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27.8.2003
About professions

You are just a jealous piece of nothing. Who are you to judge me? Why are you even trying it? What makes me so awful to you? I know, you think I get it all too easily. You call me spoilt. You call me arrogant. You call me an imbecile. You call me lazy. Call me anything you want if it makes you feel better about yourself. I won’t loose my sleep over you.

I might be nobody, but you are worse, you are the one with the problem. Yes, you! You moaning office worker. You negative misfortunate banker. You think you know everything you air pilot. And you want to say it, don’t you Mr Postman. You all corporate team leaders even believe somebody is listening to you. You politicians and journalists are the worst. You are wrong. Your heavy words are too often painted by jealousy. You are just the bloody vegetarian dish in a kebab shop.

Lets see what we are dealing with here. Imagine a footballer, maybe a massive British centre-half giving an interview. This hard-boiled big lump is answering short and simple, almost like he was struggling to understand the standard questions. He looks rough as well: broken nose, sweat and maybe even blood on his messy hair. He doesn’t look a world-beater in any ways. Imagine now that this same person was the leader of one of the biggest companies in Britain, like The Times. What would happen then? Well, he would probably have to go down on wages and work for longer hours!

Ok, this is the picture you want to give and I can see the points you lot are making. These are harsh but true facts. Yes, compared to many other professions footballers get way better paid. Yes, footballers don’t have to physically be at the office all day long plus there are loads of other benefits and fame involved for granted. Yes, you don’t have to be the very best in the football world to get a luxurious pay slip and the admiration of many. Yes, you don’t need to be extremely capable in many areas of life to be good in football.

It is easy to point out some cruel facts about football. I have heard, seen and felt your prejudice on my profession. I have listened your complaints and moaning. There are lot of you who think that footballers get too much money and other things too easily. You think we have not earned it. You think it has gone out of proportions. And you all blame us from it.

But why is it footballers fault that barbers don’t get paid as much? Why is a footballer responsible of fireman’s working hours when they both have chosen their own jobs? Why does a footballer need to be nailed on papers because most of the journalists are bitter ex-wannabe footballers who failed to make it?

Many of you say football is not fair compared to other professions. I say you have to put it all in perspective. Being a barber is a good, honest work. However it is not something that inspires the masses. It is the markets that decide the way of the world. Where is the demand there is the supply, markets always find its balance. The markets are fair and they indicate in all the levels that because football is played and followed passionately all over the world it also has a lot of economical and global power. After all it is one of the biggest and most influential existing institutions. And the top of something as big as this will always stretch to extremes.

It is true that if you are among 200 best barbers in the world you just get a normal living, but if you are even among 200 best footballers in Britain you are on luxurious wages. Being close to the top of the professional skills in almost any other profession is not economically even near as beneficial than it is in sports, especially in football.

On the other hand how many barbers or want-to-be-a-barber there are in the world and how many footballers and want-to-be-a-footballer? In football the percentage of the ones who make it to be a living is definitely smaller than in most of the other professions. Football is played, followed and admired everywhere. And only a small percentage ever makes a single penny out of it.

So shut up you all moaners. It is fair in terms of the markets and in terms of the chance for everyone to try it and in terms of the chances of making it. Why can’t you sad loudmouths see it? I am not worried about you; but I feel bit bad about some other athletes. For example I went to school with this world champion in Trial racing and he was a great athlete, but in the end of the day it was his parents and sponsors who had to pay most of his costs. Many athletes train as hard, often even more than footballers. However markets are not on their side. There not enough people interested and not enough publicity, so there is not much money involved for them either.

So the ones who are in main sports are the ones who get the pay check. No matter how superior you are in your field it doesn’t mean anything unless it is a big sport. It is the power of excisting markets again. If different sports and skills could be compared maybe professionally the best ever athlete in terms of the mastery in one sport could have been some great and genius curling-player, who nobody has ever heard of and who actually made his living as a teacher in an elementary school and only played on his spare time.

Harder it is for women. One of my girlfriends said that she is penis-jealous. Obviously she didn’t mean my genitals, she had a bigger reasons behind her cause. She was one of the best hockey players in Finland. She was dedicated and good athlete and she loved sports. However eventually she had to quit because she had to even pay for herself the national team trips and that didn’t bring the bread to the table. She says she is bitter that she doesn’t have a willy because now she didn’t really have a chance to make a living out of her passion to sports. She is right. For women the sports world is almost impossible, in most of the cases it can only be a hobby. Sports can only really pay off if you have a penis.

So there are arguments for and against, there are always some misfortunate parties in sports, as is in life. However it is not usually them who are moaning, it is the ones that are unhappy about themselves and probably have never even watched a game of football. This piece is for them, you sad “It-is-always-raining” –types. This piece is about you who don’t like or understand sports and still acting like masters of it. I have listened many of you criticising and I see your points and now I have given my counter-attack. And with my hard words I don't mean any of you sport lovers and supporters who actually apreciate the game, and know its hard requirements. You are the good people and I am willing to take in all your points made about football.

Sure, I feel privileged to be a footballer. To get paid well for doing something that I love is great. However it was not just given to me. I have worked and I am still working my nuts of for getting even little success. I am living a professional life that is short, very hard and controlled. I have to physically and mentally give everything I have every day. I have made it this far and the path is open to everyone brave enough to try. And anyone who thinks it is such an easy but superior path why haven’t you tried it yourself!

So all you who try to rubbish my lawn. All you who cry out loud about all the unfairness in the world. I think you are either jealous or cowards. You are the ones who don’t understand the markets. You are the ones who didn’t swim when the water was cold. You are the ones who were too scared to try. You are the ones that drink diet coke and collect Sainsbury’s points. You have made your choices in life; I have made mine. I am sick and tired of your prejudice on football and unfair comments which you try to poison my profession with. I say it is not a voice of truth; it is a voice of jealousy.

Aki


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