From
where I sit it looks like Tennessee is making a killing off professional athletes...
And
I thought photo radar and lottery tickets were a cash grab. A
Professional Privilege Tax? On visiting teams too? That's
embarrassing. Apart from the state flexing it's own muscle, what is
the legal standing for this? Doing a bit of digging there seems to
be a massive number of “privilege taxes” across the US. I'm sure
someone with a law degree can explain to me why people need to pay
for the right to work. Licensing taxes. Income taxes. All those
make sense to me. But, quite frankly this sounds like a tax against
workers, just for working. It can't help with an economic recovery.
As for the athletes...although 2,500$ doesn't seem like much, it's
fully unnecessary. The players are buying local food, staying in
local hotels, bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars
to the economy every game night...and they have to pay for the
'privilege' to do it? The other questionable part of this law is the
exemptions. Only the Memphis Grizzlies and Nashville Predators (and visiting teams) pay it. It's not in effect for the
NFL's Titans. Nor for NASCAR (Bristol). Not even the minor league
teams. I'm sure whoever is taking the money can find another way to
generate the funds. How about cutting the salary of the idiots who
created the law?
There's
another piece in the argument of people trying to get fighting out of
hockey...and it's thanks to Ray Emery...
Except
for a select few members of the media and limited members of the
public, most hockey fans like a good fight. However, a scene like
the Emery – Holtby “fight” makes the anti-fighting ranks rise
up in self-righteous indignation. And I do agree with them on this
one. I've made it clear I like fights. Fights with goalies are even
better. But that wasn't a fight. Braden Holtby wanted nothing to do
with Ray Emery. Just as I think fighting should be allowed, it
should be a choice. Holtby didn't want to fight and it showed. There were plenty of the willing combatants on the ice, Emery should have picked on of them. Instead,
Emery made an ass of himself by charging the length of the rink to
take on an opponent who wasn't willing. Ray Emery is having a hard
enough time stopping pucks, he shouldn't being trying to fight too.
At
least that's how I see it...and I sit in the cheap seats.
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