WHY?

We seem to have a fixation on playing games that involve balls:

Basketball--putting a ball in a round hole with netting hanging from it.
 



Baseball--throwing and hitting a ball as fast and as far as possible. Some people even take drugs to do it better.

 
Golf--bashing a tiny ball with metal sticks trying to force it into a itsy-bitsy hole in the ground.


Soccer--kicking a ball into a rectangular goal with eleven other people trying to stop you.

Bowling--rolling a ball down a hardwood alley trying to knock over wooden pins.


Football-oblong ball but still a ball.


 
Tennis-bashing a ball back and forth over a net. 



What is the common factor in all these activities?

Those who play them well get paid an obscene amount of money.

BASKETBALL

#1. LeBron James

  Total earnings : $53 million

Salary/winnings: $13 million
Endorsements: $40 million ( Nike, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, State Farm and others)

#2. Kobe Bryant

 Total earnings: $52.3 million

Salary/winnings: $20.3 million
Endorsements: $32 million

#3. Dwight Howard

  Total earnings: $25.6 million

Salary/winnings: $14.6 million
Endorsements: $11 million

#4. Kevin Durant

  Total earnings: $25.5 million

Salary/winnings: $12.5 million
Endorsements: $13 million

#5. Dwyane Wade

  Total earnings: $24.7 million

Salary/winnings: $12.7 million
Endorsements: $12 million

#6. Carmelo Anthony

Total earnings: $22.9 million
Salary/winnings: $14.9 million
Endorsements: $8 million

#7. Amar’e Stoudemire

  Total earnings: $22.7 million

Salary/winnings: $14.7 million
Endorsements: $8 million

#8. Kevin Garnett

  Total earnings: $21.1 million

Salary/winnings: $17.1 million
Endorsements: $4 million

#9. Chris Paul

  Total earnings: $19.2 million

Salary/winnings: $13.2 million
Endorsements: $6 million

#10. Tim Duncan

  Total earnings: $19.1 million

Salary/winnings: $17.1 million
Endorsements: $2 million



BASEBALL

  

Alex Rodriguez	3B	New York Yankees	$30,000,000
Vernon Wells	OF	New York Yankees	$24,642,857
Johan Santana	SP	New York Mets	$23,145,011
Mark Teixeira	1B	New York Yankees	$23,125,000
CC Sabathia	SP	New York Yankees	$23,000,000
Joe Mauer	C	Minnesota Twins	$23,000,000
Prince Fielder	1B	Detroit Tigers	$23,000,000
Adrian Gonzalez	1B	Los Angeles Dodgers	$21,857,142
Cliff Lee	SP	Philadelphia Phillies	$21,500,000
Miguel Cabrera	3B	Detroit Tigers	$21,000,000

GOLF
1. Tiger Woods ON COURSE: $2,067,059 | OFF COURSE: $62,000,000 TOTAL: $64,067,059 2. Phil Mickelson    ON COURSE: $3,991,564 | OFF COURSE: $38,000,000 TOTAL: $41,991,564 3. Arnold Palmer ON COURSE: $0 | OFF COURSE: $36,000,000

| TOTAL: $36,000,000 4. Jack Nicklaus   ON COURSE: $155,000 | OFF COURSE: $28,800,000 | TOTAL: $28,955,000 5. Greg Norman   ON COURSE: $75,118 | OFF COURSE: $22,750,000 | TOTAL: $22,825,118 6. Luke Donald   ON COURSE: $13,183,497 | OFF COURSE: $8,500,000 | TOTAL: $21,683,497 7. Ernie Els ON COURSE: $1,409,442 | OFF COURSE: $17,000,000 | TOTAL: $18,409,442 8. Gary Player   ON COURSE: $14,486 | OFF COURSE: $16,000,000 | TOTAL: $16,014,486 9. Sergio Garcia   ON COURSE: $3,601,441 | OFF COURSE: $12,250,000 | TOTAL: $15,851,441 10. Bill Haas   ON COURSE: $14,354,785 | OFF COURSE: $1,000,000 TOTAL: $15,354,785 11. Rory McIlroy   ON COURSE: $8,174,832 | OFF COURSE: $5,900,000 TOTAL: $14,074,832
SOCCER

1. David Beckham - US$50.6 million (£32.5m) 2. Cristiano Ronaldo - US$43.5 million (£27.9m) 3. Lionel Messi - US$40.3 million  (£25.9m) 4. Sergio Aguero - US$20.8 million  (£13.4m) 5. Wayne Rooney - US$20.3 million  (£13m) 6. Yaya Toure – US$20.2 million  (£12.9m) 7. Fernando Torres – US$20.2 million (£12.9m)  8. Neymar - US$19.5  million (£12.5m)  9. Kaka - US$19.3 million  (£12.4m) 10. Didier Drogba - US$17.8 million  (£11.4m)
BOWLING

A professional bowler might make $175,000-$225,000.

