Imagine

In 1971, John Lennon wrote “Imagine,” a song that Rolling Stone once called the 3^rd greatest song of all time, a song we all have heard hundreds, if not thousands, of times.  Now I did not know Jack Kennedy and I certainly am no John Lennon.  But if Lennon suggested a Louis Armstrong-like wonderful world of peace, can’t I suggest a wonderful world of national values and national priorities?

Imagine no National Football League, no National Basketball Association, and no Major League Baseball.  Paraphrasing Barack Hussein Obama, a man who never could “imagine” saying anything against professional basketball, we might tell professional athletes with presidential-sized egos:

Look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own.  You didn’t get there on your own. 

I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so skillful.  There are a lot of skillful people out there.  It must be because I worked harder than everybody else.  Let me tell you something — there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. 

If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help.  There was a great coach somewhere in your life.  Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. 

Scientists discovered laws of physics that determine the relationships between the ball’s mass and weight and the speed required to throw it accurately; mathematicians calculated the arc through which balls must travel, and physicians not only helped bring you into this world, they also put you back together after every injury.

If you’ve got an athletic career — you didn’t build that.  Somebody else made that happen.

Inspired by our silver-tongued president, I found the careerbuilder.com web-site where on July 21, 2010, Danny Goldin provided the following stats: 

NFL

The National Football League is the biggest money maker in American professional sports right now, as its 32 teams earned a combined $7.6 billion in revenue last season. The average team is worth $1 billion, with the Dallas Cowboys ranking No. 1 at $1.65 billion in net worth.

League minimum salary: The league minimum in 2009 was $310,000. That figure will rise to $325,000 in 2010.

Highest-paid player: San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers earned the highest total salary in 2009 at $25.56 million, though $19.5 million of that came via a signing bonus. If you exclude signing bonuses, the Carolina Panthers' Julius Peppers (now with the Chicago Bears) had the highest annual salary in 2009 at $16.68 million.

NBA

The final numbers have not been released for the 2009-10 season that just concluded, but the National Basketball Association made $3.8 billion in revenue the season before. The Los AngelesLakers are the most valuable team, worth $607 million, and the average team is worth $367 million.

League minimum salary: The league minimum for the 2009-10 season was $457,588 for rookies.

Highest-paid player: Tracy McGrady earned the most money over the 2009-10 season at $23.24 million.

MLB

Major League Baseball wasn't too far behind the NFL in revenue last season, just $1.7 billion below at $5.9 billion. What's $1.7 billion here and there, anyway? Well, it is just slightly more than what the New York Yankees, the most valuable team, are worth at $1.6 billion. The average team is worth $491 million.

League minimum salary: The league minimum for this season is $400,000.

Highest-paid player: Alex Rodriguez will earn the most money this season at $33 million, though the annual salary over his 10-year contract is $27.5 million. Three of the next five highest-paid players are also Yankees (C.C. Sabathia, Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira), along with the Phillies' Ryan Howard and the Twins' Joe Mauer.

Now, if Barack truly loves America and truly wants to build a better world for “all folks,” I think he should write an executive order that transposes the salaries of professional athletes with the salaries of scientists, mathematicians, and physicians.  Obama could appoint a federal czar to build a government bureaucracy to ensure that the order is enforced. 

In addition to giving the scientists, mathematicians, and physicians the salaries of professional athletes, the Salary Transfer Department (STD [pun intended]) would  require all federal, state, and local governments and all private businesses to use and compensate scientists, mathematicians, and physicians in all marketing that heretofore had used professional athletes.

If my fantasy were to become a reality, I imagine that I’d “think to myself: What a Wonderful World !”