Message From the WPA North American Representative

[Terry Ardeno]

"No athlete sould be making hundreds of millions of $.
The highest paid people in our country should be the U.S.Navy SEAL's, the U.S. Army Delta Force operators, Rangers and Special Forces, the USMC personnel and every other soildier, sailor or airman who goes overseas, away from family and home and fights in combat."

No, the soldiers should not be the highest paid people in the USA. Then they would be mercenaries. The ideals they fight for are worth far more than money.

The highest paid people should be teachers and only those who have major life experience backed by professional experience should be allowed to teach. Our educational system is dysfunctional and we are bringing up a nation of shallow and apathetic people.

John,
You have a good point about our teachers. But I'm sticking with my view that nobody (atheletes or teachers) should be making more than the combat people in our military. They are away from their family, loved ones and country for long periods, not knowing if they'll ever get home again. Their skill level is tremendous, the training rigors second to none. The danger they are in is second to none.

If they are being paid NOW to serve in the military and they are not considered mercenaries, how does increasing their pay make them mercenaries? At what $ amount do they become "mercenaries"?

If a ball player can make millions of $, and many make hundreds of millions of $, then our warriors should be considered more important than any of them. What price is a home run, touch down or slam dunk worth compared to a man's life and our freedom?

So we don't get this thread bounced to the NPR section, do you know if Chao is still coaching the Chinese players?

 

[Craig Fales]

John,
You have a good point about our teachers. But I'm sticking with my view that nobody (atheletes or teachers) should be making more than the combat people in our military. They are away from their family, loved ones and country for long periods, not knowing if they'll ever get home again. Their skill level is tremendous, the training rigors second to none. The danger they are in is second to none.

If they are being paid NOW to serve in the military and they are not considered mercenaries, how does increasing their pay make them mercenaries? At what $ amount do they become "mercenaries"?

If a ball player can make millions of $, and many make hundreds of millions of $, then our warriors should be considered more important than any of them. What price is a home run, touch down or slam dunk worth compared to a man's life and our freedom?

So we don't get this thread bounced to the NPR section, do you know if Chao is still coaching the Chinese players?

Would you be willing to foot that tax bill??

 

[JB Cases]

John,
You have a good point about our teachers. But I'm sticking with my view that nobody (atheletes or teachers) should be making more than the combat people in our military. They are away from their family, loved ones and country for long periods, not knowing if they'll ever get home again. Their skill level is tremendous, the training rigors second to none. The danger they are in is second to none.

If they are being paid NOW to serve in the military and they are not considered mercenaries, how does increasing their pay make them mercenaries? At what $ amount do they become "mercenaries"?

If a ball player can make millions of $, and many make hundreds of millions of $, then our warriors should be considered more important than any of them. What price is a home run, touch down or slam dunk worth compared to a man's life and our freedom?

So we don't get this thread bounced to the NPR section, do you know if Chao is still coaching the Chinese players?

I don't know if Chao is still coaching them. And even if he is it would be a private thing for select players I think. There are many Taiwanese coaches in China at the moment. I am pretty sure that there is no Chinese "national team" of pool players.

I understand your sentiment about the military folks. It's a discussion better reserved for NPR.

 

[JB Cases]

Would you be willing to foot that tax bill??

We already do. The cost of turning out poorly educated, low wage credit abusing drones is a huge burden on society. Those that are productive pay for those that are not whether it's in the form of official "taxes" or in the form of time wasted.

 

[Scaramouche]

In the USA the majority of the available money in the sport has come from gambling, so you end up with a sport run by gamblers for gamblers as one big gamble. By definition gambling results in occasional big wins interspersed by many small losses. Hence a legacy of exceptionally skilled players without a penny to their name, and a sport with an alphabet soup of failed acronyms that gambled on their own success and inevitably lost.

If pool players only gamble amongst themselves, it is a zero sum game - tough to make a living. Fresh money comes from the gamblers with other source of income.

Perhaps American pool rooms and tournaments should become enormous laundries for ill-gotten gains. That would solve the cash flow problem and add a much needed layer of international organizing and marketing skills, not to mention an arbitration system to make very final decisions, putting an end to all the b*******:grin: :grin: :grin:

 

[Terry Ardeno]

You think what they get paid to go thru is fair???

Would you be willing to foot that tax bill??

Even though I'm a thousandaire instead of a trillionaire, yes, I would be willing to have my taxes tripled so the warriors fighting overseas could be more fairly compensated for what they do to keep all of us here safe. You wouldn't?