Celebrities, Sports and Money
As the excitement of Super Bowl XXXIII fades, and the February sweeps begin, some interesting parallels between sports and entertainment come to mind. These comparisons are further fueled by the NBA's return to action and the plethora of award shows on the horizon.
Athletes and entertainers like to compare themselves to each other, when such correlations make them look good. This often happens when the subject of outrageous salaries comes up.
Sports stars claim no one says anything about the huge sums of money thrown at folks like Jim Carrey and Helen Hunt, which isn't exactly true. TV and film stars also inaccurately claim the opposite. If anyone has a case, and it is a weak one, it would be TV and film stars. If Jim Carrey makes a bad movie, he's on shaky ground. Two bad movies and his price drops considerably.
New Los Angeles Dodger Kevin Brown is set for the next seven years. It's as if someone went to comedian Sinbad, for example, and said, "Here, make seven bad pilots for shows we'll have to cancel midway through the season. Knock yourself out. And here's tons of money. Thank you!"
On the athletes' side, however, is the question of talent. Yes, the world is full of highly paid, under-performing players. To be a professional athlete, though, you need at least a modicum of talent. Not always so in Hollywood.
And what do these people do with their money? Ever pick up People and see one of those "Where Are They Now?" articles? You think, "Wow, how do you adjust from being in show biz/a sports star to being 'regular people?' " Most of the formerly famous are actually pretty well-centered. Probably because they had the sense to invest their earnings wisely. How can Duran Duran make crap album after crap album? They reinvested in the band and in real estate in good times.
Which brings us to nepotism. In the areas of coaching and management, nepotism can be found. Could Mike Brown ever have been hired as a GM if his pop wasn't PB? On the other hand, did Ken Griffey Jr. become a home-run threat simply because his father was Ken Griffey Sr.? Of course not.
It's easy to write off a lot of the Hollywood talent pool by genetic association. Aaron Spelling's kids stay employed. Tori claims no one knew she was the boss' daughter when she auditioned for 90210. "Gee, you know we work for a Mr. Spelling. Do you suppose this actress ...? Nah!"
With so much of this, it's hard to remember the exceptions. Bridget (daughter of Peter) Fonda. Jamie Lee Curtis. Jennifer Jason Leigh. Even Chris Elliott (no, really). These performers support the notion that perhaps it is in the genes.
Maybe you can inherit talent. The question in both sports and entertainment, then, is the assertion that these individuals get paid to "play a kid's game" or "play pretend." A gross oversimplification to be sure.
Only one person could do the things Michael Jordan did, the way he did and as often as he did. People enjoyed watching that. So that demands top dollar. Not many comedians are as funny as Jerry Seinfeld. Does this earn the King of Nothing a garage stuffed with cars? Well, yes.
If you've made it this far, you've probably noticed that anyone can write a column. A slight exaggeration. Magazines include a lot of awful writing. You can find good writing, too, and these writers naturally work for your larger magazines.
If you do something relatively well, unless a lot of people are willing to pay for it -- or a few are willing to pay a lot -- your return won't be that great.
If we charged $50 for a copy of CityBeat, then guys like myself, Breen and Ramos would be lighting cigars with pictures of Ben Franklin and saying, "Well, no one complains when the Reds bring Greg Vaughn to town and pay him a lot of money!" So Mr. Publisher -- what do you think about the new pricing scheme?
