And Why Is That?
Mike DiPatri 10/7/10
I read in the sports section of a paper yesterday that now the Major League post season is here. That’s good, he said because the regular season is nothing. He stated that the country no longer cares about baseball. It’s too slow, there’s no instant gratification, blah, blah, blah. I’m familiar with this writer’s work and know he knows as much about sports as Perez Hilton. True, interest in baseball is not what it used to be but let’s take a look at why that may be.
In this country, the press tells the people what they think and what they want. In the world of sports the press has told them that the only sports in the world are called football, well, here we call one of them soccer. The press treats baseball as if it’s merely a filler between two football seasons. When the World Series ends, you’ll not hear the word baseball again until March. That’s not the case with football though. The press and its followers will talk about the football season long after the Super Bowl. People will talk daily about this team’s criminal and that team’s criminal and who they’re beating or shooting as if they are some kind of hero for these acts. Then they’ll have whole shows devoted to covering the NFL draft. There’s more coverage of that than of the war!
There’s a program that is nothing more than lip service actually. It’s a great program called RBI that attempts to bring baseball back to inner city kids. Sounds good, and everybody wonders why it’s not more successful. Well, when all these kids hear is football all the time, it’s no wonder why it doesn’t work.
Well, y’all say what you want about baseball, but those of us who are still capable of thought will still follow the one game that requires thought and pure skill. I’m not saying that football is bad or that I don’t like it, but one thing that makes baseball so special is that all baseball stories start out, “When my dad and I saw…” Most of us real fans have fond memories of family times and baseball. In fact, my favorite memories as a kid are watching my dad play ball and the first time he took me to Yankee Stadium all those years ago. So everybody needs to understand the influence the press has on what people think and present a more balanced look at sports!