In a recent poll, 15 percent of Americans said they would miss the birth of their own child to attend the Super Bowl.

The results from the poll go on with somewhat disturbing, albeit less surprising statistics: 19 percent of Americans would miss the funeral of a loved one, 20 percent of Americans would miss a close friend or relative's wedding, 21 percent would skip out on an important work responsibility and 23 percent would give up a vacation to see the big game.

Would Americans have responded this way ten years ago? I very much doubt it. But, the NFL's popularity has expanded astonishingly, and unfortunately, so has a growing disease rooted in professional sports.

Professional sports are not all evil. It's great that grown men and women can make a living doing what they love and make spectators feel like kids again, forgetting the burdens of everyday life. The problem, though, is shown by the results of the poll: what used to be adoration and appreciation for professional athletes in America has turned to unhealthy obsession and idolization.  

Americans have developed the mindset that just because someone is a terrific athlete, he deserves an outrageous amount of money, let alone attention.

In a declining economy, people are in an uproar about Congress and their despicable shuffling and hiding of taxpayer money (which they should be), but no one is really asking why professional athletes shouldn't take a major pay cut.

 If people really have a problem with athletes' salaries averaging millions of dollars per year, then they shouldn't shell out more than a hundred dollars for a piece of fabric with those athletes' names embossed on the back.  

Fans will respond with "What are we supposed to do? Just ignore our team?" to which I would reply, "Yes!" A boycott is not impossible. If the athletes that so many Americans admire really do love the game and care about their fans, then they wouldn't mind taking a pay cut down to at the most a couple hundred thousand dollars per year to keep playing. The thought that people get paid millions of dollars a year to play a sport is ludicrous.

Some professional athletes are more than generous with their salaries, but the fact remains that too many are self-centered narcissists with more money than brains.

But athletes who choose to be selfish and act like children with their all-too-frequent "If you didn't think I was awesome before, I'm sure you do now" dances are not the only ones to blame. We, the consumers, are also partly at fault.

It's good to be supportive of some of the positive role models in the NFL and other sports, but I'm sure they would understand you not paying a significant portion of your salary to see them play when they make more than that every minute.

Though I've never understood grown men living vicariously through athletes and devoting so much of their lives to following them, I've always loved sports, and I always will.

If Americans are willing to miss the birth of one of their children to attend the Super Bowl, then the next generation whose fathers are lost in sports will inevitably inherit the mindset that sports and those who play it are more important than anything else this life has to offer.