In the past few weeks, the sport of baseball has been climbing
higher and higher in the headlines as a potential strike nears
because the millionaire players and owners can’t agree on how
to divvy up their billions of dollars. The divisive issue is a
luxury tax that would tax teams a percentage of their payroll if it
exceeds a certain level. Some people have dubbed it the
“Yankee Tax” because they say it’s meant to stop
the New York Yankees from buying players at will. That’s
probably a good idea because it will achieve parity and increase
competition, but it’s not worth striking over.
The players recently set Aug. 30 as the date to strike if an
agreement with the owners cannot be reached, and the prospects of a
strike seems more likely with each passing day. Some pundits are
comparing the looming strike to Sept. 11 because of the similar
timing and the similar “national crisis” that comes
with it. Even President Bush voiced his opposition saying he would
be “very upset” if baseball couldn’t resolve its
labor issues. It’s ironic that the sport which helped bring
America out of Sept. 11 by uniting Americans around their national
pastime, will be mentioned with the same ominous tone only one year
later.
But while I love baseball and can’t wait to see how the
season plays out as my Dodgers hang onto the wild-card spot, the
strike isn’t a big issue with me. Sure it would be
frustrating to watch my favorite sport come to a halt just before
the postseason gets under way, but that doesn’t matter. The
strike isn’t important. What is important is that it
doesn’t matter to me ““ because I can do something that
many people in our society should do but don’t ““ take a
step back from the athletic world and realize that sports are just
games.
That’s right, sports are just games, like Scrabble,
Yahtzee or Tic-Tac-Toe. Although they require more athletic ability
and training, they are no different because they are just
entertaining pastimes. If our society was stupid enough to pay
people $20 million a year to spell words, we would have kids
memorizing the dictionary and prime-time Scrabble championships on
television.
What is really at issue here is the ludicrous gravity with which
people are taking the impending strike. Let’s start with
comparing the strike to Sept. 11. That’s outright disgusting.
Sept. 11 is one of the worst tragedies in the history of mankind.
It revealed some of the ugliest sides of humanity, it made an
entire nation fear for their safety, and most importantly, it took
an immeasurable toll on the victims and their families. Now
we’re comparing it to a baseball strike?
Another problem is all the media coverage that the strike is
getting. It’s not just being covered on ESPN and FoxSports,
it’s being heavily covered by all major news outlets. I know
it’s a big story, but is it more important than a potential
war with Iraq or how our president copes with economic crisis?
Instead of being viewed as a great tragedy on par with Sept. 11,
the looming strike should be viewed as a blessing. It should be
viewed as an opportunity for America to shift their focus away from
sports and realize what things are truly important. Life goes on
without baseball, or football or basketball for that matter. Sports
aren’t something that we need, they’re an excess that
we enjoy, like movies. Why is it trite if the Screen Actors Guild
goes on strike but serious when baseball players choose to stop
working?
So next time you’re fuming about the baseball strike or
nearly coming to blows with your friend over a game on television,
take a step back and think about what you’re doing. Would you
be getting all worked up about Yahtzee? I don’t think you
would, so don’t get all worked up about sports.