Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeStrybel
Jeff, I am not and I don't believe anyone else here is suggesting that soccer is taking over the nation. Youth soccer, especially U12, is extremely popular in America though. You and I both know that baseball is declining in popularity as a high school sport. Yet, we still have more games than umpires some days. It is unfair to judge the popularity of athletics by the number of officials available. Baseball is still alive and well in Illinois, as it is elsewhere. Football may be more exciting and attractive to some, but kids, young and old, still get wide eyed when Spring arrives at the diamond. That is why I contend that the influence of tobacco use by the game's elite has bearing. My 11 year old may not want to chew because of it but others might. The risks of prolonged use are known and it is probably time to ask them to stop dipping. Once upon a time players could openly smoke cigarettes in the dugout. The outcry was noted and the game moved on.
I hope your games went smoothly this past weekend. Our playoffs start next week and we face a team that killed us earlier this season. Should be interesting.
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Actually Mike, Gordon tried to suggest that you see soccer being played all over the place if you drive around. Well, that might be the case in the suburbs, but that is not the case in the inner city. Soccer is largely in this country a middle class and suburban sport. Kids in rural areas like where I grew up are not playing soccer even that much at the youth level. Not to say there are no leagues, but there are not the numbers to play that sport and field a football team in many of those communities. Also when I umpire baseball games, it is not unusual that I am the only African-American on the entire field. And I grew up playing baseball and love it more than any other sport as kid and teenager. Baseball is not dead by any means, but I do not see kids like me playing it anymore as they do playing football or basketball. ESPN did a story on the lack of Blacks playing baseball and how many HBCUs had to recruit many non-Blacks to field a baseball team at the D1 level. Things have changed since the times Jackie Robinson played the game, that is for sure.
Peace