Rambling Rhoades

Depression? What depression?
According to Sports Illustrated, Tiger Woods made $99 million last year, a good many greenbacks on endorsements.
That number will plummet this year, as his wife gets her grab and sponsors drop him, but still…
Are athletes making too much money? Joe Dimaggio, the greatest all-around baseball player ever if Willie Mays was not, earned a peak salary of $100,000 when your average plumber was making maybe $8,000 or $10,000. A big difference, but not THAT big. And remember, as recently as the 1960s pro football players took off-season jobs to make ends meet. Basketball legend Jerry West said that, in the early part of his career, he played for pride, because the Lakers were drawing regular, whopping crowds of 2,500 at the Sports Arena and he wasn’t exactly getting rich.
Nowaday, athletes earn thousands of times more than the fans who go to see them, and I believe, good or bad, this increases accountability and even resentment. Is relatability a word? There’s no relatability anymore between multi-million dollar athletes and the middle classers who pay to watch them.
Here are the other top four earners in sports last year:
Golfer Phil Mickelson: $52 million
Hoopster LeBron James: $42 million
Baseballer Alex Rodriguez: $39 million
Shaquille O’Neil: $35 million. Sidenote: Kobe earned $31 million, so while you’re ahead in rings, Black Mamba, you’re $4 mil behind in wealth to a 38-year-old, over-the-hill, slow-as-a-beached-whale pivotman.
Ah, capitalism. How far we’ve come.