2009 Getty Images

Michael Phelps with Subway's Jared

02/05/10

No doubt the economy is making life a lot harder for a whole lot of people.

As I have read about extensively the past week, that includes professional swimmers.

First of all, I love the idea of professional swimming. I think it’s well deserved, hard earned and something important as the sport grows, not to mention continuing U.S. prominence at the Olympics and World Championships.

But let’s take away the reactionary vibe and look at things from a realistic point of view: The idea that someone is entitled to a blank check because they reach the top of their field is absurd.

How many nurses are making $1 million a year? How much does the police officer who took three bullets, or the fireman/firewoman who pulled the most people from a burning building, get per year? Does the best elementary teacher get $5 million a year plus a car dealership commercial? Do the better Peace Corp. workers get a million per plus a new SUV, or do they do it because they love it and it’s about something more? How about the compassionate home-care health worker, who helps your grandparents enjoy the last part of their lives? I know the best college professors rarely make even six figures, though they have a pretty good lifestyle – the market determines their salary. Regardless, it is a path they chose, and if they want to break the bank, they need to head across campus and become a college football coach – if they want that lifestyle.

We live in a system of capitalism, where you can chase your dreams. I am just not sure all these arguments – rants – about how the best of this or that is entitled to millions of dollars, makes any sense.

If we want to talk about how Michael Phelps makes millions and only two or three other swimmers even make $1 million each, then talk away. But then you have to hold Phelps accountable – something no one seems to want to get within 10 feet of – for the post-Beijing/picture onslaught. What about a Subway commercial with the relay of making a sandwich, with Garrett Weber-Gale taking the order and cutting the bread, Cullen Jones slamming on the meats and condiments, Phelps baking it toasty warm, and Jason Lezak rushing toward the register as the clock hits 0:00 and the person gets their lunch, and back to work (where they also don’t make $1 million) on time? Couldn’t one of the other sponsors come up with something clever about teamwork to market, and share (if not spread) and extend the Phelps’ phenom to line other pockets? How about an insurance company taking Jason Lezak on to talk about being ready to respond to the challenge later in life – or how about the U.S. Army using him to recruit older, more mature solders for officer training school – around the idea of answering when it’s your time to step up?

These are hypotheticals, but far more realistic approaches to confronting the issue rather than crying about it and claiming life is not fair. For those of you who think the government can fix the economy (remember in the manna-rich years we cry for it to stay away), just remember, the market sets itself, and growth comes from entrepreneurialism, innovation and helping yourself, not entitlements.

Only a half-dozen or so figure skaters, a few gymnasts (but fewer than ever), a good number of skiers/snowboarders, maybe two or three speedskaters, a handful (if even that right now) of track-and-field stars (fewer and fewer of whom are Americans), and the sports that have pro components (hockey, basketball, tennis, golf) go from Olympic glory to greener-paycheck pastures.

The biathlete, the discus and shot put competitors, the wrestlers, squash and racquetball players, the weightlifters, the archers, the field hockey and team handball players, kayakers and most of the rest – never reach a level where training and competing is even a sustainable income. So I think, all things being considered, even though it is not a lucrative time to be a pro swimmer right now, we still have it better than most, and a lot of hard work has gone into getting us even to this level as a sport. Should we take all the USA Swimming membership money, abandon development and giving back to those who pay it, and plunk it all, in large bills, in the pockets of two-dozen or so Olympians? My vote would be no. Promote the heck out of them, and let the market decide their value, and no matter what, we keep working. Keep pissing off corporate America with your letters about how no one should drop Phelps in the post-picture fallout, and see if that helps signing swimmers in the future – and please don’t compare every single scandal to Tiger Woods. Michael made a bad decision, and he will largely recover from it. But anyone who told him that is fine and there should be no repercussions, or changes in behavior, needs to find a new deity to bow before.  When you put a price tag on your image, companies are investing in that. If that endorser chose to fall on the knife of their personal brand, there will be bleeding – no matter how many crayons are worn to the nub writing threatening letters to companies that have other employees to pay.

Swimming can still get you a six-figure college education at one of the best universities in the world. Swimming, as a sport, does not leave the body broken like these football players who get pounded daily and cannot walk straight into their 50s, or post-steroid era baseball players who are heart attacks waiting to happen as their bodies fight back from years of drug abuse. The average career of the major sports athletes is, give or take, around three years. Statistics show that most – a vast majority – never save enough money from those contracts, thinking it will last forever, to even sustain them for the decade after they retire, much less into regular retirement years. Most of these athletes, from my time as a sportswriter and interviewing counselors who advise athletes to invest in themselves, are not prepared for the real world. Swimmers, invariably, have even more success once they are done swimming, whether they go pro or not, once their competitive days are over.

I guess I don’t take a lot of whine with my swimming. I find I see the big picture clearer when I am not crying. I would rather push and pull to get us there, then stomp my feet and throw a fit – because that is just making noise. Everything grows with water, let’s continue using it to make something special.