If you know me real well you know that all my life I have loved sports! It all began for me as an 8 year old watching football with my Dad. He got me hooked on the New York Giants. We suffered through a lousy decade of the 1970's and rejoiced in the 1980's when they finally started winning. One of my fondest memories is watching Super Bowls 21 & 25 with my Dad as they won both games. My Dad had a huge smile on his face when Scott Norwood missed a last second field on January 28, 1991. I also began watching hockey as an 8 year old when the New York Rangers reached the Stanley Cup Finals only to lose to Bobby Orr. Moving to Long Island a year later I still rooted for the Rangers and took a lot of abuse while in High School as the dreaded New York Islanders won 4 Stanley Cups in a row. I had to wait until 1994 to see my Rangers win a Stanley Cup! I also have great memories watching the New York Knicks, my favorite basketball team win 2 championships, the last being in 1973. I have lost a lot of interest in basketball and have not watched an NBA game from beginning to end in 10 years! When it comes to baseball as a kid I liked both the New York Mets and New York Yankees. I did root for the Yankees in the late 1970's manly because they were winning but when their owner George Steinbrenner kept buying free agents and changing his team every year, I became a die hard New York Mets fan and went crazy when they won the World Series in 1986. Since then I have been a long suffering fan and one of my worst days in life was in October 2000 when they lost to the Yankees in the Subway series.
So why would this life long sports fan want to write a blog about being turned off by sports? The answer is simple. Money! When I was a kid, players played because they loved their game. They played for the same team and gave their all. They played hurt, they played in the mud and they wanted desperately to win a championship and tried their best to accomplish that feat A third string player makes over a million dollars. Back in the day, a third string player made very little money. In today's day and age, athletes only really play for money and demand to be traded when things don't go their way and when they break a fingernail they are put on the disabled list. Right now Major League baseball owners have locked out their players and they are disputing over something that is very selfish. MONEY!
I also love listening to Sports Radio which I do when I'm in my car. I listen to Sports Radio WFAN. WFAN began in 1987 and I have been listening to that station since day one. One day I hope to get up enough nerve to call in to a talk show. In the last year, Sports Radio has been talking less about sports lately and is focusing more on entertaining people. Even the prices of attending a game are astronomical. You literally have to take out a loan to attend a game. The last sporting event I attended in 2019, a Mets game, it cost me $25 to park my car. $25!!!! The could have at least had people watch my car while I attended the game!
Hopefully one day things will change. Hopefully athletes will play because they love the game. Do I think it will change? NO!
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