I am dissatisfied with today’s sports culture, professional athletes, and abundance of sports managers.

These pro athletes are not teachers or nurses and they are not in the armed forces service. These pro athletes play a stupid game of basketball, soccer, or football for 2 or 3 days a week and will make 43 to 40 million dollars. When they say they’re sore or exhausted, or they can’t take the pressure, or for a host of other reasons that affect their performance from game to game, I don’t get it. These folks obviously don’t realize how fortunate and fortunate they are to do something so foolish and earn a million dollars at the same time. Pro athletes often engage in deplorable behavior in sports today, despite efforts by the establishment to elevate them to the status of heroes. Athletes released from prison due to charges of rape, theft, or abusive bullying directed towards women, children, and men. 

In soccer, for instance, I witnessed certain dumb professional athletes, like former Manchester United star Roy Keane, who punch or kick other players while running for the ball or stamp them crazily on their chests with his shoes when they were injured and on the ground. The same thing happened to NBA basketball players like Draymond Green of the Golden State, who would punch opponents or almost finish them with a chokehold on their neck. His demeanor was dark, fueled by rage and a desire for vengeance at all costs. He could not see another human being next to him who might be a family man or the only child of a working family.

Another example would be the combative actions of the former Detroit basketball team, known by the moniker “Bad Boys”. Anyone who attempted to score a basket against them was thrashed and gravely hurt all around the basketball court, but especially in their defense zone. The “Bad Boys” of the Detroit Pistons had no sympathy for anyone. Not even for Michael Jordan or Larry Bird. For them, there was no problem thrashing you to death in exchange for the winning prize. Noble rivalry does not exist anymore and nobody gives a damn about sport safety.   Put another way, the pro athletes’ motivations are usually good and selfless, hence they don’t give a shit about competition in its idealized form.

Things are also changing in college basketball because student-athletes will soon be attending universities with contracts and salaries.  Since the majority of collegiate basketball players are unable to attend classes at the university level, they need ongoing tutoring to help them pass their classes at a very basic level. After a few years, most of them drop out of college and join the NBA because of the easy and faster access to money.

Today, at the Barcelona Football Club, Lamine Yamal, a 16-year-old footballer, makes €35,000 a week. Sergi Roberto makes €104,000 per week. Joao Cancelo makes €260,000 a week. Lewandowski makes €540,000 a week, while Frenkie de Jong makes €780,000 a week.

Theoretically, I don’t believe that any of the athletes’ jobs is more challenging than an eight-hour workday at a factory, bakery, or construction site. A builder’s task is more challenging than an athlete’s. Every work is challenging; thus it is unreasonable and against the law in a society where the majority of people struggle to make a living while pro athletes are paid enormous incomes while engaging in obscene social behaviors.

I am therefore tired of today’s mindset and business in sports, and the culture around sports in general.

Like in ancient Rome, governments used sports to manipulate the populace. Sports today resemble a contemporary version of the Roman circus. There aren’t any occupations paying $2 million or $6 million annually. I find it unbelievable that these athletes in America, Europe, and other countries receive such enormous compensation. And why is that?

The question has its answer in the fact that athletics have become a Roman circus. When individuals have questions or disagree with the policies the emperor has instituted, how does he handle their uneasy behavior?

To put it simply, he builds a gigantic coliseum, sends them to the circus, and starts tossing Christians to the lions.  He plans extravagant horse races, football contests, and basketball games that are pointless in the grand scheme of things. To prevent them from having the time to discover the truth and from developing the intelligence to recognize when they are being manipulated. Therefore, there isn’t a job paying $2 million or $30 million a year. For all that money, they turn sports into laundry machines. Of course, the money they make is probably just 1% of what professional athletes make, but amateur athletes still support the same causes. Some claim that the reason they give them so much money is because their career only lasts for 15 years.   

And what about the role of drugs/steroids in sports?

Why is it that professional world and Olympic athletes feel the need to use drugs/steroids to compete for a world title or an Olympic medal? On one hand, Ben Johnson, Kostas Kenteris, Marion Jones, Diego Maradona, Lans Armstrong, Asafa Powell, Russian athletes, and others were among those who did take drugs/steroids and they were punished. But punishment should be punishment. It should be forbidden for these athletes to participate in sports again. They should be removed permanently from competition.

On the other hand, the system with the help of the media wants us to believe that athletes such as Florence Griffith Joyner, American basketball teams, most Tour de France teams, and many more do not take steroids. Is this possible? For instance, how is it possible for a sprinter, male or female, to lead the other elite sprinters by 5 to 7 meters while he or she was 3 to 5 meters behind? How is it feasible for basketball players to train and play hard for ten months of the year and then compete in the Olympics as though they never had a demanding, exhausting season?

Lastly, I fail to see why athletes from professional sports, including basketball, compete in the Olympic games. Are the players on the American basketball team tested for steroids and drugs? Or is this a component of the agreement made between the Olympic Committee and previous Commissioner David Stern to allow the American Dream Teams to compete in the Olympics?

And what is the involvement of the big sports companies in the selection of the Olympic athletes? Though I’m not interested in politics, let’s be honest: The basketball player Kyrie Irving was let go by Nike. Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics has criticized Nike and stood up for Kyrie Irving after the company dropped him. What justification is there, then, for Kyrie Irving or Jaylen Brown not being selected for Team USA? Particularly following Jaylen Brown’s victory as the MVP of the 2024 NBA Finals? That clearly demonstrates Nike’s intervention and meddling in the choices.

Further, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, Neymar Junior, and Christiano Ronaldo continuously are surrounded and followed by strong and bulky bodyguards to protect them. Do they enjoy their life these superstars? Personally, I don’t care. However, what type of raw models are to youth? Are they capable of protecting themselves or their family, and what messages do they send to the suffering society that is bombarded routinely by unemployment, crime, and economic terrorism?

In the last Euro 2024 (Euro soccer champion) there were several surprises with a statistic released about how many national teams have “naturalized” players, i.e. athletes who play for the national team of a country other than the one they were born or come from. Albania had the most “naturalized” players. In particular, it had 18 players, most of whom were born either in Greece, Switzerland, or Kosovo. The total number of “naturalized” players was about 80, and only the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Austria do not have a player born elsewhere. Same thing we experienced with the Olympics and Joel Embiid who was born and raised in Cameroon but played for the US basketball team. What can I say? My response to them is a big bravo to Nikola Jokic of Serbia, Manu Ginobili of Argentina, Luca Doncic of Slovenia, and Tony Parker of France who preferred to play for their country and get whatever winning prize through the difficult road instead of being part of some dream team of the USA.