Daniel Manzo
Mr. Amaral
AP English 11
December 13, 2019
Entertainment Worth More Than a Human Life?
The other day I was watching T.V with my father, he’s a big fan of basketball, baseball, football, and once in a blue moon he’ll tune into the latest tennis match to watch super star player Serena Williams dominate the game, sending opposing sides home in tears and anguish. He knows the seasons, the times of games, things like that. As a child I remember my father telling me that these people made so much money just by running around a field either kicking, bouncing, or holding a ball. And as I sat there watching the latest Warriors game, I realized something…these grown men get way to much recognition for doing nothing more than playing an intense version of simple sport kids play to pass the time.
I mean shit, D’Angelo Russell a point guard for the Warriors currently has a 4-year contract for $117 million according to BleacherReport.com, but that is way too much money for someone to get for doing little to no actual work. That’s a lot of money, and I mean a lot of freaking money for playing a sport everyday and exercising. They get paid to perfect their body and eat well and play a sport that is hard work but fun at the same time. It’s what little kids play to pass the time. And they get paid millions of dollars a year.
That is more money than most people will ever make in a lifetime. Why? Why do they get payed so much for having fun all day, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to see that this is not right. And from a sixteen year old standpoint I can 100% see why kids my age want to grow up to be a professional sports athlete. Imagine making all that money a year by playing a sport. Even some of the worst players can still make more money than anyone of us will see in our entire lives. And I just have to know, why are they getting paid so much money? The fans… you have all these people watching their games and events and buying merch and doing all of these things to provide so much money towards these people.
Now before people start raising their pitchforks, torches, $20 hotdogs, and complimentary foam fingers let me say I love sports, I really do, I’m not a hater against the players or teams or even the sport itself, I used to love to sit down and watch the latest game of baseball with my dad. Sports is a way to bond with loved ones or close friends in general. I am not anyway bias against sports or against the sport industry in any way.
But there are people out there trying to find cures to diseases like cancer, flu, or any other virus and disease. There are surgeons saving lives and scientists finding ways to help people recover from long time illnesses. You know that flu shot you get every year, unless you are an anti vax parent for some reason but we’ll save that topic or another argument. You know that shot you get every year? Well if these scientists go to school for years to study this then you wouldn’t be able to have these virus preventing shots.
You know what Im just going to say it. Athletes should not be getting paid over 200% more than doctors, surgeons, or anyone profession in the medical field. It’s not right it just isn’t. They get paid so much money to do nothing and we have people out here giving up their lives to first study and then work and perform as a life saver. People out there have the ability to save actual lives and change the world in the medical field.
In other words NO honestly if a doctor has to spend an extra 10 YEARS in college to have his or her current profession, then he or she should be getting paid just as much as any athlete. In 2012 the average physician earns about $187,200 a year and in 2017 they earned around $212,540 a year according to Amainsure.com, that’s a lot of money don’t get me wrong. Some people would die to make some hard cash like that, but you see the average professional baseball player makes around 4.38 million dollars not including the team salary, merchandise, things like that. And that’s the average professional player.
Doctors don’t make nearly as much money as pro athletes make. Doctors make less thsn 1 fifth of an athletes pay rate again not including merch and things like that. But here’s the thing, it’s annoying because its the peoples fault, we make them all there money by buying merch and watching the live events, games, and so many other ways. Doctors and surgeons don’t get as much recognition as they deserve for anything they do, when someone gets out of surgery alive, the family either thanks god or a miracle, they don’t always say “You saved his life,” they say “Thank god for working his miracle.” And I get it, it is a miracle that person made it, but it was the surgeon that performed this so called “miracle”.
And I know exactly what people will say, “Well Daniel, athletes work day in and day out training, eating right, practicing all of that.” And yes you are 100% right, they are working all day all night to get their bodies into elite shape to be able to perform the best every game. As if I didn’t know that already. But to be completely honest they aren’t doing anything more than entertaining and inspiring future generations of more overpaid athletes.
And of course athletes also had to go to school at one point to build up to where they are now. But look, they didn’t have to go for nearly as long as doctors have to. Doctors go to school for 12 years, if they want to be a surgeon that’s an additional 2-4 years that’s a total of 14 years for the average surgeon according to study.com. According to ncaa.org it says that 8 out of 10 students get the standard bachelor’s degree and the other 35% get a postgraduate degree. They don’t study as hard, they don’t have to remember nearly as much, and they come out with significantly less debt. And since they make so much money they are able to pay it off in a matter of years.
I just don’t see how athletes make so much more money than doctors. Yes they get their name out there in the world, and yes they have to work all of those years but here’s the thing: who’s giving those athletes their strict healthy diet? NUTRITIONISTS! Who’s taking care of these players that get injured? STAND BY NURSES! And who tells them how to take care of their bodies? DOCTORS. These people are the key to keeping these athletes going and moving for hours and hours. Athletes and doctors go hand in hand when it comes down to it you can’t have one without the other.
So the next time you see these players bouncing or kicking a ball around a court, just remember who keeps them in shape and keeps their bodies nice and strong, remember who tells them and gives them the diet plan that keeps their bodies moving for hours on end. These athletes depend on these medical geniuses to keep them going, and that’s why doctors and professions should be making just as much money as athletes.
Law School Dropout 