It's not very often that I'm totally ticked off by 9:30 in the morning, especially on my days off...this would be one of those times. I get approximately 10 channels on cable (two or three of which are home shopping channels, and two of which are religious channels...I would rather gouge my eyes out than watch that), and I was flipping through while eating my toast this morning and I came across the Today Show. Seeing Matt Lauer on TV is enough to make me want to drive my fist through the screen, but he wasn't in this segment. They were showing a segment on how to replicate the looks of celebrity Oscar dresses "on the cheap." I only caught two dresses before I threw up all over the living room. The lady who was presenting the dresses was raving that these two dresses are just under $350. "How is that affordable or cheap!?" I screamed at the TV (I really did this; I'm a sad man). These shows, and celebrities in general, could not be more out of touch with what is happening outside of New York or L.A. The Today Show goes from a segment on how to save money on groceries, straight into this visual and auditory abortion of a segment. Can someone explain this to me?
So I turned the TV off and got on the computer to check my email. After checking my email, I saw a headline that a football player by the name of Albert Haynesworth (DT and free agent) signed a contract with the Washington Redskins for $100 million dollars. "Well, he's earned it by playing well," I hear you say. Let's look at some statistics concerning Mr. Hanyesworth:
- In seven years, because of injuries, he's never played an entire season.
- Of the games he's played, he's only played 2/3 of the defensive snaps, this means for 1/3 of the game, he's sitting on the sideline, presumably eating.
- He's been suspended twice for on and off the field incidents.
- In seven years, he only has 24 sacks (that's an average of just over three a year for those keeping score). If you know nothing about football, that's pretty much awful numbers for a "star" such as Haynesworth.
That's ridiculous, and it's a huge reason why my interest in professional sports has dropped about 90% over the last five years. I don't care who the player is, I don't know how they sleep at night knowing people in their own cities, the people who route for them, are being foreclosed on having trouble paying for basic services for their children. They're making millions and millions of dollars to play a game. You may argue that they've earned their money through hard work and whatnot, but you surely don't think that any of their lives can be considered tough. You want to solve the Health Care disaster in America? Raise the income tax on pro athletes by about 5% and put that money toward health care. Problem solved. I rule. Polley in 2012.
3 comments:
I'm humming Hail to the Chief as I read your rant. Calm down, I'm sure someone will get 101 million before it is over with.
Polley/Polley in 2012. i'll be your VP. i'm totally getting some Palin glasses though. and i'm going to wink at the camera.
Matt, if you get the glasses, does that make me the belligerent 70 year old man? Do I need to go out and but 10 houses?
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