Movie stars and megastar pop singers make as much money or more than pro athletes, but never seem to draw the same kind of resentment at their overpayment. Why are people so quick to criticize one class of entertainers (jocks) and not the others?

Of course, cops and schoolteachers should make more money, and the lucky few who get to act out the public's fantasies could get by on less, but the money is there ~ every dollar the players don't get goes straight into the pockets of the owners. Plus, the owners offer those huge contracts, often while bidding against each other for an individual's services; nobody puts a gun to their heads to take their money.

I'm not a hockey fan, and so don't know the details of the current shutdown. However, I do know that almost every work stoppage in American professional sports has been an ownership-initiated LOCKOUT, not a "strike" as so many people assume.

It's also worth noting that hockey players are paid much less than players of the other major sports in North America. I mean, $300 grand is hardly chump change ~ I'd certainly be glad to collect half that much, or a quarter, or... ~ but the annual minimum for baseball, football, and basketball players is closer to a cool million these days.