Tim, You're right, the reason pro sports players make so much money is because people pay ridiculous amounts of money to go to a game. I have never paid money to go to a pro game or college game of any kind. I was treated to a pro football pre-season game once and to a college basketball game once. Both times I felt like it was much less comfortable than watching a game from my couch! Why people go to games is beyond me. I even refuse to watch the commercials because I don't want to patronize them, so when I watch a game on TV as soon as a commercial comes on I start surfing, then I'll check back later when the channel I land on goes to commercials. No one enjoys watching TV with me! I get bored long before a game is over anyway and go find something to do. I like the way my Dad use to put it: "Why would I want to pay a lot of money to watch a bunch of millionaires play catch?"
Mosey, You sure you're not from Montreal? This may have been the Expos' last season.
Personally, I don't care for professional sports. I like to watch the occasional tennis match on Sunday afternoon from the comfort of my living room. There are couple of games I like to watch in person - dirt track/ice car racing, snowmobile drags, tractor pulls, and amateur rugby (nuts). I hesitate to mention NASCAR, because I find the tailgate party portion more entertaining than the actual race.
Population centers in our area are not all that large compared to other states, even in the biggest cities and towns. Even so, we both felt we did not want to live in a "neighborhood". We drew from our own experience as kids living out of town, and from participating in extracurricular activities. We also drew from our observing the behavior of kids in various sorts of social settings. We decided first to live more rurally, then to homeschool, then to build more long term interests, or "life sports", to ensure we have well rounded kids. We don't know many adults still involved in activities from school days; that's a big reason we've all generally become quite "well rounded" as we get older! [img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img]
I would join you, assuming this is where you are going with this question, in emphasizing the importance of parents maintaining control over influences in their kids' lives. That goes for sports as well as all other things. We chose to instruct and develop our children in ways that include ideas and influences currently neglected in society (the neglect of which, in my not-so-humble opinion, is responsible for many or all of our current social ills).
I don't mean to condemn those who choose different ways. I can offer two very well adjusted young people as examples that concerns over "sheltering" are completely false. I can also encourage parents who may feel pressured or otherwise looked at skeptically for "being different" to remember that those who do so probably care very much about appearances rather than substance. We live in a highly self-centered society, and many of the activities we once innocently enjoyed are now vicarious competitions for and between parents.
It's amazing how much internal strength one can derive from awakening the "Mother bear" instinct in the face of oblique inferences that we should get in line with other parents, and thrust our kids into the same fast-paced, entertainment-pursuing lifestyle as others. To quote one of my favorite fables, with respect to being pressured into conformance in raising our children:
<font color="blue">The Emporer is Naked!</font color> [img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
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