tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post4053047420048752229..comments2024-03-28T07:19:18.670-07:00Comments on the joy of sox: Don't Let Us Win Tonight: Thanksgiving Outtakeallanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04673233312198832937noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-60150009535985146702014-11-28T07:37:43.961-08:002014-11-28T07:37:43.961-08:00Also: great excerpt!Also: great excerpt!laura khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524593142290489958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-31583341350914011232014-11-28T07:37:30.664-08:002014-11-28T07:37:30.664-08:00How is that 10 or 15 % bump going to make any diff...<i>How is that 10 or 15 % bump going to make any difference in the life you live, the people you love, the charities you support, the retirement you enjoy?<br /><br />Is it bragging rights, ego, the narcissism of small differences, top-dogism, dick comparisons?</i><br /><br />I've wondered this, too. And I come from the same perspective re player salaries that John articulates so well here.<br /><br />I think it must be some sort of one-upmanship. It can't really be about money at that point. laura khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524593142290489958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-84782447121039942082014-11-28T05:35:14.921-08:002014-11-28T05:35:14.921-08:00I am not the guy who whines about how baseball pla...I am not the guy who whines about how baseball players are overpaid--'Millions of dollars for playing a kids' game wah wah wah blah blah blah.'<br /><br />They're entertainers, their working lives are short and risky, and they deserve what the market can bear, even if that means seats at the ballpark are out of the reach of many fans. That's capitalism, and that's life.<br /><br />But what I don't understand and what this outtake underlines for me again is the point of chasing marginal dollars. Maybe my perspective is completely wrong since any eight or nine- figure number is outside my grasp except in the most abstract sense, but what in heaven's name difference can there be between earning, say, 120,000,000 and earning north of 135,000,000?<br /><br />How is that 10 or 15 % bump going to make any difference in the life you live, the people you love, the charities you support, the retirement you enjoy?<br /><br />Is it bragging rights, ego, the narcissism of small differences, top-dogism, dick comparisons?<br /><br />Wouldn't it make more sense, rather than chasing meaningless and marginal dollars, to work in a place you like, with people you like and who respect you in ways money can not denote, and with intrinsic rewards you can't get in some other place? <br /><br />What I read in Schilling's outtake is that all those things I just mentioned would have been nice, but money would always be the deal maker and breaker. And, as I say, to me after a point of "wealth beyond the dreams of avarice," worrying about money seems fairly meaningless.<br /><br />Of course, to be perfectly nasty about it, since his retirement Schilling's won-loss record with his millions has not been stellar, so maybe his need for a few million more was his prescience about his own inability to hold onto his fortune.johngoldfinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09322562737172405323noreply@blogger.com