Kawhi Leonard may 'sit out' at Toronto? THIS IS WHY I HATE TODAY'S NBA...
Jul 19, 2018 17:45:49 GMT
FrankSobotka1514 likes this
Post by Rey Kahuka on Jul 19, 2018 17:45:49 GMT
I've been a sports fan my whole life and I've never understood why professional athletes are treated like cattle. Imagine your boss called you into his office tomorrow and told you he traded your services to a company in Anchorage. Would you go? I think all players should have to agree to trades before they happen, and I'll take things a step farther. Eliminate the draft. We have a salary cap to keep the playing field even, let players play where they want to play. If the best offer is with Cleveland then eventually the good player will choose Cleveland over whatever minimum salary is on the table in Los Angeles.
The system is rigged in favor of the best teams in college and it's entirely up to the player where they want to play, yet we balk at professionals who want to choose the best situation for themselves? I don't understand it and I never will.
Free agency in general is bad for that. Why would a fan in Utah or Toronto watch when players don't want to play for their team? Your college example is a great illustration of how that works. The overwhelming majority of colleges have no chance to win a championship. It's a flawed system for competition.
I'm all for players being paid...they earn it. That's why we watch. But I'm a fan so I also balk at the idea that the interests of fans don't matter. We are literally the only branch of the sports trinity (owners, players, fans) who are expected to be "loyal". The owners and players can treat the fans like crap and that's not a problem. Only fans are expected to care about the interests of the other two branches. Owners and players act in their interest first.
Employees everywhere are "treated like cattle" if you term it that way. Does a person who works for Walmart or Bank of America get to change to a different branch without permission? Of course not. The company would be in chaos if that happened.
So I'm not a fan of free agency in the first place. But I also like that players get the money they deserve. The salary cap makes that a problem though. Teams have to make choices every year that are not in the best interest of winning because of the salary cap. If there is a way to make it fair to fans, pay the players, and keep the league healthy I'm all for that. But I'm not about to put the fans last on that list.
Someone who works for Walmart or Bank of America can change jobs any time they want. It's about opportunity, and in any vocation it's your specific skillset that makes you a valued commodity. Comparing a Walmart employee to a professional athlete simply does not work, because they are easily replaced by a comparable employee. Only in professional sports, where your skills are what makes you incredibly difficult to replace, are you supposed to accept your hopeless situation. Even professional actors don't get drafted by Larry's Film Co. instead of MGM, they simply ply their trade where they see fit.
Fans aren't last on the list, they're the consumer of the product. Even they have a choice, they don't have to go to the games. Do you think the 16 seeds in the NCAA tournament don't have fans in the stands? I'm a Cetlics fan and at no time did I think they were going to win the title these past playoffs. But I watched every game and loved the effort the team put into it.
Free Agency is what makes the league competitive, and the salary cap makes it difficult for the same team to win over and over again. Players try to build super teams just like executives do, and in both cases it doesn't always work. I'm in favor of elite athletes being in control of their situation, just as elite level talents in any field are.