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 loved all three professional sports when I was young. I was a huge fan of the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. As rule changes, and even the lack of change became realities, I no longer had any interest in professional baseball or basketball, and in 2023 I am losing my interest in the NFL. First and last, as it is for everything else in America, the primary reason: money. All major professional sports have placed profits ahead of the games. No average working man can afford to attend any of the games on a regular basis. I will also discuss free agency, television profits, and salaries which are beyond ridiculous. America is a money cult, not a nation of people. If you are not rich, you can only dream about the American way of life promised in books and movies. The second reason which caused me to lose interest in other sports is free agency. The greed of athletes destroyed the “team concept” forever. The Monday Ni...