Does anyone remember what a strike is anymore? Let me refresh our collective memories here, since they seem to be undertaken so lightly nowadays. A strike, in theory, is supposed to be a desperate measure, one borne of absolute and unwavering necessity. There is supposed to be a noticeable financial risk - for most people, not collecting a paycheck every week is the equivalent of not eating or having a roof to sleep under for much longer. People put their families on the line to fight for fair wages and to bargain with some leverage. Baseball players have made a mockery of the labor strike for decades now, waiting until they've collected most of their million dollar paychecks throughout the summer before deciding to "take a stand."

Alex Rodriguez will lose one hundred thousand dollars each day he is on strike, chump change out of his hefty 252 million dollar contract. My stepfather works two jobs, both hard labor, and won't even make that much in a whole fucking year of sweat. While A-Rod scratches his ass August 30th, he'll have already given up more money than some people make in two years. The average salary for professional baseball players is over 2 million dollars. What other non-sports related occupation makes that much money as a middle of the road salary?

This shit is beyond ridiculous, it's fucking sick. The owners, despite a cleverly constructed campaign PR, are far from the innocent, cash-strapped fan-sympathizers they make themselves out to be. The only reason they want to lower player salaries is so that they can pocket more of the revenue from their teams, rather than putting them into payroll. Owners are not on the fans' side, they're all about lining their pockets with the fans' hard-earned cash.

When I went to Fenway Park last week, I almost shat myself when I was charged FOUR FUCKING DOLLARS - not pesos, not yen, DOLLARS - for a 20 ounce bottle of Coke. After I choked on my hotdog for almost five bucks and got my credit card bill back for my fifty-dollar grandstand seat, I flipped on SportsCenter (piece of shit show, by the way) to hear that baseball was facing financial "discussions." Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the raping we get at ballparks and in pro shops enough to support several small countries, never mind a single national sport?

These are the same penny-pinching, overpaid prima-fucking-donnas that caused the cancellation of the 1994 World Series, a black day in baseball history. Anyone who can feel good about striking over three million dollars a year versus four million dollars a year might want to try cleaning toilets for a day, or emptying garbage, or even teaching kids for crissakes.

If this strike goes through, baseball will suffer an immeasurable blow. No longer will it be America's pastime, the grand ole game or the nation's interest during the summer months. The game that once belonged to the fans has slowly morphed into a society of greedy ungratefuls basking in mediocrity and gluttonous wealth. In baseball's long and storied history, no national catastrophe has ever cancelled the World Series - no war, famine, or financial uncertainty could ever take the Fall Classic away from us. Until 1994. Greed and ignorance together make a disgusting combo. It's taken baseball almost ten years to recover from that debacle.

If this strike happens, it might never. And it would serve them right.