America – land of the free (agency)

So, LeBron James announced on Thursday he is blessing Miami with his considerable basketball skills - has anyone noticed if the Earth is rotating any differently on its axis as a result?

I haven't felt any different, but then again, I don't live in Cleveland.

Sure, there's the insane jealousy over the amount of money he's going to make for putting a ball through a hoop, but this is America - the land of the free agent. In other words, I'm not bagging on King James for commanding such a royal salary. If the money is available and somebody was willing to give you an astronomical sum to do whatever it is you do for a living, tell me you wouldn't go.

In the sporting world, a "free agent" is a player whose contract with his current team (or employer) has expired, and who is then free to work for whoever he chooses, or whoever chooses him.

In essence, the business world works the same way. We are all potential free agents, the difference is that most of us are subject to the laws of supply and demand. If employers don't want the skills we can supply, there is not a high demand, and sadly, no uber-high potential paydays as a result.

But we can dare to dream.

I can see it now. The Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times get locked in a vicious bidding war for my services, and one or the other promises me a corner office suite that provides a panoramic view of Lake Michigan. From within its lavishly decorated confines I get to write daily diatribes about what is wrong with the Cubs - the team I get to cover from the luxury skybox at Wrigley Field.

Next, the Philadelphia Inquirer jumps into the fray, but given the notoriously rabid reputation of the fan base in the city, I decline. I do, however, thoroughly enjoy the cheesesteak they treat me to when they fly me in to speak with them.

The Buffalo News also surprises me with an offer to cover the Bills and the Sabres, but the money they are talking about would only amount to what it would take to keep my snowblower filled with gas.

Thanks, but no thanks.

As a call from a Little League parent brings me back to what is my reality, I decide against declaring my free agency. Like the majority of the people reading this, there are not going to be any astronomical employment opportunities offered to me. My pay is not suddenly going to be doubled, tripled, or become greater than the gross nation product of a third-world nation.

Yes, technically we are all free agents. In today's economy and job market, however, most of us would be happy if we could just sign a "no-trade" clause.

Contact Craig Purcell at 824-1036 or cpurcell@tcnpress.com.