Spring Training Blues
* As one of the biggest sports leagues in America, with TV viewers reaching into the million, Major League Baseball (MLB) can afford to pay players handsomely.
* The average salary for a player in MLB stood at $4.98 million dollars in 2024, with a minimum salary of $740,000.
* In addition to their salary, players receive performance incentives. It is a sweet deal if you can get it!
* To be a professional athlete you must be in superb physical and mental condition for the sport of choice.
* In the past a 9 to 5 job meant that you were ready to work at 9! Applying that concept to professional sports; MLB’s Spring Training would be a period of time focused on tuning-up superb physical condition to handle the specific requirements of the game! Unfortunately, that has not been the case!
* Every Spring Training starts with a period of basic exercises that result in a number of arm, leg, wrist, elbow, knee, shoulder, neck, hip, back, etc., injuries that result in time spent on an Injured List that requires rest and/or medical attention; an indication of less than superb physical condition that disrupts the team’s dynamics. Players on the Injured List still get paid!
* Some players maintain a superb physical condition during the off-season so that they are ready to tune-up for game conditions at the start of Spring Training!
* With the salaries being paid, it is not unreasonable for owners to expect players to start Spring Training ready to tune-up for game conditions!
NO COMMON SENSE
ANALYZE THE EXAMPLE
* Which supports and barriers were in play?
* What were the dynamics?
* Who, or what, won the Tug-of-War?
* Discuss the outcome with your friends and family.
* Use Post #4 as a reference for the dynamics and relationships between supports and barriers.
