GUEST VIEWPOINT - Baseball Fans Should Adopt New Pastime
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GUEST VIEWPOINT - Baseball fans should adopt new pastime
GUEST VIEWPOINT - Baseball fans should adopt new pastime
Press & Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton, NY)
August 27, 2002 Tuesday
Copyright 2002 Press & Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton, NY) All Rights Reserved
Section: OPINION; Pg. 4A
Length: 731 words
Byline: JOSHUA RILEY
Body
Our national pastime should embody the virtues of the American culture while giving ordinary citizens a chance to
escape its vices. As millionaire baseball players and owners clash over luxury taxes and revenue sharing, it has
become painfully obvious that this sport no longer serves those ends.
Add the skyrocketing ticket prices that go hand-in-hand with outrageous player salaries to a non-competitive league
full of alleged steroid abuse, and you have a sport in disarray. The current labor dispute, with an untimely projected
climax just 12 days before the nation commemorates one of its darkest hours, further highlights these problems.
Amid the confusion of collective bargaining laws and salary cap arrangements, one thing is clear: The time has
come for the nation to abandon baseball and indulge in a new pastime.
With our nation at war in Afghanistan, with middle-class investors losing substantial portions of their retirement
savings to a corrupted stock market, and with missing children stories splashed across the daily headlines, the
common American should be able to turn to the national pastime as a refuge. The ballpark should be a sanctuary
where we can replace concerns about terrorist threats and plummeting portfolios with plump hot dogs and cold
beers.
However, baseball is no longer the embodiment of American virtue and an escape from national vice. Instead of
being about hitting streaks and pennant races, it is now about money. In a word, baseball has abandoned us.
So where should we turn? I argue that professional soccer may be the best new candidate to provide therapeutic
diversion.
Critics of professional soccer often say it will never catch on in America because it is too slow. This objection is
laughable. After all, baseball isn't exactly a whirlwind of action. Others might argue that if soccer grows to the
proportions of the other major sports, it, too, will be brought down by greed. But it is better to cast a line with a sport
with great potential than to try to continue to fish our old pastime from the depths to which it has sunk.
Soccer is far and away the world's most popular sport, and for good reason. Consider the effect of the World Cup
this summer: Amidst a crippling economic crisis, the entire nation of Argentina turned to its soccer team. CNN
quoted one Argentine fan as saying, "Nobody had faith in anything except soccer." At a time when Argentines
couldn't rely on the value of their currency, they could at least count on soccer. Similar stories could be told about
Italy, South Korea and Mexico.
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GUEST VIEWPOINT - Baseball fans should adopt new pastime
There are several reasons for Americans to embrace the sport: First, the Major League Soccer (MLS) season
overlaps perfectly with baseball, making soccer a good substitute from a practical standpoint. Unlike baseball,
which seems to take its fan base for granted, the MLS is doing everything it can to win fans, including an elaborate
new television plan and exposure campaigns.
Also, the basic rules of soccer are easy to understand. The ease with which new audiences can comprehend the
play on the field should facilitate the transition from baseball to soccer as the premier national sport. Furthermore,
through the World Cup, soccer offers an international competition that consumes the attention of fans throughout
the world. This spectacle is unlike anything baseball has to offer and would certainly provide converted fans with an
event they could look forward to with certainty (unlike the World Series, which may be cancelled at the whim of
greedy players).
Finally, youth soccer programs throughout the country have enjoyed enormous popularity for years. This
infrastructure will provide the escalation of soccer prevalence with stability. If soccer grows from the grass-roots
level of youth programs into our new national pastime, it is more likely that the fans will be kept close to the heart of
the game.
Few people will be surprised if the baseball season is suspended on Aug. 30. If it is, keep in mind that eight of the
10 MLS teams will be competing the next day, including a televised game between the Metrostars and Galaxy with
major playoff implications.
If baseball turns its back on its fans again, don't be surprised if many fans switch to soccer. And I guarantee those
fans will be embraced with open arms by the soccer community.
Riley is a Union-Endicott graduate now attending the College of William & Mary.
Classification
Language: ENGLISH
Subject: BASEBALL (90%); HOBBIES (90%); NEGATIVE NEWS (90%); SPORTS CONTRACTS & SALARIES
(90%); SPORTS REVENUES (90%); TAXES & TAXATION (90%); PROFESSIONAL SPORTS (89%); SOCCER
(89%); SPORTS & RECREATION (89%); SPORTS FANS (89%); SPORTS TEAM OWNERSHIP (89%); ABUSE &
NEGLECT (78%); SPORTS & RECREATION EVENTS (78%); SPORTS AWARDS (78%); STADIUMS & ARENAS
(78%); TICKET SALES (78%); WEALTHY PEOPLE (78%); PRICES (77%); CORRUPTION (76%); NEGATIVE
MISC NEWS (76%); WAGES & SALARIES (76%); ILLICIT STEROID USE (73%); COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
(71%); LABOR UNIONS (71%); NEGATIVE ECONOMIC NEWS (71%); LABOR DISPUTES & NEGOTIATIONS
(70%); ECONOMIC CRISIS (67%); EDITORIALS & OPINIONS (59%); REPORTS, REVIEWS & SECTIONS (59%);
TERRORISM (51%); TERRORISM & COUNTERTERRORISM (51%)
Company: APCO ARGENTINA INC (51%)
Ticker: APAGF (NASDAQ) (51%)
Industry: TICKET SALES (78%); PERSONAL FINANCE (77%); STEROIDS (73%); BEER & ALE (66%)
Geographic: BINGHAMTON, NY, USA (90%); NEW YORK, USA (91%); UNITED STATES (94%); ARGENTINA
(92%); AFGHANISTAN (76%); Northeast
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GUEST VIEWPOINT - Baseball fans should adopt new pastime
Load-Date: October 12, 2002
End of Document
