Natosha Rogers claiming athletes deserve military veterans benefits

I am sure they are out there somewhere, but I have never met a broke/desperate former mid-high level athlete.

Whether they are track athletes, minor league ball players or undrafted NFL scout team players, there are plenty of examples of 28 y/o former professional athletes who made good money, but no where near enough to retire on, in their athletic careers.

I use to think those guys would be behind in life, and may struggle when they leave their sport. But it is not the case; they get jobs in all sorts of fields and tend to be very interesting and magnetic people. I think the the ones who had major paydays are actually more likely to have drama out of sport.

A cliche used is "we give away our freedom so the rest can have theirs".

There are many subtle limitations and sacrifices we make 24 hours a day that we see as normal but civilians would see as insane.

Alan

Those sacrifices are just the rules you follow at adult boarding school Alan.

You brave little warriors need everything scheduled and planned for you or you'd play ultimate frisbee and accidentally discharge your firearms indoors every day until you starved.

hobbyjogger1 wrote:

The recruiting offices are open for her to join if she wants military benefits. (I'm retired Air Force). I wanted the military benefits so I joined.

I suppose she would say being an athlete of that caliber requires that level of discipline and restriction. How about race enough and in the right spots to earn more prize money to invest into a retirement account? Choosing a sport with limited income prospects shouldn't guarantee you a lifetime, taxpayer-funded income just for making a US team. You have other options, including finding the opportunity and initiative to put your education to good use in developing a post-athletic career during the hours of daily downtime in any athlete's schedule. I don't see Sydney McLaughlin as worthy of retirement benefits from age 18 because she was issued a USA uniform. That would be closer to welfare than an earned benefit. Rogers shows signs of too much residual LSD and molly.

Q: Are any of the WCAP athletes Active Duty?

A: Yes

2600 bro wrote:

socialism agitator wrote:

Being in the military is not a sacrifice. It is a career choice.

How many veterans actually have made a "sacrifice?" Aside from the obviously casualties among the small fraction deployed... don't we as taxpayers sacrifice more than most of them by giving up large portions of our income to pay for their employment, education, and family life?

Sacrificed peace of mind for the rest of my life

I agree. Athletes should be recognized with government support for representing this country in international competitions and the amount should increase the more they do. This can include stipends and bonuses.

An alternative to a military pension would be presumed missed earnings during the years of competition that would be factored into social security calculations - the federal governement would pay atheletes' social security taxes.

I don't feel like I have made a single sacrifice during my time in the Army. I have had amazing experiences. At the time I went to Iraq I had never been out of the country before and there I was, flying to a nation very few Americans will ever see, not having any idea of what the next 12 months would bring. Some very good times, some very bad times. Not many people know what it's like to do foot patrols through $hitholes in Iraq in an infantry company, hoping nobody steps on an IED or someone decides to be stupid and shoot at us. I got paid to jump out of airplanes, been to the Middle East twice and to Alaska and Europe once (and got to run Berlin while I was there), went screamin' fast over the desert in a Blackhawk, rappelled off of cliffs, been to Saddam Hussein's palace and Uday Hussein's bombed out house, fired all kinds of weapons from M9 pistols to Carl Gustafs, been gassed a few times in training, have lived and/or trained in eight US states. It's been a fun ride full of great experiences and a few things I can't talk about. I never "sacrificed" anything.

I HATE it when people say, "Thanks for your service." The American public doesn't owe me a damn thing, not even a "Thank you." Serving in the military is not a sacrifice; it is a privilege and an honor, and I wouldn't change a thing. The police and fire fighters in the US make more sacrifices than the military and suffer more casualties yearly than all branches of the Armed Forces combined. Tell them "Thank you" once in a while.

Yes, WCAP are active duty. I almost never saw any of them on post but I used to see them quite a bit on the Pikes Peak Greenway neat Monument Valley Park or on the Fountain Creek Trail near Fountain. I only ever saw one or two in uniform at the hospital a couple times.

As for Natosha Rogers, I don't think Olympic athletes should receive Veteran's benefits. While it is true that they represent our country on the world stage and they do make a lot of sacrifices in their lives (more than the great majority of the military), they are basically providing entertainment like any other athletes. I do feel they should receive some retirement benefits like other professional athletes do but this should come from their organization (USATF), their sponsors, or both.

