I used to love the Atlanta Braves up until the early nineties. I stopped watching them when everyone jumped on the Braves bandwagon. They were such losers that even their "official" airline, Eastern Airlines, went bankrupt. A couple of years ago my wife and I were leaving the W hotel in Atlanta when a speeding yellow ferrari almost hit my wife in the driveway. I quickly approached the car to have a word with the driver. A very large Andruw Jones stepped out of the car and apologized profusely. My response... "no problem."
We have a ritual that we do after every game. My oldest daughter must go to the player's parking lot to see them exit the field. It usually involves hanging around for an hour after the game has ended. We wait patiently until security opens the gate to let the players, one by one, leave the stadium.
They pull out in their, top of the line, Range Rovers, Maserati's, Escalades, Maybach's. Jose Reyes has his "driver" driving his Hummer.
There are young boys, approximately 5 and up, standing on the curb waiting for their favorite player's autograph. I've yet to see one player stop his vehicle and allow a child over to sign one.
It's also sad that these pro athletes, whether they be football players, baseball players or basketball players, seem to forget that they were once young boys wanting an autograph from their hero too.
The Atlanta player that I referenced in my previous post did autograph signings as a minor leaguer in 1995 to save money to buy a cheap used car. Since 1996 he has put over $88,000,000 in the bank and he will earn over $15 million next year alone.
If you don't think athletes make enough money, take a gander at Michael Jordan's house...
(the one at the top of the picture)
I played briefly (a couple of years) after college...$300 a month and a bus ticket to Pocatello, Idaho. Those were the days (in all sincerity!). Playing for the joy of playing.
I no longer have a favorite team; the strike of '95 soured me, and I haven't been to an MLB game since. My clubs were the Giants, A's, and Red Sox (my mom's boss' son-in-law played with the Red Sox in the mid-to-late 60s and got us tickets and signed balls when they came to play the A's-1968-1970). Still have the memorabilia, but I couldn't tell you anything about MLB these days, other than Bonds, homeruns, and steroids.
I like the A's...loved it when Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Rick Monday, Mike Epstein, Sal Bando, Gene Tenace, Joe Rudi, Vida Blue, Campy Campeneris, Dick Green, and friends roamed the Oakland Coliseum.
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