Forced

So it appears, based on looking at my blog analytics, that the majority of readers would agree with my children on sentence diagramming. Just by the numbers, it seems people saw the work 'diagram' and ran for the hills. Or, they remembered it was Monday, are not interested in fiber, so didn't check in. I forgot it was Monday, thus the diagram post. All five of you will have to wait until next week so see what I've been up to in the spinning/knitting/weaving department. 

But that was just an interesting little side note. What I really want to talk about tonight is professional women's basketball. Well, sort of. Since I don't actually follow any sports except when the Cubs are heading to the play-offs, I am really not able to discuss women's basketball. Sports will just be tangential to this post. 

I was listening to NPR yesterday as I was driving to my riding lesson. (The station which I sent a pledge to in their pledge drive really in the hopes of winning the trip for two to Portugal. Since I have had no email from the station in the past week, I think I'm going to have to accept that we didn't win the trip.) The topic being discussed was the arrest of the American women's basketball player by the Russian police on a charge of drug smuggling. The whole thing sounds fabricated and horrifying and extremely concerning. I want to be clear that the rest of my post has pretty much nothing to do with the American who was arrested. 

In the discussion the question was raised as to why a highly rated women's basketball player would be playing for a Russian team in the off-season. It seems this is not unusual, that many professional women's basketball players play for European teams in the off-season. The interviewer asked the guest, an expert on women's sports, and it was the guest's response which sort of blew my mind. 

She begins by pointing out the total inequity in the pay system between professional male athletes and professional women athletes. Please note, I'm not discounting that, either. It stinks. The guest continues that because of this pay disparity, women players are forced [bold and italics mine] to play for other countries int he off season to make up the difference in pay. She then goes on to say that the average female athlete makes $260 (and here my brain kicks in and anticipates her saying something along the lines of $260 per game, so I was doubly surprised when the guest continues with) thousand a year. 

Huh? 

I'm pretty sure my mouth fell open as I was driving. Inwardly began to rail against the word 'forced'. $260K a year is far more than most Americans will ever make annually in their life times. I know we don't even come close to it. A person can survive (even survive doesn't quite work here, does it?) on this salary with no problem. (If they can't, then I don't know what to say.) No one with this amount of money is being forced to work a second job. There is just no way you can say this.

Sure, if you expect to earn the same salary as your male counterparts and that is your sole reason for playing, then I guess you do. I would counter that the male ahtletes don't need to make the salaries they do, either. They are ridiculous. (And I'm equally disgusted at the team owners. Who needs that kind of money? No one.) There is also the arguement that a professional athlete can only "work" for a handful of years and that they need to save up for the rest of their life post-sport. I still don't quite buy it. Are they just going to sit around on their duffs for the rest of their lives? No book deals? Public appearances? Coaching opportunities? Perhaps working (gasp) another job? Spare me the pity party.

Forced? I don't think so. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Making bias tape... otherwise known as the Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway

Image
( Sorry, the contest is now closed .... though you're welcome to leave a comment if you like.) It's Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway time again.  I love bias tape.  It is so useful and so easy to use... finishing edges ... finishing seams ...  And while the pre-packaged stuff has it's place and I use it often, I really like to have patterned bias tape as well.  Enter one of my favorite little tools: the bias tape maker.  This one make 3/4 inch bias tape and I will be giving one away at the end of this post.  But first, I thought some of you might like to see what it does if you've never used one before. I don't have a rotary cutter, nice cutting mats, or even a proper cutting table (I cut-out things on my floor), so if I can do this, so can you.  Here is my admittedly quirky method. Step 1:  Lay out the fabric and fold a corner over to find the bias.  The woven threads should be at right angles to the part you turned up. Step 2:  Using a ruler and some sort of mark
Read more

Apple picking in the rain

Image
Today was our planned day to go and pick apples.  It was raining off and on, but when it comes to fruit, we don't let a little water get in our way so off we went.  We met our friends and enjoyed their company and picked a lot of apples (3 1/2 bushels).  We also ate quite a few. G.  L. K.  (with an apple nearly as big as his head) P8, TM and L. Now, I don't know about you, but even picking 7 bags of apples does not take us very long.  It's a shame to drive so far only to turn around and go home, so we packed lunches, headed to a park, and enjoyed the now sunny weather. TM and P8 A good day all around.  Of course now I have to do something with all these apples...
Read more

Kenzie on the beach

Image
We have made it back home. I am feeling a little more balanced, but it was hard saying goodbye to a house we've created such meaningful memories in for the past 34 years. I'll write more about both later.  In the meantime enjoy pictures of Kenzie living his best life as a beach dog.  Note the ears blowing in the wind (Photo credit TM) (Photo credit for the rest MC)
Read more