Hey lets not get derailed from the original focus of this thread which was to attack Natosha Rogers on a misinterpretation of a post she made.

Has she even made a team? Why is she complaining about a lack of something that she has basically no shot to benefit from? Sorry, Millennial Girl, you're going to have to find another way to earn the money for your next 30 tattoos.

I hate her, I hate her, I hate her wrote:

Hey lets not get derailed from the original focus of this thread which was to attack Natosha Rogers on a misinterpretation of a post she made.

+1

Let's vilify her for calling out the lack of benefits in the T&F world while we all sit on our 6 figure incomes that we "earned."

Bonus points for using bad millennial stereotypes when millennials have a much smaller share of wealth than the generations before them and have much higher debt due to disproportionate increases in rent, education, and other living expenses.

Bonus points for having extra sharp opinions on this because what a woman said made you feel uncomfortable.

Maybe the problem is that the wealth gap was different 30 years ago when union density was high. Now major corporations are our largest employers, rake in more money than ever, while offering jobs for minimum wage + fringe to no benefits. The nerve of someone making a comparison to what happens in another industry in the richest country in the world.

T&F doesn't have collective bargaining. Other sports allow athletes to revenue share on tv deals. T&F does not. Take your misguided anger and direct it someplace meaningful. The system elite runners operate under is trash. They can't even attract sponsors like triathletes or cyclists.

Dude, she went to college on a full-ride scholarship, same with any Olympic or WC team member. Zero education debt. She has housing provided (if she wants it) by the Hansons. The only way she should have much of any debt is if she likes to vacation on credit cards to a tune that exceeds her income. And maybe for a new car.

The ones who have it the worst are field event athletes and then sprinters. They don't have the avenue of road racing to make income away from the track season and many of 2020's meets were distance-exclusive. You'll find plenty of them with far higher rankings in their events than Rogers has achieved having to work day jobs to enable travel, insurance, and PT.

Never mind that she's lived as a flake, blowing off NB sponsorship because of "feels" and then deciding to return to the sport and finding a golden 2nd chance with a solid, sponsored team that doesn't even require her to train with the group! She's been catered to quite a bit and has chosen to squander opportunity and talent. Based on how she ran while still in college, she could have been on a level with Emily Sisson, Mariele Hall, and Karissa Schweizer. Instead, she's been a tantalizing dark horse and a perennial also ran as a pro.

But yeah, she's the face of oppression and crucifixion. If T&F athletes are serious about this then starting and ending on social media isn't going to do jack squat, they have to actually organize with real teeth behind their intentions like athletes in every real pro sport have. Pro triathlon and pro cycling have done better by not relying on the Olympics the major event in their sports. They created structures independent of the IOC and, in the US, the Amateur Sports Act.

Just dropping by to leave this here

https://www.instagram.com/p/CN7YhfFnB0T/

Precious Roy is in favor of the government giving out money? Wow, who would’ve thought?

Looks like joining a sponsored group is really the secure way to go. Rogers has that now and wasn't she part of NB Boston at one point, too? Is Saucony forming a new group?

I hate her, I hate her, I hate her wrote:

Hey lets not get derailed from the original focus of this thread which was to attack Natosha Rogers on a misinterpretation of a post she made.

It's probably worth noting that the BENEFITS that ANY veteran gets (mostly "VA benefits," I'm assuming), no matter the length of their service, are entirely different than earning RETIREMENT PAY ("pension"). Your average veteran who served a few years gets veterans benefits. Only people who serve 20 year active duty get retirement pay (and get it immediately, and on top of the more general veterans benefits, obviously). Reservists can also earn a pension in 20 years, but generally have to wait until age 60 to start getting it paid to them.

So, an athlete asking for veterans-like benefits is something. Asking for a veterans RETIREMENT PAY (pension) is way more (believe it starts at 50% of last pay at 20 years, and can go up to 75% if you can stay until 30).

I happen to be a retired reservist, but I haven't yet begun receiving retirement pay.