TheWiseOldFart

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart My America, the nation I loved for most of my life, is nearing its end. Not a single agency tasked with the protection of our nation’s people and the preservation of the Constitution is willing to do the right thing and end the dictatorship of one man, the worst individual in the world, Donald John Trump. However, for once, I write an article which is not about the orange buffoon. This is the America I will always remember. As an original baby boomer, I was a typical child raised in the 1950’s and 1960’s. As a young man, my greatest loves were baseball, basketball, and football. Growing up in Los Angeles, I was very excited when I learned that the Brooklyn Dodgers were moving to my hometown. Major League Baseball was my first passion as a young man. I made it my primary goal to learn about the players who would soon become the Los Angeles Dodgers. These were the early days of television. We didn’t get to watch many of the Dodger’s games in 1958 or 1959, unless t...

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart I was a typical young man in 20 th century America. Growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, I loved baseball, basketball, and football. A few years later, I became interested in Hockey, and I played intramural soccer in high school. I am writing this because I feel a little sorry for younger fans today. I grew up in Los Angeles. One of the greatest times in my younger years was in 1958. I was 12 years old and the Brooklyn Dodgers had moved to Los Angeles. I went to my first game the following year. In 1960, I was even more excited when the Minneapolis Lakers moved to my hometown. With these teams came two players I admired and emulated: Sandy Koufax and Jerry West. I was a pitcher on my baseball team, and a point guard on my basketball team. I loved football, but I was very ‘skinny,’ and chose not to get broken in half. My mother was unaware that I listened to the Dodger games, when I was supposed to be asleep, on my transistor radio. I began to keep score, under th...

  Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart                  The largest salary ever received by the man I consider the greatest pitcher in baseball history, Sandy Koufax, was $130,000 per year. The highest salary earned by the greatest hitter of all time, Hank Aaron, was $240,000 per year. Adjusted for inflation, that would be $1.35 million today. The most successful basketball player in history, Bill Russell, was rewarded with $125,000 per year: $1,164,000 today. Johnny Unitas, the greatest NFL player in history, was paid $250,000 in his final contract. The best players in professional sports receive as much as 50 million dollars each year. The average pay for a starting MLB player in 2024 is about $4.5 million in 2024. For NBA players, the average is $9,512,000 per year. NFL players make a minimum of $750,000 per year. The average veteran makes nearly two million dollars per year. PASSING COSTS TO THE FANS In ...