I've played some competitive sports in my life - mainly in tennis (USTA Leagues, tournaments and such when I was between the ages of 20 and 35, I'm 49 now). So I know a little about being a competitor and the drive it takes to win. My tennis days never really turned into anything other than a casual diversion, though I met some interesting people and have made some lasting relationships due to my time there. So I cannot truly understand the lives of professional athletes. No one can unless you walk in their shoes. But, I imagine that I do at least understand some of the more obvious aspects.
Two of my favorite sports are tennis and baseball. I've played very little baseball (a couple years of little league where I had no idea what I was doing and our team pretty much sucked - nothing past that other than some recreational baseball one summer about 10 years ago). But I do love to watch the games both in person and on TV. Also movies about the games are of interest to me (I'll bring that up later).
As an up and coming player/competitor, let's say a high school kid who is a good athlete, one would have to choose what sport to dedicate themselves to and to decide upon if they had professional potential. While in high school they'd still have the freedom to do whatever they wanted. It takes some time to 'feel out' a sport and see if it's right for you. I never liked playing basketball. Maybe because I'm not a good jumper, so I can't slam dunk. And my shooting kinda sucks too. I can't even run that fast. Some people prefer certain sports. I practiced many hours and played many matches and so I got fairly good at tennis. Not great mind you, just good. Better at doubles too, because I had a big serve, good volley, didn't have to cover as much court & liked quick points. By the time I did all this I was in my mid twenties so there was certainly no professional career in my future. Those who become pro athletes start when they are very young and work at it continuously.
A thought hit me while watching a baseball game while over at a friend's house: it occurred to me that it is so much easier to be on the pro tennis tour than to be a pro baseball player. At least as far as your personal choices seem to go.
Let's say you had two athletes, one wants to play pro tennis, one wants to play pro baseball. Both athletes are equally skilled at their game. Lets say that they are about average (for argument sake) compared to other pros in their sports and both are the 100th best players in their sport. (these are men btw) Here's how they compare to one another:
Tennis player rankings are from:
These rankings are based on a point system where you get points for winning tournaments. Therefore it is totally unbiased and not subjective in any way.
The tennis player, if he was ranked 100 in the world, as of this writing, is Stephane Robert;
He is a Frenchman who has already made over $275,000 this year in prize money. He has a career high ranking of 61 & career prize money of over $1.2 million in the 14 or so years he's played pro tennis.
Baseball player rankings are from:
Instead of simply getting points for winning games as in tennis baseball players are evaluated on a number of statistical 'metrics' of their performance. Baseball is a team sport as opposed to tennis singles which is an individual sport, so rating players this way is currently the best method of doing this.
The baseball player, if he was ranked 100 in the world, as of this writing, is Danny Duffy;
He is a pitcher on the Kansas City Royals MLB baseball team. His salary is reportedly $526,000 this year. He's played for only 3 years in MLB.
These two guys for comparison are on the low end of the spectrum money-wise. There are higher ranked players making much more money than these guys. I just wanted to show what kind of cash some average bloke might expect to get if he wasn't one of the best players in the sport.
There was another concern I thought about too, however, with these sports & that is of the control you have over your own life. Robert as an individual can choose what tournaments to play. It's his call. He never needs to prove himself to anyone to get to play. He just has to win to get a good ranking.
Duffy on the other hand has a tougher road to hoe. He not only has to win and be productive he has to be 'fourtunate' as well. What I mean by this is that pro baseball players are picked and traded all the time by one team after another. If a general manager doesn't like you for whatever reason he can trade you to another team. Or, for any reason, you can be benched and not given game-time, or sent down to wait to be called back up again out in the limbo of the minor league farm system. As a player for the team you must play when they tell you to play. You must practice and work out when they tell you to. You are much more in their power than the pro tennis players who have no such person over them. Watch the movie Money Ball as a good example of what I'm talking about here.
So, I the question is how would you rather live your life? Having the freedom to do as you wish or not having as much freedom. I guess if baseball is the sport you love to play and that which you are greatest at then you just have to accept how the game is played (& controlled).
Just for good measure and because I happened to be watching a golf tournament on TV, because I'm also a big fan of golf & love to watch & play it as well, I decided to look up what the 100th best golfer in the world was making money-wise. I found the info here:
http://espn.go.com/golf/moneylist/_/page/2
The man's name is Michael Thompson, an average Joe from Arizona who's made over $900,000 this year alone (over $5,000,000 in his 7 year career). Compared to the other two sports golf looks to me like it may be the best right now, at least as far as money making. You don't have to run around or get into fights like you do sometimes in other sports such as MLB/NFL/NBA/NHL etc. though you do have to work out of course to be in good shape. But as in tennis you are not being controlled like in the team sports. Man, if I could I'd be a pro golfer!
http://espn.go.com/golf/moneylist/_/page/2
The man's name is Michael Thompson, an average Joe from Arizona who's made over $900,000 this year alone (over $5,000,000 in his 7 year career). Compared to the other two sports golf looks to me like it may be the best right now, at least as far as money making. You don't have to run around or get into fights like you do sometimes in other sports such as MLB/NFL/NBA/NHL etc. though you do have to work out of course to be in good shape. But as in tennis you are not being controlled like in the team sports. Man, if I could I'd be a pro golfer!
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