Is It Always Just About The Money?

Is it?

Does it have to always be just about the money? As Carole King once sang, "Doesn't anyone ever stay in one place anymore?"

Don't you miss the team you were drafted by?

I agree that athletes do have to be paid. Given the progress of professional sports, the risks you take and the challenges you need to overcome to be a professional athlete, they earned it. Players deserve to make the big bucks - I've got no issues with that!

But I just miss the old school start with a team, finish with the same team career. Rather than seeking out the best opportunity, you would figure out how to win with the players you've got.

Remember the times when most players stayed on one team?

Mariano Rivera, Hank Aaron, Tony Gwynn, Coach John Wooden, Coach K, Coach Boeheim, Tom Brady, Mickey Mantle, Kirby Puckett, John Stockton, Tim Duncan, Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, etc.

Doesn't it mean anything to have a statue placed in front of the building and a street named after you? I mean, REP a city for real.

It's a tough pill to swallow to be left out of the conversation when the big time free agent doesn't come your way. Or even worse when that big time player leaves your time for free agency.

I think about all the people affected by these decisions, starting with the little kids. What do you tell little 7-year-old Johnny who has a player's jersey and poster in his room?

Then comes all the people that work around the stadium and the scalpers, the season ticket holders, the vendors and sporting goods shops stuck with old t-shirts and jerseys of these players.