I think it is fascinating how athletes feel a bond forever to their college...The Chicago Bulls paid Michael Jordan hundreds of millions of dollars...Yet he has said he is not a big Bulls fan...He spent a couple years at UNC and he said he is a BIG UNC fan for life..and they didn't pay him anything.....and he was there cheering for them last night...Kevin Durant was at UT for a year and he said he will always be a Horn fan...The Thunder have paid him millions of dollars and if he leaves he will not give the Thunder a second thought...Billy Sims was paid millions by the Detriot Lions and he said his heart belongs to OU. It happens all the time that an athlete spends several years at a college playing for free and go off and spend 15 years getting paid millions...yet the college is their love.
The power of college sports
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SoonerBounce13
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This is one of the reasons why paying college athletes will be the death of college sports
MsProudSooner
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I think if's great that the former players feel a connection to their college, no matter how long they played their. With the nature of pro sports, they can't feel that same connection to a team they might be traded from at a moment's notice.
This illustrates one of the reasons that I'm not a fan of any pro sports. I have an emotional investment in the OU teams and the players on those teams. In pro sports, the players are only loyal to their paycheck. I understand that and I don't begrudge them for it but I could never get an emotional connection when my 'favorite' player might be traded or choose to leave my team. I also couldn't get an emotional connection to a team because I know an owner could up and move to another city or state overnight.
Don't get me wrong, I want the Thunder to do well. I'm just not emotionally invested. Now, if by some miracle Blake Griffin and Buddy played for the Thunder, I would be follow them much more closely than I do now.
Smash Williams
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I don't see anything unique or surprising about this. How many people are bigger fans of their employer than their alma mater? Have you ever had a job where you felt that you were underpaid and/or underappreciated? Do you have a stronger emotional connection to that employer than your alma mater, simply because the former paid a salary? Of course not.
Michael Jordan had some of the same issues with the Chicago Bulls that average people often have with their employers. He didn't get along with some of the people in charge--especially Jerry Krause--and he haggled with Reinsdorf over his salary. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that MJ isn't a huge fan of the team still owned by the guy who infamously said that he would regret giving Jordan his last contract in Chicago.
The Bulls didn't pay MJ $100 million, let alone hundreds of millions. He made more from Nike during his playing career. Currently MJ makes close to $100 million per year off of his Nike deal. Aside from money, Nike gave MJ far more power and autonomy than the Bulls ever did. Of course MJ loves UNC more than the Bulls. Does he love UNC more than he loves Nike?
Michael Jordan had some of the same issues with the Chicago Bulls that average people often have with their employers. He didn't get along with some of the people in charge--especially Jerry Krause--and he haggled with Reinsdorf over his salary. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that MJ isn't a huge fan of the team still owned by the guy who infamously said that he would regret giving Jordan his last contract in Chicago.
The Bulls didn't pay MJ $100 million, let alone hundreds of millions. He made more from Nike during his playing career. Currently MJ makes close to $100 million per year off of his Nike deal. Aside from money, Nike gave MJ far more power and autonomy than the Bulls ever did. Of course MJ loves UNC more than the Bulls. Does he love UNC more than he loves Nike?
If you told someone....Team A will NOT pay you money..just room and board...... and they will make you go to class. Plus they will not let you make money doing commercials...
Team B will pay you millions of dollars and let you get millions more doing ads....And no going to class.
Common sense would say Team B would be the athletes love....But it's not the case....I am not a pro sports fan...If the Thunder win..great..but if they lose..I don't care...same way with NFL and MLB....I have a connection with OU that is in my heart...Just like a lot of athletes...A Rod signed with The U of Miami for baseball and football...He never made it on campus and went off to make over 100 million dollars in MLB....He posted a tweet a while back that his true love is The University of Miami....LOL
Team B will pay you millions of dollars and let you get millions more doing ads....And no going to class.
Common sense would say Team B would be the athletes love....But it's not the case....I am not a pro sports fan...If the Thunder win..great..but if they lose..I don't care...same way with NFL and MLB....I have a connection with OU that is in my heart...Just like a lot of athletes...A Rod signed with The U of Miami for baseball and football...He never made it on campus and went off to make over 100 million dollars in MLB....He posted a tweet a while back that his true love is The University of Miami....LOL
I get your point...But one thing is different..our profession after college is not a "team".....
For us non pro athletes college and our jobs are not even close to the same things...
BoulderSooner
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Jordan made 30 mil a year the final 3 years of his career ... so yes well over 100 mil
BigTime
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Most of us don't have jobs where fans are rabid over watching us perform our job.....
Interested thread, OUF.
