Fellow list member Lindsay Orcutt, on another thread, was complaining of
the inflated salaries professional athletes earn for kicking, hitting,
throwing, pushing, etc.  I do not agree at all with Lindsay, because I
recognize many wholesome/excellent features that both fields have in
common:

1.  Discipline - the degree of discipline required in athletics matches
that in the field of music.

2.  Practice - the same applies here.  Athletes do not attain greatness
in their field simply through their natural talents.  Intense and
continuous practice is required, Michael Jordon being a prime example.

3.  Teamwork - Just as with orchestra members, the members of an athletic
team must work together toward a common goal and attain an instinctive
knowledge of how each other member operates.

4.  Ability Extention - In both fields, there are times when the individual
needs to extend his/her abilites to a higher level to succeed fully.  This
is a mental/emotional area, not connected to physical talents at all.

There are more examples, but the point is that music and athletics share
many requirements that make a person in the field outstanding.

Lindsay is not the first list member to dump on athletics as if it is a
trivial pursuit.  That stand is no more reasonable than another person
considering music a trivial pursuit, and believe me, there are many folks
who do just that.

Also, even if no such thing as athletics existed, orchestra members would
still not get the respect or the salaries they want.  There's no good
reason to use athletics negatively to service any argument in favor of
music.

Don Satz
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