One of my favorite movies from my teenage years was always "The Girl Next Door" and delivering the title of this post was none other than Timothy Olyphant when referencing the risks and pain associated with the decisions the lead actor was making (his name irrelevant). A few years ago we gave up similar assets for Randy Moss which led to the unfortunate 18-1 season and several years of amazing football in New England. Now, on this day, we celebrate another pair of wonder deals that have led us to the acquisition of Ochocinco and Albert Haynesworth.
Chad Johnson, as he was formerly known, was the class clown of the NFL. One of my favorite seasons I can remember was highlighted by his series of new and original ways to celebrate touchdowns, and in some occasions get fined. Loud, obnoxious, and always hilarious, Chad Ochocinco has pissed off his fair share of opposing fans and defensive coordinators. Now with a truly elite quarterback (Carson Palmer was never truly "elite") we could be looking at the second coming of that magical season that brought us within minutes of a super bowl ring just a few years ago. Adding a valid vertical threat to an offense that is dangerous regardless of the situation (see the year of Matt Cassel). Personally I though Burress was the logical redemption project for Belichick and Company, but this is way better than that ever would have been.
The first acquired and the second most significant of the day, Albert Haynesworth, is going to wish he had Shannahan barking at him if he fails to be in shape. He won't have to play a true 3-4 and he will have an actual opportunity to compete for a championship. To say the Redskins were title contenders would be to say that Lebron had the best performance in this year's finals, not true at all. I probably would have had a hard time getting motivated too if I were playing in DC.
All in all, the Patriots yet again are going to prove that the right people can handle players no one else could. If we can avoid any major injuries to the core players, this season will surely be one to remember.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
The NFL and NBA Labor Disputes, Inside the Numbers
Lets face the facts the NBA is messed up, to put it lightly. The average player salary last season was around $4.8 million. So if the entire league were to pay their players equally after taxes, based on the highest 35% tax bracket, they would make 3.11 million each, or slightly less than 60k each week. Can anyone tell me why this model is failing? I'm having a hard time seeing the error in their ways...
The median income for an American household is around 65k which is only 5k more per year than NBA players get paid weekly. That doesn't even seem right. For players like Kobe and Lebron it seems fair for them to make substantially more based on their abilities that 99.999999999% of normal human beings do not posses, but even if they were making the league average they could afford a car twice as nice as probably 80% of Americans will ever drive... weekly.
For the NFL the numbers are more reasonable. The average salary is consistently around 1.5 million and the median is about 750k. Still in the 35% tax bracket with those numbers, a salary of 750k becomes about 500k forcing the ordinary NFL player to live on around 9k a week. These poor, poor souls.
Now to put them in slightly less evil perspective... The average career of an NFL player lasts 3.5 years and the NBA is around 4.5 years. So total earnings for your average career in the NFL is around 1.75 million at the median salary, and in the NBA it is 21.55 million using the average salary and length.
So given these numbers, and the average total earnings of your high school graduate(1.2 million), an NFL player squeaks out with less than half a million more while the NBA player is close to 20 times either of them.
Both leagues should be able to set up retirement accounts, profit sharing, and above all else charitable minimums for players. This salary info alone proves how stingy the NFL is and how careless the NBA has been especially when you compare the profitability of each league's franchises. If the NBA were to institute minimum percentages that each player and team was to give to charity, retirement, and profit sharing then you could very easily improve the cities they are in and eliminate bankruptcy cases such as that of Antoine Walker.
In the NFL if they were to do the same but have the owner's absorbing most of the burden percentage wise they could very easily set up the systems needed to combat the affect of concussions in later life along with the unfortunate conditions some players end up in.
Still unaccounted for is the earning potential for retired players in each league. Old players never die, they just become analysts, coaches, or run their own foundations. But that's a different discussion for a different day... that always ends with my hatred for Tim Hasselbeck.
