Forbes released their latest numbers of THE "20" highest paid athletes in the world for 2009. 5, were of course RACERS, 5 were NBA players. The next closest group were 3 golfers and then the next groups representing 2 from each game were Boxing, Baseball and Soccer ( The worlds most popular game ) and finally 1 from Tennis. In order to make this list the minimum was $30 MILLION. NONE were from the NFL.
Kimi Raikkonen (Photo Courtesy Image Net)
The biggest thing which the list included was endorsements. To me endorsements should NOT count. Tiger Woods according to the Forbes list is the highest paid athlete on the planet. That should be changed to THE HIGHEST ENDORSED. According to the Forbes article Tiger only EARNED due to his knee injury $5 Million as compared to $25 Million the previous year. The rest of his $110,000,000 is again, ENDORSEMENTS. My Point? Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen according to Forbes has a salary of $41,000,000. That is BASE salary but according to Wikipedia Raikkonen's contract to expire in 2009 is worth $51,000,000 annually. Alex Rodrigues the highest baseball player on the planet earns a paltry $27.5 in comparison BUT A-Rod's risk factor is Far, FAR LESS. Boxers have large PURSES yes but by the time everyone gets their cut from the manager who gets 50%, trainers, nutritionist, cut man, corner men, etc., etc., etc., the $20 Million dollar pay day for the man taking all of the punishment will be lucky to see 25% of that in the end.
Kobe Bryant is tied with Jordan who is NOT even an athlete any more. Tied for number 2 in this group is Formula 1 driver Kimi Raikkonnen. All 3 at $45 Million. But hey, Kobe's base salary is $21 Million. In this listing all 3 according to Forbes is tied but they put Raikkonnen number 4. What's up with that? Risk factor involved Kimi should be ranked above them ALL no matter what.
The HIGHEST PAID Athlete in the History of the WORLD is F1 driver Michael Schumacher. Upon his early retirement in 2007 his net worth was estimated to be a staggering $800 Million dollars. That's right $800 MILLION. If he had continued racing he would have amassed more than $1 Billion, that's right BILLION with a "B". In 2007 Schumacher was getting paid $26 Million to stay retired by Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton (Photo Courtesy Image Net)
By the way F1 teams spend more money than any other sport in the world. Poverty level teams spend an estimated $66 Million dollars a year on a SINGLE CAR where as top teams like Ferrari and Brawn GP on their multi car teams spend upwards of $500 Million, that's right a Half BILLION Dollars for a couple of cars. $125–$250 million per year per manufacturer on engines alone. F1 Chief Bernie Eckelstone has a net worth of $2.42 BILLION dollars and every member of the France family that controls NASCAR has a net worth of over $1 BILLION dollars EACH.
Jeff Gordon (Photo Courtesy Image Net)
Another FACT, 19 of the highest spectated events in the United States is a racing event. NASCAR is king, not the NFL. With even the smallest NASCAR track having more spectators than the largest NFL stadium during their Super Bowl. FACT: The largest single day spectated event in THE WORLD is the Indy 500. Nearly 400,000 PAYING SPECTATORs in one place at one time. Yankee Stadium = 53,000.
Even in the great state of Texas where Football is king the Texas Motor Speedway hosts the "TOP 3" largest crowds for sporting events in the Lone Star state. It ain't Da Cowboys or the Longhorns. And unlike the new Cowboy stadium where the majority of funds came from tax payer supported bonds NOT from team owner Jerry Jones' own pocket. The Texas Motor Speedway was built ENTIRELY with one mans money. Bruton Smith of publicly traded ISC (International Speedway Corporation). Seating capacity for the new Cowboy stadium? 80,000 expandable to 100,000. Texas Motor Speedway? 200,000 plus.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Photo Courtesy LVMS)
And for you here in Hawaii who love Vegas. With all of the lavish hotels and building projects in Sin City the Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the "SECOND LARGEST" construction project in the HISTORY of Nevada. The Vegas Speedway is only second to guess what project? HOOVER DAM, it ain't no lavish hotel on the strip. 1500 acres of racing fun.
So many times in the world of motorsports, these REAL athletes continue when they have broken bones, concussions, bruised hearts, and on and on. I remember when Sammy Sosa was put on the Disabled List due to injuring his back. From "SNEEZING" when he awoke one morning. Are YOU KIDDING ME ! ! ! That is what Cortisone shots are for. Take the meds and get back to your J-O-B. That is what you get paid to do. Not cry and whine every time you get a little Boo, Boo.
Indy car driver Buddy Lazier BROKE HIS BACK in "4" PLACES in a crash in 1996. He decided to hop back into the Indy Car despite this injury a few weeks later. His doctors advised him that if he even got into a MINOR incident (crash) he could at the Very LEAST be PARALYZED for LIFE. In a post race interview after WINNING the 1996 Indy 500 WITH the broken "BACK" said," I am a RACECAR driver, this is what I do."
The sacrifices, trials and tribulations just to become a professional in the racing arena takes more than anything else and one hundred times more just to stay in the sport much less to become a champion in motorsports.
Hand Cuffs
And week after week after week, I am Sick -n- TIRED of Stick -N- Ball players that kill people in DUIs, get busted with illegal recreational and pharmaceutical Drugs or use illegal Steroids, beat up their wives or girlfriends, get federally indicted for illegal dog fighting, taking GUNs into night clubs and then shoot themselves, regularly make derogatory, racist, or some other condescending remarks at press conferences or public appearance, College COACHES getting caught and admitting to sex scandals and on and On And ON. And they still get rewarded for their BAD Behavior ! ! ! Bad BEHAVIOR so rampant from the amateurs to the pros. I even witnessed once at the Pro Bowl a player REFUSED an autograph to a little boy who could not have been more than 5 years old. The ball player said, quote," No KID, "MY" AUTOGRAPH is TO VALUABLE." TO VALUABLE to WHOM ! ? ! ? ! Are YOU KIDDING ME ? ? ? What kind of ambassador for their game is that? No positive Role Model needed there.
