Letter to Senator Jim Talent

[Abel]

Here is the letter, I just edited out my address and name. Remember, this is a rough draft, after making revisions of another draft. But the version on the school's computer has all of the article names and stuff where I cite my sources. In this project, though, we can't really put our own information, just information we found.


(Edited)
(Edited)
Ashland, MO, 65010

The Honorable Senator Jim Talent
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

February 07, 2005

Dear Senator Talent:

The government should regulate the salaries of professional sports players. The wages of these players are outrageous. According to an article I read, "Mike Tyson earned $280,898 every second in his 1995 fight against Peter McNeely; the fight last one minute and twenty-nine seconds" That equals $24,999,922 from only one fight. As a Missouri citizen, I am very concerned about the salaries sports players are making. As my senator, I am asking you to sponsor the legislation to regulate the salaries of professional sports players.

Sports are always fun to watch, but when a person's favorite team does bad because they can't affor to fill their roster, it concers the fans. "In football, about 15,000 players are eligible to play in the NFL, but only 336 are drafted and 160 makeit to the final roster." According information in other articles, "Only about 40 NBA players are added to the rosters a year." For some reason, though, I don't believe that's the only reason players can't be signed to teams with less money. That's probably after reading another article entitled "Show me the Money" that says, "Sports players refuse contracts and demand the big bucks."

The ratio of education to earnins is disproportionate to everyone else in the United States when it comes to sports. "Allend Iverson was in jail, and when he got out, he hit the big time..." After hearing that, anybody should be able to see a flaw in sports. If Allen Iverson was a convict and applied to work at any other buisness, he would most likely be turned down. "In 2003-04 Shaq make $25 million more than the next president over a four-year term." If that doesn't concern anybody, then maybe if they knew "In 1996, there were twenty times more black lawyers and black physicians than in sports, but sports players, whose careers last on average less than five years, make more earnings."

If player's wages were decreased it would dramatically decrease the cost of broadcasting national sports games. This would increase the hours of sports played on nation broadcasting stations. Just airing one game can cost a lot, like"...in 1994, to air the Super Bowl, NBC paid $40 million..." Blame can't be put on the broadcasting stations exactly, because in"...1996, Congress passed the Sports Broadcasting Act..." If there wasn't a law to broadcast sports, then sports wouldn't be as popular as they are now. There's a lot of money being spent on sports, according to "Economic Values of Professional SPort Franchise in the United States" "...1998, rights to televise the NFL games were sold for eight years for $17.6 billion."

The government should regulate the salaries in professional sports. According to "Show Me the Money" "...Emmitt Smith earns $45,000 for every touchdown he makes..." This is why I urge you to sponsor legislation to regulate the salaries of professional sports players.

Sincerely,

Evan (Edited)

Any thoughts? Edits? etc..