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Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Open For Debate Open for debate: Are athletes and coaches paid too much?
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Wed, Dec 18, 2013 at 2:52 PM
I'd like to open up the following for debate - Athletes and coaches are paid too much money.
It's being reported that Nick Saban's contract will pay him roughly $7 million per year until 2020. That same article says Bill Belichick makes $7.5 million a year. Athletes can make more than $10 million per year, plus endorsements.
Have you ever noticed that sports, along with Hollywood, never takes a hit when the economy is in a recession or downturn? Most of us don't get an annual raise, yet someone like Saban gets a roughly $2 million raise in just over a year? In 2007, he was being paid $4 million .... to coach a football team. In six years, he's nearly doubled his pay.
Look, I love sports as much as the next guy - well, unless that guy is painting his face and wearing a jersey to the game - but since I've lived in Charlotte (for the last eight years), I've been to one Panthers game. Why? I can't afford the tickets. A decent seat goes for roughly $70 - and you'll likely be sitting two rows from God. Alabama's average ticket price this season was $178 - and those athletes don't even get paid! (I'm only using Alabama as a recent example because of Saban's raise, not because Auburn beat them in the Iron Bowl... War Eagle!)
If salaries weren't so high, ticket prices wouldn't be so high. But yet as salaries go up, so does the cost to put your ass in the seat. Clearly it's not a problem for everyone because the Panthers' stadium is packed on a weekly basis.
How did these numbers get to be so out of control? Some people say it's because the average "shelf-life" for an athlete is short, but I'd argue that if they got a college degree and didn't bail out early, they'd have a career to fall back on.
Are athletes and coaches really worth $7 million, $10 million or more per year?
Monday, December 16, 2013
NBA Bobcats-Hornets Week in Review: The Good, the Bad and the Kobe
Posted By Jeff Laughlin on Mon, Dec 16, 2013 at 2:55 PM
115 points to begin the week certainly proved torturous. The early season narrative of struggling against above .500 teams coupled with their awful fourth quarter scoring seemingly doomed Charlotte against the Warriors. Plus, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist being out left the team a defender down.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
NFL Where he goes, the Super Bowl trophy follows
Posted By Ryan Pitkin on Wed, Dec 11, 2013 at 4:00 PM
When Harvey Lucore moved to Charlotte from Louisiana this fall, the Carolina Panthers were in bad shape. The team had just been trounced by the Arizona Cardinals, putting their record at 1-3 and leaving head coach Ron Rivera's job as good as open for next season.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
NBA Bobcats-Hornets Week in Review: MKG Adding Injury to Insult
Posted By Jeff Laughlin on Tue, Dec 10, 2013 at 11:13 AM
On a purely visual level, the Bobcats-Hornets play a disgusting form of basketball. Based on their talent level, they have to take a lot of jumpers and have enough defense to force other teams to do the same. Until the league office makes rules against contesting jumpers, a lot of those shots will not go in.
Up to their game against the Mavericks last week, Charlotte's style choices could keep them floating around .500, but only if they stayed healthy. They missed Al Jefferson early, but had a schedule built to withstand an injury. Charlotte played a bevy of poor teams with some tough games sprinkled in and, other than a Pacers blowout in a foul-filled contest, they stayed competitive at all times.
The current rough patch punctuated what this team wanted to find out about themselves. Finding out a team can compete may not make headline news on ESPN, but it does mean a lot to people buying tickets or watching the team on a regular basis.
Monday, December 9, 2013
NFL Panthers knocked down to reality
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Mon, Dec 9, 2013 at 4:00 PM
After an eight-game winning streak, a 31-13 loss to New Orleans on Sunday night snapped the Carolina Panthers back to reality.
The Saints played with the skill of a Super Bowl-bound team, and the Panthers played dismally. But for Carolina, there's something different in the air this year. There's hope.
As the final seconds of the game ticked down, fans' cries of "the Panthers were supposed to win!" were followed by "we're still better than last year" and "we can still make the playoffs."
Friday, December 6, 2013
NBA Tales of Woe from the Age of Mediocrity, Part Two: Dirk Nowitzki
Posted By Jeff Laughlin on Fri, Dec 6, 2013 at 1:51 PM
Being mad at Josh McRoberts might not be the best way to go about talking about the Bobcats-Hornets loss to the Mavs. He certainly did not destroy Charlotte's chances by himself. And he did his best against one of the best scorers in history.
That said, Nowitzki was his man. For that matter, so was Chris Bosh.
So, then, why have the Bobcats-Hornets/Steve Clifford left him all alone against the league's best power forwards in the 4th quarter?
NBA Tales of Woe from the Age of Mediocrity, Part One: Chris Bosh
Posted By Jeff Laughlin on Fri, Dec 6, 2013 at 1:24 PM
I had no doubt he would miss.
Chris Bosh stepped up with less than a minute to go, the Miami Heat needing a big three, and released from just left of the key. By the time he missed, I had changed the channel.
I may never be able to watch Bosh shoot again without feeling entirely disgusted.
Monday, December 2, 2013
NBA Bobcats Week in Review: The Era of Despair Rears its Ugly Head
Posted By Jeff Laughlin on Mon, Dec 2, 2013 at 2:06 PM
If you believed my last article, the Bobcats-Hornets have progressed from terrible to mediocre. If you believe last week's first two performances, the Bobcats-Hornets have done no progressing, and I am a moron who does not deserve to write about basketball.
How did we get here?
