Do you consider professional athletes to be part of the working class?

[Sephirstein]

Me?

Hell no! I get so pissed off when these millionaires cry their rich little asses off and threaten to strike, while employees at Walmart or McDonald's have next to nothing.

What the Hell is that?

We could easily afford to unionise the service industries without losing jobs to Hellholes with no labour laws.

[Skittles]

1. HA HA, HA HA HA HA

why people watch those f***ing millionaires playing games I will never understand

[Sephirstein]

2. I don't watch sports much..

I wish I were more of a football fan though. :)

I could get into the CFL and watch what (theoretically) is a much better game than the NFL and players make a far more reasonable about of money.

I actually prefer baseball, but MLB disgusts me right now...lol

[Booger]

3. Sure we COULD

But it's near to impossible to avoid buying at least some of those products that are made in the hellholes.

Most people want it CHEAP.
And they don't know, or care about where they come from.

I'd love to have more alternatives. But it's just not doable. Somehow I always seem to have to go to Wal Mart for something.

Granted, this is a production scenario, not a service industry.
But it's still the same situation. Most people want it, and they want it cheap, unfortunately.

[blondeatlast]

4. Hell, no, BUT . . .

if their unions can't succeed, then there isn't much hope for the "common man" unions.

Sad, I agree, but pretty much true . . .

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

5. Depends on who we are talking about

The top tier or all the guys going back and forth from major to minor leagues. Actors have unions too. There are the big fish and the small fish. Sports (so the owners claim) is entertainment, until the real entertainers want their fair share of the pie. Mention that and all of a sudden it is a business. Mention anti-trust laws and all of a sudden it's entertainment again.

[catzies]

6. What about players' unions?

I can't think of a major professional sport in this country right now whose players aren't in a union. I can remember recent baseball and hockey strikes and an NBA lockout just off the top of my head. :shrug:

[THUNDER HANDS]

7. yes I support them

Most professional athletes aren't super mega stars and their careers aren't that long.

They should be able to make whatever the market will bear, in the short amount of time that their talent will make them money.

Striking has gotten a whole new generation of ballplayers the luxuries that a lot of older players could use right now...now that they're in their 70's and 80's.

[Skittles]

8. uh

check out what even a bad player in the majors makes. I went to high school with Brett Butler who was as dumb as a box of hair. But he made millions! Was he that good? Was he worth that much? I don't f***ing know but I do know for sure that life ain't fair.

[THUNDER HANDS]

11. why?

Who's it not fair to?

If he was a great piano player and made hundreds of thousands of dollars at it, would that be unfair?

If he was a scientist who made millions on a non-life saving device, is that unfair?

Athletes work hard to earn the money they do. They train year-round now and leave their families for weeks on end.

[pasadenaboy]

9. All employees deserve a share of the profits

including athletes.

The unions actually help the owners in sports, as salary caps would be illegal unless the unions agreed.

[NoPasaran]

10. Yes

I do not think that professional atheletes (heavily unionized) are to blame for the lousy deal that burger flippers (mostly unorganized) have. ANd if some of my fellow workers are able to command seven-figure incomes for a few years I say More Power To Them!

When workers are pitted against one another the boss is the winner.

[frank frankly]

12. yes and their union is historically important

keep your eyes on the owners. remember: they are called OWNERS.

[w4rma]

13. YES, I DO. Only a few are "millionaires", so important to drawing crowds

and winning games that they can set their salaries. These few obviously don't need unions because they are equivalent to a union of one.

But, most do.

[durutti]

14. Yes and no

Many professional athletes are also investors, and could live off their investments alone. Those athletes are not members of the working class.

Those few athletes who couldn't live off their investments are members of the working class, albeit wealthy ones.

[jafap]

15. what do investments have to do with it?

If you make $1 million after taxes in one year, you can live off your principle. 1 million/50 is $20,000 a year even without interest which would be $10,000 a year even at 1%. One fifth of all households in this country are living on $20,000 or less. That is about 20,000,000 households or about 60,000,000 people. Those people are members of the working class.

[JVS]

16. They usually accumulate enough money so quickly that they join the ...

investor class (i.e Capital)

[bluestateguy]

17. Not since about 1976

That, incidentally, was when free agency got started.

Why they need a union in 2003 is beyond me.

Unions are for working people, which has got nothing to do with pro ballplayers.

[dreissig]

18. NFL Linemen

I don't know the length of average career of an NFL lineman, but it isn't very long. And those guys have a lifetime of pain from their injuries. It's pretty working class when you look at the pain and suffering.