Stop Paying The Rich Athletes!

Many years ago when I worked for the Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Team the then owner, Walter O'Malley, conceived the idea of pay perview Dodgers games. Unfortunately he was way ahead of his time and it wasn't for several years later that big money financed this venture and now sports is making gazillions off televised games.

In later years, Peter O'Malley, (Walter's son) took over the ownership and he conceived the idea of licensing the players popularity in all the junk one can buy now. Caps, radios, jersey's and the whole enchilada of sport memorabilia.

Just before this time I was into "popular stuff" and I bought a shirt that was pretty much no-sense other than a baseball theme but still real campy. The shirt had "Brooklyn Dodgers" embossed on it but it also had a gorilla image and a bunch of other junk on it. When Peter saw me with that shirt on he went ballistic and he told my supervisor who immediately forbade me to wear that shirt again!



I kept wearing it.

In a matter of short time, perhaps fueled by my "arrogance" (), Peter met with the other owners and thus began that licensing feature for all of Major League Baseball which requires you to get permission, pay a fee and sign an agreement then when you are approved you can begin manufacture of such items.

I have always thought what a waste it is to buy any athlete's "jersey" for several hundred dollars or for any sports junk for that matter. It is all overpriced and it makes these athletes that are playing a child's game for gazillions just richer. And not to mention the baseball teams that also rake in gazillions as well.

Even though I once loved the Dodgers, they stabbed me in the back and now I root for the team they are playing against, I no longer respect the rape of the fan for the hundreds of dollars they now pay for inflated souvenirs, ticket prices, parking, concessions and pay per view.

Now I wait for the results in my daily newspaper or internet news. And I have just as much glee reading that the Dodgers have lost and that they are not getting money from me!