The essence of professional spectator sport is the athlete.
Without construction workers, ticket salesmen, and hot dog vendors, we wouldn't be able to sit in the nosebleeds at classic venues and root for our favorite teams.
Without owners and general managers, team organizations wouldn't exist in the first place.
And without advertisers and television networks, we'd be playing peanuckle or singing "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" on Feb. 1 of next year instead of watching the Super Bowl.
That, my friends, is a truly scary thought. My early childhood could not have been what it was had I not been able to watch live ballgames at Yankee stadium; my grade school years would have been lamer than a Michael Bolton concert had the San Francisco 49ers never existed.
And let's just say the last time I sang "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" all the way through, my mother slapped me so hard that you can still see the mark on my face to this day.
But here's a much more frightening proposition: What if naturally gifted individuals never took the time to practice a game adored by millions of fans?
What if that stringy kid from San Diego had never picked up a baseball bat?
What if Michael Jordan had called it quits when he got cut from his high school hoops team?
Without the athletes, there would be no professional sports. Zip, zilch, nada.
No greatest game ever played; no Rumble in the Jungle. No Lakers/Celtics or Red Sox/Yankees rivalries.
No Gretzky, No Pele, no Golden Bear. No Don Bradman; no Richard Petty.
For many of us, we'd be totally different people than we are today were it not for the heroics of these individuals. Many of these figures were inspirations for us not only on the field, but also in the classroom and life in general.
The athlete—the person who competes for a living at the games we follow for fun—allows professional sports to flourish. They are the nucleus of the entire operation.
In recent times, fans and journalists alike have become fond of lashing out against professional athletes. This is somewhat understandable given the astronomical salaries many top stars are paid and the crummy attitudes of certain individuals who act more like spoiled children then stand-up role models.
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