The United States is currently in a financial crisis. Millions of working-class Americans have lost their homes to foreclosure, millions more are in danger of losing their homes. Of all these people, most of them are hard-working, who don't get paid enough money for the work they do.

Then we get athletes. Individuals with tremendous athletic ability who get paid millions of dollars for playing a game.

And yet no matter how much money they get, they're not satisfied. They aren't in danger of losing their homes, of seeing a lifetime's worth of memories going for sale on an auction block while their families scrabble to find a new place to live in a safe neighborhood...

Each time I see a millionaire athlete act like a child... disrespect the organization that pays him, it just infuriates me. Let a person with an actual job do that to his employer, and he'd be fired so fast his head would spin. But athletes get away with it all the time... it doesn't matter what terrible stunt they pull..and if the unthinkable happens and one organization actually does let them go..not to worry, another organization will pick them up before the ink has time to dry ont heir dismissal notice.

So today, there's the news that Gilbert Arenas decided that he didn't feel like attending media day - which is a mandatory event. His team was fined as well, for failing to make sure he appeared.

Then there's Juan Howard of the Mavericks, a player who makes millions of dollars but disrespects the National Anthem. (Typically, even if you are not a citizen of a country, you stand up and show a little bit of respect while a country's anthem is being played... Josh Howard made the news recently when a video of him joking around while the anthem ws being played hit Youtube. His comments about why he was doing his own thing instead of being quiet while the anthem played were quite interesting.

Then we get all these athletes who are arrested for marijuana use, or speeding...or any number of law infractions that would land a normal person in jail... and they keep getting away with it.

Of course - it's not only athletes. Coach Tony LaRussa of the Cardinals was arrested for driving under the influence, both of football coach Andy Reid's sons are in jail for various reasons...

Meantime...who wants to bet that the price of tickets for games - regardless of what sport you watch - will rise next season... they always do. And a lot more people won't be able to afford to go to the games...even if the prices didn't rise.

And who wants to bet that as each sports season continues...we'll get more and more players whining and complaining because they're multi-million dollar salaries aren't enough for them to make a living.