5 Good Reasons the NBA needs to change:
Rashard Lewis - 19.5m
Michael Redd - 18.3m
Gilbert Arenas - 17.7m
Yao Ming - 17.6m (If he ever played a full season maybe he's worth it)
Vince Carter - 17.5m
The median income for an American household is around 65k which is only 5k more per year than NBA players get paid weekly. That doesn't even seem right. For players like Kobe and Lebron it seems fair for them to make substantially more based on their abilities that 99.999999999% of normal human beings do not posses, but even if they were making the league average they could afford a car twice as nice as probably 80% of Americans will ever drive... weekly.
For the NFL the numbers are more reasonable. The average salary is consistently around 1.5 million and the median is about 750k. Still in the 35% tax bracket with those numbers, a salary of 750k becomes about 500k forcing the ordinary NFL player to live on around 9k a week. These poor, poor souls.
Now to put them in slightly less evil perspective... The average career of an NFL player lasts 3.5 years and the NBA is around 4.5 years. So total earnings for your average career in the NFL is around 1.75 million at the median salary, and in the NBA it is 21.55 million using the average salary and length.
So given these numbers, and the average total earnings of your high school graduate(1.2 million), an NFL player squeaks out with less than half a million more while the NBA player is close to 20 times either of them.
Both leagues should be able to set up retirement accounts, profit sharing, and above all else charitable minimums for players. This salary info alone proves how stingy the NFL is and how careless the NBA has been especially when you compare the profitability of each league's franchises. If the NBA were to institute minimum percentages that each player and team was to give to charity, retirement, and profit sharing then you could very easily improve the cities they are in and eliminate bankruptcy cases such as that of Antoine Walker.
In the NFL if they were to do the same but have the owner's absorbing most of the burden percentage wise they could very easily set up the systems needed to combat the affect of concussions in later life along with the unfortunate conditions some players end up in.
Still unaccounted for is the earning potential for retired players in each league. Old players never die, they just become analysts, coaches, or run their own foundations. But that's a different discussion for a different day... that always ends with my hatred for Tim Hasselbeck.
5 Good Reasons the NBA needs to change:
Rashard Lewis - 19.5m
Michael Redd - 18.3m
Gilbert Arenas - 17.7m
Yao Ming - 17.6m (If he ever played a full season maybe he's worth it)
Vince Carter - 17.5m
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Just a few recent thoughts...
Given the labor situation in two of four major American sports its hard to be hopeful for anything. The Bruins still have me giddy and the Sox are either cause for celebration or a cause for irritation. In the NBA the players need to give up money so that small market teams can survive, seriously Eddy Curry makes more money in a season than he should have in his career. In the NFL the owners are getting rich and honestly the younger players and those injured need some financial relief. There are no measures in place to help those who need it.
Speaking of overpaid, Vernon Wells comes to mind. So does about 100 other players in the major sports leagues, but I digress. Back to my rant:
In other crap, ESPN put the stupid Auburn tree story on their front page along with "Charlie Sheen did 'roids during the filming of Major League". Seriously?!? These are related to sports... very distantly. ESPN should be informing me of trades, scores, and things related to the actual playing of sports not movies and trees on a campus that people celebrate under. Give me a break, and some trade speculation please.
Comment, let me know what you think needs to be getting attention, whats getting too much attention, and what you think should happen in the labor disputes or who you think is overpaid.
Speaking of overpaid, Vernon Wells comes to mind. So does about 100 other players in the major sports leagues, but I digress. Back to my rant:
In other crap, ESPN put the stupid Auburn tree story on their front page along with "Charlie Sheen did 'roids during the filming of Major League". Seriously?!? These are related to sports... very distantly. ESPN should be informing me of trades, scores, and things related to the actual playing of sports not movies and trees on a campus that people celebrate under. Give me a break, and some trade speculation please.
Comment, let me know what you think needs to be getting attention, whats getting too much attention, and what you think should happen in the labor disputes or who you think is overpaid.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)