Name your price

I think we are all looking at the rising cost of living and we’re wondering where it will end or if it will end. I think it is frustrating when those people in power have a tendency to say that it’s not so bad or it won’t last long. That really doesn’t make me feel confident especially when those that are influential have other priorities. Who pays the price? Those that are in need are usually the ones that pay the biggest price. Those that can afford it usually are a bit uncaring because they don’t know what the impoverished are going through.

I’m old enough to remember when a million dollars was a lot of money and to most of us it still is however when a million became a billion then a billion became a trillion we got to the point where it doesn’t mean that much anymore. And the politicians don’t seem to care as long as their power and back pockets aren’t taking a hit.

I’m amazed when legislators pass bills that are going to cost billions and billions of dollars and they are supposed to help all Americans and no one can tell you what is in the bill until it passes and then it won’t really help anyone for five or six years and when the smoke clears it seems that the people that are helped the most need it the least. Oh my! Why can’t anyone say that they can trim a billion off the top that really isn’t needed? That would seem to be a reason to celebrate. But that isn’t going to happen. It’s just wishful thinking.

I’ve often wondered how much money a team has to pay to bring a coach to town that can be victorious and win championships. I don’t think anyone really knows for sure. I’ve wondered when the coach and school come to an agreement to the buyout clause if the coach is thinking, “So if I can’t get those five star recruits like I promised just how many years will it be until I’m fired for not making the alumni and boosters happy?”

There are a few coaches that will take the previous coach’s recruits and win and with that success they will receive a new contract with a raise and a year or two or five years on top of it. I worked a vast majority of my life proving my worth and receiving a raise for the next year. To me that seemed to be incentive enough for working hard.

Gone are the days of Walter Alston, the long-time Los Angeles Dodger Manager who would sign a one year contract after each season. I’m sure he would receive a healthy raise for all of the success that he achieved. Alston would eventually retire which is really a pretty impressive career. A lot of managers need the five year contract to try to show what kind of success their management style can bring to the franchise. Having the safety net of a contract that pays after getting fired seems to mean these owners have a fair amount of money to throw at managers and coaches to bring a winner to the city or school.

When you coach at the high school level and lower the coaches typically do it for the love of the game and wanting to teach the game how they learned how to play. It’s nice getting a paycheck but there are other reasons that people want to coach and when there is success it can be shared with the team and those moments are special.

Athletes are interesting and receive their love of the game from agents that get a percentage of the player’s final numbers. Now I happened to have the opportunity to hear Drew Bledsoe speak to the Lind High School students about a week before he was the number one overall draft pick in 1993. I remember him graciously answering questions asked by the students that day. An interesting answer he related that day was when he said that he loved the game so much that he would play for free. Well it sounded good then but I doubt anyone in the gym that day thought that was going to happen. Bledsoe did have a long career but there were a number of extenuating circumstances such as an injury that would lead to his replacement Tom Brady beginning his amazing career.

With how that situation played out it’s no wonder that millionaire athletes ask for big contracts from billionaires owners. After all business is business and he who dies with the most toys wins. Or so it seems.