Latrell Sprewell, what a guy. Starts off the season complaining that contract negotiations on his multi-million dollar contract were jeopardizing his ability to “feed his family.” Then a couple of nights ago he invited a female fan to perform oral sex. He was standing close to the courtside mic at the time so all the fans watching the game heard his invitation. He got suspended for one game. Lost his pay for that game too. $178,000. That’s over 50 thousand a word.
It dawned on me while thinking about this that he’s not even the highest paid player on the court. I don’t know what the minimum NBA salary is….I think it might be over a mill. So how can the NBA possibly make any money. Let’s say the average ticket price is $50. And the seating at a stadium is 15,000. That’s only $750,000 for a sellout. Say it’s a million. If one guy is pulling down 180 a game and both teams suit up, what twelve? Even with the TV money….how the hell do you make a profit?
Have you noticed that a lot of religions and cultures have a BIG celebration around the winter solstice. This makes perfect sense to me. I mean I’d get religion too if the days kept getting shorter and shorter and I was pretty much convinced that the sun was going away and the world was coming to and end. I might even slaughter some fatted calves or vestal virgins. And when the days started getting longer….it worked, better not risk not doing it next year.
Yes, managing artists is always interesting. This employee was suffering from some neck pain today. So they attached a bag of frozen broccoli to her shoulder with an Ace Bandage. I think we’ll soon be teaching a class on Food First Aid. Oh, the fun we have.
the economics of sports elude me. I can surely understand paying someone like Sprewell $178,000 for the season, that’s only five times what the average cop makes in America. But per game?! Why do we think our kids have no sense of values? It’s because we, as a society, don’t.
Still, when it gets dark we do light lights. Candles in menorahs, candles in trees. Candles in windows. It’s the obvious reaction of night-fearing creatures to the solstice. Still.
Frozen broccoli as pain reliever, I love it.
Food first aid: HILARIOUS. I think the NBA makes a lot of its money off licensed products (t-shirts, hats, lunchboxes, whatever). It’s kinda like paying 7 bucks to go see a movie at the theater; that money doesn’t make a profit, but the popcorn, drinks, and candy not only pays for the movie, but pays for the salaries of all the employees and makes a profit. Yea, I hated working at a theater and charging 4 bucks for a friggin soda…damn principles.
-matt
The food idea is classic.
Now the NBA is a whole different bag of mixed vegetables. Give me just a million dollars a year and I think I could manage to feed my family quite well, and healthy to boot.