Hi Bill,

You're right about sport being all about money these days. It is likely that all Americans playing sports as professionals are millionaires if they become regular members of a team. I think the same is true of professional sportsman around the world, certainly in the developed countries. It is big business on an individual and collective basis - pure and simple.

The fans could exercise some control over player's salaries and reduce the cost of attending games considerably by boycotting them until ticket prices came back down to earth, but that won't happen. The fans are
essentially stupid in my view to pay the ridiculous admission prices charged today. A few years ago I read in a Los Angeles newspaper that it cost a family of four nearly three hundred dollars to attend a Los Angeles Raider football game. What would it cost today? The cost included tickets, programs, food and snacks. I love American football, but you wouldn't catch me within ten miles of a football stadium because the ticket prices are outrageous. I'll watch games on TV and if they start charging viewers for that service I won't be watching football at all. I'll buy a newspaper and read about it the next day!

One of my pet peaves is the complete absence of sportsmanship in sport. The Roy Keane's of this world, and we have them in America, should be banned - period! It will never happen because we are talking about businesses, not "sports" any longer.

I'm off my soap box now and back to my KN. Take care, Bill.

Oh, and by the way Iahawk, fans are not bored with soccer even if the score is 0-0. They are connoisseurs of the game and are quite capable of appreciating the nuances of the game and athletic skills of the players - just like you can as a fan of American football. You cannot compare soccer and American football. They are two distinctly different games requiring different skills to play them.

Goodnight Gentlemen, Chuck

[This message has been edited by Chuck Piper (edited 12-13-2002).]