For a player/announcer often regarded more for his style than his substance, Baltimore Ravens cornerback Deion "Neon" Sanders has impressively proposed that all pro athletes donate at least $1000 to hurricane relief. Living in Jackson, Mississippi, I have experienced some of Katrina's effects -- we lost power, all phone service, Internet etc. -- but nothing near what the folks in New Orleans and Biloxi have suffered. And after watching TV coverage of New Orleans, it is clear that private donations are needed in order to make-up for the remarkably aloof and belated governmental response. Moreover, Sanders' idea seems especially useful to counter the common perception that athletes are greedy, over-paid, and completely self-interested.
It's interesting to consider the potential effect of Sanders' proposal, and whether players will assent to it. For instance, would Manny Ramirez be willing to give up $1,000? He only makes $136,000 per game (and that's true even if he chooses not to play in a game). All total, he makes $22,00,000 a year. So $1,000 to a guy like Manny Ramirez seems like a fair request for such an unassailable cause.
But how about the minimum salary guys? Take a guy like Will Bynum of the Boston Celtics. A friend of Tony Allen and an undrafted free agent who recently signed a minimum-salary deal with the Celtics, Bynum will make at least the NBA's minimum salary for the 2005-06 season: $399,000. So, if he gives up $1,000, he would be sacrificing less than 0.3% of his salary. Not quite the same drop in the bucket that it is for Ramirez, but a third of one percent still doesn't exactly sound prohibitive.
It will be interesting to watch if Sanders' idea catches-on. Granted, guys who play Arena Football or minor league baseball/basketball/hockey might have to consider their expenses before donating $1,000, although, presumably, they could still help with a smaller amount. In any event, all donations are good, and we encourage you to donate, whether you are a pro athlete or not.
Post Script: A tad off-topic, but I strongly recommend you listen to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's radio interview from Thursday night. I was particularly struck by this comment:
I don't want to see anybody do anymore goddamn press conferences. Put a moratorium on press conferences. Don't do another press conference until the resources are in this city. And then come down to this city and stand with us when there are military trucks and troops that we can't even count.Amen. How many more self-congratulatory press conferences do we have to watch before more people die on the ground? Talk about sobering reminders of why so many are turned off by the fakeness of American politics. And we wonder why voter turnout is so low.Don't tell me 40,000 people are coming here. They're not here. It's too doggone late. Now get off your asses and do something, and let's fix the biggest goddamn crisis in the history of this country.
Update 12:30 PM: Perhaps the most moving, raw news coverage I have ever seen was on Fox News last night, with Shepard Smith and Geraldo Rivera reporting from New Orleans. They vividly refute the propaganda and platitudes emanating from Washington, and you may never be more angry at our government than after watching this clip (note: the download takes several minutes, even on broadband, but it is well worth the wait).
0 comments:
Post a Comment