Watching this special on espn about George Mikan who retired before 1965 and the rest of the players of that era who get such a small amount of pension. It sure makes me sick to my stomach the $$$ these current players are making and guys like Mikan making a measley $20,000 a year in the current system.........I guess old players in all the major sports suffer the same problems. Kinda sad the guys who got the leagues going before the big money came now dont reap much of the rewards..........you would think some of these current multu-millionaires would try to do something......
George Mikan.........Pension system for ex players
- Thread starter maverick2112
- Start date
You can't possibly expect the current players to do something, some of them make alot of money but they spend alot as well (Patrick Ewing comment) and others are just trying to feed their families. So what if the guys who paved the way for you are living on the streets dead broke and sick, it's all about getting yours this day and age.
Well, I always thought that all these sports guys should have "stock options" in the league they played in.
If the "stock" was $4 a share in 1965, and you invested in the league, and today it was $564 a share............
I am not a business head, but I would be willing to bet there is something like that, that they could implement.
If the "stock" was $4 a share in 1965, and you invested in the league, and today it was $564 a share............
I am not a business head, but I would be willing to bet there is something like that, that they could implement.
when i was a kid, mays, aaron, clemente, mantle made like 100K a year, basketball stars like west, chamby, russell, oscar prob got about the same in the 60s ...
I guess when it costs $20 to park, and $5 for a hot dog, $8 for a beer, and couple hundred for a pair of semi decent seats, it doesnt surpirse me that these old timers dont get squat ...
when I was in HS, my lilttle bros and i would take the bus to see lenny wilkens play against the lakers or knicks and other stars for $1.75 each including tix and bus fare ... those days seemed so innocent and far away, but it's what endeared and linked my soul to sports im sure, too ...
I often think what youngsters of today see in their heroes, in the rajahs that currently run sports, the sterns (10 mil a year, gents), etc., and players like Bonds and Iverson; and how these mercenaries bounce from team to team for 10% more money ... Tony Gywnn stayed a Padre and eschewed 2xs what he couldve gotten elsewhere b/c he had loyalty... Was he a sucker?--its your decision.
I wholly realize this is the same M.O. people use in business world, flying cross country to make 120 K instead of 90K in their hometowns, but we've reached a time when values are reflected in society, and sports contributes in their own mypopic world ... Whether it be the father son tag team beating that rushed the diamond a couple years ago; sprewell choking his coach; nfl players Sopranoing hits on their pregnant significant others; or just the Terrell Owens, Tysons, Kobes, McGwires/Cansecos, Tonya Hardings, the deal with baylor hoops and all the other nefarious escapades that permeate sports more than I ever dreamed possible as a kid or even young adult...
the past players might have drank and whored around, and their lives might not have been targeted for tablod scrutinization, but i know they had different morals and agendas and that money didnt corrupt absolutely ... You think about some OL that toiled for the Lions in the mud and snow for 14 years and ran a sporting goods shop in the winter to break even to raise a family in the 50s, it's sad that the NFL can't throw these guys a bone. And that's not even mentioning these guys, lineman in nfl, avg. life span I once heard was U55 years.
Sports are no longer any different than other busines enterprises, I realize that. But Im just glad I didn't know that when i was growing up, thats I was naive, and the shame of their lives wasn't thrown into my face a dozen times every day on espn and in the papers.
take care
gregg
I guess when it costs $20 to park, and $5 for a hot dog, $8 for a beer, and couple hundred for a pair of semi decent seats, it doesnt surpirse me that these old timers dont get squat ...
when I was in HS, my lilttle bros and i would take the bus to see lenny wilkens play against the lakers or knicks and other stars for $1.75 each including tix and bus fare ... those days seemed so innocent and far away, but it's what endeared and linked my soul to sports im sure, too ...
I often think what youngsters of today see in their heroes, in the rajahs that currently run sports, the sterns (10 mil a year, gents), etc., and players like Bonds and Iverson; and how these mercenaries bounce from team to team for 10% more money ... Tony Gywnn stayed a Padre and eschewed 2xs what he couldve gotten elsewhere b/c he had loyalty... Was he a sucker?--its your decision.
I wholly realize this is the same M.O. people use in business world, flying cross country to make 120 K instead of 90K in their hometowns, but we've reached a time when values are reflected in society, and sports contributes in their own mypopic world ... Whether it be the father son tag team beating that rushed the diamond a couple years ago; sprewell choking his coach; nfl players Sopranoing hits on their pregnant significant others; or just the Terrell Owens, Tysons, Kobes, McGwires/Cansecos, Tonya Hardings, the deal with baylor hoops and all the other nefarious escapades that permeate sports more than I ever dreamed possible as a kid or even young adult...
the past players might have drank and whored around, and their lives might not have been targeted for tablod scrutinization, but i know they had different morals and agendas and that money didnt corrupt absolutely ... You think about some OL that toiled for the Lions in the mud and snow for 14 years and ran a sporting goods shop in the winter to break even to raise a family in the 50s, it's sad that the NFL can't throw these guys a bone. And that's not even mentioning these guys, lineman in nfl, avg. life span I once heard was U55 years.
Sports are no longer any different than other busines enterprises, I realize that. But Im just glad I didn't know that when i was growing up, thats I was naive, and the shame of their lives wasn't thrown into my face a dozen times every day on espn and in the papers.
take care
gregg
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