Show Chuck Full of Sports Snorts Let the Sports Spending Spree Begin By Charles Barnard Managing Editor Travis Knight making 20 million dollars What is this world coming to Now I like Knight He is a local kid who played at Alta High School before going to the University of Connecticut to play his college bas bas- bas bas- He just completed his rookie season for the Los Angeles Lakers where he averaged about four points and four rebounds a game And now he just signed a 20 million dollar contract to play for the Boston Celtics for the next seven years Is Knight worth 20 million dollars dollars dollars dol dol- dol- dol lars No Is any athlete worth that kind of money My answer to that question is maybe Maybe You are probably wondering wondering wondering won won- dering what kind of answer is that Well hold on and let me explain Lets Let's just take it a step by step and look at some people in the sports world what they are making and if they are worth it If we are talking about salaries the first person I have to start with is Albert Dont Call Me Joey Belle Belle is an outfielder for the Chicago White Sox In the off season he signed a free agent contract that pays him over 10 million a year In comparison comparison comparison com com- parison the Pittsburgh Pirates whole team 25 players combined makes less than 10 million a year One player making more money than a whole team come on Is he worth it At the half waymark way waymark waymark mark of the season he was hitting with 18 home runs ns and 67 Now he is having a great season season sea sea- season son but is it worth 10 million dollars dollars dollars dol dol- dol- dol lars Well lets let's just say this Belle and his White Sox recently played those same Pirates The White Sox were defeated in all three games they played Is Belle million I highly doubt it Now lets let's move to the A couple of weeks ago Patrick Ewing signed re-signed with the New York The official terms of the contract have not been released but it is being reported that it is a four year contract worth 70 million For those of you who failed Math like myself that comes out to be worth million million million mil mil- lion a year Yes million dollars a year Is he worth it Lets Let's look into it Last year Ewing put up very respectable numbers He averaged 22 points per game with 10 rebounds and 2 blocked shots per game Now those numbers are not bad but in my eyes the most important number is 35 That is how old he will be in August At the end of his contract Ewing will be 39 years old Is he going to put up those types of numbers numbers numbers num num- bers when he is 39 I dont don't think so Is he worth million a year No In this world of sports athletes athlete's getting paid huge sums of money is there anybody out there that actually deserve what they get Yes I believe there is Sometimes you have to look hard for those special athletes but they are out there One person sticks out above the crowd Most of the time he literally sticks out above the crowd That person is none other than Michael Jordan Now MJ was the highest paid player in the last season His contract gave him 25 million for last year alone He is a free agent this year and rumors have it that he is asking for somewhere in the range of 35 million dollars The thing is he is worth every penny If you question this just look at Game 5 of the Finals MJ had a severe case fo fa the flu He reminded me of Kermit the Frog because he looked so green Everyone knew he would still get out there and play but butI I dont don't think anyone could have dreamed the kind of game he would have It was the most unbelievable thing I have ever seen on a basketball court It looked like this guy would collapse at any second but he knew his team needed him and played a anear anear anear near perfect game It is because of Jordan that the Jazz do not have rings on their fingers Salaries are getting way out of hand in inthe the sports world Knight does not deserve 20 million Ewing does not deserve 70 million Belle does not deserve 10 million a year But there are those special athletes like a aJordan aJordan aJordan Jordan that deserve every cent that they get |