win may not win.  You cannot go ahead and write a team off until the game is actually played.  When you write a team off before the game is played, this is when you are setting yourself up for failure.  Your opponents know when you take them for granted and they seize on the opportunities your arrogance affords them.

Don’t let your arrogance cost you a win!

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Unfair and Exploitative NCAA Rules

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the governing body that oversees intercollegiate athletics, has created such a large number of complicated rules that even schools with some of the top lawyers in the nation cannot understand all of them completely. Until you have read and studied the very thick book of rules that the NCAA has established, then don’t be so quick to judge administrators, student-athletes, athletic department tutors and coaches. Yes, things like plagiarism, falsifying records, violent behavior, and etc. are violations of any institution’s policies without the NCAA telling them that they are. However, the NCAA has instituted many rules that need to be eliminated.

The NCAA will not allow players to speak to agents about their potential futures in playing professional sports. Now, please explain to me what’s the harm in allowing a student-athlete to speak to an agent about a future in playing professional sports? Is the NCAA really concerned about the futures of student-athletes? No! We allow all other students to have lawyers and agents while they are attending college. Why is it that the NCAA has decided to not give student-athletes equal treatment? It’s all about keeping student-athletes in the colleges and universities they attend to keep making those institutions more money. That’s why! By virtue of being a student-athlete, it’s conspicuous that he or she would love to have an opportunity to participate in sports on a professional level. Why would the NCAA try to hinder student-athletes from best positioning themselves for futures in professional athletic competition? By forbidding them from speaking to agents, they prevent student-athletes from engaging in strategic and effective planning about their future. This is unfair and exploitative.

If young student-athletes want to enter into professional sports immediately after graduating high school, they should be able to do this in every sport. We should not force them to have to attend college for any period of time before they are able to participate in sports on a professional level. For student-athletes who are not well-suited for college, we are using college as a punishment for them. College should be for those students who have genuine interests and needs for it. It should not be forced on any person wishing to participate in professional athletics. I understand that there are some good reasons for having students to attend college before they participate in professional athletics, but, again, college should not be forced on anyone.

What’s economically best for many student-athletes coming out of high school is to be able to make money immediately. If colleges would give student-athletes stipends, then they would be able to take care of their immediate economic needs and the economic needs of their families. Many Black male student-athletes come from such poor economic backgrounds that they need to make money immediately. Their families struggle with just surviving. While they and their families are struggling to survive, you have people with such elitist views that think it’s so wrong to give student-athletes stipends in exchange for their participation in college athletics and all that comes with their participation in college athletics.

In short, the NCAA needs to reduce all burdensome rules that prevent student-athletes from giving themselves the best possible future. I really encourage legal challenges to many of the NCAA’s rules to take place. We have to become increasingly concerned about how the NCAA exploits student-athletes. It is possible for us to make significant efforts to dramatically reduce the exploitation of student-athletes by using the legal system as a vehicle to accomplish this.

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Sportsmanship

How you respond after you win and lose can be most revealing about who you really are. I always look forward to viewing the exchanges between winners and losers after any athletic competition. How a person reacts to winning and losing a game is crucial to illuminating how he or she probably will act in other spaces outside of athletics. For parents of middle and high school student-athletes, help to support the efforts of coaches in imparting the importance of sportsmanship. As a former student-athlete and one who continues to participate in intramural athletics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I know how difficult it can be to lose. Frankly, I hate losing. This is why I compete so hard. I have learned, however, that anyone who defeats me deserves my wholehearted congratulations. It does not take much to shake the winners’ hands and tell the winners, “Good game.” There’s nothing like battling one another with such zeal and then evincing good sportsmanship after the game is over. While sports may not be valued by everyone like they should be, they do teach us the how vital sportsmanship is not only on the courts and fields of play but also in all areas of life.

