These high payoffs are the cause of many heated debates constantly taking place, both by sports teams and the general population. Some people view it as a problem and others don't.

At the end of August, 1998, just as we were coming back to school, Michael Jordan was putting his signature on a ONE year 35 million dollar contract.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. Just that year's endorsements earned Jordan 40 million dollars. The Flyers just stole center Chris Gratton away from the Tampa Bay Lightning at the bargain figure of 15.5 million dollars over 5 years plus a 9 Million Dollar signing bonus and they still have to re-sign Eric Lindros. Good Luck! Where is all this money coming from?

The answer is sports fans like you. We pay for the tickets, T-shirts, and apparel of these teams. They can afford to sign new players when they're charging anywhere from $45 to $55 dollars a seat for football and anywhere from $25 to $12

As always, whenever a record-setting contract is signed in the world of sports, a lively debate ensues on whether a professional athlete really deserves so much money. The answer, of course, is no, unless he signed to play for our team, when the answer is a strong yes.

Jaws dropped again last week, and not because of the stunning outfit worn by some teen diva on MTV. Alex Rodriguez, a baseball player, signed the richest contract ever in professional sports, $252 million over 10 years to play for the Texas Rangers. Two hundred and fifty-two million dollars. That's more than a quarter of a billion dollars to A-Rod's accountants, and a super-sized mega-bunch of cash to the rest of us looking at five months of payments on our Season of Giving bills.

The strikes and lockouts are all about MONEY. In the baseball strike, the key issue was the salary cap, which is the most money a team can spend on its players. The players do not want this, because it could cost them money. I am sure Barry Bonds, who makes over $7 million a year or Bobby Bonilla, who makes $5 1/2 million a year, are in desperate need of more money.

Athletes are role models to young fans. They should be teaching fans about teamwork, working hard, devotion to the team, and respect. Instead, they teach us about switching teams if the money being offere

Some common words found in the essay are:
Glenn Robinson, Bill Gates, Minnesota Northstars, Overpaid Athletes, Lindros Luck, World Series, Michael Jordan, Texas Rangers, Space Jam, Bay Lightning, baseball strike, professional athlete, personal seat, athletes professional, professional sports,
Approximate Word count = 909
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)