Come to Think of It...Quit Whining Over the Yankees' Spending Spree Already

So the "Evil Empire" goes on a Christmas shopping spree and all of the knee-jerkers out there cry foul? Come on, that is a ridiculous position to take. I mean, sure, the money these players are receiving is obscene. But nobody should ever confuse professional sports with reality anyway.

Look, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the New York Yankees giving Sabathia, Burnett and Teixeira their rich paydays. The top tier talent will always get their money. Somebody would have paid them and it might as well be the Yankees.

Hey, it's simple, really: they spend the most because they make the most!

The Yankees have, by far, the highest revenue stream in baseball, if not of all pro sports. They can afford these salaries. Would you rather the owners simply put the profits into their pockets instead of investing in the team? 

No sir, the problem with baseball isn't with teams like the Yankees. It lies with small market teams that take the revenue sharing and luxury tax money and refuse to invest the money in their payroll. 

I know one thing: I wish Steinbrenner owned my favorite team, thank you very much. What's wrong with wanting to win?

The first thing that everyone needs to do is to take a breath. Now, repeat after me...this is entertainment, this is not the real world. It is a fantasy world that is not to be governed by normal societal rules.

Recognizing that baseball is entertainment, where are all the critics when an actor like Tom Cruise makes $20 million dollars for one movie? At least Mark Teixeira will have to play one hundred-plus baseball games to earn his money.

Professional sports is a business unlike any other and cannot be compared to the nine-to-five jobs you and I have, or are lucky to have in this economy.

Baseball players have always made more money than the average American, even before the exploding salaries came along.

And the owners wouldn't pay these salaries if they couldn't afford them. As long as people continue to watch games on TV, and buy tickets to the ballgames, the industry will continue to thrive. Baseball remains a vibrant, healthy sport, likely impervious to the whims of the stock market.

Sports are an escape from reality...a release from the everyday drama that engulfs our lives. If it wasn't for sports, and other entertainment like it, stress would be up, more people would be out wandering the streets, and this country would be a much more boring place to live.

You can't put a price on that.

So quit whining about baseball players making so much money while you and I struggle to make a living. Hell, I know we're in a recession. I know people are out of work in record numbers. I recognize times are tough.

But you know what? I like my sports best served on an open face of fantasy, where the real world never intersects and the problems of the day never enter into the fracas.

Consider that there are only approximately 750 major league baseball jobs available in a world that contains approximately 6,602,224,175 people. Sorry that you and I don't have the talent to play a game for a living. For if we could, we would. And we would take the money and run, now wouldn't we?

It's simple, really, when you come to think of it...