Teachers vs. Athletes

Alright, here it is. When I started this blog, I knew this post would surface. However, it is something I feel SO passionately about, I felt I needed to save and collect my thoughts until I was entirely ready to unload on this one. Consider yourself warned. Let the opus commence...

(*clears throat*)

There is absolutely no reason that professional athletes should make more money than the educators of our society. Period. I don't care how naive or "flowers and bunnies" that statement sounds, it is unequivocally accurate.

Before I totally go off on this, let me provide an objective disclaimer. I don't just love sports. I work in sports. I work to make the sports industry an even larger influence on public life than it already is. I am proud of what sports events like the Holiday Bowl do for the community of San Diego, as it has provided our region with upwards of $500 million in economic impact over the course of 30 years. By no means do I not see the inherent value in sports. I just think we have a serious disconnect within our societal priorities.

Sports players are some of the most physically gifted human beings in our world. Most are born with insane genes, and regardless of their chromosomal makeup, they ALL found their ultimate success because of extreme dedication and sacrifice. They now live the desirable, lush lifestyles filled with butlers, Bentleys, and, of course, Benjamins. But when I am asked what their role or contribution to society is...even on my most objective, athlete ass-kissing day...the best I can ever say is that they are entertainers.

I write this as I am watching Monday Night Football. This is an event for me to come home and watch. Tiger Woods brings people out to the golf course to watch him swing a club 70 times (or less). Kobe Bryant has people lining up out the door of the Staples Center to pay to watch him find new and creative ways to put the same damn ball in the same damn hoop. These are not great feats of societal importance. They are, quite simply, amazing displays of athletic prowess.

There is just no way for me to justify how an athlete should make more money than the educators in our world. Teachers are the shapers of EVERY future generation of our country. They serve as role models. They serve as disciplinarians. They provide wisdom and knowledge. They inspire children and young adults. They provide maybe the single most invaluable service to our society...and yet...

The average teacher's annual salary in California is roughly $45,000. The average Major League Baseball player salary is $3.26 MILLION. That means the average bench-warmer on the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates makes, on average, more than 70 times more than an average 6th grade teacher.

What kind of lessons are we teaching our children? Imagine being one of those underpaid and under-appreciated teachers, and then being asked by one of your pupils, "How come LeBron James made more money last year than you would in TWO lifetimes?" I can't imagine the feeling. And yet, true to form, the good teacher would find a way to emphasize the positive role of sports and the overall impact they have on our society.

This issue absolutely cripples me. I have given countless speeches (both in school and in public) about this, starting back when I was in 6th grade, lasting well through college. Now that I think about it, this may be the single most sensitive "hot-button" issue I feel most passionately about.

I simply just do no understand how Alex Rodriguez deserves $252 million over 10 years to swing and miss 70% of the time, and field a ground ball maybe 3 times/game?

Teachers are an unparalleled asset to our society, and the way we reward them in comparison to sometimes illiterate, steroid-pumping, drug abusing athletes is sickening. We need to recognize the superior efforts of our professors and teachers, and acknowledge our fiduciary responsibility to these societal shapers. What kind of message are we sending our children with such screwed up priorities? How do we explain to a 2nd grader, learning about space in Mr Smith's science class, that Phillip Rivers ($10 million in 2009) could probably buy the Hubble Telescope (or at last get Nike to sponsor it)?

I am not saying that teachers should be paid $3 million/year. And I am not saying that athletes should be paid $45,000/year. But that at least would make sense. The way we reward our nation's workforce needs to reflect our societal values and mores. We need to show our children that the teacher who puts in countless hours of (often uncompensated) overtime working on that next day's engaging history lesson deserves more than the boxer who, when he realizes he's losing, decides to bite the ear of his opponent.

I just can't believe how incredibly elementary this logic is. It's not like I'm asking for social revolution or for people to reconsider whether the Earth is really round or flat. I am simply trying to understand a glaring blip on our societal "Oopsies!" radar.

I mentioned at the beginning of this (apologetically long) post that I work in sports and am proud to do so. But there is a reason I am not a sports agent. I have had more than one opportunity to work my way into that field as a real-world profession, and I staunchly opposed it. I flat out denied job interviews for the same reason I have preached this entire post: There is no way I could ever purposely spend my precious time working at getting more money for professional athletes. I may appreciate sports' role in society, but I am not going to be the reason that a player says "No, no, $14 million/year isn't enough...I need another year on my deal and make it $14.5 million/year, with a $3 million signing bonus."

What's amazing is that I feel like I haven't even scratched the surface of the issue in this post. I will never stop this argument, but for all of your sake, I will at least stop this post.