Obama's Fumble #5: Pissed-Off Athletes

Is Latrell Sprewell mad because he would now have to play more of a tax on his millions?
-- (C.W. Griffen/MCT)

Personalizing the blog post for a bit, I have to say: out of all the different people to be affected by Obama's tax hike on people making more than $250,000 a year, we haven't heard from the ones with little voice. Ones that make more noise with their sneakers on the hardwood or with their wooden bats against a tightly-wounded ball than with their mouths or their written words. No, I'm not speaking about the blue-collar workers in a small business. I'm talking about the victims: overpaid professional athletes.

The impeding doom of Obama's inauguration has gotten to a point that ESPN had to run an article, detailing the concerns of baseball players' agents over the tax hike. Mind you, this was the same tax hike that was imposed during the Clinton administration.

Despite the fact that the least amount of money a major league baseball player can make is $400,000, even super-agent Scott Boras expressed concern, stating: "There's some consideration to be had with the impact of the election."

To a sports fan like myself, I expect a quality product every time I turn on the television to see a game, whether it's basketball, baseball or the like. If the athletes I'm watching are not happy, how can I expect them to perform at their absolute best?

I mean, just look at Latrell Sprewell. Making over $8 million per year in his NBA career, he still had worries on paying for his life and the people he supports. Famously, after rejecting a 4 year/$32 million deal, he said, "I got a family to feed."

As a college student barely able to afford an education that allows me to type this post and see these money-starved athletes on Sportscenter in a $12,000+ dorm room, thinking about Sprewell's struggle pains me. Even though he said this during a Bush administration, when his taxes went down, it's still something that scars my dreams at night.

President-elect Obama has to deal with a legion of overpaid athletes, upset about having to pay a little extra just so the middle-class (or frankly, people making less than $250,000 a year, including college graduates making entry-level wages) can have more.

I don't know about you, but I can't stand to watch a sub-par performance because of some tax hikes...

(Morry Gash/AP)

... oh wait, I'm a New York Knicks fan. Nevermind.