Smash Williams
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If you grow up in a bad neighborhood, it may hold a place in your heart as an adult, but that doesn't mean you want to go back and live there. Place A has high violent crime rates and widespread poverty; Place B has low crime rates and no poverty. Common sense would say Place A would be the place that athletes love, but it's not the case. Carmelo Anthony has a "WB" tattoo because he loves West Baltimore, but he chooses to live in an upscale neighborhood in LA during the offseason. Kevin Durant always talks about growing up in PG County, but he doesn't live there in the offseason, and even if he were to play in DC, he's not going to live in PG County. LeBron James is a rare exception, but he built moved to the outskirts of Akron, not in the inner city where he grew up.
I'm not saying that going to college is equivalent to living in a bad neighborhood. My point is that love and rational choice are two very different things.
People generally have an affinity for where they grew up and/or where they went to school because they're nostalgic about the places they lived during their formative years. In their minds, those places shaped who they are, and so there's usually an appreciation of those places, more so if they go on to be successful.
Of the guys you mentioned, how many of them have expressed regret about leaving school early or bypassing it altogether?
To you, it's not close to the same thing, but to those professional athletes, it's much closer. You see the end product of athletes' work, not the day-to-day grind and internal politics that also come with their jobs.
Smash Williams
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Even assuming that you're ignoring the two seasons with the Wizards (I'm fine with pretending that never happened), he only made $30+ mil in each of his last two years with the Bulls.
http://www.spotrac.com/nba/washington-wizards/michael-jordan/cash-earnings/
That is another thing.....Most athletes are in their college town for just a couple years...Not like a place they grew up in...
In 1997..The Bulls signed Michael Jordan to a $33.1 million a year contract....It still stands today as the highest per year salary for an NBA player. On the court..Jordan made about 100 million and made even more off the court..Both paid him a lot.
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I love pro sports and always have, always will. Prefer it to college actually. I obviously love OU and the programs, but full disclosure, my emotions are first tied with my pro sports teams.
And there are lots of former pro athletes that retain strong and deep connections to the organizations/fans after they retire. Every year, the Redskins have a "Homecoming" and it's a big deal for the fans and former players. They also do "road rallies" before most road games where former players and the radio team, etc. congregate at local bar and restaurant for a little pep rally of sorts-- I've been to one of those in Denver, Houston, and NYC-- all had great turnouts and a real thrill was getting to meet Gary Clark, a childhood idol of mine. Clark didn't end his career in Washington (he left as a FA and went to Arizona), but his best years were in DC-- he hasn't been on the payroll for 25 years, but he still makes it a point to represent as a former Redskin and the fans love the guy and most of his teammates from that era.
College sports is every bit the business that pro sports is-- most big recruits on the college level are absolutely "job searching" when they choose a school-- looking for what's best for them-- who offers the most. Maybe not cash (and sometimes, it very well might be cash), but whatever it is that motivates them.
A guy like Buddy is simply a good dude. He was a good dude when no one knew him in the Bahamas, he was a good dude when he was under the radar at OU, and he was a good dude when he became a star this year. And he'll be a good dude after he's an NBA millionaire.
Some guys (and gals) stay connected to their school forever for either professional or personal reasons and others fade away-- there are plenty of former OU athletes who never really came around again after their careers ended. For me, it's all the same.
And there are lots of former pro athletes that retain strong and deep connections to the organizations/fans after they retire. Every year, the Redskins have a "Homecoming" and it's a big deal for the fans and former players. They also do "road rallies" before most road games where former players and the radio team, etc. congregate at local bar and restaurant for a little pep rally of sorts-- I've been to one of those in Denver, Houston, and NYC-- all had great turnouts and a real thrill was getting to meet Gary Clark, a childhood idol of mine. Clark didn't end his career in Washington (he left as a FA and went to Arizona), but his best years were in DC-- he hasn't been on the payroll for 25 years, but he still makes it a point to represent as a former Redskin and the fans love the guy and most of his teammates from that era.
College sports is every bit the business that pro sports is-- most big recruits on the college level are absolutely "job searching" when they choose a school-- looking for what's best for them-- who offers the most. Maybe not cash (and sometimes, it very well might be cash), but whatever it is that motivates them.
A guy like Buddy is simply a good dude. He was a good dude when no one knew him in the Bahamas, he was a good dude when he was under the radar at OU, and he was a good dude when he became a star this year. And he'll be a good dude after he's an NBA millionaire.
Some guys (and gals) stay connected to their school forever for either professional or personal reasons and others fade away-- there are plenty of former OU athletes who never really came around again after their careers ended. For me, it's all the same.
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