As If Everything Wasn’t Bad Enough
Russia invaded Ukraine. Gas at the pump is at least a dollar more a gallon than at this time last year. Inflation is at levels not seen in more than 40 years. The country is fractured even worse than before the 2020 election.
As if all that weren’t bad enough…now we are faced with at best a late start to the major league baseball season.
I stopped following pro sports, other than NASCAR and rodeo, once the woke mob took over and we started having slogans on the field and on jerseys. I have no problem with athletes taking stands off the field, but I have no time for on-field politics.
So in that respect, I won’t miss the lack of an opening day…because I wouldn’t have been watching anyway.
But it does say something about the woeful state of the world that the rich owners and rich players would rather walk away and risk losing even more fans, than to figure out how to resolve the work stoppage.
And it’s not like it snuck up on them…the collective bargaining contract expired on schedule, and they’ve had all winter—literally, all winter and then some—to come to terms.
Instead, they seem bound and determined to drive away fans of all ages. Every time there was a strike, dating back forty years, there was a loss of popularity for the sport. Some of it would be recovered each time, but not all. And MLB is lucky that other pro sports have had their own work stoppages over time, so there were times they didn’t look so bad.
This is not one of those times, however.
Young and old alike used to long for the date that pitchers and catchers reported…then the rest of the team, as spring training began. The trips families would take to Arizona and Florida in March just to catch some pre-season games in the bright sunshine. And the optimism that runs through every team as the season opens can be infectious.
Not this year, and really not any more. Will folks come back this team? Guess it depends if the sport comes back soon or not. But given all our other options to fill our time these days…it’s an especially big risk for major league baseball.
