{"id":181,"date":"2009-02-28T01:00:33","date_gmt":"2009-02-28T05:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dontow.com\/wordpress\/?p=181"},"modified":"2009-11-27T19:22:48","modified_gmt":"2009-11-28T00:22:48","slug":"misplaced-priority-and-its-social-impacts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.dontow.com\/2009\/02\/misplaced-priority-and-its-social-impacts\/","title":{"rendered":"Misplaced Priority and Its Social Impacts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Salaries of Top-Level Professional Sports<\/strong><\/p>\n

The top 10 picks in last year’s National Football League (NFL) draft signed contracts that guaranteed an average of $18.7 million over the lifetime of their contracts, usually four-to-six years.[1]<\/a> This is the guaranteed amount; that means they could earn even more, perhaps much more, if they perform to their billings.\u00a0 The average salary per season in 2008 for Major League Baseball (MLB) players was over $3M![2]<\/a> The average salary for the 2008-2009 season for the National Basketball Association (NBA) players is $5.3M![3]<\/a> The average earning of the 120 major-college football coaches in 2007 was over $1M![4]<\/a> Among the 65 colleges that made the NCAA Basketball Tournament in 2006, at least 20 of those colleges’ basketball coaches were making over $1M for 2006-2007![5]<\/a><\/p>\n

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Salaries of Top-Level Academics<\/strong><\/p>\n

How do the above salaries compare with the average salary of full professors in doctoral-granting universities in the U.S.?\u00a0 For the academic year 2007-2008, the average salary of full professors in public doctoral-granting universities in the U.S. was $109.6K, and the corresponding salary in private doctoral-granting universities in the U.S. was $144.3K.\u00a0\u00a0 Furthermore, this average salary for the two highest-paid universities in the U.S., Rockefeller University and Harvard University, was respectively $191.2K and $184.8K.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

If we compare the above salaries for professional athletes and major-college football and basketball coaches with those for full professors in doctoral-granting universities, it is clear that there is a huge gap.\u00a0 What are the social implications of this huge gap?\u00a0 This article discusses the social implications of this huge gap in terms of the athletes themselves, our youths, ordinary citizens, and the competitiveness of our country.<\/p>\n

Salaries of Professional Sports Just Below the Top Level<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before we discuss the social implications, there is another important set of statistics that we also need to know, i.e., the salaries of athletes who in every respect are excellent athletes but for one reason or another have not yet made it to the top level of the professional hierarchy.\u00a0 For example, there are various levels of minor league professional baseball, with the highest minor league level being the AAA level, which is just below MLB.\u00a0 For a AAA baseball player who has not reached playing in the Major League level yet, his salary is usually only a few thousand dollars per month, with the minimum being $2,150 per month,[7]<\/a> although a AAA baseball player who has played in the Major League but has been sent down to the Minor League could be making significantly more.\u00a0 Thus there is a huge drop in salary, as much as a factor of 50 to 100, from the Major League to AAA which is just one level below the Major League.\u00a0 Another example is the Arena Football League (AFL), which is just one level below the NFL in the U.S.\u00a0 The average salary in the AFL is only about $30-50K per year.[8]<\/a> A third example is professional basketball in the NBA Development League, which is considered the closest to the NBA in the U.S.\u00a0 Lance Allred and Andrew Bogut went head-to-head in college, and were evenly matched in points and rebounds.\u00a0 As a matter of fact, they competed in 2005 for the NCAA Men rebounding title, with Bogut finishing second and Allred third.\u00a0 Bogut was picked first in the 2005 NBA college draft and makes $4.6M a year, and is now the starting center for the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA.\u00a0 Allred, however, was not one of the 60 players drafted by the NBA, and now plays for the Idaho Stampede in the NBA Development League and makes $15K per year.[9]<\/a><\/p>\n

Tremendous Rewards and Pressure to Reach the Highest Professional Sports Level<\/strong><\/p>\n

The financial compensations of the top-notch athletes and coaches are so phenomenally large, so that the earnings from one, two, or three years are already more than most people can earn in a lifetime.\u00a0 On the other hand, if an athlete does not make it to the highest professional level, then there is a huge drop in salary, like a reduction of at least by a factor of 10 and often by a factor of 100.\u00a0 Furthermore, the amount of fame and endorsement money that they can get is also strongly coupled to where they end up in the professional hierarchy.\u00a0 Under these circumstances there are tremendous rewards and pressure on the athletes to try to make it to the highest professional level or to the highest performance in that professional level.\u00a0 Is it then surprising that they may do anything, including taking forbidden performance enhancing drugs, to try to get a competitive edge?\u00a0 Thus we see so many top-notch athletes being exposed to have taken illegal drugs to enhance their performance in baseball, football, track and field, cycling, swimming, etc.[10]<\/a> This drive is often achieved with single-mindedness so that they neglect their education, learning to get along with other people including their teammates, learning to manage their finances, and learning to survive successfully in the real world.\u00a0 The end result is that so many of these athletes can not survive, and definitely not thrive, in their post-athletic life in the real world.<\/p>\n

Odds of Becoming a NFL Player<\/strong><\/p>\n

Seeing the glamour and riches of the athletes who make it to the top of their professional sport, many of our youths also aspire to be like them, without understanding the tremendous odds against them.\u00a0 For example, what are the chances of becoming an NFL Player?\u00a0 The answer to that question can be found in the NFL Players Association website’s FAQs: \u00a0“While many young people every year set their goals on becoming NFL players, it is extremely difficult to reach that level.\u00a0 Statistically of the 100,000 high school seniors who play football every year, only 215 will ever make an NFL roster.\u00a0 That is 0.2%!\u00a0 Even of the 9,000 players that make it to the college level only 310 are invited to the NFL scouting combine, the pool from which teams make their draft picks.\u00a0 As you can see, most people who want to become NFL players will not.\u00a0 Therefore it is very important to come up with alternative plans for the future.”[11]<\/a> Similar odds also exist for other sports.\u00a0 It is also important to know that the average playing time in professional sports can be very short.\u00a0 For example, the average length of an NFL career is only about three and a half seasons!<\/p>\n

Behavior Problems of Top-Level Professional Athletes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Besides the tremendous odds against youths becoming professional athletes at the highest level, there is the issue whether these athletes are really good role models for our youths to emulate when you consider the various social problems so many of these professional athletes bring upon themselves.\u00a0 There are many examples in almost every major professional sport.\u00a0 Here are a few examples:<\/p>\n