Originally Posted by
Maelochs
I wholly reject this.
Most people who play pro sports have tremendous passion for the sport .... nothing else provides the motivation which gets them u when they are sore and tired, to go to another practice, another bunch of drills, another training run or ride.
I photographed a couple bike races last weekend, and "passion" was an oft-repeated term when I spoke with riders. They were out here killing themselves for basically no prizes (maybe gas money if they won---and that was just the couple pro classes) and basically killed themselves all week every week to get into shape to hurt themselves on the weekends ... sending huge amounts of money and time on traini9ng, gear, travelling, and racing .... because they loved it.
Sure NFL-style money might get a player through mid-season burnout or add a couple of years to a career .... but those folks are passionate about playing or they wouldn't play.
The ones who cannot take the week of pain for the few minutes of playing on game day are the ones who long since jumped off the stage.
Did you play a sport like that at a high level? Been in the locker/training rooms before/after practice/games? When the players are getting shot up with drugs/chemicals just so they can play another down or go another quarter? Or even walk to the press conference under their own power? Nobody in the organizations gives a rat's ass about the player's well being. It gotten a little better in recent years, but don't fool yourself. The players are expendable commodities that are replaced the minute they can't perform.