Trash talking when you win a game is such an ugly phenomenon. You won—don’t gloat! When you lose, don’t try to start a fight. You just have to accept that you lost. Just because you won one game, no matter how prominent of a game it is, does not mean that you should ever feel it proper to rub the pain of defeat in your opponents’ faces.

As an athlete, I understand how in the heat of competition things can get rather intense. Athletes, however, have to learn that their intensity needs to be held in check. There’s never a need for actions on a court or field to turn into a violation of criminal law. Law enforcement should never have to step in to resolve a fight on a court or field. When this happens, this means that athletes are simply out of control. It’s always essential to be in control. That is, you should be in control of those things you can control. You can control your attitude and behavior.

Let’s really start applying the lessons of sportsmanship that we get from sports. Our interactions with one another should reflect that we understand and value sportsmanship. Sportsmanship is about giving credit where credit is due, and it’s about thanking those who you have defeated for being willing to express their congratulations to you. Know how to win and know how to lose. Let’s go a little further: Know how to win and lose gracefully.

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Same Referees Screw the Arkansas Razorbacks Again

The Arkansas Razorback defense had a horrible day on yesterday. It was certainly not a good day for the Special Teams of the Razorbacks too. Ryan Mallett had to leave the game in the second quarter with a concussion. With all of those aforementioned things that happened, one would think that the Hogs never had a chance to win, but that could not be further from the truth. The Hogs could have won the game, but they faced a force that was greater than the Auburn Tigers—the referees! The same referees that screwed the Razorbacks out of a win against the Florida Gators last year screwed Arkansas on yesterday against Auburn.

Without a doubt, Arkansas did not play as well as the team can play, but they were not prepared to play against referees who intentionally did everything that they could to make sure that the Razorbacks were not victorious against the Auburn Tigers. The Razorbacks still almost defeated Auburn even with the referees cheating on Arkansas. In the end, the cheating referee cost the Razorbacks the game.

I would just like to take this moment and congratulate Tyler Wilson on a great job of coming in for Ryan Mallett. The Arkansas defense needs to rise up again for the remainder of the season. Okay, this game is over—you have many more games to go. Go and win the rest of them!

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Arkansas Razorbacks Will Win the 2010-2011 NCAA Football National Championship

The Arkansas Razorbacks will begin play this Saturday, September 4, 2010. The reason why I believe the Arkansas Razorbacks will win the NCAA football national championship is this is the best overall football team in the nation. Ryan Mallett, the starting quarterback for the Razorbacks and a leading Heisman Trophy candidate, gives the Razorbacks a chance to win every game. Although the Hogs’ defense needs to improve from last year (and I know that it has), the defense will do enough to help the team to win each game. When a team is as fortunate as Arkansas to have such an explosive offense, the defense simply needs to do just enough to help the team to win each game.

Arkansas plays all of its most challenging games at home: Alabama, Ole Miss, and LSU. The emotions and expectations in Fayetteville, Arkansas are tremendously high, and the team really does believe the national championship will come back to the mountains of Fayetteville, Arkansas. Now, I hope that this stupid BCS system does not keep an undefeated Arkansas team out of the national championship game because of a desire rooted in pure politics to put Boise State University in the national championship game against a team like Ohio State University or Texas.

I am tremendously excited about the start of the college football season on Saturday. It comes at a much needed time for me, a time when I could use a break from the problems and boredom of Madison, Wisconsin. In Madison, Wisconsin, people are thinking that the Wisconsin Badgers have a chance to win the national championship, considering they have a high ranking coming into the start of the season. I am glad to let Badger fans know that their team will suffer defeats against Ohio State University and Iowa, which will keep the team out of the national championship game. I do expect the Badgers to lose more than just two games during the regular season.

Ryan Mallett will not only help the Arkansas Razorbacks to win the national championship, but also will win the Heisman Trophy. He has all of the tools to be a great quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). As a proud Razorback, I look forward to the national championship coming home to the mountains of Fayetteville, Arkansas. Arkansas is truly a tradition like none other. Woo Pig Sooie!

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison