At the moment I am watching Manchester united on one of my housemates dvd's (I’m not watching really, my Gameboy is in my hand and i’m listening to the commentary in the background). The fans are jumping and everyone seems to be in high spirits. My friends seem to enjoy it but i am not entirely sure why they are so transfixed by an average game played by overpaid lower-tier athletes.
Don’t get me wrong, I think athletes are worthy of admiration. The mental state required to devote your life to something on such a large scale is mind boggling and i wish I had the ability.
However......
It bothers me immensely that these guys get paid an ungodly sums of money for doing some that is, while impressive, not world changing. The money given to these people can be used for much better things, David Beckham for example is on a mind boggling wage of around 250000 pounds a week.... now that is obviously a nice lil packet of money to go home with.... but what has he honestly done to deserve it. While he is sitting on that ludicrous sum there are doctors who are saving lives, fire-fighters who risk their lives, policemen, even teachers who devote their lives to benefiting the lives of every child they teach..... These people are getting pittance compared to these athletes and personally it disheartens me to know that the world values physical strength and prowess over that of selflessness and mental capability.
I am probably sounding like I have had some kind of bad experience with sports at an early age. But I didn’t, I played sports and I enjoyed them. I still enjoy watching some sports and whilst it isn’t so much the sportsmen that I consider at fault, but the fans who devote their lives to, regardless of its connotations, a GAME. The winner of this game will probably have no effect on the state of the world, and the money people pay to go and see these games really does beg the question… are we inherently selfish? Putting our fleeting moments of pleasure above the life of those suffering in desolate areas of the world.
If I was earning the money that they do I wouldn’t be complaining for certain, I would be loving it and probably be dictating this post to one of my several underlings which I would no doubt have wearing ridiculous hats, interchangeable for every day of the week, purely because I could. But my conscience would get to me; so much that I would eventually have to give money to some form of charity. Hell, David Beckhams yearly wage could actually probably wipe out hunger for a small third world country....
Yet still the crowd stands and cheers blissfully.
*sigh* (^_^)/
