Here you go ... I believe it was the 1980s when Hollywood produced a movie called
"Network". It starred Faye Dunaway, figuratively, William Holden, Robert Duvall and an
English actor, Academy award winner Peter Finch.
Finch played a network news anchorman who loses it one day and profoundly states, "We've
had enough and we won't take it anymore." This where we are now in America. The economy's in
shambles; the Big 3 automakers needed a bailing-out; the housing market is in the dumper;
jobs are being lost; and some creep named Bernie Madoff, former head of the NASDAQ exchange,
has been responsible for costing people their lives, literally and figuratively.
We have always looked to sports in the past to take our minds off our everyday troubles,
and now I wonder if we have that. Baseball's best player, Alex Rodriquez, has admitted using
performance-enhancing drugs, and apparently there is a list of 103 others who haven't been
named. The NBA has about 15 teams that apparently need financial assistance to handle their
operating costs. This past weekend was the start of free agency in the National Football
League and defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth broke the bank by signing a heretofore un-
heard of contract of $100 million, of which $40 million is guaranteed. Think about it: $40
million guaranteed for 16 games per season. And they say A-Rod is overpaid?
Don't get me wrong, I understand it's not what you're worth, it's what the owners are
willing to pay. So Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder signed Haynesworth to the largest
deal ever paid to a defensive player.
Snyder also signed defensive back DeAngelo Hall to a 6-year, $54 million deal, with $22
million guaranteed. Hall was signed by Oakland last year to a big deal, of which $8 million
was guaranteed, and Raiders owner Al Davis cut him midway through the season. So Hall, an
average player, has picked up $30 million guaranteed in less than two years.
Baltimore signed a cornerback, Dominique Foxworth, to $16.5 million guaranteed deal. If
it was Jeff Foxworthy, I buy it. "You know you're a redneck if the 5th grade was your senior
year". That Jeff Foxworthy! So in the words of Howard Beal, Peter Finch's character in
"Network," "I've had enough and can't take it anymore."
If you would like to comment on this blog, please email Howard David at howarddavidh3@yahoo.com.
This blog is written exclusively for ussportspages.com
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