Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Overpaid I

Mace is a teacher. He teaches mathematics at William Penn High School in Wilmington, Delaware. Mace consistently puts in eight days at school, then when he gets home puts in an additional two hours. This consisting of putting up with 120 students, grading their assignments, and going to meetings and seminars to improve his teaching abilities. For the amount of work that Mace does, people would consider him to make at least six figures. The fact of the matter is that he gets paid in the low end of five figures. On the other hand, you have Stephon Maubary, who is according to foxsports.com making 14.625 million dollars while working a grand total of 5 hours a day while using his g-d gifted abilities shooting a basketball through a hoop. I am not saying it does not take skill to put a basketball through a hoop at a consistent bases it just does not seams as demanding as a teachers job on a consistent bases. In addition, Stephon Maubary works maybe six months a year while Mace works nine sometimes ten months out of a year.
From an athletes perspective, even though Stephon does get paid immensely more then Mace, Stephon has no benefits package while Mace has a very good benefits package. This is a big disadvantage to Stephon because playing a physical sport constantly wears your body down and he needs the extra money he makes to pay for all of the medical expenses that he and his family has. Another fact is the fact Stephon can only play basketball around eleven years while Mace can continue teaching for around forty years. I think to make up for the disadvantages of both the average teacher and the athlete, teachers should get paid more, and athletes should get paid less but a benefits package should given to the athletes.

11 comments:

dillon said...

Bloom, I agree with your thoughts that atheletes are overpaid and that people who work a nine to five job are underpaid compared to them. However, the ridiculous amount of money the Knicks pay Stephon is more than enough to cover all of his and his entire family's medical expenses. So I don't believe that professional atheletes need a benefits package at all and if you manage all that money you make it should last you and several generations after you to live very healthy and comfortable lives. For what they do atheletes are overpaid but that extra money more than makes up for all the medical costs Stephon and his family will need.

Lavin1 said...

Bloom, I agree that teachers do not make as much as they should. Marbury doesn't deserve to make that much money for not doing as much. he is simply an entertainer and nothing more. However Mace works very hard at what he does and deserves to get a raise. However in the teaching business they can get whats called tenure. It basically means that the school board can't fire them for no reason. Does it mean that teachers just can't get fired? NO! But it means they can be comfortable with their job and not worry about geting fired. However in sports world, if a player has a bad year, the manager is looking to trade him.
Kevin - Yes the benefits for a teacher are very great. And although in the sports industry the players don't get these benefits but the money is made up to them. I think players have a more rough lifestyle then players. I think their is a lot more pressure in the sports area. Players also have the media in their faces 24/7. Players are expected to be "perfect" I feel that through all this pressure the players deserve the money they get. It may not be fair to teachers and teachers deserve a raise but players deserve the money the get.

Hammersmith10 said...

Bloom, your thoughts are understandable but in my opinion some people are just lucky. I mean think about it, a teacher can't jump, run, and shoot as a professional basketball player otherwise they would be out on that floor with the rest of them. We just have to accept the fact that some people like athletes are just gifted. Think of all the hours a basketball player puts in? Yeah he might be shooting around or practicing for 5 hours a day but think of the flipside. You never get to see your family, you are constantly on the road, jetlag is endless, and most importantly you're putting your body on the line every night. Can we say that teachers do the same? Do teachers have camera's and people asking for autographs everywhere they go? The truth is no and personally I think athletes pay a price in life but in return they get paid very well and to me i think they are not overpaid and I respect what the professional athlete goes through.

demosky said...

Bloom, I couldn't agree with you more that athletes are well overpaid.I also agree that hard working people who put in long hours a day at work such as school teachers do deserve more money than what they actually make. Although,I do disagree with this athlete's benefits package. Say you do cut down Marbury's salary, he will still have more than enough money to pay and care for his mediacal treatment,his injuries, along with providing for his family. Even with the pay cut Stephon can still live his luxorious lifestyle with money still left over, and if managed wisely could last him the rest of his life.

chrisscowden60 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
chrisscowden60 said...

Bloom, i completely agree with your point that athletes are overpaid, but that is just our society. there are too many people who are way too rich and will pay ridiculous amounts of money for their team to win. i also have to agree with demosky though. it has nothing to do with compensating for not giving out benefits, its all about competition. teams simply dont give out benfits because of the large sums of money they already spend. Teachers however are tremendously underpaid. as much as i love sports, i have to say that ensuring a good future for children is more important than winning a superbowl.

thephenomenalgonzalez said...

I agree with everyone on the fact that athletes are overpaid. That's a given as to they don't really "contribute" to society and help better people in their lives. Some lavin1 said though that completely makes sense is that athletes don't have the comfort of being able to say that they have a safe job. A teacher can break a leg or tear an ACL and still be able to do their job. If an athlete gets one of those injuries, that could be the end of a career. Not saying that teachers have the good life. My grandma is has been a teacher for so many years and they get the shaft in a lot of ways. Being secure in her job is something she's happy about though. Yes it should be evened out where teachers get paid more and athletes less, but for right now, I think things aren't as bad as they seem.

O'Brien said...

Bloom. I agree that players get paid too much, but I just want to point out that Stephon is not making 14.625 million. He's getting paid a lot more. Adding in Marbury's shoe contract,Starbury Ones, along with commercials, and other endorsements he's well over 14 mil. So I don't think he's stressing over a benefits package. But Kevin, what I think Bloom's idea is good for is for the players on the league minimum. The league's worst get paid over 400 thousand a year. Unlike NBA stars these players can't buy a house 10 times over. They, like us, need to take out a mortgage and manage their money. I think the benefits package would be a good idea for players under a certain salary because at a certain amount the benefits are not needed.

bsmith64 said...

I agree completely. Athletes are paid way too much, looking at it from a blue-collar standpoint, but you have to take into account that sports are a more physically demanding occupation. How many teachers do you know that every time they step into the classroom, they're at risk of pulling a hamstring or breaking a leg? Not many I bet. Even though they put their health on the line everytime they go to work, I do agree that they should not make ten times more in a year than what an average person makes in a lifetime.

Gribble said...

Bloom, i completely agree with what you're saying about athletes getting payed way too much. There is not one good reason why an athlete should get paid that many times more than the average person. But I sort of disagree with your statement about them getting a health benefits package. For the simple fact that even if we lowered their pay rate, they would still be making so much that they wouldn't need one.

Unknown said...

Bloom, I agree athletes are paid a lot of money and it doesn't seem fair but if people are willing to buy $80 jerseys and $100 dollar tickets then so be it. Athletes didn't just wake up one day and say I think I'm going to play a professional sport for a living; they had to work everyday and practice harder then everyone else. They put in their time and are still putting their time in. Those five hours a day that they have to practice are not easy; in fact I can bet most people would give up after about three. I would have to agree with Hammersmith too when he says the constant time on the road and not seeing your family would take a toll on anyone. I guess what I'm saying is that you really can't blame the athletes for being "overpaid" just because they can throw a football sixty yards or dunk a ball through a metal circle. People are willing to pay to see these athletes at work, its entertainment to them. Since the athletes are making their living in a fair and legal way who are we to say they are overpaid??