My 100% guaranteed sports predictions for the rest of time…..Pt. 2

You may remember an older post of mine entitled “My 100% guaranteed sports predictions for the rest of time…..Pt. 1”. Well, I can imagine I pissed of a lot of people with that post. If you would like to read it, or if you’re a sports fan who would like to be pissed off, please feel free to find it in my older blog posts. Basically I stated that a lot of money and resources were being wasted on professional sports instead of going towards causes that are actually important.

We, as humans, always claim to be civilized and care about the greater good of our world and those around us. But when it comes down to actually doing something to make things better, most Americans would rather stay comfortable and entertained than even think about what needs to be done to make things better. Each year we shovel more and more money into professional sports while turning a blind eye to the suffering around us. I’m sorry but feeding a starving child is much more important than watching people move a ball around in a field. Making sure our children are adequately educated is more important than screaming at your television for hours. Converting our world over to cheap and renewable power is a lot more important than watching cars drive in circles for hours and hours.

Dianne Spearman of the United Nations-sponsored World Food Program says cutting the number of hungry people in the world in half by 2015 could be achieved for roughly $24 billion. The amount of money spent on the sports industry in only one year ($213 billion) could cover the cost of this over eight times. So we can spend billions to develop athletes, feed them, train them, and pay them more money than they deserve, and still manage to tell the poor people of the world “Fuck you!” Yeah, that sounds about right. We’ll still sleep well tonight. After we gorge ourselves on Big Macs and Coca-Cola, we can fall into a blissful slumber as ESPN envelopes our bedroom in a blanket of serene, flickering, sports-related lights. Or should I say highlights?

Here’s a list of just a few things I believe are more important than professional sports and an average cost for each of them:

Cost to dig a water well in third world country: $3,000
Cost of after school programs per child per year: $1000
Cost to convert the average home to solar power: $35,000
Cost of a wind turbine for an average home: $14,000
Average American mortgage payment per month: $1,400
Average annual teacher’s salary K-12: $30,000 (if your lucky)
Average annual cost of health insurance per person: $3,000
Average annual cost of prescription drugs for elderly in America: $2,000

The Sports Business Journal estimated last year’s sports industry to be worth $213 billion. This figure was based on total money spent on: advertising, endorsements, sporting equipment used in competition, facility construction, internet ad spending and subscriber fees, sales of licensed goods, media broadcast rights, financial, legal, and marketing services, spectator spending, sponsorships, medical spending, travel costs, multimedia (magazines, books, video games, dvds), gambling, and operating expenses.

That breaks down into:
71,000,000 water wells in third world countries
213,000,000 kids in after school programs
6,085,714 solar powered homes
15,214,285 wind turbines for homes
152,142,857 mortgage payments
7,100,000 teacher’s salaries
71,000,000 people with health insurance
106,500,000 grandmothers with medicine

In 2008, The Giants got white gold Superbowl rings encrusted with diamonds. These rings cost $25,000 each. These rings were given to all 53 players, the coaches, and the owners. That’s over $1,325,000 spent just on rings. This doesn’t include the cost of the gala ring celebration ceremony or the travel expenses of everyone.

That breaks down into:
441 water wells in third world countries
1,325 kids in after school programs
37 solar powered homes
94 wind turbines for homes
946 mortgage payments
44 teacher’s salaries
441 people with health insurance
662 grandmothers with medicine

One-30 second Superbowl ad costs $3,000,000. Now that’s just ONE ad. Three million dollars in exchange for thirty seconds of America’s attention.

That breaks down into:
1,000 water wells in third world countries
3,000 kids in after school programs
85 solar powered homes
214 wind turbines for homes
2,142 mortgage payments
100 teacher’s salaries
1,000 people with health insurance
1,500 grandmothers with medicine

The average price of a 2008 Superbowl ticket was $2,000 between basic cost and online resellers. Over 71,000 people attended the 2008 Superbowl. Total money spent on tickets was $142,000,000.

That breaks down into:
47,333 water wells in third world countries
142,000 kids in after school programs
4,057 solar powered homes
10,142 wind turbines for homes
101,428 mortgage payments
4,733 teacher’s salaries
47,333 people with health insurance
71,000 grandmothers with medicine

As you can see, our priorities are all out of whack. We’d rather watch our world go down the drain than have to do without our mind-numbing, culturally invented, comfort zones. As a society, we have gotten so swept up in our own self-entertainment, we have lost track of what truly matters. When in reality, passing yards and first place doesn’t really matter. Not when great and loving individuals everywhere are hungry, jobless, or living without clean water. This is one of the main reasons why I personally believe humans, as a species, are totally insane.

So the next time you’re buying sports tickets, watching a game, or adding to your collection of jerseys and Nascar collectibles, just stop for a second and think about what really matters in this world. Think about an elderly friend or relative that may need help. Think about the world you want to leave for your grandchildren. Think about how it feels to be poor and helpless when no one seems to care. Then turn off the damn tv and do something about it. Please and Thank You!