Greed In Sports :: essays research papers

Greed Among Professional Athletes Due to the greediness of sports figures, professional athletes are not punished in the same manner as other professionals are. It is like they are in a completely different group that uses an entirely different set of morals. Team owners care more about making their money that they do about setting a good example for young kids and making professional sports fun again rather than a business. Three good examples of this greediness are Roberto Alomar, Warren Sapp, and Dennis Rodman. Team owners and their respective leagues need to do something to turn this situation around before they have murderers and rapists playing sports for millions of dollars a year. Roberto Alomar makes 5.5 million dollars a year due to his five Gold Gloves. He is one of major league baseball’s best all around players and is destined for the Hall of Fame. In a 1996 divisional playoff game, Alomar was up to bat. Umpire John Hirschbeck called Alomar out on strikes. Alomar went back to the dugout where he started to argue the call with Hirschbeck. The umpire finally tossed Alomar. Orioles manager Davey Johnson along with Alomar went racing to home plate to argue the ejection. As Alomar was being pushed away by Johnson, he spit at Hirschbeck. Alomar was suspended for five games which was to be served at the beginning of the 1997 season, so he could continue to play in the playoffs. In my Wallace 2 opinion, this act was indefensible and warranted a stiffer penalty than a five-game suspension. Major league umpires threatened to strike during the playoffs due to Alomar’s behavior and inadequate punishment. I believe that the league did not suspend Alomar during the playoffs because he is such a high profile player that he brings in enough money for the league that league that officials felt they could justify their actions. Warren Sapp was one of the best defensive players in the 1995 NFL draft. Sapp had tested positive for drugs mainly marijuana, seven times while playing college football at Miami, including once for cocaine (Wolff 49). In the beginning Sapp called reports, "a total fabrication," but later changed his story and said he did flunk one drug test at Miami (Wolff 49). Even after this admission of guilt, the NFL, still wanting to allow him to play so he could make them money, tried to brighten his image by saying that Sapp did not test positive for cocaine, oddly omitting any mention of marijuana (Price 48).