| A large part of it is the money IMO.
Pro athletes make such insane salaries, which often causes excessive behaviour, especially since so many pros originally come from pretty poor economic backgrounds. All of a sudden, they have a bajillion dollars, they go crazy, and more importantly, they develop the egos to go with the cash. They think they're above the law, and in many cases the justice system seems to agree. Either that or they just buy away all their legal troubles.
It's a pipe dream, but I'd love to see what would happen if all the pro leagues went to a tiered salary system. All A-level players get 3 million a year, all B-level get 2, etc.. no exceptions. Set criteria for the different tiers in each sport, by position/role/whatever...
I know it's a simplistic view of a complicated system, but it just bugs me when you see PlayerX get $10M a year, then complain when PlayerY gets $10.1M because he had one more goal or homer or TD. |