2011-2012 Top 20 PBA Tour Money Winners

	Money Earned (USD)
Sean Rash	$140,250
Jason Belmonte	$137,375
Mike Fagan	$116,950
Pete Weber	$97,820

FOOTBALL

#1 Drew Brees

Total Earnings: $49.4 million
On Field: $44.4 million, Off Field: $5 million

#2 Peyton Manning

Total Earnings: $42.4 million
On Field: $32.4 million, Off Field: $10 million

#3 Haloti Ngata

Total Earnings: $37.3 million
On Field: $37.1 million, Off Field: $200,000

#4 Larry Fitzgerald

Total Earnings: $36.8 million
On Field: $35.3 million, Off Field: $1.5 million

#5 Ndamukong Suh

Total Earnings: $36 million
On Field: $35.5 million, Off Field: $500,000

#6 Charles Johnson

Total Earnings: $34.4 million
On Field: $34.3 million, Off Field: $100,000

#7 Mario Williams

Total Earnings: $33.2 million
On Field: $32.9 million, Off Field: $250,000
  
#8 Darrelle Revis

Total Earnings: $28.3 million
On Field: $27 million, Off Field: $1.3 million

#9 Sam Bradford

Total Earnings: $27.8 million
On Field: $26.8 million, Off Field: $1 million

#10 Tom Brady

Total Earnings: $27.1 million
On Field: $23.1 million, Off Field: $4 million

TENNIS

#1 Roger Federer

On court: $9.3 million
Off court: $45 million
Total earnings: $54.3 million

#2 Rafael Nadal

On court: $7.4 million
Off court: $25 million
Total earnings: $32.4 million

#3 Maria Sharapova

On court: $5.1 million
Off court: $22 million
Total earnings: $27.1 million
 

#4 Novak Djokovic

On court: $10.3 million
Off court: $9.5 million
Total earnings: $19.8 million

#5 Li Na

On court: $1.4 million
Off court: $17 million
Total earnings: $18.4 million

#6 Serena Williams

On court: $5.3 million
Off court: $11 million
Total earnings: $16.3 million

#7 Caroline Wozniacki

On court: $2.7 million
Off court: $11 million
Total earnings: $13.7 million

#8 Andy Murray

On court: $5 million
Off court: $7 million
Total earnings: $12 million

#9 Victoria Azarenka

On court: $6.7 million
Off court: $3 million
Total earnings: $9.7 million

#10 Andy Roddick

On court: $0.8 million
Off court: $8million
Total earnings: $8.8 million


There are many other games where playing with a ball can be very lucrative: Billiards, Beach Volleyball, Water Polo, Ping Pong, Soft Ball, etc

Average salary for:

TEACHERS

special education teacher	$35,000
science teacher	$37,000
middle school teacher	$35,000
math teacher	$36,000
teacher assistant	$24,000
preschool teacher	$28,000
lead teacher	$17,000
elementary teacher	$36,000
early childhood teacher	$25,000
social studies teacher	$36,000
spanish teacher	$37,000
child care teacher	$15,000

 POLICE

Nypd Police Officer	$33,000
Police Officer Recruit	$56,000
Armed Custom Protection Officer	$26,000
Armed Bank Protection Officer	$29,000
Unarmed Custom Protection Officer	$28,000
Supervisory Police Officer     $62,000 Custom Protection Officer     $27,000 Custom Protection Security Officer     $27,000 Dcc Parole Probation Officer     $28,000 Upscale Security Officer       $23,000
FIREFIGHTERS
Lead Firefighter $57,000 Supervisory Firefighter $68,000 Wildland Firefighter $31,000 Firemedic $39,000 SOCIAL WORKERS National Average    HOURLY $20.10                                   YEARLY $41,800 What does this all mean? "Mama don't let your babies grow up without some kind of ball."