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.