The difference between your first job and these athletes is that your first employer had a top-dog making money from his own hard work while you made peanuts. You were not the one generating the revenue.
Now, imagine it's your skills, name, and image that was generating millions for your company and you were still making peanuts. I don't think you would feel the same way about your income and the way your company was handling your employment.
Why do they deserve their fair share? Really?
Because it's fair!
Now, they originally came to college on the deal set by the NCAA, that included scholarships, room, board, etc. In the strict sense of fairness, they weren't being cheated, because they knew what they were agreeing to. The question became, is it fair for them to come and play for a university earning around $200k (depending on the university) when their body in the school's uniform was generating millions.
Would you be okay with a $200k stipend when you are worth $1mil.+ in actual dollar bills? I don't think so.
It was unfair.
There is much more to be said, and you're not all wrong, but your sentiments are way off when talking about your first job versus an Otega Oweh, or an Anthony Davis-type player earning scholarship monies over what they could have made in cold, hard cash based on their values to the university.
I just can not agree with you entirely. I do understand what you are saying, but it is like a glass that is half full; or is it half empty? We both see the same glass but see it differently.
I owned a maintenance company for many years. I made a ton of money around UL for years. I made this money by having those who worked for me doing a job that I hired them to do. They would show up, have a nice truck full of tools to drive to the job site and get paid. I had to pay for that truck, all the tools, workers comp insurance, business insurance, oh, the taxes I had to pay, well, it took me doing my part and my guys doing their part for my company to make money. I did share with them by giving out bonuses when I could.
These guys are not forced to work for me, they choose to work for me in exchange for a paycheck. My main guy would drive one of my trucks but he could not finish the job by himself having to have someone else go with him that day. Same with Anthony Davis or Otega, they can not win games by themselves so you need everyone doing their part.
Now, this is where one would say a guy like Davis should be paid more. In this sense, he was a great player but still can not win the game by himself and let's say you pay him more money. If my guys knew I was paying one guy more money then they were getting but doing the same job, I would have major issues and most likely need to keep an open door lookin for new employees.
This is what is happening in sports right now. An open door and no one can run a business like this.
If we are to pay players then it should be flat fee for the entire team. What would these highly paid players do if they flew to the other side of the country to play in a game only to find out they have no uniform to wear? So, we need to pay the managers as well. They are important too or your highly paid player better start packing his own bags.
Point is, where does it all end? If one of my guys did not do his job, it was me that got a call and then I had to send someone else to complete the task. All that takes money and at the end of the day, it was me who lost money that day all because of one man slacking.
So you pay a player like Davis, he either gets hurt or is having a crappy season but you still owe him all that money?
This is where you and I part ways. The guy who loaded my truck, hauled the 30 boxes of flooring up three flights of stairs is just as important as the guy who laid that floor. One has more skill and you reward him for that but if he screws up laying that floor, he is held responsible. When are playing going to be held responsible?
Life is a two way street and right now the players think they are untouchable. As good as Davis was, UK when they had players like the Unforgettables, they still sold out Rupp.
For me, the scene we see in sports today reflects that old saying, "the animals are running the zoo".
Other than todays politicians, who else gets paid and does not have to produce results?