These HORRIBLE types of behavior are things PRO Racers would NEVER commit. Terrible Behavior and ATTITUDES they CAN NOT Commit. These racer athletes contracts are tied to their sponsors. A whole team can disappear in an instant and hundreds unemployed if any one of those things I just described as examples of BAD BEHAVIOR that is tolerated in the Stick -N- Ball world were ever exhibited by a PRO racer.
One incident where NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield tested positive for meth earlier this year. His team in a matter of a few months is GONE . . . bye-bye, adios, sayonara. The next job he will ever get after will be asking if you want fries with your order. Racing does NOT tolerate Any BAD behavior, PERIOD.
In at Number 9, Dr. Valentino Rossi, $35 Million. (Photo Courtesy Image Net)
But Racers are not REAL Athletes? Says the stick -n- person. Really? Eye and hand coordination in scientific tests have shown a racers reflexes are second to none. And in an international competition called "Superstars" it was a RACE Car driver Jody Schekter who beat out other world class players. Schekter thoroughly beat the likes of world record sprinter Renaldo Nehemiah who also played in the NFL, world record sprinter Edwin Moses, several top Rugby players from Great Britain and an NFL Player that was called "All World" by Howard Cosell who won a Super Bowl, multiple Pro Bowl appearances and is arguably the best football player to have ties to Hawaii, Russ Francis. These perceived "Top Athletes" got "ALL" of their collective butts handed to them by . . . a Race Car Driver. And one Helio Castroneves, Indy car racer even became a best dancer.
There are no "TIME OUTS" or CHANGE OF POSSESSION in racing. Only grueling 120 degree + temperatures in the cockpit. Temperatures higher than those that have killed others from heat exhaustion. Add to that wearing a heavy fire suit, helmet and gloves for HOURS on end and G forces that only a fighter pilot in an air combat situation will experience. Racers have the endurance of a marathoner, strength of a decathlete, reflexes of . . . well, reflexes only a racer can posses. Add to that a highly intellectual individual for deductive reasoning and they do it all at speeds that cover the length of a football field in One Second or quicker.
Coach Joe Gibbs who has won 5 NFC Championships, 3 Super Bowls and is inducted into the Hall of Fame said his NASCAR teams championships are WAY Harder to win than his football ones were.
2007 "Bad Day at the Office" Pic 3 months after crash of 14 Time Funny Car World Champion John Force (Photo Courtesy NHRA)
Like I always say, "If Tiger has a Bad Day, Tiger still gets to go home." A fighter pilot and even the space shuttle astronauts have an emergency escape mechanism to save themselves if something even remotely seems to be going wrong. In a race car or on a motorcycle, Forget About It (In a New Yorker accent). During a CRASH You are on for the ride all the way to the hospital or to the morgue when all the screeching, huli maka flips, crushing of metal and sliding finally comes to a halt.
One of Hawaii's GREATEST athlete, big wave surfer Mark Foo summed it up like this. He said, "In order to Experience the ULTIMATE Thrill, YOU have to be WILLING to Pay the Ultimate PRICE." Keeping that in mind Ernest Hemingway said it best, "There are ONLY 2 real sports in the world, Bull Fighting and Auto Racing." Thus the name "Motor-Sports". NOT Foot-Sport or Base-Sport. Even pro stick and ball players in interviews refer to their craft as a "GAME".
That is why on TV shows like Pros vs Joes you will never see a REAL WORLD race related challenge. If a Pro racer did a lap where a computer stored their lap information and time as well as braking, apexing, accelerating off a corner, controlling the tight or lose condition, counter steering while sliding straight for the wall while the front end is in the air and then the pro stick -n- ball player had to actually drive it according to what the pro racer just did? The outcome will be FATAL for the one who plays with balls, I guarantee it.
So here's to the Real Athletes who really are "The Highest Paid" who compete in the "DEADLIEST Motor-Sports" in the WORLD and they Don't Hit a Ball with a Stick or try to catch one either. Switch Bennett summed it up best in his song dedicated to the NHRA,"Go Hard or GO HOME" ! ! ! : )
We will have more webisodes on http://punishum.com again next month. So until next time, Keep it OFF the Street and on a Track and "Speed Safely".
PunishUM on Facebook We are now on Facebook. Log on to http://facebook.com/punishum and become a member and get even more information on Hawaii Motorsports.
PunishUM on the Radio PunishUM's Tracy Arakaki will be on the George Nitta's radio show once a month. Every second Saturday starting this August 8, 2009. We will keep you updated with all the local happenings with racing and other tid bits. AM 690 from 1 pm to 2 pm. You can call in live or if you can't get to a radio log onto George's site at www.georgenitta.com
SPJ Hawaii Having been in the news gig since 2001 and now still in it on the rare occasion I am proud and grateful to have worked with so many great people in the biz over the years.
The author and Mari-Ela David
KHNL / KFVE Mari-Ela David and I received the Society of Professional Journalists Hawaii Chapter 2008 Excellence in Journalism Award. We received the award on June 26, 2009 in the General News / Enterprise Reporting category for our story we did on the "Mapunapuna Flooding."
