Attending sports makes lasting family memories

Hi neighbors. Now is the awkward time of year, when baseball is striving to reach its peak and football is just getting started. Tailgate parties and all types of hats, shirts and other memorabilia are available to pronounce whatever name is embroidered on it as the best of all.

Game night parties are enjoyed by extended family and friends. Trips to distant stadiums are planned with time off work and family in tow, to see the "big game."

Television shows are preempted for live coverage of games from large cities across the nation. I don't like that so much. Actually I don't like most televised sports all that much.

I had a friend who once stated that television was the cause for the decline in baseball enthusiasm. He explained that by cutting into close shots of pitchers and batters, they denied the home viewing audience of the "dance" of the game; the interplay of anticipation of the outfield movements as the game progressed.

For whatever reason, there doesn't seem to be the empty lot baseball games boys and girls of my age group enjoyed. It didn't take much to start a game -- a ball, a bat, at least one or two catcher's mitts, enough kids to cover the bases, and some old cardboard or sacks to mark the bases. Every kid seemed to love to play baseball and games would sprout up out of the dirt of any field large enough like dandelions in springtime.

It seems a shame to me. I always ask kids from age 10 on up if they play baseball. Most say no, or look at me like I'm insane. Each generation has its own games I suppose.

I did play some baseball when young; but not with great enthusiasm. I could never really see the ball coming toward me, much less catch it. If I did manage to catch it, I took so long to figure out where to throw it that my catch didn't amount to much in the overall game.

I wasn't much good at batting either as I recall. But I did play baseball.

Football was; and mostly still is, just for boys. When I was in high school, I played some soccer. Soccer was then known as the "stupid -- no hands -- foreign ball." Soccer was never referred to as football back then and was mostly unknown and scorned.

Basketball was a popular sport back then, for boys and girls. Volleyball was growing in popularity. Rich kids who could afford a court and a coach played tennis. The rest of us played badminton. Golf was unheard of as a game or sport for anyone under 30. Croquette was more to our liking. Swimming was done for fun; not as a competitive sport: schools did not teach swimming. At least the rural schools that lacked a swimming pool didn't teach it.

The few sports I've actually enjoyed were not team sports but were individual sports like archery or target shooting. Maybe it was the lack of competition as a team that made these sports more attractive to me.

My granddaughter has so far in her school endeavors, played soccer, softball, volleyball and basketball.

She enjoys sports of any type and looks forward to competitive swimming. The reason she plays sports is because her parents encourage her to, and all the friends she usually is texting on her phone, are also playing the game at the same time she is.

In "the old days" people who attended public sports would do so at a town or county fair. There would be lemonade, ice, pies, cakes, and cooked meals. Each person would contribute a food dish and all would share in anticipation of the home team winning in a pre-celebration called a picnic.

Today the closest resemblance to the old countywide picnics would be the tailgating parties prior to a professional game. Held in parking lots around sports stadiums, this modern version owes its popularity to the old public picnics of the past. The reasons are the same: meeting, talking, cheering on the hometown team, and sharing food and drink. Win or lose for the team, the tailgating crowd always win.

I hope younger folks get to attend some professional sports games with their families. Even amateur teams' games are great reasons to take the family out to the ball game -- whatever the genre.

Until the next time friends, remember, the things you share with your children and family now will be their memories in years to come. Make them good times to remember.