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Baseball Atrocity
Written by Matt Peace, Reporter
I was lying on my couch relaxing and watching television when some free agent baseball signing popped up on the screen. I was about to glance over to my dad and ask him something like, “What do you think of that move?” but before I could finish, my dad interrupted me by saying, “I’m going to have a hard time enjoying baseball this season if the Yankees are just going to win again.” This statement coming from my dad totally shocked me because he is the biggest sports fan that I have ever met. He knows so much about the history of the four major sports (Baseball, Football, Basketball, and Hockey). He just loves sports. But then I took a step back, and being the huge sports fan that I am, I agreed with him. The Yankees are the clear favorites to win the World Series because of their huge payroll. And their payroll is ruining baseball.
For those of you who don’t know what a payroll is, it is the money that a team has to spend on players. The New York Yankees 2009 payroll was a whopping $201,449,289, with the average player making $7,748,050. They have the highest payroll in baseball. Their payroll is more than 65 million dollars higher than the second place New York Mets. On the bottom end of the payroll scale is the Florida Marlins, whose 2009 payroll was $36,814,000 with the average player making $1,314,786. So the payroll difference between the Yankees and the Marlins is around $165 million, and the average Yankee makes about $6 million more than the average Marlin. How is this fair? I’ll take you back to the winter of 2008-2009, when the Yankees signed C.C. Sabathia who will be making around $15 million every year. Mark Teixara signed and will be making around $20 million a year. A.J. Burnett signed and will be making around $16 million a year. Alex Rodriguez, also a Yankee, also makes $33 million a year. Rodriguez would swallow up around 11/12 of the Marlins payroll. And it’s just not the Marlins. 17 teams could not afford those players with their whole payroll, and 5 or 6 teams could sign all of them, but they couldn’t field a team because they wouldn’t be able to sign anyone else. So 22-23 teams couldn’t even be in the same ballpark in terms of spending as the Yankees!
You also have to look at the fact that the Yankees made so many mistakes with their money, like throwing tons of money at Carl Pavano, Jaret Wright, and Gary Sheffield in the middle of the 2000’s. No other teams could afford to whiff on three players like that. But because of their insanely high payroll, mistakes are just little bumps in the road. These moves might have showed the fact that the Yankees could spend poorly and not win the World Series. But still, they were spending horribly and still made the playoffs every year of the 2000’s except for 2008.
In closing, if you like baseball, don’t be surprised to see your favorite team bowing to the overspending Yankees once again.
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Homosexuality punished by death
Written by Anna Heim
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Caring for Critters
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Written by Nicole Larkins, Reporter
Small Animal Care, taught by Sue Trent, is a relatively new class here at Dobyns-Bennett. In this class, the students get to interact with small animals and learn how to give them the proper care. The students learn about the animals’ nutritional needs, diet, behavior, and how to check the animals’ health and heart rate.
This class was added because “there is a growing number of students who want to be vets and other things that involve caring for animals.” says Trent. Most of the students who are taking this class hope to pursue a career in being a veterinary, owning a pet shop, or working in animal research. “It fills the career need,” says Trent.
The students in this class seem to be enjoying it immensely. “I get to touch the fuzzy animals, I love it! Not only do you get to learn stuff, but you get to interact with the animals.” exclaims senior Whitney Calhoun. “We learn about a variety of small animals,” says Trent. These include, chinchillas, guinea pigs, hamsters, ferrets, gerbils, fish, frogs, geckos, iguanas, rabbits, and birds. Each student will spend one week learning how to take care of each animal. Some of the jobs that are included in this class are to make sure that the animals have clean food and water. They will also clean the animals’ cage and spend twenty to thirty minutes each day with them.
The animals that are being cared for are animals that have been donated to the school by Pet Cove and other animal organizations. Many of these animals have been donated because their previous owners neglected and abused them. One animal, a chinchilla named Miracle, was brought to D-B because she had been abused so badly that she could hardly walk. It was a miracle that she survived at all, and thus her name. Luckily, she is being restored to full health by the S.A.C. The animals were brought to this class because the students are nursing them back to health and preparing them for a better home.
In addition to learning the proper care for the animals, the students go to the Kingsport Animal Shelter to spend time with the animals. Socializing with the animals prepares them to become friendlier pets. They also go to Andes-Straley Veterinary hospital to observe an animal surgery. In a couple of weeks, they will begin to raise money for the class by having a dog grooming service where they will clip toenails, cut hair, and bathe the dogs. They will be charging $10.00 for bathing a small dog. This class is a great addition to D-B and is sure to prepare many students who wish to pursue careers in this field of study.
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