Professional sports

[David]

I have no issue with all professional sports going out of business. And actually...hope they do.

Part of the Communist Manifesto is to get people's minds of the government and onto sports. That worked for a long time. I use to do seminars years ago. I'd ask the audience who could name 5 professional foot ball teams. Hands shot up all over the place. Who could name 5 professional basketball teams, again hands everywhere. Then 5 professional athletes and then 5 movie stars. Again hands up all over the place. Then I'd ask who can name your 2 State Senators, your Congressman and what Congressional District you live in....nothing but blank stares. So folks know more about useless crap that has no bearing in their lives and nothing about people and institutions that directly effect their lives.

Something to think about.

[aerynsun]

I have no issue with all professional sports going out of business. And actually...hope they do.

Part of the Communist Manifesto is to get people's minds of the government and onto sports. That worked for a long time. I use to do seminars years ago. I'd ask the audience who could name 5 professional foot ball teams. Hands shot up all over the place. Who could name 5 professional basketball teams, again hands everywhere. Then 5 professional athletes and then 5 movie stars. Again hands up all over the place. Then I'd ask who can name your 2 State Senators, your Congressman and what Congressional District you live in....nothing but blank stares. So folks know more about useless crap that has no bearing in their lives and nothing about people and institutions that directly effect their lives.

Something to think about.

https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Cens ... ment09.pdf

Over the next 30 years sports will change as the latino and 'new' minority groups - China, India, Middle East, Sub Sahara Africa grow in power.

Football - large decline
Ice Hockey - disappear
Basketball - large decline

Baseball - grow

Soccer - very large growth

With politics, you will see,

Black politicians large loss of numbers
White politicians some loss

Rise of minority group politicians - China, India, Middle East, Sub Sahara Africa

[David]

When I was very young I would spend the summers with my grandparents. We would go to woman's softball once a week. It was a league of woman from different local businesses that would get together and play softball. It was for fun and it showed. Lots of people would come out to watch and cheer them on and you could tell they were having a great time. I enjoyed that much more than any professional sport that is really just a business. And when they started to let so called social justice, political correctness and politics enter into the professional sports realm I completely lost interest.

Same with actors and Hollywood. I don't care what some actor thinks about this or that. I really don't. Same with any athlete.

[bdcochran]

I fully agree.

I provide my understanding of the actors and Hollywood.

As the movie business developed into the studio system, actors were put under long term contracts with morals clauses. They were required to keep quiet and let the major studios clean up their messes. After the feds trust busted the studio system, the actors were on their own and had to engage in actions of notoriety and do other things to bring themselves to the attention of the public and bring in revenues.

A sweater girl actress from the 1950s explained this to me. Her agent created a fake beef with a Las Vegas casino. Fake news? I knew a scoop writer for a supermarket rag who described to me how she made up stories for publication.

Many Hollywood types have other problems. A late dance companion's dad was a movie producer in the 1920s and 1930s and owned a house that was passed down to my friend. Her father never invited a movie actor or actress to dinner in his home. That says a lot.

[Mac66]

Pro sports is entertainment. It is entertaining and compelling to watch competition which is why players created professional sports in the first place. People were watching them play a amateur sports and were willing to pay to watch. It's enterprising, entrepreneurial and capitalism. TV took pro (and some college sports) to a whole new level due to it's entertainment venue.

I do think that mixing politics with sports is a bad thing. Me, like many others have pretty much stopped watching professional sports. In my case that's partly due to the expansion of teams which dilutes the talent and lessons competition. Add in the political BS and I'm just not interested anymore. I don't begrudge pro athletes making as much money as their talents allow.

I do think a time will come (if it hasn't come already) when revenue will drop but I don't think pro sports (none) will ever go out of business. People are always willing to pay to be entertained. As long as they can watch either in person or on TV there will always be an audience whether politics are mixed in or not.

[David]

It seems that commercials are now being discounted during NFL games to try to entice advertisers. They've really taken it in the shorts.

I've said this in the past, a professional athlete (be it football, baseball, basketball etc) should make a salary of 100k per year with insurance. Regardless of the position. They can make extra money on the side doing a commercial or picking peaches or changing tires. If they don't want to work for that amount of money then there are several hundred guys that will lining up to take over their job.

When people know more about a spoiled felon millionaire running a pig skin down a cow pasture than things that actually matter...we have a problem.