[Mick]

I've been re-watching Burns' baseball series lately. I have become convinced that all athletes play in some kind of servitude. With due respect to the Selective Service System during crises I think drafts are un-American in our capitalist society. Kids are not barred from attending their favorite college if qualified and they shouldn't be forced to play for a crappy organization like the Marlins or the Niners. Maybe confusion would reign at the highest levels but freedom should out.

BTW, a number of ex-teammates who never got beyond AA or AAA are happy that they did get a chance to play for pay.

You're talking about people who (generally) make a lot of money to play a child's game and get to stay in shape and travel while they do so.  Absent a few notable exceptions, these aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer, and they play a kid's game so they don't have to sit behind  a desk.  So the people who own their clubs or run their sports have all the power.

And the few who do realize they're screwed as players?  Some of them become owners, like Charles Comiskey.  Comiskey reminded me of the old Russian joke:  What's the difference between American slaves and Russian slaves?  American slaves want freedom and Russian slaves want to be slaveowners.  That was Comiskey, a slaveowner.  Horrible man, underpaid all of his players.

[Mick]

I've been re-watching Burns' baseball series lately. I have become convinced that all athletes play in some kind of servitude. With due respect to the Selective Service System during crises I think drafts are un-American in our capitalist society. Kids are not barred from attending their favorite college if qualified and they shouldn't be forced to play for a crappy organization like the Marlins or the Niners. Maybe confusion would reign at the highest levels but freedom should out.

BTW, a number of ex-teammates who never got beyond AA or AAA are happy that they did get a chance to play for pay.

You're talking about people who (generally) make a lot of money to play a child's game and get to stay in shape and travel while they do so.  Absent a few notable exceptions, these aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer, and they play a kid's game so they don't have to sit behind  a desk.  So the people who own their clubs or run their sports have all the power.

And the few who do realize they're screwed as players?  Some of them become owners, like Charles Comiskey.  Comiskey reminded me of the old Russian joke:  What's the difference between American slaves and Russian slaves?  American slaves want freedom and Russian slaves want to be slaveowners.  That was Comiskey, a slaveowner.  Horrible man, underpaid all of his players.