SIKIDS.COM / 2 3BY Sam Page
ONEY IS RUINING SPORTS!
Or so they keep saying.
Ever since Major LeagueBaseball banned eight members of the
Chicago White Sox for allegedly taking bribes
to throw the 1919 World Series, fans have
worried about business tainting their beloved
games. Those concerns have multiplied
as leagues have become billion-dollar
businesses. money! money! money! is
it ruining sports? asked the cover of
a special ’78 issue of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED.
paying students to play would ruin
college sports read the headline of a
2019 op-ed in The New York Times.
All that dough has done some good. Moneyallows hardworking athletes to rise from
humble beginnings to lives of comfort and
security. Teams and players regularly use their
positions to raise funds for worthy causes.
It is money that allows the production
of magazines full of silly hypothetical
articles like this one.
But while cash might not be ruining sports,it makes certain aspects annoying. NFL games
have so many TV timeouts the broadcasts feel
like one long ad. Stars are regularly put in the
position of abandoning a team they like to get
the best deal for themselves. The best seats
in every arena often go to businesspeople